The Song Within My Heart by D. Bouchard

Bouchard, David. The Song Within My Heart. Markham: Red Deer Press, 2015. Print.Similar to Nokum is My Teacher, David Bouchard and Allen Sapp team up to tell the story of a young boy and his Nokum, his grandmother. Drawing upon his memories, illustrator Allen Sapp paints rich, expressive images of his own Nokum while Bouchard, in the form of a poem, tells the story of a young boy’s first experience of a Pow-wow. Bouchard and Sapp warmly guide the reader to more deeply understand the sacredness of story and song. They highlight the importance of learning to listen with one’s whole being and not just with one’s ears; to crave more than a direct understanding of the words of a story or a song, but to feel its broader presence as a teaching, as a living part of the teller, and as part of an ongoing journey of learning and self-discovery. Through the wisdom of his Nokum both the narrator and we, as readers, come to know that “[a] story is a sacred thing,” and that stories – especially those we carry in our hearts and “call our own” – are more valuable than “toys or clothes,” than “jewels or cars.” Given the sacredness of stories, we are cautioned to “never use another’s tale, [u]nless he knows and he approves.” The book, along with the drum beats and voices present on the accompanying CD, invites us to think differently about what it means to learn and what it means to respect our own voices and internal knowing. As if to remind us that gentleness is always required in processes of learning, the book ends with a reminder not to worry if we cannot yet understand its message and encourages its readers to continue to listen in these more complex ways, to keep listening for a story they might come to hear, that no one else hears - a story of their very own. The book is written for elementary children and yet appeals to all ages. For those wanting to create spaces for the stories of Indigenous children and families, books such as The Song Within My Heart are essential. Not only does it give equal space upon the page for both English and Cree text but with the CD, also inclusive of both English and Cree Language versions and the music of Northern Cree, it also honours oral storytelling traditions.Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewers: Trudy Cardinal & Sulya FenichelDr. Trudy Cardinal is a Cree/Métis scholar from the University of Alberta whose research interests center on the experiences of Indigenous children and families on and off school landscapes. Her passion for stories and storytelling includes a love of children’s literature especially literature written by and portraying the multiplicities in the lives of Indigenous youth and families.Sulya Fenichel is a doctoral student at the University of Alberta. Mindful of important, and increasing, mandates to include Indigenous approaches to living and learning into contemporary curricula she is fascinated by the ‘how’ of interconnection and communication between people(s) and disciplines. In her research, she hopes to explore the ways in which key, and sometimes ideologically entrenched, ‘stakeholder’ groups might improve communication and collaboration in processes of education and sees storytelling, in all its forms, as central to this process.