What's in a Bead?

by Kelsey Borgford, Tessa Pizzale (Illustrator)

Overview

Tessa loves how her grandmother always smells of campfire stories. Mom says it’s because Kohkom spends her days sewing beautiful beads onto smoked hides. Inspired, Tessa asks Kohkom to teach her beading, but first she must listen and learn about the many stories held in a bead.

A celebration of Cree craftsmanship, language, and learning. The loving exchange of knowledge between Tessa and her Kohkom will be familiar to many children. Readers will learn that different Indigenous communities have different beadwork techniques, and that this traditional art form is alive and thriving today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772603668
Publisher:	Second Story Press
Publication date:	03/12/2024
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kelsey Borgford is Nbisiing Nishnaabe, from the Marten clan and Couchie family. She resides in her traditional territory of Nipissing First Nation. Kelsey is constantly seeking to become educated, and educate, about the culture. In all she does, her own Nokomis-baa is central to her story.

Tessa Pizzale grew up in North Bay, Ontario. Her Cree relatives are from Moose Factory, Fort Albany, and Peawanuck. She is completing her BFA at Nipissing University. Tessa loves Indigenous crafts and is grateful to her late Kookum for teaching her beading and her Nikawiy for teaching her to sew.

What People are Saying About This

Nancy Cooper

"The story is a beautiful look into the importance of beading in our communities and the ways that this art practice ties us together as families and communities."

Editorial Reviews

"Featuring a long-standing tribal tradition, What’s in a Bead? by Kelsey Borgford highlights the special relationship between a young girl and her grandmother. Tessa’s curiosity leads Kohtom to teach her the history and importance of beads in their culture."

Manistee News

"A delicate tribute to beading and storytelling, connecting the past, present, and future of Native communities."

Kirkus

"Nbisiing Nishnaabe author Borgford approaches the history with sensitivity while interspersing Cree vocabulary into scenes of a close-knit family passing on knowledge. Cree illustrator Pizzale, meanwhile, captures the straightforward text in boldly colored illustrations filled with details of a long-held tradition."

Publishers Weekly

"A colourful new book will have children reading about close family relationships, the art of beading in different Indigenous communities, and Cree artisanship and language. Aimed at six to eight-year old children, the story is told from the viewpoint of the main character Tessa who loves and learns from her kokum."

Anishinabek News

"Culture is at the core of everything Kelsey Borgford creates."

Windspeaker

Written by a Nbisiing Nishnaabe author, What’s in a Bead? shares indigenous words and customs alongside clear, bold illustrations.”

Madison Public Library

"Delight beckons from the cover to the last page of What’s in a Bead?. Rich in visual details and told from the perspective of Tessa, a First Nations girl (Cree), What’s in a Bead? documents educational, social, and cultural practices of beading in her family and community. It contains colour-rich, carefully rendered visual images, beaded objects, and ceremonies related to beading.... Recommended."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

2023-12-16
In this heartwarming intergenerational story, an Indigenous girl learns how to bead from her grandmother.

Kohkom greets Tessa and her mom in Cree when they arrive, and Tessa offers her grandmother a tobacco tie before asking if she’ll teach her to bead. Kohkom agrees. Beading tells “stories about who we are,” she explains. “We [keep] beading…to make sure our ways [aren’t] lost forever.” Tessa learns about the importance of beading and how different Indigenous people use the art form to express their identities. Kohkom shows Tessa that beaded Anishinaabe moccasins look different from Cree ones. Borgford (Nbisiing Nishnaabe) uses dialogue to convey a strong bond between grandmother and grandchild. Depicting a contemporary Native family, Pizzale (Cree) incorporates designs and vivid colors. Complementing the gentle text, the illustrations include small touches: a heart shape in a strand of thread, earrings dangling in a jewelry box, the northern lights glistening in the distance, geese flying in the background. The use of detail helps readers connect with Native culture. Readers can decipher potentially unfamiliar words in context, though a glossary might have been helpful.

A delicate tribute to beading and storytelling, connecting the past, present, and future of Native communities. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews