Stories by Nancy Jones, Eugene Stillday, Rose Tainter, Anna Gibbs, Marlene Stately, Keller Paap, Michael Sullivan, John D. Nichols, and Luccia Bonacci. Illustrated by Wesley Ballinger. These original stories, written in Anishinaabemowin by a storytelling team of skillful first language speakers and scholars, delight readers and language learners with the antics of animals who playfully deal with situations familiar to children in all cultures: learning to work with others, listening to elders, venturing out alone, playing and working hard, and dodging dangers in the big world that surrounds their smaller lives. Interwoven in the stories are threads of Ojibwe culture and tradition. Aapiji niminwendam gii-wiidookawiwaad gichi-ayaa'aag ji-nitaa-ojibwemoyaan megwaa gii-abinoojiinyiwiyaan. Miigwech indinaag gakina awiya-waakojitoowaad ji-nitaa-ojibwemod miinawaa enokaadamowaad ojibwemowin. Gakina anokaadandaa ji-ayaag gi-dinwewininaa waasa geyaabi-niigaan. —Gordon Jourdain, Enweyang Ojibwe Language Nest, University of Minnesota Duluth
