“Tanisi, Nimosom, I found your words.”

‘Stolen Words’ is a touching story written by Melanie Florence and illustrated splendidly by Gabrielle Grimard. This picture book shows the impact of the residential school system that separated Indigenous children from their families. It also recognizes the suffering of the culture and language that was taken from them, and how that pain is passed down through generations.

The story begins with a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks how to say the word ‘grandfather’ in his language, Cree, he tells her that his language had been ‘stolen’ from him when he was a boy. The next day, she skipped out of school, smiling happily. “Tanisi, Nimosom,” she said, “I found your words.” She pulled out a book, and it read: ‘Introduction to Cree’. Her grandfather took the book reading page after page, and slowly but surely, reminded him of his past.

Reading this, I felt most touched from the thoughtfulness of the little girl. It also made me wonder, Why would they do that? Forcing innocent children out of their homes was extremely cruel and heartbreaking. The Canadian government back then didn’t even think about what it would be like without English, without parents at a young age.

In conclusion, this book is short but powerful, and most of all makes you wonder about how devastating residential school was.