Reviews

Fatty Legs by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, Christy Jordan-Fenton, Liz Amini-Holmes

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sereia8's review against another edition

4.0

An eight-year-old Inuit girl leaves her family to go a Catholic boarding school to learn how to read. While there, her hair is cut off, her warm clothing is taken from her and she's given canvas underclothing. She is not allowed to speak her native language and is given a new name. One of the nuns doesn't like her behavior and tries to break her spirit by giving her the only pair of red stockings. Those stockings make her legs feel fat and she is taunted by the other children. But that nun doesn't count on the strength of the Inuit spirit.

fionacashell's review against another edition

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4.0

This memoir, set in the Western Arctic region of Canada, offers an easy to understand introduction to residential schools as told through the eyes of a child. The book is written for a young audience, however it doesn’t talk down to its readers. I ended up learning quite a bit from the book through the snapshots into the cultural differences and tensions between Inuit communities.

This short work makes a good complement to an adult’s broader learning on colonialism, as well as a good starting point to have tough conversations with children.

kaitlinmarie27's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

sprout_monster's review against another edition

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4.0

Short, but with a short intro and author's note that add a lot to it.

reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Approachable and informative, with a good balance of information for the youthful intended audience. Even as someone who has read other accounts involving the schools, though not as many as I should, I even learned more regarding the functionality and processes adopted by them as an adult. Wonderful contribution to the children's book world to gently ease kids into both history, non-fiction, and the stories of other children.

lisahowe27's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

This is a memoir and I never feel comfortable giving a rating for someone’s experience, especially one from residential school. I have never read a teaching/story from an Inuvialuk’s perspective before who comes from Tuktoyaktuk. Thank you for your story.