Summer Reading - Rez Kid

I'm happy today to let you know about one more book from Kids Can Press - Rez Kid by Andrea Landry and illustrated by Isabella Fassler.

Favorite Features -

• The illustrations are filled with color and heritage - beautiful just on their own!
• I loved this story about being bullied, acceptance, heritage, tradition, sharing, and kindness. There will be so many wonderful things to talk about with the children you love after reading Rez Kid!
• Rez Kid is the perfect book to introduce what it is like to be a Native American and to help the children you love learn to be respectful and kind to all people.

Kids Can press says, "A celebration of traditional ways of life and the power of sharing what we have.

”Rez kid!“ The girl ignores the taunt as she hurries to the back of the school bus. She just wants to get home to the reservation, where she can feel safe. One by one, she tells her mom, nóhkom, moshum, and aunty about what happened. And one by one they offer her advice on what to do. Each one has a different idea, but each idea is the same at heart: share something from the reservation with the other children. The girl listens, but decides to come up with her own idea. And, as with everything else about her life as a rez kid, her idea grows out of all she has been given by those who came before her.

Andrea Landry has written a beautiful story which celebrates Indigenous ways of life and encourages readers to be proud of who they are. The traditions practiced on the girl’s reservation are showcased as she beads, harvests medicine, gardens, and rides horseback with her elders. Isabella Fassler’s stunning art, with swirls of bold colors, evokes the majesty and splendor of nature. The message of showing kindness in response to aggression offers a powerful lesson for all readers. This book could augment social studies lessons on Indigenous cultures and character education conversations about courage, compassion, and inclusiveness. An author’s note gives a brief history of reservations/reserves."

I found Rez Kid to be a book which is beautiful in every way - the illustrations, the idea of the story which shares the culture, traditions, and history of Native People, and how the girl in the story finds her own strength.