Welcome to Litsy!

Today was long and ridiculous but I came home to lots of book mail! I won a prize package for our summer reading program at the library!! The artwork is from the tagged book.

A love letter from a mother to baby, incorporating the Indigenous author‘s cultural beliefs that the baby chooses the parents. Beautiful illustrations #bbrc #picturebook:i

Michaela Goade (Tlingit) has created beautiful illustrations for this Indigenous picture book aimed at preschoolers. Tasha Spillett-Sumner (Cree & Trinidadian) tells an infant about their arrival on earth, incorporating traditional beliefs. The text is rather cloying, but this is a comforting story for babies so I guess that‘s allowed. #Canadian #Indigenous #kidlit

You arrived in the spring, with the waters that come when the ice breaks and the rivers flow again.
For the first time, after our long wait, I looked down at you and found stars in your eyes.
Our hearts danced together.
I honoured your journey from the Sky by passing on the gifts I had gathered for you. This, my baby, is your sacred medicine bundle.

This picture book about preparing for the arrival of an infant is specifically about biological motherhood, since there are several mentions about “you” being “in my belly.”

I'm a big fan of everything I've read from both Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Michaela Goade, so hearing that they were doing a picture book together had me really excited. I Sang You Down From the Stars is everything I hoped for and more. The story is as sweet as can be, offering up all the love of a mother for a baby and the ways culture can bind us. The rhythm is gentle and pulls you in. The art is absolutely stunning. Highly recommended!

4 ⭐
This book is interesting because it gives the read a view into traditions of a indigenous peoples, in this case the Nation of Inniniwak. It‘s a different type of story about how heritage and traditions are passed from family member to family member, and how stars chose their family to become babies. And lets not forget about the amazing illustrations also done by an indigenous person of the Tlingit Nation, also known as People of the Tides.