Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Ojibwas (Native Americans)

Presents the history, culture, and contemporary life of the northeastern Native American people who, in the 1400s, migrated from the North Atlantic coast and settled around the Great Lakes.

My Kokum Called Today

A telephone call from her grandmother has a young native girl in the city looking forward to visiting the reserve. In gentle, joyous ways we see how women — especially grandmothers — are often the spiritual glue when families are separated by long miles.

Ch’askin: A Legend Of The Sechelt People (Legends Of The Sechelt Nation)

Ch’askin is the great thunderbird whose appearance heralds rumbling thunder, a darkening sky and flashes of lightning — as well as good luck for the people of the Sechelt Nation. This compelling book recounts how this enormous and awe-inspiring bird — who looks like a golden eagle except much, much larger — aided and protected the members of the Sechelt villages for many years in many ways. From helping Chief Spelmu’lh, the father of the Sechelt Nation, build both the first longhouse and the many villages of his people, to delivering goats and grizzly bears for the hungry people to eat and creating islands from pebbles for the tired Sechelt hunters to rest, the story of Ch’askin is a story of protection, friendship and respect for fellow living beings.

Yamozha And His Beaver Wife

In this legend, Yamozha forgets his promise to his wife and as a result she turns into a giant beaver. He follows her all over Denedeh but is unable to catch her. This story tells of how this great medicine man shaped the land in the Tlicho region and its surrounding areas into what it is today.

The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend From Alaska

Many men begin to flock to the Tlingit village hoping to make the headman’s beautiful daughter their bride, then retreat in disgrace as none is ever good enough for her. Weary of the suitors and their presents, she proclaims that she’s sooner marry a frog from the lake than any of the men after her heart. One night soon after, a very handsome young man–with slightly bulging eyes–appears on her threshold to fulfill her words, and she follows him underwater to her new home amongst the Frog People. But her peace is interrupted when her parents demand her return to the village, and the maiden finds herself caught in a clash between the worlds of land and sea. In Kimmel’s captivating retelling of the Tlingit legend, with breathtaking illustrations by Rosanne Litzinger, a maiden struggles to find the place where she truly belongs.

White Tails Don’t Live In The City

A look at the beauty of nature and living in the open country by One of Canada’s all-time best-selling authors and British Columbia’s most sought-after public speaker, David Bouchard.

Diamond Willow

There’s
more to me than
most people
see.

Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents’ house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it’s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.

Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn’t reveal even to herself.

Arctic Stories

a storiesAcclaimed Inuit storyteller Michael Kusugak weaves a tapestry of tales about ten-year-old Agatha and her accidental heroism in the high Arctic of 1958. The first of Agatha’s stories is based on one of Kusugak’s real life experiences, when an eerie, black airship flew over Chesterfield Inlet in 1958. A sleepy Agatha “saves” the community from the monstrous flying object. In the second story, Agatha notices the playful antics of the winter ravens and takes an interest in the many migrating birds. As the seasons change, she begins to favor more beautiful and peaceful birds of spring, until the ravens return. The third of Agatha’s stories takes place in the fall when Agatha is sent to school in Chesterfield Inlet, an English-speaking community south of her home. During an afternoon of skating, Agatha rescues a show-off priest, who has inadvertently demonstrated the danger of thin ice. The three Agatha stories resonate with the nostalgia and affection of Kusugak’s childhood memories.

Salmon Boy: A Legend of the Sechelt People

Simple and compelling First Nations drawings illustrate this dynamic story that teaches respect for the environment and describes the life cycle of the salmon.