For Family Literacy Day 2022, ABC Life Literacy Canada set the national theme as “Learning in the Great Outdoors,” so we chose a book and stories about learning from the land in Saskatchewan: “When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar”!

To celebrate, Saskatchewan author Bernice Johnson-Laxdal shared stories about her childhood growing up around Île-à-la-Crosse in northern Saskatchewan. We also heard from Miriam Körner, illustrator and co-author, who helped make this book and who created the lovely art in the book!

Family Literacy Day is January 27, every year! For information about this year’s theme, visit our Family Literacy Day in Saskatchewan main page.

On this page:

Watch the livestream recording here:

Watch the trailer video here:

Livestream!

On January 27, 2022 at 10:30am (CST), we heard Bernice and Miriam share their stories and answer your questions. You can watch the livestream below, and you can still ask questions by emailing [email protected]!

Resources

Thanks to great support from the authors, illustrator, publisher, partners, and the Saskatchewan Family Literacy Hubs, we are happy to share activities, downloadables, and printables! These resources are still here for you, thanks to Bernice and Miriam – thank you!

Events!

In 2022, and every year, Family Literacy Hubs and others planned events and activities all around the province. Look for events in your community every year! More information for this year is on the Family Literacy Day in Saskatchewan page!

Want to hear words from the book in nēhiyawēwin?

Click to hear author Bernice Johnson-Laxdal say words from her book in nēhiyawēwin (y-dialect, Northern Plains Cree).

This is an image of the cover of the e-book "When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar" in the y-dialect.

Story Questions for the book

This is an image of the first page of story questions for the book "When the Trees Crackle with Cold" by Bernice Johnson-Laxdal and Miriam Körner.

You can use this book to learn more together! When you ask questions about what you see on a page, this helps build valuable literacy skills.

The authors of the book, Bernice and Miriam, helped us and the Family Literacy Hubs make these Story Questions for the book. There are a few ways you can download these (some for printing)!

You can also see the questions online on this page.

Activity Sheets

These activity sheets are from the book “When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book” by Bernice Johnson-Laxdal and Miriam Körner. We thank them for their permission to share these activities with you for Family Literacy Day in Saskatchewan!

Colouring Pages

kisīpīsim

Great Moon

This is an image of an activity sheet from When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book - a colouring page from Great Moon

mikisiwipīsim

Eagle Moon

This is an image of an activity sheet from When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book - a colouring page from Eagle Moon

pawācakinasīsipīsim

Frost-Exploding Moon

This is an image of an activity sheet from When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book - a colouring page from Frost-Exploding Moon

Make a Dogsled Team napagitāpānāsk

dogsled

This is an image of an activity sheet from When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book for making a dogsled team out of cardboard

Make an Ice Ornament kaskatinawipīsim (th)

Freeze-Up Moon

This is an image of an activity sheet from When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book - an activity from Freeze-Up Moon to make an ice ornament

Read and Find

Image of a printable 'Read and Find' sheet with animals and outdoor activities

Read and Find activity sheet (for web)
Read and Find activity sheet (for print)

Look and Find

Image of Look and Find activity sheet for Family Literacy Day, using artwork from When the Trees Crackle with Cold

Look and Find activity sheet (for web)
Look and Find activity sheet (for print)

This is a photo of two people, outside in the snow with trees in the background. They are each holding a copy of their book "When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar". On the left is Bernice Johnson-Laxdal, author of the book. On the right is Miriam Körner, illustrator and co-author of the book.

Bernice and Miriam live near La Ronge, in northern Saskatchewan. We shared the video reading of “When the Trees Crackle with Cold” from there, thanks to our friends at the Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System Headquarters! Bernice and Miriam also answered your questions live! If you still have questions, email us at [email protected].

You can learn more about Family Literacy Day in Canada, download an activity guide, and much more at ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Family Literacy Day page.

So many partners and friends made this event possible (and even better!). Thank you, everyone!

Logo for Pahkisimon Nuyeʔáh Library System

Bernice Johnson-Laxdal
and
Miriam Körner

Logo for the Saskatchewan Family Literacy Hubs
Logo for the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild
This is a logo for Your Nic

Archive from Family Literacy Day 2022

In case you’d like to see what the poster and social media posts were like from Family Literacy Day 2022, you can still access them here.

10-Day Countdown Posts

An adult and two children are under a blanket fort, reading a book together. This image is in honour of Family Literacy Day 2022

We created posts for you to share with families in your class, program, or community. It was designed as a 10-day countdown to Family Literacy Day 2022, but feel free to use them in the way that fits best for your community! Click here for text and images.

Event Poster

Image of livestream event poster for a reading of "When the Trees Crackle with Cold" in celebration of Family Literacy Day in Saskatchewan

Poster PDF for print
Poster PDF for web
Poster image JPG
Postcard version PDF for print
Poster PDF for print (Lloydminster)
Poster PDF for web (Lloydminster)
Poster image JPG (Lloydminster)
Postcard version PDF for print (Lloydminster)