Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock

By Dallas Hunt and Amanda Strong

During an unfortunate mishap, young Awâsis loses Kôhkum’s freshly baked world-famous bannock. Not knowing what to do, Awâsis seeks out a variety of other-than-human relatives willing to help. What adventures are in store for Awâsis?

Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock highlights the importance of collaboration and seeking guidance from one's community, while introducing the Cree words for different animals and baking ingredients. Find a pronunciation guide and the recipe for Kôhkum’s world-famous bannock in the back of the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HighWater Press
• Release date: Mar 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781553797814

Dallas Hunt

Dallas Hunt is Cree and a member of Wapsewsipi (Swan River First Nation), and is an assistant professor of Indigenous literature at the University of British Columbia. Their book, Storying Violence: Unravelling Colonial Narratives in the Stanley Trial, will be released in May 2020.

Reviews for Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock

[librarianryan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is very sweet. A little girl is to take some bannock (a type of pastry) to a family friend, but she plays along the way and loses it. Her animal friends help by giving her the various ingredients. I love that this is a Native American language book. Many of the words are in Cree with no explanation until the end. The lovely illustrations help you figure out what ingredient and what animal is which Cree word, but thank goodness for the glossary at the end. I wish it would have included the english translations in the illustrations, or put the Cree word over the illustration so it was more exact. But overall it works. And I love that readers get a chance to learn native words and phrases.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Awâsis, meaning "child" in Cree, is sent to deliver some of her Kôhkum's (grandmother's) world-famous bannock to a relative, the excited young girl ends up losing it over the side of a bridge. Dismayed at this turns of events, she appeals to a series of woodland animals for help, being given most of the ingredients necessary for bannock in return. Making her way home again, Awâsis and her Kôhkum makes another batch of pahkwesikan (bannock) together...A sweet story about a young girl, her grandmother, and her many animal friends, Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock is meant, according to the dust-jacket blurb about author Dallas Hunt, to introduce and familiarize readers with some basic Cree vocabulary. Hunt, who is a member of the Wapisewsipi/Swan River First Nation in Alberta, is an educator and a "proponent of language revitalization." The Cree words uses in the story are glossed at the rear, with English definitions and pronunciations. Most helpfully, this glossary is arranged in the order in which the words appear in the story, so that the reader doesn't have to search for the word in question, but can easily flip to that page, read the meaning, and continue on with the story. Once a Cree word has been introduced in the story, it is often used again, in order to solidify its meaning in the reader's mind.I appreciated the structure of Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock, which I think works very well toward the goal that Hunt had in mind - namely, acquisition of basic Cree vocabulary. I also appreciated the story, with its message of community and making things right when we have made a mistake. The artwork from illustrator Amanda Strong, a Michif filmmaker, is cute, in a cartoon-like way. There is even a recipe for bannock at the rear! Recommended to anyone looking for children's books with a Cree cultural and linguistic background, as well as to anyone simply searching for appealing picture-books.Note: If readers are seeking picture-books that feature Cree vocabulary, they might also consider:Neepin Auger's four trilingual board books: Discovering Words, Discovering Numbers, Discovering Animals, and Discovering People.Dave Bouchard's bilingual picture-books: Nokum Is My Teacher and The Drum Calls Softly.Julie Flett's We All Count: A Book of Cree Numbers.Caitlin Dale Nicholson's two bilingual picture-books: Niwechihaw / I Help and Nipêhon / I Wait.

[stephlamb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highwater Press is one of the leading publishers of #OwnVoices works. Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt and Amanda Strong is another fantastic title available from this small but mighty Canadian publisher.In this lovely little story Awâsis heads into the woods with a basket full of her nôhkom’s world-famous bannock for a relative. In her enthusiasm, she accidently drops the bannock into the river. Upset over the lost bannock, she enlists the help of various forest friends to help solve her problem.There is so much to love about this story. A traditional story with familiar animal characters, all lending a hand to help solve a problem. Dallas Hunt, an educator and proponent of language revitalization, weaves a tale and includes Cree language throughout. With a pronunciation guide at the back, be sure to give this one a few read throughs before sharing it out loud if you are unfamiliar with the Cree language. It’s so vital to have books in dual language to help revitalize First languages. We had a ton of fun learning the different names in Cree for the different animals and ingredients in the story. Best of all, there is a recipe for Kôhkum’s World-Famous Bannock at the end so after reading you can have a baking session with your little ones! The illustrations by Amanda Strong are so fantastic. From the cute end papers featuring all of the ingredients for bannock, to the lively little forest friends, the illustrations really bring the story to life. Try to find the bear on all of the pages, makes for a great little interactive cuddle up story as well as a great read aloud.