Shin-Chi's Canoe - by Nicola Campbell (Hardcover)

About the Book

When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river -- a sign that it's almost time to return home. This poignant story about a devastating chapter in First Nations history is told at a child's level of understanding.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and finalist for the Governor General's Award: Children's Illustration

This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children's experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too.

As they begin their journey in the back of a cattle truck, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother all the things he must remember: the trees, the mountains, the rivers and the salmon. Shin-chi knows he won't see his family again until the sockeye salmon return in the summertime. When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko gives him a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from their father.

The children's time is filled with going to mass, school for half the day, and work the other half. The girls cook, clean and sew, while the boys work in the fields, in the woodshop and at the forge. Shin-chi is forever hungry and lonely, but, finally, the salmon swim up the river and the children return home for a joyful family reunion.

Review Quotes

Kim LaFave's illustrations for this book are...bold and beautiful...an evocative accompaniment to a powerful text.-- "Globe and Mail"

LaFave's digitally colored pencil sketches contrast the austerity of boarding-school life with the natural beauty of the children's home.-- "Book Links"

LaFave's striking yet soft digital illustrations are appropriately somber and deftly capture the mood with subtle earth tones on each page...This realistic, tender story [is] an accessible and important contribution to Native literature.-- "School Library Journal"

This book is an important addition to this literature with its intertwining of historical fact with an engaging narrative and evocative illustrations.-- "CM Magazine"