crystal_reading's review against another edition

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4.0

Review copy: Digital ARC via Netgalley

This is another lovely story filled with family love. Siha Tooskin's personality can be seen in this story. He is a storyteller himself and has a sense of humor. He's also extremely excited to have a new baby sister. His dreams for her include some of the gender specific things that his mother and grandmother will pass down, but he also sees possibilities for her future that go beyond typical gender expectations. Within this story readers also get to hear about how the dream catchers came to be and how they work to offer protection to the dreamers. As with the other Siha Tooskin book, this one also includes mentions of residential schools and some of the hard truths about Canadian history that are finally being taught about in schools. That's not the point of the book, but it's acknowledged.

Recommendation: Dream catchers and images of them are found in many kinds of media and are even on t-shirts and jewelry or hanging in cars on mirrors. For those who do not know the significance of dream catchers, this would be a very helpful book to read. For readers aware of them, it will also be a validation of what they already know. I look forward to having this available in our school library and believe this series is a must for any library serving young people.

zoes_human's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted

3.0

Siha Tooksin, an 11-year-old Nakota child, is having a stellar day. A new baby is on the way, his grandparents have come to visit, and there is fresh bannock to snack on. Plus he gets to enjoy a story while his Mugoshin makes a dream catcher for the newest member of his family.

A charming book, great for both learning about dream catchers and children in homes that are expecting new babies. The foreground images of the art are great, but the backgrounds are lacking and seem particularly flat against such well-drawn characters.

Siha Tooskin Knows The Catcher of Dreams is a solid-written, contemporary, middle-grade story for elementary students. A good addition to any library seeking to have a more inclusive collection. Appropriate for ages 9 - 11.

diversify_your_shelf's review against another edition

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5.0

"He knew that if he had a little sister, she would be able to do anything."

This is the third or fourth book I've read in "Siha Tooskin Knows" and I have adored and learned so much from each one! This one is particularly delightful as a large part of the story is Paul's stream of consciousness as he thinks about having a new sibling and how cool it would be to have a sister. Charlene Bearhead & Wilson Bearhead do such an amazing job of having Paul's thoughts sound so like how children think-- but with love and respect and in no way being derisive of how kids think.

Like the other books in this series, I learn terms and ideas that are unfamiliar to me: this is wonderfully done in that the ideas are explained enough to understand, but also in such a way that makes me eager to go do more research! While I am not the primary audience for these books (I'm a 26 year old that spends very little time with children), I still find them positively enchanting! Paul is such an endearing main character-- at one point he thinks to himself that while he has heard a story many times, he loves hearing it but also "The longer
the story, the bigger the snack." I adore him so much!

Even though the tone of these books is frequently humorous, they don't shy from the genocide and discrimination that Indigenous people face. I truly admire how these different messages are threaded together to make a meaningful and entertaining story!

biblioboyd's review against another edition

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informative

4.0

The Siha Tooskin series are a great introduction for children and adult alike, to the culture, tradition, and language of the Nakota Indigenous Peoples.

smorrison4's review against another edition

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5.0

I requested and received an advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley.

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

This story is so sweet; Paul is expecting a new member of his family to arrive any day, and it is going to be a girl. Paul's hope and dreams for his new sister made me tear up, he wishes so many amazing things for her in her life.

I loved learning about the history of the dream catcher and what each part of the dream catcher symbolizes. Mugoshin (grandmother) creating a dream catcher for each new grandchild is such a beautiful tradition, those are gifts that will be treasured always.

#SihaTooskinKnowsTheCatcherOfDreams #NetGalley

caitisbooked's review

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4.0

Siha Tooskin (Paul) is an 11 year old Nakota boy who notices a green spot when he’s out riding his bike. This can mean only one thing, his grandparents are here visiting. Paul rides his bike home as fast as he can to get home to them. His day is going great, he’s going to have a new baby brother or sister (he really wants a little sister), his grandparents are visiting and there’s freshly made bannock. Whilst waiting for the phone call from the hospital about his new baby sibling, Siha sits and listens to Mugoshin’s (grandmother) story about the importance of dream catchers and why she always makes them for a new family member.

Although this graphic novel is short, it fits so much sweetness and greatness into those short pages. This book provides such a great sense of family, tradition and culture. I loved learning about the importance of dream catchers from the cultural perspective of the Nakota people.

I found the illustrations to be great on a whole. The character illustrations were so detailed, down to the individual hair strokes. However, although these character and foreground illustrations were incredible, the background illustrations I found to be lacking, which is my only criticism of the whole novel.

This novel is aimed perfectly at the intended audience of children aged 9-11, within that middle grade aged.

Thank you very much to HighWater Press for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
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