Song | Children's Books Heal

Still This Love Goes On

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Author and Songwriter

Julie Flett, Illustrator

Greystone Kids, Poetry, September 22, 2022

Pages: 40

Suitable for ages: 3-7 years

A New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2022

NAMED A BEST PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR: Kirkus Reviews, Globe and Mail, and Chicago Public Library

Themes: Indigenous people, Nature, Seasons, Family, Community, Traditions, Song

Opening: “Sat beside a beaver dam and watched the winter grow. Ice was hard with little tracks appearing on the snow.”

Publisher’s Synopsis:

With breathtaking lyrics by internationally renowned Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie and stunning images by award-winning Cree-Métis author and illustrator Julie Flett, this picture book, based on the same name, is a love letter celebrating seasons, place, Indigenous traditions and community. At the hear of the heart of the picture book is a gentle message about missing our loves ones and promise of seeing each other again.

It is a song of hope Of power and place and change and time. Of summer flowers turning tields to sun, and hearts filled with drumbeats. Read it. Sing it. Share it.

Why I love Still This Love Goes On:

I am always searching for beautiful books that represent the Indigenous and Native American cultures for children. It mention sweetgrass, morning, cranes, horses, buffalo, drums, jingle dresses and starlit nights, which highlight the relationship between the people and their culture. This book is a gem.

Julie Flett’s two-page spreads will mesmerize children as they pour over her beautiful pastels. I love that there is so much space in each spread, which gives the artist the time to work her magic with readers. The cover is beautiful!

Resources: There is sheet music of Buffy Sainte Marie’s beloved song at the end. And make sure your read both Buffy and Julies about messages to readers about the inspiration behind the music and the artwork for this very happy book. If you are American or Canadian, read books about the indigenous people in your area. Enjoy indigenous artwork. And celebrate Indigenous People’s Day Oct. 9, 2023 or Native American Month in November 2023.

Buffy Sainte-Marie is a world-renowned and Academy Award-winning Cree singer–songwriter, activist, educator, and visual artist. She has made her voice heard through her music, establishing herself among the ranks of songwriter greats. . Her other books for kids include Hey Little Rockabye, illustrated by Ben Hodson, and Tâpwê and the Magic Hat.

Julie Flett is a Cree–Métis author, illustrator, and artist who has received numerous awards for her books, including two Governor General’s Awards and the American Indian Library Association Award. Her work has been reviewed widely, including in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly. Her books Birdsong and We All Play, also published by Greystone Kids, earned multiple starred reviews and appeared on many best of the year lists.

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

*Reviewed from a library book.

For Spacious Skies: Katharine Lee Bates and the Inspiration for “America the Beautiful”

Nancy Churnin, Author

Olga Baumert, Illustrator

Albert Whitman & Company, Biography, Apr. 1, 2020

Suitable for ages: 5-8

Themes: Katharine Lees Bates, Biography, Musical history, Poet, Writer, Scholar, Suffragist, “America the Beautiful”

Opening: “When Katharine Lee Bates was very young, the Civil War raged. Some of her earliest memories were of men trudging home in tattered blue. When Abraham Lincoln was shot, Katharine’s mother wept. A hush suffocated the streets of her village. The country’s heart was ripped in two.”

BookJacket Synopsis:

Katharine Lee Bates first wrote the lines to “America the Beautiful” in 1893, on a summer evening after a stirring visit to Pikes Peak. But the story behind the song begins with Katherine herself, who grew up with memories of the country divided by the Civil War and who pushed beyond conventional expectations of women to become an acclaimed writer, scholar, suffragist, and reformer.

She became the extraordinary woman who penned one of our country’s favorite songs. She believed in the power of words to make a difference, and in “America the Beautiful,” her vision of the nation as a great family, united from sea to shining sea, continues to uplift and inspire us all.

Why I like this book:

Nancy Churnin’s For Spacious Skies, is an inspiring and beautifully written biography about a young Katharine Lee Bates who defies the social norms for young women to sew, cook and marry in the 1880s. She wants to be a writer, studies hard and graduates from Wellesley. It is heartwarming how her widowed mother believes in her daughter’s dreams. She takes in washing and sewing, and sells vegetables to help pay Katherine’s college tuition.

As Bates travels across the country in 1893, she sees its magnificent beauty, but she also sees great division and despair among its people. When she reaches the top of Pikes Peak she is moved by the “most glorious scenery I ever beheld.” A poem forms in her mind and she’s moved to write it down. Two years later it is published in a national magazine. In 1910, Samuel A. Ward composes a melody and her poem is sung and loved across the country. She never accepts money for what she writes. It is her gift to America — a country she believes in her heart is more connected than divided.

Bates is someone children can look up to because she shows them that they too can make a difference when they see injustices in their local communities and world. Bates becomes a professor and an activist for the poor, believes in equality and the right for women to vote. Her passionate journey to bring the country together will certainly inspire elementary students.

The book is visually engaging for young readers, thanks to Olga Baumert’s the stunning illustrations.

Resources: This book is a resource. Make sure you check out the Author’s Note at the end of the book, and a Timeline of Bates’ life. There is also a revised version of “America the Beautiful,” which I encourage you to teach your children, if they don’t know it.

Nancy Churnin is the author of several picture book biographies, including South Asia Book Award winner Manjhi Moves a Mountain and Sydney Taylor Notable Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing, both Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. She is also the author of a Beautiful Shades of Brown: The art of Laura Wheeler Waring, The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game, and The Queen and the First Christmas Tree: Queen Charlotte’s Gift to England. Visit Churnin at her website.

*Reviewed from a library copy.