Reading aloud to young children is not only one of the best activities to stimulate language and cognitive skills; it also builds motivation, curiosity, and memory.
– Bardige, B. Talk to Me, Baby! (2009), Paul H Brookes Pub Co.
We know how important it is to empower today’s children and families with the tools to improve their reading skills. Having the ability to understand written text provides the foundation for lifelong learning that significantly affects the quality of life and the health and social-economic well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
For I Love To Read Month, we’re sharing three different book series you can read with your children, either to influence their language skills, or learn more about their health needs. Read below to see our book series recommendations, and let us know about your favourite books to read with your children!
Ojibwe Bilingual K-4 Book Series
The Ojibwe bilingual program at the Riverbend School (Seven Oaks School Division) first launched in September 2016, with a curriculum specifically designed to enable children to succeed without requiring parents to have any Ojibwe language skills. With financial support from the Government of Canada, the program developed 15 books dedicated to those who lost their language and those who aspire to learn Anishinaabemowin.
The full series of books is available for free to anyone worldwide – find them here.
Informative eBooks for childhood conditions
Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK), a Knowledge Translation network based at CHRIM, is working to improve children’s emergency care in emergency departments that are not part of a children’s hospital. Part of this work includes empowering parents to make informed decisions when it comes to their child’s care.
Working alongside ECHO Research and ARCHE at the University of Alberta, TREKK has developed a series of informative tools for parents, with evidence-based health information to help them care for their sick children at home, and to aid them in understanding when to seek emergency care. In total, TREKK has 6 eBooks covering topics such as vomiting and diarrhea, bronchiolitis, croup, and chronic pain, developed with the help of health care providers, parents and caregivers.
Find the ebooks and other tools (infographics & videos) here.
SayITFirst Indigenous children’s book series
Founded by Mike Parkhill, SayITFirst has worked to revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada through a series of children’s books. SayITFirst worked with various Elders within the Maliseet, Mi’Kmaw, Ojibwe, and Cree communities to introduce phonetics alongside their Native Languages so parents or teachers have the ability to read the sounds of the language aloud. According to SayITFirst, many parents have commented that they have forgotten how much they knew of the First language sounds growing up. Reading the books to their children and using the phonetics to guide them, they have regained confidence in learning the sounds of their ancestors.
All SayITFirst books are available in Maliseet, Mi’Kmaw, Ojibwe and Cree. As well, all books are written in English, the Native Language and a simplified phonetic system to allow the reader the ability to pronounce the words closely to how they should actually sound. All books have been previewed and translated by various Elders within the Maliseet, Mi’Kmaw, Ojibwe and Cree communities.
Find the full listing of the SayITFirst book series here.
One thing we can do to change the erosion of language and culture is to digitize the older peoples’ knowledge and incorporate it in a way that this information will get consumed by the younger generation
Mike Parkhill, Founder of SayITFirst