This is a deceptively short book, and while it does go quickly, I could see this being used very effectively in classrooms from lower elementary to 8th grade no problem, because the subject it tackles is so very complex and emotionally charged.
Olemaun Pokiak admires her older half-sister, who is plucked from their home on Banks Island, in northern Canada, to attend a school in Aklavik (on the mainland) run by Belgian nuns. She admires, in particular, that her sister can read Alice in Wonderland, and she longs to learn to read, too.
But her father won't let her go, and holds off until Olemaun is 10 before he finally capitulates. When she arrives, she's older than the other girls and bigger. The nuns cut her braids off, make her change into impractical, in the freezing cold, school uniforms, and her tights perpetually are too small and don't cover her legs well.
The girls do a ton of menial work in the hospital next to the school, but very little learning. She's bullied ceaselessly by The Raven, a nun with a hooked beak of a nose, and made to wear red-colored tights that make her legs look fat.
They're forced to write fake letters home, saying they're doing well and want to remain, because the sisters are paid based on how many students are at the school. They're taken to talk about their school experiences to a radio station, but they're told to recite lines from untruthful scripts. Refusing to lie, and to get a message to her family that she desperately wants to go home, Margaret stands mute before the microphone.
But it's no good; her message of silence is not heard, and it's years before her father shows up to take her home.
There is a wealth of online resources for teaching this book! That alone makes it attractive to teachers, and because it's a relatively short text, additional time can be used in researching residential schools in teacher's individual states (as in Arizona). I've posted links to the lesson plans and the pdfs themselves, but there were so many for this book, I thought I'd just give a quick set for teachers to reference.
Fatty Legs Educator's Guide, Xara Choral Theater This show is a collaborative creation between an Inuit author, an Anishinaabe dancer, and a non-Indigenous choral ensemble. It combines ethereal singing, engaging narration, and contemporary Indigenous dance. It is a profound yet accessible story that brings to light the suffering created by residential schools while celebrating the deep strength of a child who refused to be broken by her experiences.
First Nation Literature Unit: Fatty Legs -- A True Story This is a 39-page literature guide, with an anticipatory set of questions, comprehension questions chapter by chapter, and end of unit activities for further research on the residential schools.
Fatty Legs: Webinar Series and Resources This two part webinar series is about the book Fatty Legs, which includes meeting the author of the book and her mother-in-law (whom the book is about) and a teacher who has used the book with her 7th grade classroom. You will learn about the origin of the book and how it can be used to support student learning about the topic of residential schools.
Kingston Grand Performance Study Guide: Fatty Legs While this guide is designed to prep students for seeing a performance of the book, it has excellent preparation materials aimed at lower and upper level students.
Annik Press: Fatty Legs Lesson Plan The publisher also offers a lesson plan with 9 pages of comprehension questions for using this book in your classroom.
