Rez Kid

Rez Kid by Andrea Landry and Isabella Fassler, a story about connecting to home and sharing community.

A girl arrives home on the bus frustrated and sad. She gets called “Rez Kid” on the bus in a way that makes her feel less than and sad. While recounting the occurrence with her family members they try to give her ideas to share with the other kids about their community but she is strong willed and decides she will think of her own idea.

This story is about community and sharing with others the beauty of where we come from. There is a wonderful author’s note right at the start of the book to explain reserves to readers so that going into the story, if you don’t already know about them, you have a bit of an understanding of how they came to be and why. This story gives readers a beautiful new perspective of life on the rez. 

Just like the child who taunts on the bus, often our perception of things is biased by outside sources, this story shows readers the beauty and the joy that is found in rez communities just like the one in the story. This story shows readers that they can have pride in their communities and can determine how to share their gifts and their homes with others. I love how the child in the story sticks to her plan of coming up with her own ideas of how to show the magnificence of her home. It’s so very realistic. How many times have parents heard, “I can do it!” from their children. It’s so lovely to see the ownership and the pride that exudes from the girl in the story.

The illustrations by Isabella Fassler are pure magic. The spreads roll and flow from page to page, giving the rez an ethereal quality and highlighting just how special home is for the child in the story. The colours are vibrant and the scenes full of life and new things to discover that readers will have to pick up the book again and again to take it all in.