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Orca Origins is a nonfiction series for middle readers that explores cultural traditions around the world. This guide helps educators use the Orca Origins series to build an inquiry-based unit plan that focuses on the diverse traditions from different cultural celebrations around the world and teaches students tolerance. This is done with a variety of dynamic learning activities, handouts and graphic organizers to support students’ learning. The guide includes introductions to six Orca Origins titles: Birthdays, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Diwali, Passover, and Ramadan.

Key Points:

• In the current climate of divisiveness, it is now more important than ever to encourage multicultural understanding -- this guide shows educators how to do that in the classroom.
• Tasha Henry is an experienced educator who holds a Master of Education in Language, Culture, and Teaching.
• Themes include inquiry-based learning, responsive teaching, multicultural education, teaching to diversity.

Additional Information
48 pages | 11.00" x 8.50"

Orcas are found in every ocean on the planet. But can they survive their relationship with humans? Orcas Everywhere looks at how humans around the world (Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike) related to orcas in the past, how we relate to them now and what we can do to keep cetacean communities alive and thriving. The book deals with science, philosophy, environmentalism and ethics in a kid-friendly and accessible way. Writer, filmmaker and orca activist Mark Leiren-Young takes us back to when killer whales were considered monsters and examines how humans went from using orcas for target practice to nearly loving them to death. If you know a young person who loves Free Willy or Finding Nemo, they will fall in love with these whales.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 9-12.

Some Indigenous content, but it is not the sole focus of this work.

This book is part of the Orca Wild series, which explores the lives of the creatures with whom we share the world and asks readers to consider the effects -- both positive and negative -- that humans have on vulnerable animal populations and habitats.

Additional Information
160 pages | 7.50" x 9.00"

These young people from across the globe are raising awareness about what issues matter to them most. Jaelun Parkerson from the USA kneels with his football teammates during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice; Canadian Autumn Peltier spoke in front of the United Nations to raise awareness about water pollution; and Melati Wijsen from Indonesia started working at twelve-years-old to convince her government to ban plastic bags.

From climate action to cyberbullying, from gun violence to animal protection, these young activists have brought about real change.

Reviews
“A useful addition to a growing body of literature challenging young readers to help make change in the world.” - Kirkus Reviews

“The number one thing that I can say about Our Future by Janet Wilson is that it is an incredibly uplifting book to read.” - Reader Fox

“The accounts are easy to read and accompanied by appealing illustrations and relevant photos; readers will find plenty to identify with here. Our Future: How Kids are Taking Action is a useful addition to any collection on these topics…Highly Recommended.” - CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Educator Information
Includes youth from around the globe, including Indigenous youth, such as Autumn Peltier and Ta'Kaiya Blaney.  Not all profiles are of Indigenous activists.

Recommended Ages: 7 to 12.

Part of the How Kids Are Making a Difference Series.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.50" x 8.50"

There are almost eight billion people alive today. Having that many people in the world puts pressure on both social and natural resources, and we have to ask ourselves difficult questions like, What is our fair share? And how do we share more equitably? Ours to Share starts by giving an overview of human population growth, from the time when there were only a few hundred thousand people until now. The book goes on to examine some of the inequities that happen between people when natural and social resources are stressed and provides examples of people who have found innovative ways to share more equitably with their neighbors. The book also examines the impact our expanding population has had on other species. Finally, the book offers suggestions for actions kids can take to better the world from their own home, school and community.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Orca Footprint series. Kids today inhabit a world full of complex—and often mystifying—environmental issues. Orca Footprints aim to help kids answer their questions about the state of the natural world with well-researched, simply-expressed information and powerful images. With topics such as food production, water, cycling and sustainable energy, these books will inspire kids to take action.

Recommended for ages 9 to 12.

Keywords: access to resources, loss of habitat, human rights, overpopulation, equality, community.

Additional Information
48 pages | 8.00" x 9.50"

When her friends won’t share their toys, Snow Bunting becomes very angry! How can she deal with her anger?

Lemming is calm and patient with Snow Bunting, and lets her talk about her feelings to help her see her anger from a different perspective.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Nunavummi Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Emotional Literacy Series. These books feature thoughtful, engaging stories that teach children to identify and regulate their emotions in healthy ways. The delightful cast of anthropomorphic animal characters each personifies a different emotion.

This is the French version of Sometimes I Feel Angry.

Recommended for ages 6 to 8.

Additional Information
24 pages | 9.00" x 9.00"

Siksik is jealous when she hears her parents are going to have another baby. Explore a number of emotions as Siksik’s friends try to cheer her up. Arctic Hare is excited for all the fun Siksik can have with the new baby.

Snowy Owl thinks babies are boring. And Husky Puppy is curious as to what type of person Siksik’s new sibling will grow up to be!

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Nunavummi Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Emotional Literacy Series. These books feature thoughtful, engaging stories that teach children to identify and regulate their emotions in healthy ways. The delightful cast of anthropomorphic animal characters each personifies a different emotion.

This is the French version of Sometimes I Feel Jealous.

Recommended for ages 6 to 8.

Additional Information
24 pages | 9.00" x 9.00"

Ptarmigan feels sad and lonely. She just moved to a new community and doesn’t have any friends yet.

Follow along as Walrus helps Ptarmigan see how she can be a little less lonely, and see how Walrus and Ptarmigan become good friends in the process!

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Nunavummi Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Emotional Literacy Series. These books feature thoughtful, engaging stories that teach children to identify and regulate their emotions in healthy ways. The delightful cast of anthropomorphic animal characters each personifies a different emotion.

This resource is also available in English: Sometimes I Feel Lonely.

Recommended for ages 6 to 8.

Additional Information
24 pages | 9.00" x 9.00"

Aqi is so excited to go berry picking with Oumi. But when it starts to snow, her plans are ruined, and she becomes sad! See how Oumi helps Aqi imagine all of the fun activities they can do in the new snow to cheer Aqi up.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Nunavummi Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Emotional Literacy Series. These books feature thoughtful, engaging stories that teach children to identify and regulate their emotions in healthy ways. The delightful cast of anthropomorphic animal characters each personifies a different emotion.

This resource is also available in English: Sometimes I Feel Sad.

Recommended for ages 6 to 8.

Additional Information
24 pages | 9.00" x 9.00"

Who is in your family?

This book introduces children to the names of people in a family. Colourful illustrations guide children to practise reading the single word on each page.

Educator & Series Information 
This book helps children to practise terms for different family members.  It helps children build vocabulary and literacy skills.

This book is part of the Nunavummi Reading Series, a Nunavut-developed series that supports literacy learning while teaching readers about the people, traditions, and environment of the Canadian Arctic.  It is a Level 3 book in the series. 

Nunavummi Reading Series books have also been officially levelled using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient™ Levelling System. This book's F&P Level is LB.

Curriculum Connections: Language and literacy; Diversity; Indigenous perspectives

Recommended for ages 3-6.

Additional Information 
12 pages | 7.00" x 7.00"

When Phyllis was a little girl she was excited to go to residential school for the first time. Her Granny bought her a bright orange shirt that she loved and she wore it to school for her first day. When she arrived at school her bright orange shirt was taken away. This is both Phyllis Webstad's true story and the story behind Orange Shirt Day which is a day for us all to reflect upon the treatment of First Nations people and the message that 'Every Child Matters'.

Educator Information
Phyllis's Orange Shirt is an adaptation of The Orange Shirt Story which was the best selling children's book in Canada for several weeks in September 2018. This true story also inspired the movement of Orange Shirt Day which could become a federal statutory holiday.  A page of information about this day is included at the end of the book.  A short author biography is also included.

Adapted for ages 4-6.

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2020/2021 resource list for grades K-1 in the areas of English Language Arts and Social Studies.

This book is available in French: Le chandail orange de Phyllis

Additional Information
30 pages | 9.00" x 8.00"

What is in your community?

This book features the names of different places in a Northern community, such as the church and the school.

Educator & Series Information 
This book is part of the Nunavummi Reading Series, a Nunavut-developed series that supports literacy learning while teaching readers about the people, traditions, and environment of the Canadian Arctic.  It is a Level 3 book in the series. 

Nunavummi Reading Series books have also been officially levelled using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient™ Levelling System. This book's F&P Level is LB.

Curriculum Connections: Language and literacy; Indigenous perspectives; Community engagement

Recommended for ages 3-6.

Additional Information 
12 pages | 7.00" x 9.00"

Priscilla is only four years old when her mother is sold to another master. All Priscilla has to remember her mother by are the hollyhocks she planted by the cow pond. At age ten, Priscilla is sold to a Cherokee family and continues her life as a slave. She keeps hope for a better life alive by planting hollyhocks wherever she goes. At last, her forced march along the Trail of Tears brings a chance encounter that leads to her freedom.

Includes an author's note with more details about this fascinating true story as well as instructions for making hollyhock dolls.

Reviews
"While researching the Cherokee Trail of Tears for a novel she was writing, Anne Broyles discovered Priscilla’s story. Priscilla and the Hollyhocks offers a somewhat different story of slavery in America, a story unknown to many — or at least to me, anyway — African slaves who were not owned by whites, but by Native Americans." - Don Tate for The Brown Bookshelf

"When Priscilla's mother is sold to a new owner and the two are separated, the young slave girl finds solace in her mother's hollyhock patch. As she grows older, the kind words of a white businessman, Basil Silkwood, instill in Priscilla a desire to attend school, but she is soon sold to a Cherokee family, and her life of servitude continues. As her Native American owners embark on the grueling journey west, known as the 1838 "Trail of Tears," she again meets the compassionate Silkwood, who purchases her freedom.... Based on real events, Broyles' poetic and colloquial narrative, voiced by a grown Priscilla, ends with the girl sowing the seeds of her mother's hollyhocks near her new home with the Silkwoods and an author's note detailing the historical basis of the story." - Kristen McKulski, Booklist 

"This is a well written story based on facts. Anne Broyles takes us on a journey into Priscilla’s childhood as she is sold from one family to another until she found Massa Silkwood who set her free and adopted her into his family of fifteen. Priscilla was not only saved by Mr. Silkwood but also by hollyhocks. Old Sylvia told her how her mother will make hollyhock dolls and set it to sail on the cow pond. When she watches her flower dolls float on the cow pond she felt her mother’s smile. Is show how the flowers represented a strong memory of her mother who was sold when she was a very young child. Priscilla always had a hand full of seeds with her and planed them where ever she went. She was sold to a Cherokee family when her master died. Read about the brief history of the Cherokee as they were told to leave their homes and lands. Priscilla found freedom and a happy life thereafter. Great illustrations by Anna Alter which capture the story. I highly recommend this book for every schools and libraries." - Mymcbooks

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 9.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.56" x 11.06"

La série Les Sept enseignements des Anishinaabeg (l’amour, la sagesse, l’humilité, le courage, le respect, l’honnêteté et la vérité) sont au coeur de ces sept histoires pour enfants. Se déroulant en milieu urbain et mettant en scène des enfants autochtones auxquels tous les jeunes lecteurs pourront s’identifier, ces histoires abordent les thèmes du foyer et de la famille.Miskwaadesi n’est pas sure de bien comprendre ce qu’est la vérité. Pourtant, elle en sait beaucoup plus qu’elle ne le croit.

Educator & Series Information
This is the French version of The Seven Teachings Stories What is Truth, Betsy?, which is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Une adaptation du roman à succès Les bas du pensionnat pour les lecteurs débutants!

Olemaun a huit ans et elle sait beaucoup de choses. Mais elle ne sait pas lire. Faisant fi des avertissements de son père, elle effectue un long voyage pour aller à l'école des étrangers.

Au pensionnat, les religieuses lui retirent son nom. Elles rasent ses cheveux et la forcent à faire des tâches ménagères, mais Olemaun demeure imperturbable. Sa ténacité attire l'attention d'une religieuse vêtue d'une longue robe noire, qui tente de briser son esprit à la moindre occasion. Mais Olemaun est plus déterminée que jamais à apprendre à lire.

Basé sur la vraie histoire de Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, cet album rend le roman à succès Les bas du pensionnat accessible aux lecteurs plus jeunes. Maintenant, eux aussi peuvent faire la rencontre de cette jeune fille remarquable qui nous rappelle tout le pouvoir que l'on détient quand on sait lire.

Educator Information
Ages 6+

This resource is also available in English: When I Was Eight.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.95" x 9.00"

This beautiful, bold book celebrates the achievements of LGBT people through history and from around the world. It features dynamic full-color portraits of a diverse selection of 53 inspirational role models accompanied by short biographies that focus on their incredible successes, from Freddie Mercury's contribution to music to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, this extraordinary book will show children that anything is possible.

Discover the inspiring stories of these LGBT artists, writers, innovators, athletes, and activists who have made great contributions to culture, from ancient times to present day:

Freddie Mercury, Sappho, Audre Lorde, Manvendra Singh Gohil, Frida Kahlo, Emma Gonzalez, James Baldwin, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Wang, Subhi Nahas, Tove Jansson, Alan Turing, Michelangelo, Martina Navratilova, Sia, Tim Cook, Pedro Almodovar, Virginia Woolf, Tchaikovsky, Vikram Seth, Yotam Ottolenghi, Johanna Sigurðardóttir, Marsha Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, David Bowie, Kasha Nabagsera, Lili Elbe, Matthew Bourne, Alvin Ailey, Harvey Milk, Willem Arondeus, Nergis Mavalvala, Rufus Wainwright, Marlene Dietrich, Larry Kramer, Didier Lestrade, Nabuko Yoshiya, Bayard Rustin, Claire Harvey, Barbara Jordan, Josephine Baker, k.d. lang, Kristen Stewart, Jazz Jennings, Elio di Rupo, Oscar Wilde, Harish Iyer, Khalid Abdel-Hadi, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, Ellen DeGeneres, and Portia de Rossi.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 10 to 15.

Additional Information
64 pages | 9.62" x 11.25"