By K.E. MacPhie
Kiki Garcia is – in the words of her own book – ready for adventure! At only nine years old, Kiki has just published her first children’s book titled, Fishing by Torchlight, words by Kiki Garcia and pictures by illustrator and Dakota desceendant, Erin Kant Barnard.
And it’s not just a simple children’s story, it integrates Ojibwemowin and lessons about treaty rights and spearfishing, based on personal experience from Kiki and her time spearfishing with her dad in a way that stays relevant and interesting to any kids and their families reading the book. Having a child as a children’s book author offers an authentic and current perspective to a popular genre.
by Kiki Garcia (Author). Erin Kant Barnard (Illustrator). Black Bears and Blueberries (Publisher). January 2025, 32 pages
Dad, Tom Garcia, explained how the book came to be for such a young author, “Kiki asked to have her book published and so after discussing the process several times we started reaching out. She had a couple of rejections, and I had decided to hold off but then found myself in an email thread with Tom and Betsy [from Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing Company]. I immediately recognized their name and decided to reach out to them. They asked to meet Kiki and then we met up and they loved her and the two stories we sent. She has a handful of books I think that are ready to be published. A couple of them are real home runs. I can’t wait to see what the future has for her, I am so proud! For us being Ojibwe is about living our culture so today we tapped Ininaatig (maple). When I asked her once what was important to her about her stories she said she wanted her voice to be heard and she loves being Ojibwe.”
Kiki is a member of the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River Ojibwe) on the south shore of Giichihami (Lake Superior). She is a from the clan Migizii (Bald Eagle) and enjoys, not only living in her Ojibwe culture, but teaching friends and others about our culture and language.
On February 16, she held a book signing in Minneapolis. ARTrageous Adventures, a full-service art studio on the same block as Native bookstore, Birchbark Books (which is also carrying Kiki’s book), hosted the signing that not only brought the author and her supportive family members, but they offered various projects and art supplies for guests to interact and contribute to work on while we interacted with the author.
Owner and founder of the studio, Amanda Vallone, welcomed guests and talked about how honored she is to support young artists with events like this, with her partnership with the neighboring Kenwood Elementary School, and other instructional and open art events at the studio and throughout the community.
The book was published by Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing, a Native-focused publishing company located on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Cloquet, MN, and owned by two prominent Native authors, Thomas Peacock (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) and Elizabeth Albert-Peacock (Red Cliff Ojibwe) who started the company to focus on authentic fiction and non-fiction stories by Native authors, primarily for K-12 readers to get more Native stories into schools and libraries around the country. Their company is named for the title of one of Elizabeth’s books about two grandparent black bears that integrates Dakota and Ojibwe animal words into the story for their grandchildren.
What Kiki has done by becoming a published author at such a young age is bringing together multiple Native organizations and artistic programs from around the state to highlight what Native industries can do together, especially to support our newest and brightest artists and storytellers in the modern mediums of today.
You can buy Fishing by Torchlight online at birchbarkbooks.com, on Amazon.com, or at Birchbark Books, 2115 W 21st St. Minneapolis.
Learn more about ARTrageous Adventures: artrageousadventures.com.
You can find other books published by Black Bears and Blueberries at blackbearsandblueberries.com.
