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  • First Spring: An Innu Tale of North America
  • Deborah Stevenson
Savard, Rémi , ad. First Spring: An Innu Tale of North America; ad. by Rémi Savard and Catherine Germain; tr. by Donald Kellough; illus. by Geneviève Côté. Simply Read, 200632p ISBN 1-894965-34-5$16.95 R Gr. 3-7

With the collaboration of author Germain and illustrator Côté, Canadian anthropologist Savard turns his expertise in indigenous Canadian myth and lore into an intriguing picture book based on an Innu creation myth. Set in the days when "the different forms of life were more alike than unlike," the tale follows the experiences of a young boy. First abandoned by his parents, he's restored to them by Mistapeo, the Great Spirit, but he's so devastated at Mistapeo's departure that only the birds of summer can cheer him. The family heads out from their cold land to find the mythical land of warmth and light, picking up companions on the way, getting advice from some old women and help from various animals; when the creatures of winter finally succeed in finding summer and stealing it, the creatures of summer propose an equitable timeshare, which results in the genesis of seasons, time, and mortality. Notes indicate that this is a summary version of several considerably longer tellings; even in its condensed form, it's got a long, winding narrative thread and a broad scope suggestive of its oral origins, while its dense interlacing of rich motifs and cross-cultural themes (abandoned children, pourquoi explanations) and humorous touches (a farting beaver) ensure that even audiences more familiar with the quick and direct payoffs in most picture-book folklore will remain engrossed in the tale. Côté's illustrations employ smudgy line with some of the free-form abstraction of Robert Andrew Parker, but she adds subtle yet significant textural elements in speckles of grainy shadow and scratchboard-style white-lining, quiet touches of pattern, and delicately blooming washes of color. This is an elegant story in its own right for telling or reading, and it would also operate as a useful companion to other creation/season myths. An extensive note accounts for many collected versions of the story as well as the provenance of this particular version; a glossary is also included.

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