Great book to add to a classroom library for representation of Native Americans. 11 year old Paul is a Nakota boy who has been taught to have a strong mind, heart, and spirit. He starts a new school and it's very difficult for him because many of his classmates never experienced the values and cultures of his people. His grandfather gives him strength to remind him that his own strength comes from his hair.

I thought this was such a good story about a young boy named Siha who is walking home with his father talking to him about how in health class they needed to bring some kind of food from their culture and Siha does not know what to bring. His father begins to explain about the history of the Native Americas and how they used the earth to live and grow food. I think this is the kind of story children need to hear because we don't have enough stories out there about Native Americans.

This is the fourth book I've read of the Siha Tooskin Knows series, by Charlene & Wilson Bearhead.

The illustrations are always lovely. Bright and colourful. Chloe Bluebird Mustooch is a wonderful artist.

Siha was lost in thought trying to figure out what cultural dish to bring to school. And his Ade (dad), went on to teach him about various cultural foods that others learned from the indigenous, and that the indigenous learned from settlers/colonizers.

While I love the series overall, this was not my favourite one so far. I felt it lacking. It was definitely shorter than the others I've read. And I wanted to know what Siha brought to school!

<i>This is an arc that was provided to me via NetGalley, for an honest review, and I do hope the final copy you get to find out what Siha brings.</i>

This is one of eight books featuring the teachings of a Nakota family (Indigenous peoples that live in Alberta, Canada) in the form of a short book (no chapters but not exactly a picture book either) with some illustrations. In this book, Siha's father picks him up to walk home from school and Siha explains that he is to take a nutritious snack that is part of his culture when he heads to school the next day. He asks about taking bannock. This prompts a long discussion about whether bannock is traditional part of his people's culture or not. Siha's father tells him about some of the many things that people think of as being modern that are actually long held traditions of Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island such as forms of housing, agriculture, and medicine.

This is a wonderful book. Siha Tooskin has been asked to bring a food from his cultural background. This leads to a conversation about the indigenous foods that preceded European contact and remain. Talking about things that the Nakota people have had and done over the years leads to a discussion about the many things people have mistakenly believed are new that Indigenous people have been doing in different places around what is now called North America for thousands of years.

Siha Tooskin even learns about the way that Nakota people have been educating their children over time. Rather than a story with a problem and solution, this follows a conversation between father and son. It is definitely interesting and has a warm family feeling to it.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book for anyone, but especially those teaching history and changes over time. This book shows some of the ways Native and colonial practices have affected each group. There's a lot of content in these few pages that can lead to great discussions. Highly recommended for elementary age readers and their teachers or families.

It is so good to see books with Native American kids and their families and culture portrayed! I can’t wait to read some of the other books!

This series of books is awesome, I have enjoyed every single one.

I love Paul's Ade because he reminds me of my father, his stories rambled sometimes but always got to a very important point in the end. I enjoyed hearing all of Ade's stories about the First Nations from around the world and the traditional knowledge that was adopted by and credited to European settlers. I have already recommended to my Manager that we should order all of the books in this series and create an end cap to highlight these fantastic books.

#SihaTooskinKnowsTheGiftsOfHisPeople #NetGalley

This is a easy book to make children think about their surroundings it would be excellent or kindergarten teachers to plan their teachings.

This is another book in the series about Siha Tooskin and his family. The aim of this series is to educate youngsters about the Nakota people. The information is related in the form of a story, in which Siha Tooskin's dad tells him all about the contributions of their people to the cultures of the world. This book serves to clear up some misunderstandings about where different foods and ways of living have originated.

The book is a quick read and can be best enjoyed by parents and children together. The drawings that accompany the story go along well with the text, and will most likely be appreciated by children. The only wish I have is that the glossary of words would be at the beginning of the story, since not all the Nakota words can be defined from context clues.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

While the reading level of Siha Tooskin Knows the Gifts of His People is designed for elementary students, the content is perfect for K-8. It talks about the struggle Siha Tooskin faces in appreciating and understanding his culture. The book is written in English with the inclusion of a few words in the Nakota language. Siha Tooskin means “little foot” but he also carries the English name of Paul.

In the first couple of pages Siha Tooskin’s dad talks to him about how Indigenous groups had more food than just bannock which people automatically tend to associate with Indigenous cultures. I love that he explains where bannock actually originated and what Indigenous foods are really like.

As the book goes on, it continues to talk about a variety of topics including, harvesting, medicines, and communication (to name a few). This book does a great job of normalizing Indigenous lives while proving background information about the history of the culture. On the walk home from school, Ade (Siha’s father) points out things they see every day and then gives him the history of how Indigenous cultures did those same things before the ‘conveniences’ of modern systems.

Another great thing about the book is the way it touches on many Indigenous tribes with the understanding that Indigenous peoples are not monolithic. It gives a variety of examples of how tribes lived on the different coasts.

The use of pictures in this book are a great way to further illustrate the beauty of Indigenous culture.

Overall I think this is a worthwhile book for any classroom or home library.

This book is one of a series about 11 year old Siha Tooskin and his family, who are members of the Nakota tribe. In this one, Siha is asked to bring a food that's from his culture to school and his father teaches him about all of the foods and inventions that Native American people brought the world. Nakota language is worked into the text for words like mother and father. This is much-needed representation in children's books and it does a great job of dispelling myths about Native American culture and teaching some history. I regret that I'm not a fan of the art style, but I'm so glad that the authors and illustrator are all First Nations people. I plan to check out other books in the series with my kids.

I read a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.