Mi'kmaw Daily Drum: Mi'kmaw Culture for Every Day of the Week

by Alan Syliboy

In the style of the wildly popular Mi'kmaw Animals baby board book, shortlisted for the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration, comes Mi'kmaw Daily Drum. From celebrated artist Alan Syliboy, this vital book for the youngest readers showcases seven of Syliboy's popular Daily Drum artworks, each paired with a different day of the week. From Spirit Woman to Caribou to Round Dance, Mi'kmaw culture and teachings are offered up to newborns and toddlers in a vibrant and accessible book.

Genres: Picture Books, Indigenous, Childrens

12 pages, Board book

Published October 31, 2020

About the author

Artist Alan Syliboy studied privately with Shirley Bear and attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where twenty-five years later, he was invited to sit on the Board of Governors. Alan looks to the indigenous Mi'kmaw petroglyph tradition for inspiration and develops his own artistic vocabulary out of those forms. This is his second children's book. He lives in Truro, Nova Scotia.

Reviews

[Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

For such a tiny book, this packs quite a punch. It’s a good way to introduce children (and adults) to the Mi’kmaw culture. The illustrations are colorful and will hold the attention of even the youngest babies. Highly recommended!

This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short but beautiful and meaningful board book for babies or toddlers that depicts one aspect of Mi'Kmaw culture for each of the days of the week. The artwork is stunning and is accompanied by one or two brief sentences per page about each symbol. An end section goes into a little more detail about the concepts.

I read a temporary review ARC of this book via Net Galley.

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 7 inch square board book aimed at babies and toddlers. However, with the exquisite artwork and the phonetic spelling of the Mi'Kmaw words, this is a fabulous introduction to Indigenous culture for people of any age.

ALAN SYLIBOY is a well-known Mi'Kmaw artist and musician as well as being an author. His artwork is utterly beautiful and his love for his heritage and culture shines through everything he creates.

It is that love and beauty that will draw both parents and their children to this stunning work of art.

Including this book in home libraries is a terrific way to start children along the path to reconciliation at a very young age.

I rate this book as 5+ OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that gives the important concepts about the Mi'Kmaw people in a series of pictures based on traditional Mi'Kmaw pictographs. These drum designs are Muin (the bear), the Spirit Woman, the Tutle, the Eight-point star, the caribou, the whale and the round dance.

The pages of the book give brief information about each symbol, but in the back of the book it goes into more detail.

Good for children of the Mi'Kmaw people, as well as children of other cultures to learn more about other people.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[ATLANTIC BOOK REVIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book offering from Alan Syliboy is a visual delight, but this board book is not only a visual stunner (Alan's Daily Drums are the illustrations) it is also a Mi'Kmaw days of the week learning tool. A must have for me to add to my treasured collection of Alan Syliboy books.

As an adult holding this board book in my hands and turning those satisfyingly thick pages was such a pleasure. The only thing better would be watching as little hands turned the pages and seeing the delight on those little faces as they too understood the beauty of this book.

Alan has the ability to to immerse you in his culture. I found myself lingering on each page while trying to pronounce the Mi'kmaw translation for the days of the week. Spirit Woman, Caribou and Round Dance come alive in Alan's daily drums. Saturday/gesp'teg (ges-pe-dek) is perhaps my favourite - the whale is the guardian of the sea.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book with wonderful illustrations. I won this book in a draw and I am so happy to have it as a part of my personal collection. It is a board book, which is meant for younger grade levels, but when I brought it into my classroom to show my 5th graders, they were very intrigued by the art work and they had a lot of questions and connections to how the artwork might relate to the day of the week.

This is an incredibly accessible book that showcases a wonderful aspect of Mi’kmaw culture.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is a lovely way to introduce children (and their adults) to a bit of the Mi'kmak language and culture. Alan Syliboy has chosen seven of his Daily Drum artworks, one for each day of the week, to illustrate a word from the Mi'kmaw language, with its pronunciation and a brief explanation. At the end of the book, the words are given a more in depth definition. A good book to teach littles more about Indigenous culture.

#MikmawDailyDrum #NetGalley

[OjoAusana · Rating 5 out of 5]

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really great board book, loved the authors note as well!

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't love it. Artwork wasn't my favorite, story was non-existent. Wanted to like it!

[JF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I - "5 stars"
E - "really awesome illustrations"