Title: Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa
Author: Leslie Stall Widener
Major Themes: Choctaw, Navajo, Ireland, Irish Potato Famine, Trail of Tears, Covid 19, Native Americans
Synopsis: The Choctaw from Oklahoma sent aid to Ireland during the Potato Famine, and the Irish never forgot that kindness.
I love to discover new children’s picture books that describe events I didn’t know about before. I have always loved history—not names and dates, but stories of people in the past—and I am working hard to try to pass that love along to my children. When I saw Kindred Spirits and read the description of it, I was intrigued. I knew about the Irish Potato Famine and the Trail of Tears; but that there was a connection between the two? That was new information to me! I had to know more.
Publisher’s description:
A nonfiction picture book about the inspiring true pay-it-forward story that bridges two continents, 175 years, and two events in history—connecting Ireland, the Choctaw Nation, the Navajo Nation, and the Hopi Tribe.
1845. The Potato Famine devastated Ireland. An ocean away, Choctaw people heard and were moved by the similarities to the injustice they had suffered on the Trail of Tears. Though they had little, they gathered money to donate.
2017. Irish people built a statue to remember their connection to the Choctaw Nation—twenty-foot high feathers in the shape of a bowl.
2020. COVID-19 disproportionately ravished the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe. Irish people remembered the Choctaws’ kindness and paid it forward by donating.
Empathy creates kindness that lives well beyond a single act and includes more people the bigger it grows.
My thoughts:
I appreciated the message of Kindred Spirits, that people from vastly different cultures can feel each other’s pain and offer help. I loved the way the kindness shown to the Irish by the Choctaw was returned to yet another culture in their time of need. Kindness and love are never wasted! I also liked the brief descriptions included within the text that taught my children about the three historical events around which this story is built. This is a book we will refer back to when we next study the 19th century.
There was one picture I didn’t like very well; it illustrates Navajo spiritualism combined with themes from this book. While I see value in the historical part of the book, I do not like that little bit of it. I really liked most of the pictures, though.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
WARNING: No warnings beyond what is mentioned in the last paragraph of my review.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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