TheRead to ME Challenge is a month-long public awareness campaign beginning in February 2016 to promote childhood literacy in Maine.

Looking for a good book for theRead to ME Challenge February 2 through March 2, 2016? There are some amazing Wabanaki authors out there you should check out! Take a journey of friendship between Passamaquoddy birchbark artist and guide Tomah Joseph and future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Donald Soctomah's book Remember Me: Tomah Joseph's Gift to Franklin Roosevelt. Cross the sky with Muin through the telling of a very old Mi'kmaw legend inMuin and the Seven Bird Hunter's: A Mi'kmaw Night Sky Story by Lillian Marshall, Murdena Marshall, Prune Harris, and Cheryl Bartlett. Follow Kunu as he tries to make an ash basket for the first time just like the other men on Indian Island inKunu's Basket: a Story From Indian Island by Lee DeCora Francis. From ancient oral traditions to contemporary stories, there is something for everyone!

On Saturday, February 20, 2016, the Abbe is partnering with theJesup Library from 1 - 2 pm for a specialRead to ME program. Do you have personal objects that spark a specific memory? Do you have a stuffed animal, toy, or photograph which reminds you of a time you spent with a friend? Bring that with you to the Jesup Library and join Abbe Museum Educator Jen Heindel as we share some of our own memories before we readRemember Me: Tomah Joesph's Gift to Franklin Roosevelt by Donald Soctomah and Jean Flahive. After the story, we'll make miniature faux-birchbark canoes just like the one Tomah Joseph gave to Franklin Roosevelt!

Here are a few more books by Wabanaki authors:

Thanks to the Animals by Sockabasin, Allen J., and Rebekah Raye
Muskrat Will Be Swimming by Savageau, Cheryl, and Robert Hynes
Weska'qelmut Apje'juanu by Fitch, Sheree, and Bernard Francis
A Little Boy Catches a Whale by Perron, Judith Carol, and Naomi Mitcham
How the Cougar Came to Be Called the Ghost Cat by Isaac, Michael James, and Dozay Christmas
How the Petitcodiac River Became Muddy by Maillet, Marguerite, and Raymond Martin. English Version by Allison Mitcham
Tihtiyas Et Jean by Gagnon, Nathalie, Naomi Mitcham, and Donald Soctomah
Un Petit Garçon Pêche Une Baleine by Perron, Judith Carol, and Naomi Mitcham
Nine Micmac Legends by Nowlan, Alden

Happy reading!

Blog