• Age: 6 to 8
• Grade: 1 to 3
• Reading age: 6 to 8

Dancing with the Cranes gives an understanding of birth, life and death. Chi's momma is soon to have a baby, but Chi is having a hard time being happy about it. Chi misses Temma (her grandma), who has passed away. Chi's momma and daddy help ease the pain of losing Temma and help Chi to understand life and death as a part of nature. Chi soon finds herself feeling comforted, knowing Temma will always be a part of her and looking forward to the new baby who will be a part of their lives.

Jeannette Armstrong is an award-winning novelist, activist and poet born on the Okanagan Reserve. Known for her literary work, Armstrong has always sought to change deeply biased misconceptions about Indigenous people. Her novel Slash is considered by many people to be the first novel by a First Nations woman. In 2013 she was appointed a Canada Research Chair in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy to research, document, categorize and analyze Okanagan syilx oral literature in Nsyilxcn.

Jeannette Armstrong's profile page

Ron Hall is an Aboriginal artist of Okanagan and Thompson ancestry and is a member of the Osoyoos Band. The father of five children, he is recognized for his efforts to protect the environment and the rights of Native people. He participated in an art exhibit at the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage in Moscow and in Siberia. One of his paintings is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery in Ottawa. Ron resides in Osoyoos, British Columbia. Dancing with the Cranes is Ron's first book with Theytus.

Ron Hall's profile page

Dancing with the Cranes

Chi is waiting for the return of the cranes, an event she shared with her grandmother every year. She misses her grandmother, but her pregnant mother explains that dying is part of the cycle of life, and uses the cranes to aid in the explanation. “If no cranes died, then there would be way too many cranes, and finally there would be no room for anything else but cranes”. She explains that it is the same for people. “It is the saddest thing when someone dies, it is also the happiest thing when a new person is added”. Chi comes to understand that her Temma will always be part of her and she begins to look forward to the arrival of the baby.

A poet and novelist, Armstrong has received the Mungo Martin Award and the Buffett Award for Aboriginal Leadership as well as an honorary doctorate from St. Thomas University.

Dancing with the Cranes

Dancing with the Cranes is a story of death, sadness, birth, anticipation and nature. Chi is waiting for the return of the cranes, an event she shared with her grandmother every year. She misses her grandmother, but her pregnant mother explains that dying is part of the cycle of life, and uses the cranes to aid in the explanation. “If no cranes died, then there would be way too many cranes, and finally there would be no room for anything else but cranes”. She explains that it is the same for people. “It is the saddest thing when someone dies, it is also the happiest thing when a new person is added”. Chi comes to understand that her Temma will always be part of her and she begins to look forward to the arrival of the baby.

Armstrong has received leadership awards. She is a poet and novelist.

Dancing with the Cranes

Chi is sad since the death of her Temma (grandmother). When her mother announces the impending arrival of a new baby Chi responds, “Send it away!” Chi goes to the lake to watch for the return of the cranes, a favourite activity she shared with her Temma. The cranes come back each year. Why can’t her grandmother? Momma gently points out that although the cranes return each year, it is never the same group of cranes. Some die, baby cranes are born. That is the circle of life. When the cranes arrive, Chi’s mother sings Temma’s crane song. Chi realizes that her Temma will always live within her heart.

The author and illustrator are both of Aboriginal heritage. Armstrong is the author of the best-selling novel Slash. Hall’s work is included in the National Gallery collection.