Cheryl Minnema

"When Johnny and Grandma come home one day from shopping, Johnny spies something near the roadside ditch.

They pull over and discover it is a pheasant with beautiful feathers. Johnny says it’s sleeping; Grandma notes that it’s “still soft.” Johnny says he’ll make a nest and care for it. Grandma suspects that it has been run over by a car and says she could use its feathers in her crafting, but Johnny rejoins, “Silly Grandma, he’s not ready for craftwork, he’s sleeping.” As they are putting the pheasant in the trunk of the car, Johnny mimics its cry, saying, “Hoot! Hoot!” After settling the pheasant at home in the box, the pheasant awakens. Confused, it flies and lands on top of Grandma’s head—much to her surprise—and then escapes out of a window. Before it returns to the wild (Johnny accuses Grandma of scaring it away with talk of crafting), the pheasant leaves behind a surprise for Johnny. Minnema (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) maintains a deft balance of perspective between generations in this quietly funny tale. Both Johnny’s enthusiasm and optimism and Grandma’s pragmatism are fully believable—any child who has found a dead or injured animal will relate. Flett’s (Cree-Métis) characteristically spare illustrations depict this tender relationship, careful details such as Grandma’s game of solitaire further developing these loving Indigenous characters.

This dead-bird story with a happy ending rewards children’s optimism . (Picture book. 3-7)" www.kirkusreviews.com… (altro)

I am always on the hunt for new books that authentically share a people or community of color perspective on life. This one fit the need. Little Johnny really wants to eat but has to wait for his baby elder grandma to take him to a Native American celebration. Then he has to wait for the prayer to end, then wait for the elders to eat. Through all of this he learns about community, respect, and family. He is rewarded with a big sweet roll at the end. I love how Ojibway words are interwoven and the cultural lens comes out in this book. My beginning reader kid enjoys the repetition and some of the sentences are easy enough for her to read aloud.… (altro)