Ideas for discussion and enrichment

Design a book cover

We've all heard the idiom "Don't judge a book by its cover." Instead try judging a cover by its book!

Rolo (2021) teaches that book covers are meant to communicate "the vastness of the contents" of the book to potential readers (p. 90). In order to do so effectively, designers must first "interpret the content," which implies that they must read the book before they begin designing (p. 89). Only then can designers accept the "challenge...to capture the attention" of future readers (Rolo, 2021, p. 89).

Consider the covers of your selected texts. Discuss whether or not the cover suits the message or mood of the book. What changes might you make?

For specific examples of how covers might be changed, compare Webstad's Phyllis's Orange Shirt to The Orange Shirt Story. How are the covers the same? How are they different? How do the changes affect the mood of the audience? If you were picking one of these books to read to young children, which one would you pick? Why? Do the covers effectively convey the ideas found in each text?

When Jordan-Fenton & Pokiak-Fenton's When I was Eight was translated into Korean, the book publisher in Korea designed a new cover by combining illustrations found on the thirteenth opening rather than using the English cover (the cover for A Stranger at Home was similarly redesigned for the Korean translation).

Which cover do you like better? Why do you think the publisher decided to change the cover? Which illustration would you have chosen to communicate the overall message of the book?

Have students redesign a book cover for one of the texts you selected to read, having them keep in mind that their job is to "interpret the content" of the book and "capture the attention" of potential readers (Rolo, 2021, p. 89). They can either draw their own illustration for the cover or they can make an argument for using an existing illustration in the book.

I, for example, would like to redesign the cover of I Am Not a Number. I think the cover is too depressing for the mood of the story; while having her hair cut was devastating for Irene, it wasn't the most powerful message for me. I would prefer a cover focused on Irene's resilience and resistance or showing her at home with her family. Illustrations from the fifth and eighth openings offer windows to the strength of Irene's spirit, while the second opening shows her in her rightful home. Any of these choices would celebrate Irene's power, rather than telling of her victimization. Sharing the difficult truths about residential schools is important, but I felt Irene's story should be celebrated as one of resistance.

By any other name...

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet asks the question, "What's in a name?" then answers herself with, "That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" (Act II, Scene II). What do you feel is "in" the name of your book? Does the title adequately capture the essence of the story? What does the title tell potential readers? What changes would you make to the title of the story? Would you change it altogether? Would you add a subtitle?

You might consider discussing the Korean translations of When I was Eight (내 이름은 올레마운/My name is Olemaun), Fatty Legs ( 나쁜 학교/Bad School), and A Stranger at Home (두 개의 이름/Two names). Why might the translator have chosen to change the title, rather than translating directly as many of the French translations do (see: I Am Not a Number/Je Ne Suis Pas un Numéro, Stolen Words/Les Mots Volés, or When We Were Alone/Quand on Était Seuls)? Can you think of a title that better suits the story?

Is your book translated into an Indigenous language (see: The Train, The Orange Shirt Story, I Am Not a Number, Stolen Words, When We Were Alone)? Why do you think that particular language was chosen? Was the author the translator for the text you're examining? Or did another person do the translation? Why do you think that is? Do you think the translation is accurate? Why would an accurate translation (rather than a new title) be important?

Linguistic imperialism

Cambell, Tan, and Quaiattini (2017) identify the theme of language loss at residential schools and note that "children were punished for speaking Indigenous languages" (p. 53). You can see evidence of this in picturebooks like When I Was Eight (fifth opening), Stolen Words (fifth opening), I Am Not a Number (sixth opening), and The Train (tenth opening). Sugar Falls (p. 28–30) offers a more vivid description of the abuse endured by children; Betsy actually goes deaf in one ear after being kicked in the head by a nun for speaking Cree. The documentary film We Were Children shows Lyna and some classmates being punished for speaking their native language by being forced to kneel on the hardwood floor for a half hour while holding their tongues (if they let go of their tongues they would have to start over).

We also see evidence that these tactics to keep children from speaking "the devil's language" (I Am Not a Number, sixth opening) often worked. In Not My Girl (as well as in Fatty Legs and A Stranger at Home), Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton reveals that when she returned home after spending two years straight at residential school, she "could speak English and French. But [she] no longer knew the words in [her] own language" (second opening) and couldn't communicate with her family. Griffith (2017) points out that this was the goal of the linguistic imperialism seen in residential schools: it "severed ties amongst generations" (p. 765). Students were first forcefully removed from their homes and thus physical "contact between children and their parents" was restricted, but "English served as a long-term strategy for breaking family ties" (Griffith, 2017, p. 765) and cultural connections, which has cascaded through generations, since children who don't speak their heritage language cannot teach it to their children.

We Are Still Here mentions language revitalization as an important topic. How do books that are translated into the author's native language help with language revitalization? Explore some dual-language picturebooks (try searching for "dual language" books) or look up some vocabulary in an online dictionary. Can you learn some words in the language presented? How do you say 'hello' in your chosen language? Can you count from 1 to 10? What else can you say? How might these books be useful for preserving and revitalizing a language?

Perhaps you have a heritage language that you don't know how to speak. Do some research into your family tree and find out what language(s) your ancestors may have spoken. Do you still speak those same languages in your family? Why or why not? Spend some time learning some phrases from your own heritage language.

Try to imagine what it might be like to not be able to use language to communicate. How would you feel if you couldn't speak your own language or if no one around you understood your language? Explore the book The Arrival (Tan, 2007) to get a feel for how it might be to navigate a world where your words hold no meaning.

...Still as sweet?

In addition to not being able to speak their language, children at residential schools were stripped of their given names. Instead they were referred to by "Christian names" given to them by the nuns at the school. For example, when Olemaun Pokiak arrived at school, she was told, "We use our Christian names here. And we speak English.... You are Margaret" (Jordan-Fenton & Pokiak-Fenton, 2020, p. 35). This can be seen in the Netflix series Anne with an E when Ka'kwet is renamed as Hannah (season 3, episode 4 and 9) Other times, children were referred to simply by a number, as we see in I Am Not a Number, when Irene is told, "We don't use names here. All students are known by numbers. You are 759" (fourth opening). This can also be seen in the documentary film We Were Children (both Lyna and Glen are assigned numbers).

Do you think being called a different name is "as sweet" as being called your own name? What about being referred to as a number? Why did your parents give you the name that they did? What does your name mean to you? Is it important to you that people pronounce and/or spell your name correctly? Is it important that you pronounce/spell others' names correctly, even if the names sound foreign to your ear?

Vowel (2018) states sees "reclaiming our right to name our children in our way, and have those names recognized and respected, [as] a powerful act. It is one of the many ways in which we are reclaiming and asserting our identities against the backdrop of a history of dispossession and erasure" (para. 22). Do some research on naming practices around the world. Are laws surrounding the naming of children always fair? What kinds of laws or practices surrounding naming do you find surprising or interesting? Should traditional naming practices be honored?

Common Themes

Tan, Campbell, and Quaiattini (2017) analyzed over 100 texts for children (grades K–12)—picturebooks, graphic novels, as well as chapter books and books in verse—that focused on residential school experiences found that "while every story is unique to the individual survivor, these themes consistently appear": forced removal, hair cutting, lack of food, loss of language, forced labour, humiliation, abuse, death, and reintegration (n.p.).

What themes can you identify in the books you read? Do your themes align with Tan, Campbell, and Quaiattini's themes? Did you notice anything themes they missed (such as resistance or intergenerational family bonds)?

Make a poster similar to the one Tan, Campbell, and Quaiattini made to show what themes you identified and offer examples from your texts (see: https://doi.org/10.7939/R3DF6KH5H).

Graphics to Text / Text to Graphics

Take a spread from a graphic novel (Sugar Falls, Nimikii, 7 Generations, A Girl Called Echo) and attempt to "convert...[it]...into its linguistic equivalent" (Groensteen, 2007, p. 134, as cited in Low, 2012, p. 381), or consider a scene in one of the picturebooks and, paying special mind to the details captured in the illustrations, rewrite that portion of the story in your own words.

Alternatively, discuss and map out the plot of a picturebook or a scene in a documentary, movie, or show about residential schools. Design and illustrate your own mini-graphic novel (approximately 7 pages long with 7–14 frames) to tell the story in your own pictures. You can find a template for a minibook, along with instructions on how to fold and assemble the book at the end of this PDF (pp. 11–13).

There's no place like...poem

Several stories about residential school discuss life prior to a child's removal (particularly Shi-shi-etko and As Long as the Rivers Flow), others show a remarkable appreciation for the beauty of the world we live in (for example, The Train, Shin-chi's Canoe, When We Were Alone) or how much home means to the children (The Orange Shirt Story, I Am Not a Number). Consider the illustrations and descriptions of nature and home in these stories, think about the way nature is respected and used by the characters in the story.

Consider writing a poem about your home and the world outside your front door. Use metaphors like the ones found in When We Were Alone, or create a catalog poem by listing all the beautiful things you see, as Shi-shi-etko does.

Many stories use imagery of birds to describe various aspects of their residential school experience. In Fatty Legs, Margaret-Olemaun describes a "raven-like nun," who she later refers to simply as The Raven (Jordan-Fenton & Pokiak-Fenton, 2020, p. 36), which is the same cruel nun featured in When I was Eight. In When We Were Alone, Kókom (grandmother) speaks to a bird in Cree (eighth opening), and when her nósisim (granddaughter) asks why, Kókom explains, "At the school I went to, far away from home, they wouldn't let us speak our words. All the children used their strange words.... Our voices blended together like a flock of crows" (ninth opening). In The Train we see an eagle soaring above Ashley and his uncle while he tells his story (seventh opening) and when her uncle closes his eyes to remember "what we lost," we see birds among his visions in the sky (fourteenth opening). Stolen Words uses birds to symbolize language in the story. At the fifth opening we see children's mouths opening and wisps of "language" escape to form a bird, which the priest locks in a cage. Later, at the tenth opening, we see birds being released from the Cree dictionary the granddaughter found.

What is the significance of these birds? Did you notice birds being used in any other stories? What other instances of imagery did you notice in your reading?

Keep in mind that many of the illustrators for the books above are non-Indigenous artists (except in the case of When We Were Alone); thus their use of imagery may not align with the cultural significance found in some Indigenous communities (Peterson & Robinson, 2020, p. 8). How might the illustrators have done a better job understanding the culture they were attempting to represent? Research various non-Indigenous illustrators who've illustrated books by Indigenous authors to learn about the amount of research that went into their illustrations. This interview with Juana Martinez-Neal about her illustrations for Fry Bread (Maillard, 2019) shows how respectful she tried to be of a culture that was not her own. How can you learn to respect cultures different from your own?

The book Secret Path was created by comic book artist Jeff Lemire, based on poems written by musician/songwriter Gord Downie, after he heard about the story of Charlie Wenjack (Adams, 1967). Listen to some of Downie's songs at https://secretpath.ca/, then consider whether there are any notable scenes from the stories you've read that you could write a poem or song about.

Arts & Crafts

After reading Phyllis's Orange Shirt, cut a t-shirt shape out of orange paper and write or draw about how "every child matters." A t-shirt template can be found on the last page of this PDF.

Collect leaves, grass, flowers, and twigs. Draw a simple silhouette and then fill the silhouette in with your collection (see video below).

Then and now

Sometimes when we think about residential schools, we think of it as a problem from a long time ago. However, the last residential school in Canada only closed in 1996 (The Union of Ontario Indians, 2013). In the United States, 73 Indian Boarding Schools are still functioning today, with only 15 of them "still boarding," though they are run a lot differently today than they were in the past (NABS, n.d.). Indigenous people have suffered through seven generations of abuse from colonization (Borrows, 2008) and are still seeing the negative effects of forced assimilation policies in their communities today.

Which books show a more modern version of residential schools? (Examples: Fall in Line, Holden!, Phyllis's Orange Shirt) Which books might trick you into thinking residential schools are a problem of the past? (Examples: Shi-shi-etko, As Long as the Rivers Flow). Why is it good to remember that residential schools—and their intergenerational effects—are as much of a problem today as they were a problem in the past? What can we do to help achieve peace and reconciliation?

Consider the book We Are Still Here. Sorell (2021) repeats the words "We are still here!" on every spread. Lindstrom (2020), likewise repeats the phrase "We are still here!" in her book We Are Water Protectors. What is the significance of that phrase?

In the author's note Saltypie, Tingle (2010) suggests that racism against Indigenous people may be due, in part, to people not understanding "that Indians are Americans, that Indians are modern people, that Indians are friendly neighbors who love their families, their homes, and care about education" and challenges his readers to "begin...a real and more truthful education about American Indians" (n.p.).

Georgia's standards of excellence for United States history last mentions Indians in conjunction with Manifest Destiny (Georgia Department of Education, 2016, p. 4), with no mention of any major movement or legislation impacting modern Indians.

Using We Are Still Here as a guide, research some of the topics introduced by Sorell (2021) and how they are impacting the lives of Native Americans today.

Works Cited:

Adams, I. (1967, February 1). The lonely death of Charlie Wenjack. Maclean’s | The Complete Archive. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1967/2/1/the-lonely-death-of-charlie-wenjack

Campbell, S., Tan, M., & Quaiattini, A. (2019). Canadian Indigenous children’s books through the lens of Truth and Reconciliation. Lapin Yliopisto, 46–56. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3WP9TN53

Georgia Department of Education. (2016). Social Studies Georgia Standards of Excellence: United States History. Georgia Department of Education. https://lor2.gadoe.org/gadoe/file/6d0fa279-21d4-4f08-aaa0-9f0e5f3ad6bf/1/Social-Studies-United-States-History-Georgia-Standards.pdf

Griffith, J. (2017). Of linguicide and resistance: Children and English instruction in nineteenth-century Indian boarding schools in Canada. Paedagogica Historica, 53(6), 763–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2017.1293700

Lindstrom, C. (2020). We Are Water Protectors. Roaring Brook Press.

Low, D. E. (2012). “Spaces Invested with Content”: Crossing the ‘Gaps’ in Comics with Readers in Schools. Children’s Literature in Education, 43(4), 368–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-012-9172-5

Maillard, K. N. (2019). Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Roaring Brook Press.

NABS. (n.d.). List of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Retrieved August 3, 2021, from https://boardingschoolhealing.org/list/

Peterson, S. S., & Robinson, R. B. (2020). Rights of Indigenous children: Reading children’s literature through an Indigenous knowledges lens. Education Sciences, 10(10), 1–14. Gale Academic OneFile.

Rolo, E. (2021). Book covers as gateways to literature. In F. Rebelo (Ed.), Advances in ergonomics in design (pp. 87–93). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79760-7_11

Shakespeare, W. (1993). Romeo and Juliet. Dover Publications.

Tan, M. C., Campbell, S., & Quaiattini, A. M. (2017, December 12). The Residential School Experience Through the Eyes of Indigenous Children’s Authors. ERA. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3DF6KH5H

Tan, S. (2007). The Arrival. Arthur A. Levine Books.

The Union of Ontario Indians, & Restoule, K. (2013). An overview of the Indian Residential School System. The Union of Ontario Indians. https://www.anishinabek.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/An-Overview-of-the-IRS-System-Booklet.pdf

Vowel, C. (2018, November 4). Giving my children Cree names is a powerful act of reclamation | CBC News. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/opinion-cree-names-reclamation-chelsea-vowel-1.4887604