Sarah Ponakey, Storycatcher and Âhâsiw’s Forest Powwow

Gr 2-4–Young Cree girl Sarah recently moved to the city and has been feeling lonely. While she stays in touch with her friend Eden through letters and video chats with her grandmother Kôhkom, Sarah finds it challenging to adjust to her new life. At school, a student named Joy is assigned to help her, but they haven’t clicked as friends. With her mom busy with work, Sarah feels ignored and alone. One day she meets a girl named Arya, who found Sarah’s stuffed animal Âhâsiw that she accidentally dropped. After a tough day, Sarah falls asleep and dreams of a human-sized Âhâsiw and other animals having a powwow in the forest. Sarah feels too embarrassed to dance, even in her dream. Her forest friends encourage her to try, and she wakes up revitalized. With newfound confidence, Sarah is excited to share her shawl at show-and-tell. Arya reveals her own feelings of loneliness in the city; Sarah finally feels understood and is excited to have a new friend. This story lovingly depicts Cree culture and depicts the common challenges of being the new kid, and how to stay connected to old friends while making new ones. While the dream sequence plays a vital role in Sarah gaining confidence, it feels slightly out of place in an otherwise realistic story about a child’s experience of moving to a new place. Whitecalf’s cartoon-style, grayscale illustrations complement the text through spot art and partial spreads.