"They hear about a place called Ireland,
where families are torn apart,
removed from their homes,
and left to starve.
Wrapped in the warmth of family,
each Choctaw man, woman, and child listens.
they feel the pain of the Irish people."
Kindness? These days anything we can do to encourage others and ourselves to spread kindness should be a goal. It takes such a little bit of effort and has a lasting impact. Reading books like this to our kids is sure to show them that we can all do our part, in big and small ways, to make the world a better place and to make them feel so much better about themselves.
It's 1845, and we meet a young Irish girl as she makes her way through a potato field. Where yesterday everything was green and lush, today all that has changed. The potatoes beneath the plants smell rotten ... and they are. How did that happen? Following this introduction in prose, the facing page offers a historical note about the Irish Potato Famine, explaining how heat, rain and a fungus led to the death of more than a million people and forced two million others to emigrate from their beloved homeland.
Two years later, people of the Choctaw Nation hear about the plight of the Irish and know the pain they had suffered. 15 years earlier, the Choctaw had their land stolen from them, and understood the reality of losing their own homes. Their Trail of Tears also claimed many lives.
"Choctaw people reach into their pockets.
They give one hundred and seventy dollars
to people in Ireland in honor of the injustice
suffered by both nations.
Shilombish ittibacchvffa.
Those who feel the same.
Kindred spirits."
The story moves back and forth to tell the poignant tale of kindness in the midst of great loss. The Irish people never forget. In 2017, they honor that friendship with a Kindred Spirits sculpture. Then, in 2020, they collect money to help the Choctaw, Navajo and Hopi Nations as they raise money for food and bottled water so badly needed during the pandemic.
Ms. Widener's narrative storytelling is enhanced with sidebars that provide further enlightenment concerning both sides of her story. Mr. Yazzie's acrylic on canvas illustrations are both emotional and vivid. Notes from both author and illustrator, further facts about the Trail of Tears and the Irish Potato Famine, and an accounting for the relationship maintained even today, a timeline, glossary and list of resources are included in backmatter.
"United by empathy learned from hardship.
They pass generosity and compassion on
as kindred spirits."
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