SkySisters

SkySisters
Written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Kids Can Press, 2000. Picture book.

Two Ojibway sisters head out to check out the Northern Lights, which they call SkySisters.

This book is beautiful! The illustrations are really, really well done, and the story is sweet. I would definitely share this book with children.

Since the characters are Native American, whether or not is culturally accurate is important, but the author is Ojibway, and the book has been praised by scholars of Native American literature, such as Debbie Reese. (Check out her review here.) The fact that the book takes place in the present day is another selling point for me--so much Native American children's literature takes place in the past, and while stories of Native American history are important, it's especially important to find portrayals of contemporary life so that we don't pass along the idea that Native Americans are dead, that they only existed in the past.

Five stars!

Intro

Having just recently finished my Masters degree in Library and Information Science, I have a little bit of free time on my hand, and since I like books (duh, right?) and I like writing, I've decided to channel my energy into a book blog. One of my sisters wondered why I need 3 different blogs, and I commented that they all have very different purposes, which is certainly true, but you consider that in the past year and five months, I've written 198 book reviews for my library blog (I work at a public library), that perhaps shows the true necessity of individual blogs--no one is going to want to dig through hundreds of book reviews to find the other tidbits from my life. And while I could just keep reviewing for my library, I like the freedom of blogging on my own...and putting in some of those random comments that you wouldn't necessarily put on a blog for work. Also...at work, since I'm an Adult and Teen Services Librarian, I only review adult or teen books, so this gives me a place to include some children's titles as well, although the majority of what I read will likely be teen stuff.