Winner of the Governor General's Award

A beautiful and visionary book, Ancient Thunder celebrates wild horses and the natural world of the prairies. Using an extraordinary technique, Leo Yerxa, an artist of Ojibway ancestry, makes paper look like leather, so that his illustrations seem to be painted on leather shirts. The art is accompanied by a rich song of praise for the wild horses that came to play such an important role in the lives of the First Peoples.

Years in the making, the book is truly a work of art — one that reflects Yerxa's sense of nature and the place of the First Peoples within it.

LEO YERXA was born on the Little Eagle Reserve in northern Ontario. His first book, Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall, was nominated for a Governor General's Award and won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award. His book Ancient Thunder was winner of the 2006 Governor General's Award for Illustration. Leo lives in Ottawa.

LEO YERXA was born on the Little Eagle Reserve in northern Ontario. His first book, Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall, was nominated for a Governor General's Award and won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award. His book Ancient Thunder was winner of the 2006 Governor General's Award for Illustration. Leo lives in Ottawa.

Tess has visited her grandmother many times without really being aware of the garden. But today they step outside the door and Tess learns that all of nature can be a garden. And if you take care of the plants that are growing, if you learn about them -- understanding when they flower, when they give fruit, and when to leave them alone -- you will always find something to nourish you. This gentle story demonstrates the First Nations' tradition of taking care of Mother Earth.

This simple story in Cree and English explores a young child's relationship to his kuhkom, his grandmother, as they go for a walk in the bush to pick rosehips. The young boy follows his grandmother, walking, listening, picking, praying, eating, just as she does. In doing so, he absorbs the rich cultural traditions and values of his Cree heritage.

Caitlin Dale Nicholson is a graduate of the First Nations Studies program at the University of Northern British Columbia, and she teaches art and English at an alternate school in Prince George. She is also learning about traditional plant medicines from Leona Morin-Neilson. Caitlin’s first picture book, Niwechihaw / I Help, has been highly acclaimed. She lives with her family in Prince George.

Leona Morin-Neilson teaches Cree at the “Power of Friendship” Aboriginial Headstart program in Prince George, British Columbia, and at the University of Northern British Columbia. She also teaches people in her community about traditional plants and how they can be used for medicinal purposes.

A quiet, gentle story about a family working together written in Cree and English.

A young child, her grandmother and mother are going out to pick wild yarrow. As Grandmother gets ready, the child and her mom wait. Grandmother leads the way to the field of blossoms, where they can finally start to pick … only now they have to wait for Mom!

The simple story, written in Cree and English and accompanied by rich acrylic illustrations, shows the patience, love and humor involved as three generations accommodate one another on a family outing. nipêhon / I Wait was translated by Leona Morin-Neilson, who was the inspiration for the book.

This companion volume to Niwechihaw / I Help includes a recipe for yarrow tea, known for its refreshing and soothing effects.

Key Text Features
recipe
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CAITLIN DALE NICHOLSON is a graduate of the First Nations Studies program at the University of Northern British Columbia, and she teaches art and English at an alternate school in Prince George. She is also learning about traditional plant medicines from Leona Morin-Neilson. Caitlin has also written and illustrated the first two books in the Nôhkom series — niwîcihâw / I Help and nipêhon / I Wait. She lives with her family in Prince George, British Columbia.

LEONA MORIN-NEILSON teaches Cree at the “Power of Friendship” Aboriginal Head Start program in Prince George, British Columbia, and at the University of Northern British Columbia. She also teaches people in her community about traditional plants and how they can be used for medicinal purposes. She lives in Prince George, British Columbia.

In this introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals, young children explain why they identify with different creatures such as a deer, beaver or moose. Delightful illustrations show the children wearing masks representing their chosen animal, while the few lines of text on each page work as a series of simple poems throughout the book.

In a brief author’s note, Danielle Daniel explains the importance of totem animals in Anishinaabe culture and how they can also act as animal guides for young children seeking to understand themselves and others.

Danielle Daniel, writer, artist and illustrator, is Métis. She was inspired to write Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox to encourage her young son to connect with his Aboriginal roots. It won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and has been selected as one of the New York Public Library’s Best 100 Books for Reading and Sharing. A schoolteacher for many years, Danielle now paints and writes, and she is completing an MFA in creative writing through the University of British Columbia. She has published a memoir, The Dependent, and her second picture book, Once in a Blue Moon, will be published in the fall of 2017.

Danielle lives in Northern Ontario.

It’s the day of the first salmon ceremony, and P'ésk'a is excited to celebrate. His community, the Sts'ailes people, give thanks to the river and the salmon it brings by commemorating the first salmon of the season.

Framed as an exploration of what life was like one thousand years ago, P'ésk'a and the First Salmon Ceremony describes the customs of the Sts'ailes people, an indigenous group who have lived on the Harrison River in British Columbia for the last 10,000 years. Includes an introductory letter from Chief William Charlie, an illustrated afterword and a glossary.

SCOT RITCHIE is an award-winning illustrator and author with more than sixty-five books to his credit, including P’esk’a and the First Salmon Ceremony, Federica and Owen at the Park. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, Polish, Finnish, Arabic and Dutch. Scot has worked with the National Film Board of Canada and has exhibited his illustrations at the National Gallery of Canada. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

SCOT RITCHIE is an award-winning illustrator and author with more than sixty-five books to his credit, including P’esk’a and the First Salmon Ceremony, Federica and Owen at the Park. His books have been translated into French, Korean, Indonesian, Polish, Finnish, Arabic and Dutch. Scot has worked with the National Film Board of Canada and has exhibited his illustrations at the National Gallery of Canada. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The northern lights shine, women gather to eat raw caribou meat and everyone could be family in this ode to small-town life in Nunavut, written in English and Inuktitut.

Sisters Angnakuluk Friesen and Ippiksaut Friesen collaborate on this story about what it’s like to grow up in an Inuit community in Nunavut. Every line about the hometown in this book will have readers thinking about what makes their own hometowns unique. With strong social studies curriculum connections, Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / Only in My Hometown introduces young readers to life in the Canadian North, as well as the Inuit language and culture.

Angnakuluk’s simple text, translated into Inuktitut and written out in syllabics and transliterated roman characters, is complemented by Ippiksaut’s warm paintings of their shared hometown.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

ANGNAKULUK FRIESEN grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, where she volunteers for the local fire department and does contract work. She spends time at the cabin with her family at the river and enjoys sewing winter clothing for loved ones. Angnakuluk lives with her husband in Rankin Inlet. This is her first book.

IPPIKSAUT FRIESEN is an Inuk from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She studied drawing and ceramics at the Matchbox Gallery located in Rankin Inlet. She's a graduate of Emily Carr University where she received her bachelor's degree in media arts, majoring in animation. Her mixed-media art focuses on Inuit community through animation or illustration. She lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

JEAN KUSUGAK is an interpreter and translator in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

An enchanting and utterly authentic introduction to the life of an Inuit child and her world.

Written and illustrated by Ningeokuluk Teevee, one of the most interesting young artists in Cape Dorset, home to the great tradition of Inuit art, this is a beautifully simple story, written in Inuktitut and English, about a young Inuit girl who goes to the shore with her grandmother to collect clams for supper. Along the way she discovers tide pools brimming with life – a bright orange starfish, a creepy-crawly thing with many legs called an ugjunnaq, a hornshaped sea snail and a sculpin. This is an enchanting and utterly authentic introduction to the life of an Inuit child and her world.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

NINGEOKULUK TEEVEE, an exceptionally gifted artist, is one of the major contributors to the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection, which is distributed to art galleries across North America. Much of her art draws on the Inuit stories and legends that she heard as a child, although this book recalls her childhood experiences of digging for clams with her grandmother. She lives with her family in Kinnigait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut.

NINGEOKULUK TEEVEE, an exceptionally gifted artist, is one of the major contributors to the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection, which is distributed to art galleries across North America. Much of her art draws on the Inuit stories and legends that she heard as a child, although this book recalls her childhood experiences of digging for clams with her grandmother. She lives with her family in Kinnigait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut.

Renowned children's book illustrator Ian Wallace brings his masterful ability to paint landscape and his cultural sensitivity to The Huron Carol, a beautiful and unusual song with a rich history.

In the early 1600s Father Jean de Brébeuf came to Canada from his native France as a Jesuit missionary. He settled among the Huron, or Ouendat, people in what is now Midland, Ontario. Despite his missionary zeal, Brébeuf was sensitive to the people with whom he lived. He learned their language and he wrote, in Huron, the original version of this famous Christmas carol. He and his fellow priests, called Black Robes, and many of their Huron parishioners were killed in an Iroquois raid in 1649.

But Brébeuf's carol continued to be sung by successive generations of Hurons. Then in 1926, Toronto writer Jesse Edgar Middleton, inspired by Brébeuf, wrote his own version of the carol in English. His are the familiar words we sing today, describing the Huron landscape, flora and fauna in telling the Christmas story.

Ian Wallace's luminous illustrations, set against the dramatic backdrop of Georgian Bay, make this a stunning Christmas gift book. Multilingual versions of the text, the music and a full description of how this carol has come down to us today are included.

IAN WALLACE is one of Canada’s best-known children’s book creators. He has published many classics, including Boy of the Deeps and Chin Chiang and the Dragon’s Dance. His illustrations for Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Just So Stories have each received three starred reviews. His most recent book is The Curiosity Cabinet.

Ian has won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, among others. He has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Governor General’s Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

Ian lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, Deb.

IAN WALLACE is one of Canada’s best-known children’s book creators. He has published many classics, including Boy of the Deeps and Chin Chiang and the Dragon’s Dance. His illustrations for Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Just So Stories have each received three starred reviews. His most recent book is The Curiosity Cabinet.

Ian has won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, among others. He has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Governor General’s Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

Ian lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, Deb.

A finalist for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize

A young girl delights in a visit to her grandpa’s farm. She and her cousins run through the fields, explore the root cellar where the salmon and jars of fruit are stored, swing on a rope out the barn loft window, visit the Appaloosa in the corral and tease the neighbor’s pig. The visit is also an opportunity for this child to ask Grandpa what her grandmother,Yayah, was like, and explore the “secret room,”with its old wooden trunk of ribbons, medals and photos of Grandpa in uniform.

There is a wonderful blend of fun and family history in this visit to a grandparent, but also the realization that there can be some things about the people we know and love that will always remain a mystery.

NICOLA I. CAMPBELL is Interior Salish and Metis, and she grew up in British Columbia's Nicola Valley. She is the author of Shi-shi-etko (Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year) and Shin-chi's Canoe (TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Governor General's Award Finalist for Illustration, USBBY Outstanding International Books), both illustrated by Kim LaFave. Nicola lives in Vancouver.

KIM LAFAVE has won the Governor General's Award, the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for his illustrations in Amos’s Sweater by Janet Lunn. He illustrated Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Award. He lives in Roberts Creek, B.C.