
Based on Haida artist Robert Davidson's own childhood experiences, this beautiful story highlights learning through observation, as well as the role of Elders in sharing knowledge and mentorship.
Learning to carve is a lifelong journey. With the help of his father and grandfather, a boy on Haida Gwaii practises to become a skillful carver. As he carefully works on a new piece, he remembers a trip to Slatechuck Mountain to gather the argillite, as well as his father's words about the importance of looking back to help us find our way.
Written by the creators of Potlatch as Pedagogy, this book brings the Sk'ad'a Principles to life through the art of Janine Gibbons.
Sara Florence Davidson (she/her) is a Haida/Settler Assistant Professor in Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Previously, she was an educator working with adolescents in the K-12 system in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Sara is the co-author of Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning through Ceremony-, which she wrote with her father, and Magical Beings of Haida Gwaii, which she wrote with her stepmother, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson.
When she is not reading or writing, Sara can be found walking with her dog, drinking tea, or listening to stories and learning something new.
A quiet, beautiful meditation on how traditions are kept alive by passing them down from one generation to the next, by remembering the ways things were so we can more clearly see the way things can be. Shaped by youth, under the watchful guidance of Elders, like etchings in argillite.
--David A. RobertsonDavidson and Davidson's story is a snapshot of a memory that cohesively and effectively expresses a childhood embedded in love, in family, in tradition, and in art. The artwork is beautiful and thoughtful, often requiring second and third looks to pick up hidden details as the colours and flow of the images draw the eye over the pages. Highly recommended.
-- "CM Association"The concept of intergenerational learning is woven into the books in both obvious and subtle ways.
-- "Quill & Quire"Among OLA's First Nations Communities READ Longlist, Children's Category
-- "Ontario Library Association (OLA)"Among CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens
-- "Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC)"