Review by Booklist Review
This recent creation from acclaimed and prolific author/illustrator Nelson will make for an entertaining and informative read-aloud. Eight-year-old Clara is spending the summer with her unci (grandmother) and cousin Juniper, who live on the Standing Rock Reservation. It is an important transitional time for Clara: her first summer away from home. Unci and Uncle Louie fill the girls' days with activities, some of which include opportunities to learn Lakota traditions. These include the raising of the family tipi, in which family members gather for storytelling and remembering how to "live in the great Circle of Life." While parts of Grandma's Tipi are clearly intended to inform and instruct, other parts are about being a kid in the summer. Detailed, energetic acrylic illustrations bring Clara's time vividly to life. The author's note provides historical and cultural context about the design, decoration, and significance of tipis for a variety of American Indian tribes, as well as the author's personal family connection to the historical documentation of tipis.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A loving intergenerational relationship forms the basis of this portrait of two Indigenous cousins engaging with Lakota customs and elders. Now that she's a rising third grader, Clara gets to spend solo time with her grandmother and cousin Juniper on the Standing Rock Reservation where they live. After their uncle Louie brings the family tipi over, their grandmother, who is its keeper, lights a braid of sweetgrass before the cousins help to erect the structure and spend time in it--eating, sleeping, withstanding a storm, and joining in community. While bonding with family, they learn that "the circle of our tipi has a story to tell... it is about remembering how to live in the great Circle of Life"; they also learn how to bead, paint spirit pictures, and dry meat, components of heritage that Clara retains when summer ends. Standing Rock Sioux creator Nelson couples luminous acrylic art--inspired by 19th-century ledger drawings, per a note--and text vignettes in this personal-feeling work. An author's note concludes. Ages 4--8. (May)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Nelson (Sitting Bull, rev. 11/15; Red Cloud, rev. 7/17) shares Indigenous traditions and practices involving tipis that continue in modern times. Young Clara comes to stay with her unci (grandmother) and cousin Juniper, who live on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Over the course of an idyllic summer, the two girls learn about their history, particularly about the family tipi, a precious object that has been passed down through the generations and has profound significance for their family. The girls have lunch in the tipi; their unci braids their hair in the tipi; they even sleep in it overnight. Their unci adds the girls to the family's generational story by asking each granddaughter about her aspirations (Juniper wants to be a basketball player; Clara, a pilot) and then making their spirit paintings on the outside of the tipi. Nelson's vibrant illustrations are stylized to reflect Lakota ledger drawings. He effortlessly blends this art style into his realistic, authentic depictions of modern Lakota life. An extensive author's note provides more information about tipis from prehistory to the present and information about Nelson's own family. Also appended are a photo of a Lakota beaded dress (circa 1900) and tipis in use during the Standing Rock protest. (c) Copyright 2023. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two young Lakota children learn about their Indigenous culture from loving elders. Clara can't wait for an extended summer visit with her cousin Juniper and their unci (grandma) on the Standing Rock Reservation. The excitement only builds when Uncle Louie arrives in his red pickup with "a large canvas-cloth bundle" and "poles, as long as could be"--the family's tipi, of which Unci is the keeper. Unci teaches Clara and Juniper through storytelling about "the circle of our tipi" and its connection to Cangleska Wakan, or the "Sacred Hoop." Nelson (Standing Rock Sioux) depicts his people's customs with reverence; from burning sweetgrass to painting the canvas walls with spirit pictures, the grandchildren's cultural inheritance is illustrated with warm, beautifully textured details. Under Unci and Uncle Louie's loving guidance, Clara and Juniper learn more of their Lakota traditions: drying meat into bah-pah (jerky), beading necklaces and traditional dresses, and the hilarious antics of heyokas (sacred clowns). These practices have endured over time, just like the family tipi, built to withstand heat, wind, and rain. When Clara's time on the Standing Rock Reservation comes to an end, the rich lessons of her heritage stay with her--just as they will with young readers, who will be drawn in by both Nelson's moving narration and glowing images. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A love letter to Lakota traditions. (author's note, photographs) (Picture book. 5-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
