by Penny M. Thomas
illustrated by Karen Hibbard
Highwater Press, 2024
ISBN 9 781774 921166 (sc)
$14.00, 24 pp., ages 3 – 6
highwaterpress.com
Nimoshom (grandfather) Carl Bird Sr. drove a school bus for 41 years. In this gentle story, the author (his granddaughter) recalls the special relationship he developed with the children who rode on his bus. He loved to drive, tell silly stories, and share his Swampy Cree dialect with them. Based on the author’s childhood memories, Nimoshom and His Bus truly describes the strong family connections and close community in which she grew up.
Classroom Connections: Nimoshom and His Bus would make a great read-aloud book for primary classrooms. With Cree vocabulary and definitions on each page and a word list at the end of the book, this title could be used to introduce the Cree language to early primary students. Reading comprehension strategies that could be practised with this book are questioning and inferring.
Review by Brenda Boreham.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2024 issue.