Author Reading - My Heart Fills With Happiness & We Are Kind
Presented by Monique Gray Smith - Suitable for Grades K-3
Monique Gray Smith is a proud Mom of teenage twins and an award-winning, best-selling
author. Her first published novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience won the 2014 Canadian
Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature. Since then, Monique has had 6 books
come out, including My Heart Fills with Happiness, which has won numerous awards, as well as
Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation which as a finalist for the TD Canadian
Children’s Literature Award. In 2019, every grade one child in Canada received a copy of the
dual language, English/French and Cree edition of My Heart Fills with Happiness. Monique’s
latest release, Tilly and the Crazy Eights is a novel about an epic road trip that Tilly and eight
Indigenous Elders take. The story reminds the reader of the power of the human spirit and that
love is medicine. Tilly and the Crazy Eights recently won the First Nations Community Reads in
the Young Adult/Adult Category. Coming soon, When We Are Kind, a children’s picture book
reminding us what it feels like when we are kind and when someone is kind to us; as well, the
importance of being kind to ourselves. Monique is Cree, Lakota and Scottish and has been sober
and involved in her healing journey for over 29 years. She is well known for her storytelling,
spirit of generosity and focus on resilience.