
kimotinâniwiw itwêwina / Stolen Words
by Melanie Florence
illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
translated by Dolores Sand & Gayle Weenie
- Age:
- 6 to 9
- Grade:
- 1 to 3
- Reading age:
- 6 to 9
- Short-listed, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award - CCBC's TD Canadian Children's Book Awards
- Winner, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award
- Commended, 2018 (Spring) - Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens - Starred Selection
- Commended, Ontario Library Association's 2018 Best Bets
- Commended, Shelf Awareness Best Picture Books of the Year
- Commended, Kirkus Reviews' Best Picture Books of 2017 to Give Readers Strength
- Short-listed, Elizabeth Mrazik Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award
- Commended, The Children's Book Review's Best Picture Books of 2017
The dual language edition, in Plains Cree and English, of Stolen Words, the award-winning story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in Cree, he tells her that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive and warmly illustrated picture book explores the intergenerational impact of the residential school system that separated young Indigenous children from their families. The story recognizes the pain of those whose culture and language were taken from them, how that pain is passed down, and how healing can also be shared.
close this panel"Stolen Words / kimotinaniwiw itwewina" recognizes the pain of those whose culture and language were taken from them, and reveals how that pain is passed down, and how healing can also be shared -- making it a unique and unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library bilingual picture book collections for children."