Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh / This Is How I Know: Niibing, dgwaagig, bboong, mnookmig dbaadjigaade maanpii mzin’igning / A Book About the Seasons
by Brittany Luby; illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley; trans. from Anishinaabemowin by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere
Preschool, Primary    Groundwood    40 pp.    g
3/21    978-1-77306-326-3    $18.95
e-book ed.  978-1-77306-327-0    $16.95

A child and their grownup experience the seasons together in this bilingual (Anishinaabemowin and English) picture book. The text follows a question-and-answer pattern. Each query rests on a double-page spread with loads of white space and a visual clue signaling the response to come. In the first spread, for example, a zoomed-in image of three blueberries rests on the verso page, while the following text appears on the recto: “Aaniish ezhi-gkendmaanh niibing? / How do I know summer is here?” The responses to each question include visceral, sensory-rich descriptions of how each season is experienced through the characters’ observations and absorption into the natural world (“Pii pinion gaa-giizhiwaabidegin mgising / gzhaawngideg gewe negwiki.” / “When blueberries drop readily, / and the sand is hot enough to sting”). Throughout, the gray-haired character is shown taking care of the child by preparing food, mending footwear, and more. The digital art, with its jewel tones and thick black outlines, at times resembles stained glass. Other spreads feature shadows and gradients beautifully depicting the aurora borealis, sunsets over water, and calming rays of winter sunshine streaming through a bedroom window. A warmhearted depiction of the seasons and intergenerational closeness.

From the July/August 2021 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.