★“In warm, soothing language, a mother speaks to her infant, poetically describing their ancestral surroundings and reflecting on traditional Cree knowledge…Luxuriantly alive with glowing colors and textured patterns, Dumont’s (Onion Lake Cree Nation) exquisite pointillist illustrations resemble three-dimensional beadwork. This eloquent and insightful picture book (…) honors the enduring relationship between a child, their ancestors, and the land.” — Booklist, starred review

As daylight fades to dusk and slips into darkness, this gentle lullaby celebrates the sounds of the Prairies and the Plains on a stormy summer's night.

From the hum of dragonflies to the drumming of thunder, with grasses swirling and the northern lights glimmering, This Land Is a Lullaby shares a song and dance—a gift from the ancestors that soothes children to sleep and reminds them of their deeply rooted connections to the land.

Written as a lullaby for the author's daughter and featuring striking pointillism artwork, this lush lullaby of the land honors the beauty of the Prairies and the Plains and the spiritual connection between Indigenous children, ancestors and their Traditional Territories.

Key Selling Points

• Written as a lullaby for the author’s daughter, this book is an exploration of the spiritual relationship between children, ancestors and the land.
• Lyrical language evokes the sights and sounds of a summer storm on a prairie evening and conveys a powerful message of reconciliation and reclamation, as ancestors dance and sing a song to a child, who drifts into a peaceful sleep.
• Author and Indigenous anthropologist Tonya Simpson is Scottish and Cree and a member of the Pasqua First Nation. This is her second book, following Forever Our Home.
• Artist Delreé Dumont, from Onion Lake Cree Nation, evokes the movement of the land through stunning pointillism illustrations.
• This Land Is a Lullaby was selected as a 2025 NCTE Notable Poetry Book.
• Also available in a dual-language Plains Cree and English edition.

À propos des auteurs

Simpson, Tonya

Tonya Simpson is a member of Pasqua First Nation and resides in Pigeon Lake, Alberta with her husband and two children. Tonya works full-time as an anthropologist and loves to explore through storytelling what it means to be human in a changing landscape. Her writing focuses on connections between people, the land and ancestors. She is the author of Forever Our Home and This Land Is a Lullaby, which celebrate the sights and sounds of the Prairies and the Plains.

Dumont, Delreé

Delreé Dumont (Wapiski Kihew Esquao / White Eagle Woman) is a proud member of Onion Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan. She paints in the pointillism style, depicting the natural world blended with her teachings and experiences as an Indigenous woman. She also creates smudge fans, dreamcatchers and pine-needle baskets, and she is a traditional powwow dancer. Delreé lives and works at her home studio near Revelstoke, British Columbia.