Nokum Is My Teacher

• Will you walk with me, Grandmother?
  Will you talk with me a while?
  I'm finding life confusing
  And I'm looking for some answers
  To questions all around me
  At that school and on the street.
  You have always been here for me
  Will you help me learn to see?

Nokum Is My Teacher is the poetic story of a young aboriginal boy, posing questions to his grandmother, his "Nokum", about the wider world beyond the familiarity of their home and community. Through a series of questions, Nokum guides her grandson towards an understanding of his need to fit into and learn more about this large world beyond the reserve. Nokum offers her grandson a vision of a world he can enter through imagination and reading, while retaining respect for the ways of his people. By the conclusion of the book, the young grandson has learned many new ideas from his grandmother and discovered his own wisdom in dealing with the changes in his life.

Nokum Is My Teacher is a delightfully packaged book and audio file, combining the written text in English and Cree with the mesmerizing voice of author/storyteller extraordinaire David Bouchard. It is illustrated by the hauntingly beautiful artworks of Allan Sapp, Cree elder, Governor General's Award-winner, and Officer of the Order of Canada. The singing and drumming are done by Alberta's Northern Cree, who have been nominated for a Grammy Award (2007) in the 'Native American music album' category.

For the audio files go to www.fitzhenry.ca/usercontent/Audio/NokumIsMyTeacher-English.mp3 to hear the audio of the spoken words in English, with the wonderful music of Northern Cree,
or
go to www.fitzhenry.ca/usercontent/Audio/NokumIsMyTeacher-Cree.mp3 to hear the audio of the spoken words in Cree, again with the wonderful music of Northern Cree.

The French/Cree version is available in hardcover with an enclosed CD as Nokum: Ma Voix et Mon Coeur.

This is part of a series of aboriginal books David Bouchard has developed with Red Deer Press.