Little Shoes, written by David A. Robertson and illustrated by Maya McKibbin. tundra, Penguin Random House. 2025. $24.99 ages 7 and up

 

"The march ended in front of a big pile 
of things. Teddy bears. Flowers. Tobacco ties.

But mostly, there were little shoes. 

Some looked like they would fit him. 
Some looked too big. 
And some looked too small."

James is a thinker. If he wakes up in the night, his attention is taken by scientific learning. It seems the perfect time to follow the moonlight right into his mother's room and ask her the questions that he cannot answer for himself. Mom patiently answers his questions and relates what he has learned from his Kokom. 

""That we came to Earth from the stars," James said.
"That we came to Earth from a hole in the sky and 
brought the star blanket with us as a gift.""

His mother agrees and tells him that his home is with her. Then, they tuck in together and go right back to sleep. When he can't sleep the next evening, he thinks about the constellations and the Night Sky stories his kokom shares. Are there more? His mother reminds him there are as many stories as there are stars. Perhaps when he is a grandfather, he will know them all. 

On the next night, he and his kokom made a plan for a walk. This one is unlike their other walks; Kokom called this one a march. At the end of the march there is a big pile of things, and a lot of little shoes. Kokom says this memorial march led to shoes that honored the children who went to residential school and did not come home. It scared James to think about going away to school and not coming home to his mom. 

Waking later that evening, he returns to his mom's room and asks who cuddled Kokom and her sister when they were at the residential school if they were awake in the night. Luckily, she tells him they had each other. It is all he needed to know to go back to sleep, tucked up beside his mother.  

David Robertson does not sugarcoat the story about children being sent to residential schools and not coming home; he does, however, ensure that full descriptions of the time spent away from families is not explicit. He leaves those who share this story to answer questions asked by their young listeners in conversations that are appropriate for their understanding. Sensitive and written for a younger audience, this book is reassuring while also providing important information from our past history.