SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: WHEN WE ARE KIND
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.moniquegraysmith.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME:
Telephone: (250) 508-3786 Cree, Lakota, and Scottish descent.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1968; children: twins.
EDUCATION:Graduated from nursing program at Douglas College.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Nurse and writer. Trained as a psychiatric nurse and has worked with indigenous communities for over twenty-five years; Justice Institute, British Columbia, Canada, instructor for curriculum design, five years; Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta, Canada, Writing and Animating our Stories faculty; serves as consultant, speaker, and workshop facilitator, including with Little Drum Consulting. Delivered TEDx talk “Resilience and the Power of One,” 2015. Member of board of governors, Royal Roads University.
AWARDS:Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature, 2014, for Tilly; Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize, B.C. Book Prizes, 2017, for My Heart Fills With Happiness; Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalist, for You Hold Me Up; Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize and TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award finalist, both 2018, both for Speaking Our Truth; Victoria Leadership Award for Extending Reconciliation, 2019.
WRITINGS
Author of reports, including Ripple Effect of Resiliency: Strategies for Fostering Resiliency with Indigenous Children, Little Drum Consulting (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2013.
Books have been published in bilingual Cree-English and Ojibwe-English editions and translated to French and Spanish.
SIDELIGHTS
[open new]Monique Gray Smith is a Canadian children’s book author of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish heritage. Smith has recalled always enjoying both listening to stories and telling her own—including tall tales her father would catch on to. Nevertheless, she gained education and training for a career as a psychiatric nurse, and she spent over two decades working with indigenous communities. It was in her mid-forties, now a mother of twins, that she decided to draw on some of her experiences to start writing literature for youths. Her books often draw on indigenous culture, and her books have been published in bilingual editions featuring the Cree and Ojibwe languages.
Speaking with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre about the importance of resilience as a recurring theme in her works, Smith related: “I write about resilience because I think it is important to read and be witness to the stories of challenge, pain and triumph. It is in the journey that teachings and life lessons are revealed that can help the reader sort through something that might be going on in their life or in the life of someone they love.”
Smith’s first novel, written for young adults and partly based on her own life, is Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience. Teenage Tilly has inherited some of the trauma inflicted on her Cree mother, who knows her heritage but not her family because she was taken away from them. The death of Tilly’s grandmother starts a difficult mourning period, Tilly’s parents approach a divorce, and Tilly finds herself turning to alcohol to cope. Getting into trouble at school, Tilly despairs and drops out, but a counselor at the Friendship Centre helps her find a path toward sobriety, recovery, and a successful career as an activist and speaker.
Writing for Resource Links, Myra Junyk observed that the novel “moves quickly through the first few years of Tilly’s life effectively capturing her spiralling addiction.” Junyk concluded that Tilly “will introduce readers to many powerful social issues impacting Aboriginal life.” A sequel, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, finds Tilly generously driving eight elders on the trip of a lifetime, to the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finding her own life changed as well.
My Heart Fills with Happiness is Smith’s first picture book, illustrated by Julie Flett, a Cree-Métis artist. When the book was featured as TD Bank’s national grade-one giveaway, the bilingual edition featuring Cree, My Heart Fills with Happiness/Ni sâkaskineh mîyawâten niteh oheih, was provided to some, as were bilingual French-English editions. Offering windows into special moments in the lives of children and their families, the book highlights such simple delights as singing, drumming, feeling the sunshine, holding hands, seeing loved ones, and smelling fresh food baking in the oven. In School Library Journal, Anna Haase Krueger called the book “joyful and tender” in its celebration of family and community connections. She concluded that “the sweet family story has universal appeal.”
Relationships of all kinds—with family, friends, teachers, and peers older and younger—are celebrated in Smith’s picture book You Hold Me Up. In an author’s note, she relates that she intended the book to help with Canada’s ongoing reconciliation and recovery process with regard to the past oppression of Native communities. In Resource Links, Catherine Bellamy summed You Hold Me Up as “a simply written book with a powerful message: we need each other.” She deemed it “an excellent way to start dialogue with children about ways we can show respect for one another and talk about how we treat each other.”
Writing her nonfiction volume Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation was a deeply personal experience for Smith. With her Cree and Lakota heritage, reading Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report left her awestruck by the still-generous spirits of those who endured so much tragedy at the hands of Canadian authorities—speaking difficult truths to make sure they would be heard. Acknowledging that some of the worst affronts, like the use of electroconvulsive chairs, can be traumatic for young children to learn about, Smith told the CBC: “We have to be careful—with the little ones especially. They don’t need to know that whole history, but they do need to know the importance of being loving, of being kind, of being respectful. Those are the teachings that will help our country heal and move forward in a good way.”
Founded in the stories of the survivors, Speaking Our Truth is specifically focused on the experiences of Native children who were taken away from their families to attend residential schools. There, the program was expressly designed to rob the children of their Native identity by depriving them of their culture and community connections. They were forbidden to speak their own languages or practice their own religious traditions, and many suffered from abuse at the hands of tyrannical authorities. The psychological repercussions from the trauma would haunt indigenous communities and make their lives more challenging for generations to come. The Canadian government offered a formal apology to indigenous communities in 2008, which began the reconciliation process that inspired Smith’s book. One chapter is devoted to young people’s expressions of hope for widespread healing. A Kirkus Reviews writer concluded of Speaking Our Truth, “Smith’s book is an effort … offering diverse voices that invite the world into the reconciliation experience. Absolutely necessary.”
In When We Are Kind, Smith details different ways that children can be kind toward others in the first half of the book—sharing, helping with chores, taking the dog out for exercise—while the second half highlights the positive feelings that arise from acting with kindness. A Kirkus Reviews writer noted that the text’s simple statements have the “resonance of affirmations” and concluded that When We Are Kind is a “visual feast for families interested in seeing the Native world through small, kind deeds.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2017, review of Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation; July 15, 2020, review of When We Are Kind.
Resource Links, December, 2013, Myra Junyk, review of Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, p. 37; October, 2017, Catherine Bellamy, review of You Hold Me Up, p. 11.
School Library Journal, March, 2016, Anna Haase Krueger, review of My Heart Fills with Happiness, p. 99.
ONLINE
Academia, http://www.academia.edu/ (April 29, 2021), Alison J. Gerlach and Monique Gray Smith, “‘Walking Side by Side’: Being an Occupational Therapy Change Agent in Partnership with Indigenous Clients and Communities.”
Canadian Children’s Book Centre website. https://bookcentre.ca/ (September 20, 2019), “Get to Know Monique Gray Smith and Julie Flett, Creators of My Heart Fills with Happiness.“
CBC website, https://www.cbc.ca/ (September 21, 2018), “Why Monique Gray Smith Almost Stopped Writing Speaking Our Truth.”
Monique Gray Smith website, https://www.moniquegraysmith.com (April 29, 2021).
Raven Reads, https://ravenreads.org/ (July 6, 2018), “Spotlight on Children’s Book Author Monique Gray Smith.”
Royal Roads University website, https://www.royalroads.ca/ (April 29, 2021), author profile.
about
Monique believes that Love is Medicine.
Monique Gray Smith is a proud mom of teenage twins, an award-winning, best-selling author and sought after consultant. Monique’s first published novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature.
Since then, Monique has had 6 books come out. These include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation; My Heart Fills with Happiness, You Hold Me Up, Lucy and Lola, Tilly and the Crazy Eights and recently released, When We Are Kind.
Monique’s books are used to share wisdom, knowledge, hope and the important teaching that love is medicine.
Monique is Cree, Lakota and Scottish and has been sober and involved in her healing journey for over 29 years. She is well known for her storytelling, spirit of generosity and focus on resilience.
Keynote Addresses, Emcee’ing, Workshop Facilitation
Monique has had the honour of speaking to a variety of audiences across North America, Hawaii, the South Pacific and New Zealand. Her talks revolve around resilience, education, wellness, and reconciliation.
Professional & Personal Development: education, health, social services, government, and organizations
Monique is a dynamic speaker who has the unique ability to connect audiences with the information being shared and their heart, thus deepening both the learning and impact of their time together.
Teachers
Have you been reading one of Monique’s books in your class? Did you know Monique is available to come to your class in person or via technology? Email for more information: monique@moniquegraysmith.com.
Why Monique Gray Smith almost stopped writing Speaking Our Truth
The novelist and children's book author turns to nonfiction in an inventive new book about truth and reconciliation for young readers.
Social Sharing
CBC Books · Posted: Sep 21, 2018 9:46 AM ET | Last Updated: November 29, 2018
Monique Gray Smith is the author of Speaking Our Truth. (Centric Photography, Orca Books)
0
comments
Monique Gray Smith is a writer of Cree, Lakota and Scottish descent. In her loosely autobiographical novel Tilly, she explores the experience of a woman discovering aspects of her Indigenous ancestry in young adulthood. Her young adult nonfiction book, Speaking Our Truth, was a finalist for the $50K 2018 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
Speaking Our Truth is a young person's companion to understanding the history and future of Indigenous-settler relations in Canada. Inspired by the work of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Smith sets out to share the stories of survivors in a way that's accessible to young readers — an undertaking she says she was sometimes tempted to walk away from.
In her own words, Smith talks about how she found the strength to continue writing Speaking Our Truth, and the response the book has received from readers young and old.
Finding strength in symbols
"I wrote Speaking Our Truth over the course of about six months; it was an intense process. When I was doing the research for the book, I was rereading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report. I opened it up to the first page and it said that all the survivors who shared their stories had given free right for their words to be used to educate Canadians. I remember thinking here are these incredible human beings who endured what many of us cannot even fathom and they're gently saying, 'People need to know this.' I felt so overwhelmed that I called my publisher and said, 'I don't think I can do this book. I can't write it anymore.'
"I knew at that point that I needed a metaphor that I could use as a guide and a foundation. I chose the metaphor of a braid of sweet grass. Each of the last three chapters in the book became one of the strands of the braid of sweet grass. They really were my guidepost that allowed me to say, 'How can I keep writing this book even on the days when I feel like I can't go on?'"
Writing for the young reader she was
"While I was writing, I thought a lot about when I was in school and what interested me. It was the social and emotional visiting that happened in classrooms. Not the intellectual pieces. In the end, what happened was I leaned intellectually, but I learned because my heart was engaged. My philosophy was to always ask, 'How do I ensure this book educates the hearts and minds of those who are reading it?' I have 14-year-old twins who, at the time of writing, were almost 13. I remember I gave my son the history chapter early on. He read one page and said, 'It's too much like a textbook.' I said, 'Okay, I'm back to the drawing board.'"
Honouring survivors' stories
"I put a post up on Facebook and I said, 'Are there any folks out there who have young people in their lives who might want to talk to me about Truth and Reconciliation?' I thought maybe I'd get eight responses, but I was inundated. Absolutely inundated. And for me that was so hopeful. I pulled names from a hat and interviewed a bunch of kids. I would go back to those interviews and those visits on the days when it was really hard to write. Especially the young person who told me, 'Awareness creates healing.' Their wisdom is so profound.
"The interviews with survivors weren't as gentle, of course. I don't have a word that captures how it felt to be a witness to those stories — then to attempt to capture them in a way that held up the dignity of the stories without traumatizing a young reader. That was the dance throughout this whole book. Sometimes people need a gentle way in before they can read or hear other stories that might be more intense. This is the first time in a children's book that we've talked about the electroconvulsive chairs that were used on Indigenous peoples and the malnutrition in residential schools. We have to be careful — with the little ones especially. They don't need to know that whole history, but they do need to know the importance of being loving, of being kind, of being respectful. Those are the teachings that will help our country heal and move forward in a good way."
Monique Gray Smith's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
JULY 6, 2018
Spotlight on Children's Book Author Monique Gray Smith
Monique Gray Smith is a fascinating woman, speaker, and author. When she speaks, her calm kindness and unwavering respect for all people draws you in. She believes that “if we are to strengthen our society — and reading is one way to do this — then we must be reading a variety of lived experiences and perspectives.”[i]
LOOKING FOR A DOWNLOADABLE LIST OF BOOKS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUNGER KIDS? DOWNLOAD OUR LIST OF 75 KIDS BOOKS BY INDIGENOUS AUTHORS.
Monique Gray Smith
Her latest book, Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, takes the reader through these various experiences, by sharing stories and lives of Survivors of “the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools.”[ii]
Gray Smith’s Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation is one to read as part of your own understanding of reconciliation, as she intended it for readers aged “nine to ninety.”[iii] There is a lot more to know about the author, though, whose “career has focused on fostering paradigm shifts that emphasize the strength and resiliency of the First Peoples in Canada.”[iv] Here are five fun tidbits to help you get to know Monique Gray Smith a bit better:
Five Things About Monique Gray Smith
1. Her Thoughts on Reconciliation:
While everyone has a part in reconciliation, Gray Smith see the process firstly as an individual process, no matter who you are: “I think it’s a personal journey for every person. As soon as we get into judging another person’s journey, we get into that colonial mindset about what’s right and what’s not right.”[v]
2. Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation has its own Website
The Orca Book Publisher's website is not only an excellent companion for the book, but makes an excellent resource on its own. It includes first-person memories and experiences from residential schools, reconciliation facts and definitions, ways to move forward together, teacher resources, and more.
Speaking Our Truth Monique Gray Smith
3. One of Her Books was Published Because of a Tweet
Like many authors, Monique Gray Smith spends a fair amount of time on Twitter. After all, authors are used to sharing their words! Her upcoming book, Tilly and the Crazy Eights (Second Story Press, October 2018), reached publication thanks to her Twitter pitch via the hashtag #CanLitPit last July.
When Tilly receives an invitation to help drive eight elders on their ultimate bucket list road trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow, she impulsively says yes. Before she knows it, Tilly has said goodbye to her family and is behind the wheel—ready to embark on an adventure that will transform her in ways she could not predict, just as it will for each and every one of the seniors on the trip, who soon dub themselves “the Crazy Eights”.[vi]
4. She Uses all Types of Media to Share her Voice
Monique Gray Smith uses everything available to her to teach and share Indigenous stories and history with the world:
Her seven-episode podcast, Love is Medicine, “shares stories and teachings that can transform our lives and how we see the world.”[vii]
She has her own YouTube channel, with eighteen videos discussing everything from her books to what is happening in the world.
She did a TedX talk about resilience, which is available to watch on YouTube: The talk focuses on “the Four Blankets of Resilience and the influence one person can have in fostering resilience”.
5. She also Writes for Younger Children
With five books published and one more on the way, Monique Gray Smith’s books for younger readers are notable for their thoughtful messaging and vibrant illustrations.
My Heart Fills with Happiness is illustrated by Cree/Metis author Julie Flett, and was written “to support the wellness of Indigenous children and families, and to encourage young children to reflect on what makes them happy.”[viii]
My Heart Fills with Happiness Monique Gray Smith
You Hold Me Up is illustrated by Indigenous artist Danielle Daniel, and “encourages children to show love and support for each other and to consider each other’s well-being in their everyday actions.”[ix]
With a message of understanding and a hopeful belief in the future, Monique Gray Smith is a voice that should be listened to. To learn more about this Lakota/Cree/Scottish author, pick up Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience.
Loosely based on author Monique Gray Smith’s own life, this revealing, important work of creative non-fiction tells the story of a young Indigenous woman coming of age in Canada in the 1980s. With compassion, insight and humour, Gray Smith illuminates the 20th-century history of Canada’s First Peoples—forced displacement, residential schools, tuberculosis hospitals, the Sixties Scoop. In a spirit of hope, this unique story captures the irrepressible resilience of Tilly, and of Indigenous peoples everywhere.[x]
Get to Know Monique Gray Smith and Julie Flett, creators of My Heart Fills With Happiness
September 20, 2019
This year’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway title is My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett and published by Orca Book Publishers. We sat down with these award-winning creators to get to know them better before their book is given to every grade one in Canada.
The sun on your face. The smell of warm bannock baking in the oven. Holding the hand of someone you love. What fills your heart with happiness? This beautiful book reminds readers young and old to cherish the moments in life that bring us joy.
Since 2000, in cooperation with ministries of education, school boards and library organizations across Canada, the CCBC has given every grade one child a free Canadian children’s book.
Monique Gray Smith is a mixed heritage woman of Cree and Scottish descent and is a proud mom of 15-year-old twins. She is an award-winning, best-selling author and sought after consultant. Monique’s first published novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nation, Inuit and Métis Literature.
Since then, Monique has had five books come out, including Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation. Speaking Our Truth has won numerous awards, is a Canadian bestseller and was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.
First, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get your start as an author? What is your writing process like?
I’ve always enjoyed telling and listening to stories. As a child, I’d share something with my dad and he’d often say to me, “Now did that really happen? Or is that just another one of your stories?” It wasn’t until I was 44, though, that I turned to writing down and capturing some of my lived experiences and the stories I was thinking about.
I am grateful to Diane Morriss of Sono Nis Press who took a risk on me in 2013 and published my first novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience. Through that process, I had the privilege to work with editor extraordinaire Barbara Pulling and learned a huge amount from her that continues to influence everything I create!
I am trained as a Psychiatric Nurse and one of the key things I learned both as a student and then as a nurse, was the importance of paying attention. This has been a huge gift for me in life and in my writing. Everything I’ve written has been inspired through this teaching of paying attention.
My writing process is quite subversive and I don’t have a daily discipline. Instead, I feel like my discipline is to the story. When an idea strikes or a story emerges, I do my best to clear my calendar and work on what is asking to be told. I know this may not be an ideal way to write, but at this time with my family and my work schedule, it is the best way for me to create.
You have multiple picture books that now feature the text in Cree as well as in English. How did this come about?
One of my greatest joys came the day I saw both My Heart Fills With Happiness and You Hold Me Up in Cree. Tears slid down my cheeks and words don’t really do justice to how precious and important those books are to me and my family. Part of why I write is to make the invisible, visible. Having Cree on the pages for all children, their families and teachers to see is a significant step in this. I have to give credit to Orca Book Publishers and Richard Van Camp, they were the initial creators of our books being translated and to Mary Cardinal Collins for all her work in translating.
The resilience of Indigenous people is a recurring theme in your books. How does this resilience inspire you as a writer?
I write about resilience because I think it is important to read and be witness to the stories of challenge, pain and triumph. It is in the journey that teachings and life lessons are revealed that can help the reader sort through something that might be going on in their life or in the life of someone they love.
I am in awe of the power of the human spirit and our ability to be resilient. It is this awe that inspires all my writing and was especially emergent in my last novel, Tilly and the Crazy Eights (Second Story Press, 2018). In this story we witness the remarkable resilience, strength and humour of eight elders who Tilly accompanies on a road trip from Vancouver to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow.
What projects are you working on now? Can you tell us about any upcoming books?
As I write this, I am currently on Faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in a new program called, Writing and Animating our Stories. I am privileged to be working with Julie Flett and Amanda Strong and we have an incredibly talented cohort of Indigenous creators!
In Fall 2020, I have a new children’s picture book coming out, When We Are Kind. It’s illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt and published by Orca Book Publishers. The book is a gentle reminder for children about what it feels like when we are kind to ourselves, our family, elders, pets and the earth as well as what it feels like when we are on the receiving end of kindness.
2021 will see the release of another children’s picture book called I Hope. This little book shares a few of my hopes for children, including such messages as:
I hope that you and those you love have healthy food, clean water and a safe place to sleep.
I hope that when sad tears leave your eyes, there is someone there to catch them.
I hope you are a caretaker of Mother Earth.
What does My Heart Fills With Happiness being this year’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway mean to you?
I am honoured that My Heart Fills With Happiness has been chosen as the TD Grade One Book Giveaway and especially thrilled that children will be receiving it in Plains Cree and English/French.
Find out more about Monique on her website at moniquegraysmith.com
Julie Flett is a Cree-Métis author, illustrator and artist. She has received many awards including the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award for her work on When We Were Alone by David Robertson (HighWater Press, 2016), the 2016 American Indian Library Association Award for Best Picture Book for Little You by Richard Van Camp (Orca Book Publishers, 2013), and she is the three-time recipient of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Award for Owls See Clearly at Night: A Michif Alphabet (Simply Read Books, 2010), Dolphin SOS, by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki (Tradewind Books, 2014), and My Heart Fills With Happiness, by Monique Gray Smith (Orca Book Publishers, 2016).
Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get your start as an illustrator?
I’ve always loved to draw, and knew that I wanted to study fine art at some point and I eventually did. I studied at Concordia University and Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. I started in film and then went on to finish in studio arts; textiles, painting and installation work.
I didn’t study illustration, though when I look back, I see that a lot of my work was narrative, even the more conceptual pieces. I find that while most of my book work is collage, a lot of my work is influenced by painting/painters of earlier generations, and the children’s books I was familiar with from the ‘60s and ‘70s — Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats.
It was my sister who got me started. She was working for Theytus Books; they needed an illustrator for a book they were working on: Zoe and the Fawn by Catherine Jameson. She asked me if I might like to work on the project and I thought I’d give it a try. I’m thankful to her and to everyone at Theytus for getting me started.
From Zoe and the Fawn
We have been long-time lovers of your art, with you having created the image for the TD Canadian Children’s Book Week poster in 2015. Tell us about your art style, how it came about and which artists have influenced you.
Thank you CCBC!
I think my style came about by trial and error. And I find that the style is mostly influenced by the story, it always starts with that sort of unspoken question ‘how can I best express this story in pictures?’
How does nature play a role in your art?
I think you get to know something in a more intimate way when you draw it, you’re looking at the details in so many ways. Even if the work is abstracted to some extent, not a literal translation, you’re getting to know it. Drawing a landscape is like writing a poem. And I find that often the landscapes are a starting point for the rest of the work.
What is next for you? What projects are you working on now?
I’m really enjoying writing these days, and working with Greystone Kids on a few projects. I just finished Birdsong with them, which will be out this September, and I’ve starting on a second. I’m also midway through another book project with David Robertson! And there are a few more that I’m excited about, as well as a potential animation.
What does My Heart Fills With Happiness being this year’s TD Grade One Book Giveaway mean to you?
I am honoured that My Heart Fills With Happiness has been chosen to be part of this year’s Grade One giveaway. While I was working on this book, I was inspired by Monique’s beautiful words, and many of my experiences as a child growing up in Ontario, as well as my experiences of working with children in Vancouver where I live now.
Art from My Heart Fills With Happiness
Find out more about Julie on her website at julieflett.com
- See more at: https://bookcentre.ca/news/get-know-julie-flett-illustrator-heart-fills-happiness#sthash.KQrIC36K.dpuf
Monique Gray Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Monique Gray Smith
Occupation Writer
Genre Children's literature, young adult fiction
Notable works Tilly, a Story of Hope and Resilience
Notable awards Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature
Monique Gray Smith is a Canadian writer of children's and young adult literature.[1][2] She is also an international speaker and consultant. Of Cree, Lakota and Scottish descent, Smith is based in Victoria, British Columbia.[2][3]
Contents
1 Career
2 Awards
3 References
4 External links
Career
She is most noted for her young adult novel Tilly, a Story of Hope and Resilience, which won the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2014,[4] and her children's picture book My Heart Fills With Happiness, which won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize in 2017. In 2018 she was named as a finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation,[5] and for the Burt Award for The Journey Forward, a compilation of two novellas co-written with Richard Van Camp.[6] In the same year she published Tilly and the Crazy Eights, a sequel to her first novel.[7]
In addition to her work as a writer, Smith has worked as a psychiatric nurse in Indigenous communities for over 25 years, having completed formal nurses training at Douglas College.[8] She also spent 5 years working as Instructor for Curriculum Design at the Justice Institute of BC and has been an Inspirational Speaker for Little Drum Consulting for more than 20 years.[9]
Awards
Winner of Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature for Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, 2014.[10]
Winner of Bolen Books Children's Book Prize for Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, 2018.[11]
Finalist for BC Book Prize for My Heart Fills With Happiness, 2017.[10]
Finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for You Hold Me Up.[10]
Finalist for TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, 2018.[12]
Bio (Monique Gray Smith mistikwaskihkos)
Board of Governors Member
Bio Horizontal
Monique Gray Smith mistikwaskihkos
Lieutenant Governor in Council appointee
Monique Gray Smith mistikwaskihkos is an award-winning and best-selling author and a leader in Indigenous relations and truth and reconciliation.
Gray Smith, who is Cree, Lakota and Scottish, was the recipient of the 2014 Canadian Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature for her first published novel Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience.
Gray Smith has published six more works including Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, for which she was named a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and her latest novel Tilly and the Crazy Eights.
Gray Smith, a psychiatric nurse by training, has worked extensively in in truth and reconciliation and in schools, businesses and government, building a deeper understanding of Canada’s history and the resilience of Indigenous people. For this work, she was named the 2019 recipient of the Victoria Leadership Award for Extending Reconciliation.
She believes in the importance of making decisions that are both intellectual and heart-based and that “love is medicine”.
Smith, Monique Gray SPEAKING OUR TRUTH Orca (Children's Informational) $29.95 9, 19 ISBN: 978-1-4598-1583-4
Smith offers readers a sojourn through Canadian history chronicling the residential school experience through the stories of the survivors. For over 150 years, thousands of indigenous children were forcibly taken by Canadian government officials and provided with an education that would eradicate the cultural identities of indigenous peoples. Children in these residential schools were malnourished, endured physical and sexual abuse, and were forbidden to speak their languages or practice their own spirituality. Many died. Following a formal apology from the Canadian government in 2008, survivors of this experience were allowed for the first time to publicly voice their stories for official documentation. In vignettes threaded throughout, individual survivors reflect on the impact that this cultural genocide had on their individual lives and within their communities. Generations of trauma led to destructive patterns of behavior, mental illness, and addictions. Smith (of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish heritage) includes messages of resilience from community leaders and elders and devotes an entire chapter to interviews with young people as they express how important it is for them to contribute to the healing of their communities. One survivor says, "Reconciliation is asking myself who my Ancestors were the day before they went to residential school, then doing everything I can to return to that." Smith's book is an effort that returns, offering diverse voices that invite the world into the reconciliation experience. Absolutely necessary. (Nonfiction. 10-16)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Smith, Monique Gray: SPEAKING OUR TRUTH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A497199681/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0384144a. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.
SMITH, Monique Gray
You Hold Me Up
Illustrated by Danielle Daniel. Orca Book
Publishers, 2017. 32p. Illus. Gr. Preschool--3. 978-1459814479. Hdbk. $19.95
[E]
You Hold Me Up is a simply written book with a powerful message: we need each other. It reinforces the need for community and the need to make and maintain connections with one another. Children and caregivers are encouraged to show one another love, kindness, and respect. They are encouraged to share with one another, learn with one another, and laugh with one another. This book puts an emphasis on relationships and being connected to people in our sphere: parents, caregivers, educators, and peers. It models how we should treat others and how we should expect to be treated by other people.
Author Monique Gray Smith, who is of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish ancestry, wrote this book as a part of the reconciliation and healing journey Canada is undertaking as a nation. In her author's note, she wrote that this book is to remind us of our common humanity, and hopes to inspire empathy and love for one another, starting with the littlest children. It is important to hold each other up with "respect and dignity". The illustrations are composed of rich hues and feature two or more people engaging in acts that exemplify dignity and respect.
The story is simple enough that the youngest reader can read and understand; the vocabulary is not difficult or challenging for most readers. The book is an excellent way to start dialogue with children about ways we can show respect for one another and talk about how we treat each other. This book could certainly be used in lessons on reconciliation, manners, friendships, and relationships in general. It is an excellent book to use for reading aloud and prompting students to list examples of kindness and sharing. It would be a wonderful addition to any children's library.
Thematic Links: Reconciliation; Empathy; Compassion; Sharing; Relationships; Community; Friends; Family Caregivers; Parents; Kindness; Love
[E] Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Bellamy, Catherine. "SMITH, Monique Gray You Hold Me Up." Resource Links, vol. 23, no. 1, Oct. 2017, p. 11+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A514884055/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c132ecd9. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.
Smith, Monique Gray WHEN WE ARE KIND Orca (Children's None) $19.95 9, 15 ISBN: 978-1-4598-2522-2
Distinctive illustrations amplify a pointed moral lesson in this Native picture book for kids.
An intergenerational Native family sits in a drum circle on the cover, suggesting the importance of cooperation and community that’s elucidated in the pages that follow. What does it mean to be kind to your family, your elders, your environment, and yourself? In simple, repetitive language, Smith (who is of mixed Cree, Lakota, and Scottish heritage) explores how our behaving with generosity toward others makes us feel happy in return. By helping with laundry, walking the family dog, sharing with friends, and taking food to our elders, we learn that the gift of kindness involves giving and receiving. The first half of the book is constructed entirely on the phrase “I am kind when,” while the second half uses “I feel.” Strung together, the simple statements have the resonance of affirmations and establish a clear chain of connectedness, but there is no story arc in the conventional sense. What the book lacks in plot, it makes up for with its illustrations. Drawing on her mother’s Dine traditions, Neidhardt prominently features Navajo hair buns, moccasins, and baskets; a panoply of Indigenous characters—including one child who uses a wheelchair—is featured in rich detail. A French edition, translated by Rachel Martinez, publishes simultaneously.
A visual feast for families interested in seeing the Native world through small, kind deeds. (Picture book. 3-5)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Smith, Monique Gray: WHEN WE ARE KIND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A629261223/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bb68e0df. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.
SMITH, Monique Gray. My Heart Fills with Happiness. illus. by Julie Flett. 24p. Orca. 2016. Tr $9.95. ISBN 9781459809574.
Toddler-PreS--Joyful and tender, this board book celebrates the activities that bring gladness through family and cultural connections. On one spread, three children wait in front of the oven in a modern kitchen ("My heart fills with happiness when ... I smell bannock baking in the oven."). The patterns on their clothing are echoed in the kitchen textiles, creating a sense of belonging and completeness. Flett's quietly powerful gouache and digital collage illustrations emphasize the relationships between people through small gestures and touches; the bold colors and simplified compositions increase the impact by stripping away all that is unnecessary. Other things that bring happiness include holding hands, seeing the face of a loved one, singing, drumming, feeling the sun's rays, and listening to stories. All the people appear to be indigenous, although specific groups are not mentioned. The book is dedicated to "former Indian Residential School students and their families." The author and illustrator are strongly connected to their Canadian Aboriginal communities, and the sweet family story has universal appeal. VERDICT A first purchase for all libraries.--Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Krueger, Anna Haase. "Smith, Monique Gray. My Heart Fills with Happiness." School Library Journal, vol. 62, no. 3, 2016, p. 99. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A444914929/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a047c17a. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.
SMITH. Monique Gray
Tilly
Sono Nis Press. 2013. 207p. Gr. 912. 978-1-55039-209-8. Pbk. S19.95
After hearing a man in Kelowna call her mother a "Goddamn squaw," (p. 16) Tilly learns about her mother's traumatic history from her aunt, "She knows she's from the Cree Nation, but she doesn't know who her family is because she was taken away from them when she was a baby." (p. 18) Family relationships are very important for Tilly. She is named after her Grandma Tilly who loves her and gives her a great deal of comfort and security.
- When her Grandma dies, Tilly spirals out of control. At first, she only drinks alcohol at lunch with her friends. Her teacher encourages Tilly to participate in school life, but then her father disrupts their lives by moving everyone to another city. After a few months, they move back to Kamloops and the parents divorce, but Tilly is behind in school. After turning up in class drunk, she is confronted by a teacher. Till) stops drinking during school hours, but still looks to alcohol for comfort.
Her addictions cause Tilly to drop out of school. After hitting rock bottom. Tilly goes back to school to get her high school diploma in order to become a psychiatric nurse. Eventually, she confronts her addiction after working with a counselor named Bea at the local Friendship Centre. Bea convinces her to enter Alcoholics Anonymous. Tilly finds love with Jesse, another alcoholic, who gives her some stability until she finds out a terrible truth about him. Tilly's struggles with addiction eventually lead her to become a respected community activist and motivational speaker.
This novel deals with issues of alcoholism and addiction. Tilly's family is supportive, but their habit of drinking to deal with problems teachers Tilly that alcohol is a cure for every problem. In order to find the strength to deal with her issues, Tilly must understand her Aboriginal heritage. "1 was learning to understand and use the gills I'd been blessed with. I felt deep pride in being a Cree and Lakota woman. I took this newfound power with me once treatment had ended.- (P. 125)
Monique Gray Smith's book is based on her real life. At times, the story lapses into a repetitive pattern of warning readers about the dangers of alcohol and addiction. The novel moves quickly through the first few years of Tilly's life effectively capturing her spiralling addiction; however, the last half of the novel could have used some more effective editing to eliminate repetitive passages. This novel will introduce readers to many powerful social issues impacting Aboriginal life.
Thematic Links: Racism; Alcoholism: Aboriginal History; Addiction; Sexuality; Counselling; Family Relationships; Aboriginal Culture and Community
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 8th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Junyk, Myra. "Tilly." Resource Links, vol. 19, no. 2, Dec. 2013, p. 37+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A357967082/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4e04cd19. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.