The Thundermaker
by Alan Syliboy & Lindsay R. Marshall
Description:
Publisher's description (Nimbus Publishing, 2015):
Mi’kmaw artist Alan Syliboy’s The Thundermaker is based on Alan’s spectacular mixed-media exhibit of the same name. In the book, Big Thunder teaches his son, Little Thunder, about the important responsibility he has making thunder for his people. Little Thunder learns about his Mi’kmaw identity through his father’s teachings and his mother’s traditional stories. Syliboy’s spectacular, vibrant artwork brings the story of Little Thunder to vivid life. Alan Syliboy is Mi'Kmaq.
Author and Illustrator biographies (Nimbus Publishing):
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.
Resource format: Picturebook
Age recommendation: Grades 1 - 6
Keywords: art, Mi'kmaw identity, teachings, traditional stories, traditional knowledge, Petroglyphs, kinship, culture, wigwam, thunder, storm, storytelling, renewal, new life, circle of life, weir, fish, berries, animals, seasons, winter, spring, spirit world, peer influence, concentration, consequences, success
Year of publication: 2015
Publisher information: Nimbus Publishing
Teaching and Learning Ideas
Our team collaborated with new teachers, alumni of the Werklund School of Education’s Bachelor of Education program, to create teaching and learning plans for texts in this website. With audiences ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Post-Secondary, lesson plans across this resource address a wide range of school subject areas, inclusive approaches, and Indigenous education topics, such as the revitalization of Indigenous languages. As this website was designed with Undergraduate Programs in Education instructors, as well as teachers in mind, connections to UPE courses have been flagged on each lesson plan. These lessons are intended as a starting place for educators, to help you envision ways in which you might bring Indigenous literatures, as well as ways of knowing, being, and doing, into your teaching contexts. Please adapt, use, and share these lessons in ways that are generative for your teaching practice. We offer our sincere thanks to the dozens of new teachers who gifted us with these creative ideas!
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