South Slave Divisional Education Council unveils winner of 3rd Annual Children’s Storybook Contest

I Paddled Down the Nahanni captures the nature and peace of paddling northern rivers

FORT SMITH, NT – The South Slave Divisional Education Council is excited to announce I Paddled Down the Nahanni by Denise Broomfield as the winner of the 3rd Annual Children’s Storybook Contest.

The story follows the author on a canoe trip as she ponders the values instilled by the traditions and knowledge of the North.

The story will be published as a dual-language book with text in English alongside Chipewyan (“T” Dialect) Dene Dedlıne Yatıe), South Slavey (Dene Yatıé), and Cree (nēhiyawēwin). The print book will also be reformatted as an ebook and made available on the SSDEC’s First Nations Storybook app, which is available for free on iTunes and Google Play.

“The traditional northern themes in Denise Broomfield’s story complement the growing library of more than 300 books published in four languages by the South Slave Divisional Education Council,” says Shawna Coleman, Regional Indigenous Language Education Coordinator for the South Slave Divisional Education Council. “The story also pays tribute to the beauty of the northern wilderness and the natural world we are lucky to experience on a daily basis.”

The SSDEC also launched the 4th Annual Children’s Storybook Contest, which will run until March 31, 2020. Official rules for the contest will be available on the SSDEC website (www.ssdec.net). Entries can be submitted up to March 31, 2020 to Chris Talbot, Public Affairs Coordinator, by email at ctalbot@ssdec.nt.ca.