EBOOK
About
When Charlie's Kohkom asks him what the best part of his school day was, he knows right away: Indigenous drum circle!
Kohkom tells him that not very long ago she was gifted her very first drum at a ceremony for children who never returned home from residential schools. But Charlie doesn't understand. How could she only have gotten her first drum so recently?
Kohkom explains that she was taken from her family when she was very little because of something called the Sixties Scoop. She was raised by an adoptive white family and only later learned what being Cree meant. It's taken her a long time to feel like she belongs. Kohkom's story gives Charlie the idea to teach her a song so they can play their drums together.
This bilingual book includes full text in both English and Plains Cree.
Key Selling Points
• Charlie loves visiting his Kohkom, and today she tells him about how she recently received her first drum. As a child, she was taken from her family as part of the Sixties Scoop and so she didn't know about her Cree culture; it's taken her a long time to start to feel like she belongs. But she and Charlie know there's still time to learn, speak their language, and play their drums together.
• An age-appropriate introduction to the topic of the Sixties Scoop and the trauma its survivors carry, including having grown up not knowing their culture and being separated from their families.
• Despite its serious subject matter, the book emphasizes the connection between Charlie and his kohkom, the power of her sharing her story with him, and the power of their drumming together to help them heal.
• The book is based on Monique Gray Smith's mother's experiences as a survivor of the Sixties Scoop and is dedicated to her memory. It features an author's note sharing Monique Gray Smith's inspiration to write the book after her mother received her first drum at the age of eighty-two. The back matter also provides context about the Sixties Scoop, the language used throughout the book and notes about social-emotional learning.
• Karlene Harvey's compositions bringing out key moments in the narrative, and emphasize the warmth and connection between Kohkom and Charlie (and the beauty of their drums).
• Monique Gray Smith is a bestselling, award-winning writer, speaker and consultant.
Charlie's Kohkom tells the story of recently receiving her first drum. Kohkom wasn't raised Cree because she was taken from her family as a child as part of the Sixties Scoop. After hearing her story, Charlie offers to teach Kohkom a song on his drum-and they agree to go to the Friendship Center drum circle every week from now on.
Monique Gray Smith is an award-winning, bestselling author and public speaker. Her books cover a broad spectrum of ages, topics and emotions. Woven into all of Monique's writing and her speaking engagements is the teaching that Love is Medicine. Her books include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, My Heart Fills With Happiness, You Hold Me Up, Lucy and Lola, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, When We Are Kind and I Hope. She has also created the young adult adaptation of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Monique is Cree and Scottish. She lives with her family on the Traditional Territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Peoples.
Karlene Harvey is Tŝilhqot'in and Syilx and currently lives on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. They studied at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, earning a BFA in visual arts. When they are not making art, Karlene enjoys exploring rocky West Coast beaches with their daughter, learning their Tsilhqot'in language, and spending time in their garden.
Dorothy Thunder is a Plains Cree (nêhiyawiskwêw) from Little Pine First Nation, Saskatchewan and
Kohkom tells him that not very long ago she was gifted her very first drum at a ceremony for children who never returned home from residential schools. But Charlie doesn't understand. How could she only have gotten her first drum so recently?
Kohkom explains that she was taken from her family when she was very little because of something called the Sixties Scoop. She was raised by an adoptive white family and only later learned what being Cree meant. It's taken her a long time to feel like she belongs. Kohkom's story gives Charlie the idea to teach her a song so they can play their drums together.
This bilingual book includes full text in both English and Plains Cree.
Key Selling Points
• Charlie loves visiting his Kohkom, and today she tells him about how she recently received her first drum. As a child, she was taken from her family as part of the Sixties Scoop and so she didn't know about her Cree culture; it's taken her a long time to start to feel like she belongs. But she and Charlie know there's still time to learn, speak their language, and play their drums together.
• An age-appropriate introduction to the topic of the Sixties Scoop and the trauma its survivors carry, including having grown up not knowing their culture and being separated from their families.
• Despite its serious subject matter, the book emphasizes the connection between Charlie and his kohkom, the power of her sharing her story with him, and the power of their drumming together to help them heal.
• The book is based on Monique Gray Smith's mother's experiences as a survivor of the Sixties Scoop and is dedicated to her memory. It features an author's note sharing Monique Gray Smith's inspiration to write the book after her mother received her first drum at the age of eighty-two. The back matter also provides context about the Sixties Scoop, the language used throughout the book and notes about social-emotional learning.
• Karlene Harvey's compositions bringing out key moments in the narrative, and emphasize the warmth and connection between Kohkom and Charlie (and the beauty of their drums).
• Monique Gray Smith is a bestselling, award-winning writer, speaker and consultant.
Charlie's Kohkom tells the story of recently receiving her first drum. Kohkom wasn't raised Cree because she was taken from her family as a child as part of the Sixties Scoop. After hearing her story, Charlie offers to teach Kohkom a song on his drum-and they agree to go to the Friendship Center drum circle every week from now on.
Monique Gray Smith is an award-winning, bestselling author and public speaker. Her books cover a broad spectrum of ages, topics and emotions. Woven into all of Monique's writing and her speaking engagements is the teaching that Love is Medicine. Her books include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, My Heart Fills With Happiness, You Hold Me Up, Lucy and Lola, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, When We Are Kind and I Hope. She has also created the young adult adaptation of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Monique is Cree and Scottish. She lives with her family on the Traditional Territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Peoples.
Karlene Harvey is Tŝilhqot'in and Syilx and currently lives on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. They studied at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, earning a BFA in visual arts. When they are not making art, Karlene enjoys exploring rocky West Coast beaches with their daughter, learning their Tsilhqot'in language, and spending time in their garden.
Dorothy Thunder is a Plains Cree (nêhiyawiskwêw) from Little Pine First Nation, Saskatchewan and