Indigenous Peoples in Canada

In this story, Gus and Tom are upset. Miss Sam helps them smudge to feel better.

Mi’gmaq burn sage and other traditional medicines to smudge. Smudging helps people let go of sadness and anger.

What do you do when you are feeling sad?

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4-7, for use in kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms.

Cedar School Decodables is divided into six sets, which increase in word count and complexity of sentence structure. We Smudge is in Set 5 – Ending Spelling Patterns, and reviews -tch and -dge. Books in Set 5 have 100-110 words.  

Readers should be familiar with the concepts included in Set 1 to Set 5: 

• consonants 

• beginning and end blends 

• short and long vowels 

• digraphs 

• suffixes and ending spelling patterns 

• a /o/ 

• s – /s/ and /z/ 

• VC-CV, V/CV, VC/V, and compound words 

Series Information
Welcome to Cedar School! Join Liv, Tom, Gus, and Bell as they learn on the land and explore Mi’gmaw teachings with their teacher, Miss Sam, and the school’s Mi’gmaw Elder, Jen. With charming illustrations and simple storylines, this decodable series engages students as they practise their reading skills. Each book includes a pre-reading review of non-decodable words, and many of the books introduce special words related to Indigenous teachings. Talking Together prompts facilitate discussions led by the reading teacher. 

Developed in partnership with Dyslexia Canada, Cedar School Decodables is a series of 20 decodable books for young readers. Designed for students who have previously learned short vowel and consonant sounds, additional phonic skills are developed progressively throughout the series.

The series will be accompanied by Cedar School Decodables Teacher’s Guide and a series of four picture books, which will be available at a later date.

Additional Information
16 pages | 6.5” x 5.5” | Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-77174-650-2

In this story, Miss Sam and the class are exploring the forest when they see an animal track on Cub Path! What animal made it?

Mi’gmaq use tracks to find animals in the forest. Mi’gmaq live in balance with the land and honour the animals that live on it.

Have you ever seen an animal track?

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4-7, for use in kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms.

Cedar School Decodables is divided into six sets, which increase in word count and complexity of sentence structure. What Track Is This? is in Set 2 – Digraphs, and reviews ck, sh, and th (voiced and unvoiced). Books in Set 2 have 60-80 words. 

Readers should be familiar with the concepts included in Set 1 and Set 2:

• consonants
• beginning and end blends
• short vowels
• digraphs
• a /o/
• s – /s/ and /z/
• -s suffix

Series Information
Welcome to Cedar School! Join Liv, Tom, Gus, and Bell as they learn on the land and explore Mi’gmaw teachings with their teacher, Miss Sam, and the school’s Mi’gmaw Elder, Jen. With charming illustrations and simple storylines, this decodable series engages students as they practise their reading skills. Each book includes a pre-reading review of non-decodable words, and many of the books introduce special words related to Indigenous teachings. Talking Together prompts facilitate discussions led by the reading teacher. 

Developed in partnership with Dyslexia Canada, Cedar School Decodables is a series of 20 decodable books for young readers. Designed for students who have previously learned short vowel and consonant sounds, additional phonic skills are developed progressively throughout the series.

The series will be accompanied by Cedar School Decodables Teacher’s Guide and a series of four picture books, which will be available at a later date.

Additional Information
16 pages | 6.5” x 5.5” | Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-77174-641-0

In this story, Jen and the class pick wild strawberries. Back at school, Jen makes strawberry jam.

Wild strawberries grow throughout Mi’gmaw territory. Mi’gmaq harvest berries and other plants for food and medicine.

Have you ever gone berry picking?

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4-7, for use in kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms.

Cedar School Decodables is divided into six sets, which increase in word count and complexity of sentence structure. Wild Strawberries is in Set 5 – Ending Spelling Patterns, and reviews -ild, -old, -ind, -olt, and -ost. Books in Set 5 have 100-110 words.  

Readers should be familiar with the concepts included in Set 1 to Set 5: 

• consonants 

• beginning and end blends 

• short and long vowels 

• digraphs 

• suffixes and ending spelling patterns 

• a /o/ 

• s – /s/ and /z/ 

• VC-CV, V/CV, VC/V, and compound words 

Series Information
Welcome to Cedar School! Join Liv, Tom, Gus, and Bell as they learn on the land and explore Mi’gmaw teachings with their teacher, Miss Sam, and the school’s Mi’gmaw Elder, Jen. With charming illustrations and simple storylines, this decodable series engages students as they practise their reading skills. Each book includes a pre-reading review of non-decodable words, and many of the books introduce special words related to Indigenous teachings. Talking Together prompts facilitate discussions led by the reading teacher. 

Developed in partnership with Dyslexia Canada, Cedar School Decodables is a series of 20 decodable books for young readers. Designed for students who have previously learned short vowel and consonant sounds, additional phonic skills are developed progressively throughout the series.

The series will be accompanied by Cedar School Decodables Teacher’s Guide and a series of four picture books, which will be available at a later date.

Additional Information
16 pages | 6.5” x 5.5” | Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-77174-651-9

Everyone is welcome in the circle.

In this warmhearted book, we join Molly at the Intertribal Community Center, where she introduces us to people she knows and loves: her grandmother and her grandmother’s wife, her uncles and their baby, her cousins, and her treasured friends.

They dance, sing, garden, learn, pray, and eat together. And tonight, they come together for a feast! Molly shares with the reader how each person makes her feel—and reminds us that love is love.

Through tender prose and radiant artwork, author Monique Gray Smith (Cree/Lakota) and illustrator Nicole Neidhardt (Diné) show how there is always room for others in our lives. Circle of Love is a story celebrating family, friends, community, and, most of all, love.

Includes an author’s note, contextual notes, and glossary.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 8

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.00" x 10.00" | Hardcover 

This fun guessing book features a variety of North American Indigenous animals and is a great repetitive rhyming book that teaches shapes to young children.

Educator Information
Recommended for preschool and kindergarten students.

Additional Information
Hardcover

Clyde River, Nunavut is a great place to live! In this bilingual picture book, Louise tells us about all the things she and her family like to do. With the annual fishing derby in the spring and Hamlet Day in the summer, there are lots of fun things to do throughout the year. Winter brings plenty of time to connect with people in the community and support each other. Learn about the different activities people do in each season in Clyde River, its landmarks, and the amazing wildlife you can see there, like bowhead whales.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 5.

Dual-Language: English & Inuktitut 

This book is part of the Community Connections series.

Additional Information
27 pages | 8.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

Learning to count is easy and fun with Counting at Kits Beach. Follow Oliver McDonald’s delightful and colourful pictures, which count various beings at Kits (Kitsilano) Beach, Vancouver. The images begin at ten and count down to one, the last being the sunset. Then come back to Kits Beach and watch and count again. Children ages three to six will love Counting at Kits Beach!

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 6.

Additional Information
24 pages | 8.00" x 6.50"

Read along with Duck and Cub and learn the Short 'u' Vowel.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for K-2.

This book is part of the Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection Series 1. It is recommended for K-2 for learning short vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Teach children short vowels in the context of cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in the high-frequency and fun Indigenous Decodable Books. Books in this series provide the systematic practice children need to become phonics-wise readers. These stories bring Indigenous content that is much needed in any phonics program. Each book contains a word list, high-frequency words, story words, short vowel words, and two fun activities for extended learning.

Additional Information
Paperback 

Read Grandfather Rock and learn the Short ‘o’ Vowel.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for K-2.

This book is part of the Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection Series 1. It is recommended for K-2 for learning short vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Teach children short vowels in the context of cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in the high-frequency and fun Indigenous Decodable Books. Books in this series provide the systematic practice children need to become phonics-wise readers. These stories bring Indigenous content that is much needed in any phonics program. Each book contains a word list, high-frequency words, story words, short vowel words, and two fun activities for extended learning.

Additional Information
Paperback 

In this decodable book, read along with Jan and learn the Short 'a' Vowel.  

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for K-2.

This book is part of the Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection Series 1. It is recommended for K-2 for learning short vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Teach children short vowels in the context of cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in the high-frequency and fun Indigenous Decodable Books. Books in this series provide the systematic practice children need to become phonics-wise readers. These stories bring Indigenous content that is much needed in any phonics program. Each book contains a word list, high-frequency words, story words, short vowel words, and two fun activities for extended learning.

Additional Information
Paperback 

Read along with Rhett and Jett and learn the Short ‘e’ Vowel.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for K-2.

This book is part of the Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection Series 1. It is recommended for K-2 for learning short vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Teach children short vowels in the context of cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in the high-frequency and fun Indigenous Decodable Books. Books in this series provide the systematic practice children need to become phonics-wise readers. These stories bring Indigenous content that is much needed in any phonics program. Each book contains a word list, high-frequency words, story words, short vowel words, and two fun activities for extended learning.

Additional Information
Paperback 

Read along with Tim and Robin and learn the Short ‘i’ Vowel.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for K-2.

This book is part of the Drumbeat Decodable Book Collection Series 1. It is recommended for K-2 for learning short vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Teach children short vowels in the context of cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words in the high-frequency and fun Indigenous Decodable Books. Books in this series provide the systematic practice children need to become phonics-wise readers. These stories bring Indigenous content that is much needed in any phonics program. Each book contains a word list, high-frequency words, story words, short vowel words, and two fun activities for extended learning.

Additional Information
Paperback 

The uplifting true story of Elizabeth Quocksister, a strong Indigenous woman and community leader, who dedicated her life to protecting her language and cultural traditions.

Elizabeth Quocksister (1925–81) had many roles in her life. She was a cultural teacher, a community leader, a dancer, a nurse, a photographer, a residential school survivor, and a mother of ten. Born on the Da’naxda’xw Nation on Knight Inlet on the central coast of British Columbia, Elizabeth spoke fluent Kwak’wala and proudly celebrated her Kwakwaka’wakw culture at a time when the Canadian government actively discouraged Indigenous traditions and the speaking of Indigenous languages. She cared for community members in need and saved many children from the horrors of residential school. She chronicled the daily lives, important events, and changing times of her community through photography—preserving her people’s history and culture for future generations. This inspiring picture book is a beautiful tribute to a proud Indigenous woman whose name deserves to be well-known throughout her community and beyond.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.00" x 9.00" | Paperback 

A heartwarming story about lifelong love and loss told from the perspective of a grandfather’s favorite chair.

Grampy’s chair sits in the middle of his living room and always keeps an eye on My Love. The Chair is the perfect spot for My Love to learn to read, to play games with her friends, and The Chair is always extra soft when My Love is sick. As My Love grows up, The Chair sees Grampy grow older and My Love must care for him. One day Grampy is gone, and The Chair is moved to a space with only a few things it recognizes (and a few spiders too). Will it see My Love again?

In this poignant story inspired by her own grandfather and his chair, Rebecca Thomas invites readers of all ages to explore love, grief, and the important moments in life that take place in our favorite spots. With lively illustrations from Coco A. Lynge and featuring a heartfelt author’s note, Grampy's Chair takes the readers through loss, and how we can be found again by the ones we love.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 to 7.

Additional Information
36 pages | 7.65" x 10.25" | Hardcover 

This beautifully crafted picture book celebrates one of the world's most awesome animals: the polar bear. Evocative but simple text by award-winning musician and artist Tanya Tagaq is accompanied by striking art in this classic counting book.

Beginning with 1 proud polar bear standing tall and ending with 10 bears waving goodbye, this delightful counting book shows polar bears in all their forms: slippery and fast, crafty and cool, hungry and proud. Tanya has created a story meant to be read aloud, incorporating simple Inuktitut words and using her keen ear for the musical sound of language.

This book is joyful, powerful, clever and striking — much like the bears who sniff, slide, swim, hunt, play and dance through its pages. And when you get to the last page, you won't be able to resist going back to repeat the journey!

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Concepts: Counting & Numbers; Animals - Polar Bears.

This book is meant to be read aloud and incorporates simple Inuktitut words.

Additional Information
24 pages | 10.50" x 9.00"