Description:
This lyrical and tender debut picture book celebrates the memory of beloved, departed family members, and the power of language to link memory across time.
Instead of saying goodbye in Cherokee, people say donadagohvi (doh-nah-dah-goh-HUVH-ee)--"until we meet again."
Though Millie has never met her grandfather, his memory leaves a handprint on her life. In her family's stories and old pictures, she feels his presence.
Her grandfather's greatest gift of all was words--Tsalagi (Cherokee) words that were kept safe and passed down to her. When Millie speaks these words, she knows he's listening and feels his love most of all.
From author Christine Hartman Derr (Cherokee) and illustrator Morgan Thompson (Cherokee) comes a life-affirming picture book about our connections to the family that came before us.
Brief description:
Christine Hartman Derr is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She's a graduate from VCFA's Writing for Children MFA program, where she was selected as a DEI Fellow and a Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellow. Her work includes themes on identity, belonging, and sharing the Cherokee language. Originally from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Christine lives in Tennessee with her spouse, children, and a rambunctious crew of lovable pets.
Review Quotes:
"Cherokee words are woven gently through Millie's visit, [and] an author's note highlights the tremendous challenges of preserving Cherokee language, noted as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO; a glossary of terms used in the book is included, too.
Thompson's artwork deftly, dreamily, incorporates tribal motifs into landscapes, animals, and backgrounds. Glowing swirls of the Cherokee syllabary encircle Millie and her mother as they read a book together, 'in their own circle of light.'" - Kirkus Reviews