I read reviews of LOTS of books. Many of those are picture books. I pursue and read ones that interest me most, often using my "PLATINUM CARD", my library card. I generally buy books as gifts, not as much for myself. Recently, I bought this picture book, thinking I might give it away later. Now that I have read it, i'm likely to keep it and perhaps buy additional copies to give away.
I love it.
THE GIRL AND THE WOLF is written by Katherine Vermette and Illustrated by Julie Flett. From a glance at the cover, you can see why I guessed that this was a variant on a Red Riding Hood tale. The wording of the title and cover image combine to effectively suggest that this is a twist on the wolf as "bad guy", on the relationship between them as antagonists. 
THEYTUS BOOKS
Schchechmala Children's Series, 2019
What I found was a treasure of a story that wrapped my heart in a joy and comfort that it desperately needed. (See note at the end of this post.)
I'm a fan of endpapers. Readers of this blog will already know that. I often find that the images and text included on these "bonus" pages enrich and expand the content of the "main" pages. In this case, the end papers are solid color, very similar to the sky tone in the cover. The precise color value is so restful to my eyes and heart that I might keep this book just so I can match the end papers to paint samples for walls of a room in the future. Maybe a yoga room. This is not one of my go-to color choices, but I'm drawn to how remarkably calming it is. On one corner of the pages are three very subtle white-out silhouettes of butterflies in flight. Let that image settle in for a moment before I describe the story.
* * *
Now, the story:
A girl is in the woods with her mother, who is picking berries. The girl wanders, runs, until she is lost. Illustrations are emotive and abstract, allowing even minimalist details in body language, angles, eyes, and natural elements to draw focus, to expand the relationships and drama of the story. The "tall grey wolf with big white teeth" sounds so much more dangerous than he seems, r but he retains potential "threats" of strength, power, and speed coupled with restraint and wisdom rarely associated with storytelling wolves. The girl is aware of her perilous position. Wolf responds to her predicament with questions and guru-like guidance:
"I don't know," she said sadly.
"Yes, you do," the wolf told her. "Take a deep breath. Close your eyes, then look.
What do you see?"
That empowering prompt, repeated at several stages, allows the girl to draw on inner resources.
"That's good, little one," said the wolf. "Let's go."
in this way, the girl returns to safety with her family, But that is not "THE END". The girl shares her story with everyone, and her people suggest that she has been visited by a helping wolf. Wolves are, in fact, dangerous. But helping wolves might, in fact, appear when we need them most.
The author's note indicates that that this is an entirely original story, not a retelling of a traditional tale. The author and publisher reference it as a twist on a classic tale, referring to the European trope of Red Riding Hood. In fact, the author is indigenous Canadian from Winnipeg, Manitoba from Treaty One territory. The illustrator is also Canadian indigenous, of the Cree-Metis people. Retelling indigenous stories by non-indigenous people is flagrant appropriation of culture, but these creators certainly would be entitled. The author makes clear, though, that this is a story for of her imagination.
That should matter to us as readers. We should never assume that every story told by Native voices is limited to retelling cultural tales. I found this story all the more powerful for being an original tale that elicits connections to my traditional western traditions. It is even more important that it wrapped a contemporary Indigenous family in a powerful story with just enough cultural content to elevate my understanding and increase my sense of connection to their experiences and traditions.
The Cooperative Children's Book Center (associated with University of Wisconsin) has been collecting and analyzing data about ethnic diversity within children's picture books for many decades. This is one of the earliest organizations that called out the under-representation of other-than-White content, providing data to support the work of WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS. Since then this movement organized and is beginning to have an impact on the publishing industry. That impact has been encouraging, but diverse representation in satires and voices still lags far behind equitable. Sadly, First Nations voices and First Nations stories remain among the least published of all, along with Pacific Island stories. Here's the data from 2020, analyzed and released a few months ago:
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| CCBC Data for 2019 |
The shocking truth is that these numbers actually indicate improvements over prior years. It is impossible to overstate the importance of young people being able to see and read themselves in books. The same is true of the importance of young readers finding OTHERS in books and stories, revealing a wider and more diverse world than the ones in which they live. That is really difficult to do when the availability of authentic and quality books is limited. It is a JOY to share a book like this with any and every child.
Help me do that. Please. Buy a copy (or several). Request it at your library. Review it on Amazon and Goodreads and wherever you can. Mention it to friends.
Begin by reading it.
Anchoring post in COVID19 time and BLACK LIVES MATTER:
During this Labor Day weekend, news stories report possible vaccine development, including doubts about how realistic this prediction is, about how safe and effective such a vaccine would be. Some other news is forecasting that, unless our broader American society takes more seriously the need for masks, distancing, hand-washing, and general cautiousness, the US COVID death toll could reach 400,000 by early 2021. That is not a typo. Denial and self-indulgence are not wise choices.
This is also a weekend in which protests continue, in which the political season is ramping up, in which the polarization and prejudices among Americans seem to be deepening, if that is even possible. There are ways to counter that trend, and I'm convinced it begins person-to-person, not political party-to-party. I was going to link some anchoring references to these various news reports, but choose instead to share this segment from a newsletter by a writing coach, Jane Friedman. It is meant as advice to writers, but feels very much like a call to action for all of us. I'll be back with the next post featuring a not-really-picture book about how our brains can combat stereotyping.
From Newsletter by Jane Friedman, September 5, 2020
Click HERE to learn more about Jane Friedman:
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