I recently received an Early Reviewer copy from Librarything of the picture book Metis Like Me by Tasha Hilderman and Risa Hugo and want to share the review I submitted. Hope you enjoy!
The inviting cover of colorful beaded flowers, replete with raised bumps, begs to be touched. And endpapers with more Metis designs usher readers to enter the book to its opening question: “Are you Metis like me?” Several children in an open field adorn the first spread, and from the start illustrator Risa Hugo imbues the kids with personalities. One by one, different narrators share their stories, relating their connection to a Metis cultural tradition: making bannock, fishing, berry picking, doing crafts, showing off their moccasins, telling stories, dancing. And their tales connect with one another as if in conversation: “I am Metis too, and I always take bannock for breakfast on the boat.” “We don’t tell stories in our family, but we do like to sing–and dance!” Intergenerational and familial connections thread through both text and pictures. One young narrator is Metis but doesn’t know the history or cultural traditions of his people; Another is not Metis but loves listening to stories and having Metis friends as depicted in the final spread of ten children around a fire. An author’s note gives background info to further introduce and explain Metis culture.
With one spread declaing: "We are strong! We are resilient! We are still here!, the book shares a similar and important theme of We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom and Michaela Goade.