by Ren Louie
illustrated by Karlene Harvey
Medicine Wheel Publishing, 2024
ISBN 9781778540387
$12.95, 20 pp, ages 4 – 6
medicinewheelpublishing.com
This simple but impactful picture book tells about Ren as a young child, first experiencing the drum his cousins brought on a family visit and then receiving a drum his mother had made for him. Learning to keep it close to his heart and keeping it face up, he practises drumming, using it with his classmates at school and as an adult as a way to share his culture and encourage others to be brave, bold, and proud. Told in rhyming couplets and illustrated with brightly coloured illustrations, this book joyfully depicts Indigenous cultural practice and family life.
Classroom Connections: This book would be an interesting read-aloud for primary classrooms. Comparing this drum to tambourines or drums currently in the school or in pictures would be useful. Since the drum depicted is made of deer hide, having conversations and samples of other uses of deer hide, such as in moccasins or paintings, would demonstrate how Indigenous Peoples use what they find in their environment. Children could be encouraged to create their own drum designs as an art project.
Review by Betty Schultze.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue.