Draft:Heart Berry Bling

Heart Berry Bling

Author	Jenny Kay Dupuis
Illustrator	Eva Campbell
Language	English
Genre	Children's Literature
Publisher	Portage Main and Press
Publication date	May 9, 2023
Publication place	Canada
ISBN	978-1-774-92055-8

Heart Berry Bling is a 2023 illustrated children’s book written by Jenny Kay Dupuis, illustrated by Eva Campbell, and published by Portage & Main Press. The story follows a young Anishinaabe girl named Maggie visiting her grandmother and learning about the culture of beadwork. Maggie, an eager pupil, decides to make a pair of strawberry earrings as her first project, and her grandmother guides her through this process. She describes the history of The Indian Act  and the First Nations (Indigenous Peoples)  as well as the importance of connecting to and remembering one’s identity. She tells her granddaughter how beadwork helped her persevere through being forced out of her home after losing her First Nations status by marrying someone without this status.

Jenny Kay Dupuis is also known for writing I Am Not a Number, another work surrounding indigenous culture, specifically the Indian Act and the atrocities of residential schools. As a part of the Nipissing First Nation, Dupuis writes her books about her own family’s experiences and history. She writes these works to provide true representation for indigenous children in literature, something she was not able to see as a child.

Heart Berry Bling is a book made for children ages 6-8; The story is simple to understand for younger readers yet meaningful, impactful, and important for all ages to learn about. The book won the CBC Favorites Award in 2023 and was commended for the Bookstagang Best of 2023 Picture Book Awards in 2023.

Plot Summary

Heart Berry Bling is an illustrated children’s literature book written by Jenny Kay Dupuis and illustrated by Eva Campbell. It was published on May 9, 2023, by Highwater Press.

Heart Berry Bling highlights multiple aspects of Anishinaabe culture such as the food, Anishinaabemowin language and specifically beading and the history associated with it. The story starts with a young girl named Maggie going to visit her Granny in the city with her dad. Granny greets her by offering fry bread and hot chili to Maggie, but instead she opts for a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich.

Her dad leaves to run errands in the city, and while he is gone, Granny teaches Maggie the essentials to Anishinaabe beading and the stories that the beads can tell. She pulls out examples of her work such as moccasins, jewelry, belts, and bags to show her granddaughter. During this time, she also shows Maggie photographs of her when she lived on a reserve. She describes the Indian Act and the loss of her First Nations status after marrying Maggie’s grandfather who was not First Nations. After learning about this history, Maggie is inspired to bead a pair of strawberry earrings. While beading, Granny talks about how her Auntie Jeannie taught her how to bead, and how beading can tell history, traditions, and stories. The 7 teachings of Anishinaabe culture are described: Truth, love, respect, trust, acceptance, peace, and hope. Another important part of this culture mentioned is Powwows and the sparkling beaded regalia that comes with it.

Through much trial and error, Maggie beads her strawberry earrings with the help of Granny. Her dad comes back, and Maggie proudly displays them to him.

Themes

Indigenous Culture

One of the primary themes exhibited in Jenny Kay Dupuis’ Heart Berry Bling is the importance of indigenous culture and passing down traditions through generations in order to preserve and celebrate the culture. Dupuis comes from the Anishinaabe group and aims to raise the underheard voices of indigenous people through the art of children’s literature. Granny shows her granddaughter, Maggie, the art of Anishinaabe beading which is a vital part of indigenous culture. Beadwork also helped Granny persevere and connect to her identity as she faced the Indian Act, a brutal period for indigenous people and culture, especially women. As she teaches Maggie the ways of beading, she also explains her history, further enforcing to Maggie the importance of learning about her identity and family. Dupuis explains that even though this can be a hard subject to talk about, it is crucial for school systems to uphold their educational standards to be able to tackle these topics, “Educators really need to ask themselves what the intent of these systems are, and that’s to really prepare students to be culturally competent and responsive in terms of thinking about how they are going to interact with others in a very respectful and meaningful way without oppressing others, and so literature can actually help (WittyWhittier).”  

The presence of Anishinaabe culture is prevalent in other ways throughout the book such as the food offered by Granny (fry bread, hot chili, and fry bread sandwiches) and the Anishinaabe language as it is spoken by Granny and her sister over the phone. Dupuis worked with the illustrator, Eva Campbell, to create a familiar setting with these small details based on her own life, “We decided to model a woman like my Granny. I gave photos of my grandmother, the types of clothing she would have worn back in that day, thinking of the eighties with the hair styles (Smith).”

Family

Another prominent theme within Heart Berry Bling is the theme of family and the importance of connection between family. The main character Maggie and her Granny have a bond which is strengthened through their day spent together. Granny teaches Maggie about the Anishinaabe culture through teaching beadwork to her granddaughter, sharing knowledge and love. Familial bonds between family members such as grandmother and granddaughter are very important, and young readers will see the importance of connecting with their grandparents through Dupuis’ writing.

Heart Berry Bling also shows the importance of familial history, specifically understanding the history of one’s culture. This is shown as Granny describes her history with the Indian Act and loss of her First Nations status to Maggie. As family members it is incredibly important to understand each other and where the family came from. A review from John P. Broome details, “Heart Berry Bling is a soulful children’s story that reminds readers of not only the importance of family and culture, but also the generational harm caused by laws against Indigenous Peoples. In this tale of a young Anishinaabe girl who finds out how her own family was negatively impacted by the Indian Act, Jenny Kay Dupuis has created an important text for anyone learning of the erased ancestral stories from and about Indigenous Peoples. (Portage Main & Press)” Many readers have similar views like Broome on Heart Berry Bling, examining that it is a heartfelt story centered on the importance of family.