"He knew that if he had a little sister, she would be able to do anything."

This is the third or fourth book I've read in "Siha Tooskin Knows" and I have adored and learned so much from each one! This one is particularly delightful as a large part of the story is Paul's stream of consciousness as he thinks about having a new sibling and how cool it would be to have a sister. Charlene Bearhead & Wilson Bearhead do such an amazing job of having Paul's thoughts sound so like how children think-- but with love and respect and in no way being derisive of how kids think.

Like the other books in this series, I learn terms and ideas that are unfamiliar to me: this is wonderfully done in that the ideas are explained enough to understand, but also in such a way that makes me eager to go do more research! While I am not the primary audience for these books (I'm a 26 year old that spends very little time with children), I still find them positively enchanting! Paul is such an endearing main character-- at one point he thinks to himself that while he has heard a story many times, he loves hearing it but also "The longer
the story, the bigger the snack." I adore him so much!

Even though the tone of these books is frequently humorous, they don't shy from the genocide and discrimination that Indigenous people face. I truly admire how these different messages are threaded together to make a meaningful and entertaining story!

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. Being native myself I saw this and I did not see any books like this when I was growing up. Now as an adult I see the more diverse books coming out for all people. I love this story of the dreamcatcher. I have one hanging next to my bed it is  lovely part of the culture. The drawings in this book were whimsical and fun. It helped better weave the tale. It was a quick and easy ready.

I really enjoyed reading this story of the Siha Knows series. Siha loves riding fast on his bike and love to tell the stories why to his Mugoshin, his grandmother. She is there babysitting him and his little brother while his parents are at the hospital waiting for the new baby to arrive. While Siha is having a snack he watches and listens to his Mugoshin make a dream catcher and she explains the importance of it and why their people make them. To help protect the children while they are sleeping.

Siha Tooskin (Paul) is an 11 year old Nakota boy who notices a green spot when he's out riding his bike. This can mean only one thing, his grandparents are here visiting. Paul rides his bike home as fast as he can to get home to them. His day is going great, he's going to have a new baby brother or sister (he really wants a little sister), his grandparents are visiting and there's freshly made bannock. Whilst waiting for the phone call from the hospital about his new baby sibling, Siha sits and listens to Mugoshin's (grandmother) story about the importance of dream catchers and why she always makes them for a new family member.

Although this graphic novel is short, it fits so much sweetness and greatness into those short pages. This book provides such a great sense of family, tradition and culture. I loved learning about the importance of dream catchers from the cultural perspective of the Nakota people. 

I found the illustrations to be great on a whole. The character illustrations were so detailed, down to the individual hair strokes. However, although these character and foreground illustrations were incredible, the background illustrations I found to be lacking, which is my only criticism of the whole novel. 

This novel is aimed perfectly at the intended audience of children aged 9-11, within that middle grade aged. 

Thank you very much to HighWater Press for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is another lovely story filled with family love. Siha Tooskin's personality can be seen in this story. He is a storyteller himself and has a sense of humor. He's also extremely excited to have a new baby sister. His dreams for her include some of the gender specific things that his mother and grandmother will pass down, but he also sees possibilities for her future that go beyond typical gender expectations. Within this story readers also get to hear about how the dream catchers came to be and how they work to offer protection to the dreamers. As with the other Siha Tooskin book, this one also includes mentions of residential schools and some of the hard truths about Canadian history that are finally being taught about in schools. That's not the point of the book, but it's acknowledged.

Recommendation: Dream catchers and images of them are found in many kinds of media and are even on t-shirts and jewelry or hanging in cars on mirrors. For those who do not know the significance of dream catchers, this would be a very helpful book to read. For readers aware of them, it will also be a validation of what they already know. I look forward to having this available in our school library and believe this series is a must for any library serving young people.

I didn't realize this was a series and I think that some aspects of this book are harder to connect to without the background knowledge. Otherwise this was a pretty simple but good read for the age group.

It is so good to see books with Native American kids and their families and culture portrayed! I can’t wait to read some of the other books.

I love the story, and how you learn about dream catchers. I look forward to reading more books with Siha Tooskin.

This is the third book I have read of this series, which I think fills a hole in terms of a book I don't have in my school library. First, it is an early chapter book by Indigenous writers, also there are some traditional teachings that hold true for many Nations, in this case regarding Dream Catchers. The family in the story is always happy and the stories don't really have a lot of tension, which is why I think of them as a kind of narrative non-fiction in some ways, but for early readers of chapter books this series should be a very good reading experience.

This series of books is awesome, I have enjoyed every single one!

This story is so sweet; Paul is expecting a new member of his family to arrive any day, and it is going to be a girl. Paul's hope and dreams for his new sister made me tear up, he wishes so many amazing things for her in her life.

I loved learning about the history of the dream catcher and what each part of the dream catcher symbolizes. Mugoshin (grandmother) creating a dream catcher for each new grandchild is such a beautiful tradition, those are gifts that will be treasured always.

#SihaTooskinKnowsTheCatcherOfDreams #NetGalley

“Siha Tooskin Knows – The Catcher of Dreams” is one in a series of Siha Tooskin Knows books that follows the life of Siha Tooskin, a young Indigenous boy (who also has the English name Paul). In this book Siha Tooskin’s mother is about to give birth to another baby so Siha Tooskin’s grandparents come to stay with him. His grandmother begins to tell him the story of the dream catcher along with the importance of this often-commercialized object.

I love the sense of family we get from this book and how much importance Siha Tooskin’s grandmother places on the family unit, especially in a time where many Indigenous families are still actively being destroyed by systemic inequalities.

As a teacher, I appreciated the mention of the Truth and Reconicilliation Commission and the way teachers are still learning how to accurately represent Indigenous peoples.

The illustrations are beautiful (especially the full page ones) and the grade level for reading is somewhere around grades 3-5 but the content is also perfect for grades 7 & 8 history.

Overall, a great read perfect for K-8 classrooms alike.