A Day with Yayah is a 2017 book written by Nicola I. Campbell and illustrated by Julie Flett. The text is largely in English but includes twelve words in Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn, the language of the Nà ÂeÃÂképmx people of the Inner Salish indigenous peoples. These words include Yayah, Campbell's Anglicisation of the Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn word yéye, meaning "grandmother".
In an interview with CBC Books, Campbell explained that she didn't want tragedy to be the only story told by and about Indigenous people. Instead, she wanted to write a book that helped Indigenous people feel "empowered".
Three children, Nikki, Jamesie Pookins, and Lenny, ask to go foraging with their grandmother. She drives them and some other relatives to the foraging site, where together they find food-plants, learn about dangerous plants and the importance of correctly identifying plants, and learn the properties of the plants and their NÃ ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn names. When lunchtime arrives they sit and eat a picnic; the children lament that lightning mushrooms are not marshmallows; and they render the food they have gathered to their elders.
As the children forage, their grandmother teachers them relevant vocabulary in Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn; she always refers to the children by the Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn term scmémâÂÂiÃÂt. The book closes with a note about the Nà ÂeÃÂkepmx people and Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn language, along with a glossary of Nà ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn words encountered in the book and Campbell's guide to pronouncing them. The following table lists these words along with links to their entries in the FirstVoices dictionary, which give recordings of native-speaker pronunciations.
The book was awarded four stars when reviewed in The Deakin Review of Children's Literature. The reviewer, Lydia Thorne, particularly noted the book's inclusion of words in NÃ ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn, and the value of the book in a context where the Inner Salishan languages are endangered.
In the assessment of Jane Newland, "A Day with Yayah allow[s] Flett to demonstrate her skill at depicting the immensity of the [...] British Columbian settings. With her bold forms and striking colours, Flett captures the beauty of these vast landscapes while maintaining her eye for intricate detail in the flora and fauna found there."
Similarly, Selena Mills found that "Flett adds to the rich themes of resilience and resurgence with her enchanting, folk-like paintings. Together, Campbell and Flett transport readers on a bilingual learning journey with the intergenerational characters as they savour the pronunciation of each syllable of NÃ ÂeÃÂkepmxcÃÂn words slowly, together."
Beverley Brenna, Richard Dionne, and Theresa Tavares assessed the book as being suitable "for ages 5âÂÂ10+", while the University of Calgary's Books to Build on: Indigenous Literatures for Learning survey emphasised the suitability of the book as a resource for teaching about plants.