You Hold Me Up / Ki Kîhcêyimin Mâna

diverse picture book (love among families and friends; preschoolers ages 2 and up)
* Prominently features diverse characters: according to the author's note, this book was inspired by and written partly for Canada's First Nations populations impacted by the Indian Residential boarding schools (in which kids as young as 5 were taken away from their families and dumped in these school with very little in the way of support, dating from the 1880s all the way to 1996). Most if not all of the people depicted in the illustrations could belong to one of those groups, with dark, straight-hair and medium-dark skintone; a few of the kids look like they could be black.
* A sweet book for preschool storytime (maybe toddlers too, if they are used to sitting for longer, quiet stories). Beautiful illustrations and short, sweet text make this great for caretakers to share with their little ones too (either as a one-on-one readaloud or as quiet, pre-walker storytime fare).

We hold each other up, the simple narrative in this Canadian First Nations picture-book informs us, by being kind and sharing with one another, by laughing and learning with one another, and by playing with, and listening to and respecting one another. By doing all these and other things, we embark on what the author describes, in her brief note, as a journey of healing and reconciliation...Canadian author Monique Gray Smith, of mixed First Nations (Lakota and Cree) and European (Scottish) ancestry, first came to my attention through her lovely board book, My Heart Fills With Happiness, illustrated by the talented Julie Flett. I sought out You Hold Me Up because of my positive experience with that earlier book, and on the whole I found it engaging. I certainly appreciate the intent behind the book, which is to provide a template for humane community behavior for the youngest children, and to encourage healing from the trauma inflicted by Canada's residential school system for First Nations peoples. The illustrations here are done by Danielle Daniel, a Canadian artist who is also of mixed First Nations (Anishinaabe) and European (French and Scottish) ancestry, and have an interesting folk art style to them. I've read through the book three times now, and still can't decided if I like them - I don't find them aesthetically appealing, but they draw my eye and keep my attention, all the same - so perhaps I'll have to track down Ms. Daniel's own Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox, for further consideration. I do have a weakness for fox stories, after all. In any case, this is one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for First Nations/Native American content, as well as to those simply looking for stories to encourage kindness toward all.