I Lost My Talk

Rita Joe’s classic poem “I Lost My Talk” forms the text of a new picture book illustrated by Pauline Young. Published as a companion to the picture book I’m Finding My Talk, featuring a new poem in response to Joe’s, both volumes explore the legacy of Canada’s residential schools. Young’s vibrant illustrations bring the words alive with emotional nuance. This remarkable pair of books possesses the rare ability of being suited to readers of all ages: three to six-year-olds, the traditional intended audience of picture books, will be captivated by the bright, lively illustrations; elementary and middle school children will find their Social Studies curriculum enriched by experiencing these important concepts rendered creatively; teens and adults will gain insight and empathy by enjoying these beautiful poems.

Older readers will be familiar with Rita Joe’s poem, but I Lost My Talk will come alive for younger readers in this new picture book format. Many young readers will have explored some of these concepts in recent illustrated book publications such as Fatty Legs
( https://umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol17/no11/fattylegs.html ) and When I Was Eight.
( https://umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol19/no41/wheniwaseight.html ) Joe’s earlier poem brings a different facet to a similar experience and will thus broaden readers’ contextual understanding of residential school experiences. Joe’s stark yearning for linguistic and intellectual freedom provides a powerful conclusion to the book: “So gently I offer/ my hand and ask,/ Let me find my talk/ So I can teach you about me.” These lines provide the perfect segue into Rebecca Thomas’s poem in the companion picture book, I’m Finding My Talk.

Pauline Young’s illustrations link I Lost My Talk with I’m Finding My Talk by using the same artistic style for both. Young utilizes undulating line, contrasts between bright and drab coloration, and Indigenous visual symbols. This combination conveys both the resilience of Indigenous culture and the trauma Indigenous peoples are still experiencing as a result of the residential school system. The illustrations bring renewed vitality to Rita Joe’s words.

This picture book version of I Lost My Talk is best read with Rebecca Thomas’s I’m Finding My Talk. These haunting, evocative books bring an original approach to the exploration of Canadian residential schools in picture books. For readers and teachers who appreciate fact-based information, there is also “A Short History of Residential Schools” at the end of I Lost My Talk. Educators, librarians, and families will find their classrooms and book collections invaluably enriched by these books. They are real tools of truth and reconciliation; as such, they belong on every bookshelf in Canada and beyond.