A Day with Yayah

A Day with Yayah is Nicola I. Campbell’s way of sharing her First Nation culture with everyone. Set in Nicola Valley, British Columbia one First Nation family goes together on a special hunting trip. Not only to they find the mushrooms and herbs Yayah needs, but the children learn a bit about their culture as well. They learn rituals, about plant life, about the natural world and how to properly pronounce words from their native language.

There is not a lot of action as one comes to expect from a book like this. They do not get “chased by a bear” or have the car break down. The characters do not have to be traditional “clever” and solve a problem. What they do have to do is be clever in a less traditional manner: such as learning which mushrooms and flowers are edible or how to properly produce words. This is a book about learning about a culture that is probably unfamiliar to most people. Due to the longer length, this book also might not be the best “sit down and read” for the young or more active child. It will be a great book to have in the classroom.

The illustrations by Julie Flett are a delightful treat for the eyes. The colors are bright and vivid, but also muted. They do reflect the natural colors around them. The one drawback I found is there is not a key to help the non-native speaker to pronounce the words. There is a glossary in the back to help with the definitions of words.