By Bernice Johnson-Laxdal and Miriam K枚rner
Published by Your Nickel鈥檚 Worth Publishing $12.95
ISBN 9781927756935
Winner of the recent Saskatchewan Book Awards Children鈥檚 Literature Award, When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar is a beautifully written and illustrated narrative of the author鈥檚 Cree childhood in northern Saskatchewan.
Bernice Johnson-Laxdal comes from a large family of 14 children and grew up in the predominantly M茅tis community of Ile-a-la-Crosse, which is situated along one of Western Canada鈥檚 major fur trade routes.
From an early age Johnson-Laxdale was involved in her family鈥檚 traditional activities: gathering, growing and preparing food, hunting, trapping and making clothing. Most of these activities were (and still are) dependent on the seasons of the year.
The book beautifully combines story and image with K枚rner鈥檚 playful watercolours skillfully enhancing the simple word pictures. The narrative is based around the Cree calendar, which consists of six seasons divided into 12 moons, which reflect the traditional knowledge of the natural cycle. I found the concept so much more enriching for my soul than the traditional Western calendar. I loved the way each of the 12 moons reflects the natural world that is constantly growing and changing around us season by season.
March, for instance, is the Goose Moon (niskip墨sim) 鈥渨hen the geese announce the arrival of spring, and we clean up the yard with Mom.鈥� June is the Egg-Hatching Moon (p膩sk膩wihowip墨sim), when 鈥渢he young birds break their fragile shells, [and] we go on a picnic for the day.鈥�
The book uses the y-dialect of the northern Plains Cree of the Ile-a-la-Crosse area where Bernice grew up. Plans are also underway for ebooks with audio recordings of the Cree words spoken by the Elders in th-, n- and y-dialects.
Johnson-Laxdale has also written When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book. K枚rner is a photographer, writer and illustrator, whose books include young adult novel Yellow Dog and the picture book Li鈥檒 Shadd: A Story of Ujima, which was written in collaboration with the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum and celebrates African-Canadian pioneer doctor Alfred Schmitz Shadd.
When the Trees Crackle with Cold was also a gold medal winner at the 2017 Moonbeam Children鈥檚 Book Awards.
鈥� This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com
