The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale

Written by Ovila Fontaine

Illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Translated by Ann Marie Boulanger 

Orca Book Publishers 

978-1-4598-4180-2 

56 pp.

Ages 6–8

October 2025 

 

Many of us are getting into the holiday spirit and putting up Christmas trees or thinking about getting one. Perhaps that's why I've put off reviewing this lovely new picture book until there's snow on the ground and a nip in the air. 

From The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale, story by Ovila Fontaine, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Ovila Fontaine, an Innu Elder from the First Nation of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River, won the 2024 Governor General award for his French-language edition, Le premier arbre de Noël. That lovely book has now been translated into English and more young people will have the opportunity to read a story of the Great Manitou choosing the fir tree to bring brightness during the cold, harsh winter.

The Great Manitou begins his search for the perfect tree. For each of the trees he approaches, he recognizes positive attributes, knowing how each tree is used by the Innu. There's the birch tree with its flexibility and strength, useful for snowshoes, bowls, harpoons, canoes, and drums. There's the larch (tamarack) tree with its hard wood and usefulness for bows and sleds, and more medicine made from its bark. The Great Manitou also visits the black spruce whose mossy branches provide firewood for the Innu and food for caribou. The only tree he disregards is the fir tree.

From The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale, story by Ovila Fontaine, illus. by Charlotte Parent

When the Great Manitou approaches the birch tree, the larch tree, and the black spruce, he asks them if they'd like to be the first Christmas tree and bring joy to Innu children. Each tree declines, only concerned for how it might affect them. Finally, with the fir being the only tree left to ask, the first Christmas tree is found, and the other trees are chastened by the Great Manitou and given attributes that characterize them to this day.

From The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale, story by Ovila Fontaine, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Though many of us will recognize the fir as the most popular Christmas tree, Ovila Fontaine's tale shows us that that recognition was hard-won. Like many things in life in which your potential is not seen or disregarded, timing can be everything. For the fir tree, it was being in the right place at the right time, and being open to an opportunity, something the other trees were too egotistical to embrace. More importantly, each tree that declined the honour of being the first Christmas had consequences thrust upon them by the Great Manitou, censured for their lack of generosity and humility. And though most of the trees showed pride and minimal grace, Montreal illustrator Charlotte Parent makes all the forest and its animals glorious. Using gouache, she creates these expansive scenes of woodland life, flora and fauna. The dark and cold of winter is expertly achieved with lavender blue and variations thereof and with brushstrokes for mounds of snow. The infrequent but bold pink of the animals—described in an illustrated glossary of English and Innu-aimum words—and persons indicates the rich presence of the spirit of the Great Manitou in the natural world and its omnipresence.

From The First Christmas Tree: An Innu Tale, story by Ovila Fontaine, illus. by Charlotte Parent

An enchanting book for the holiday season, The First Christmas Tree is a different kind of origin story. Not only do we learn the Innu tale of how the fir became known as a Christmas tree, but we also learn why the birch loses its leaves in the fall, why the larch sheds its needles, and why the black spruce never grows tall or wide and has prickly needles. With its quietly dazzling artwork, it's a picture book to be appreciated beyond the Christmas season.

 

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Le premier arbre de Noël

Ecrit par Ovila Fontaine

Illustré par Charlotte Parent

La Pastèque  

978-2-897771492 

2023 

 

 

Milo the Knight

Written by Grégoire Laforce

Illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Milky Way Picture Books

978-1-990252-35-8

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2024

 

Milo is a brave knight who comes from a long line of knights. His armor means everything to him, and he is proud to wear it. And he always wears it just in case a dragon attacks their colony. Those silly jesters could waste their time on frivolous activities, but Milo is determined to keep everyone safe from the bad out there.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

One day while outside the castle walls, Milo is caught in a horrific rainstorm. It goes on and on, raining and raining, and Milo keeps going. It's only when the rain stops, and Milo is still struggling to keep going that he realizes that his beautiful armor has rusted until it seizes completely.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

A wandering jester offers Milo help, but he initially refuses. After all, he is a knight and not a silly jester. But the jester suggests that the only way to help Milo is for Milo to remove his armor. Even though he is both shocked to consider this and fearful of not being able to protect the colony–something which he already could not do–Milo opens his visor, looks into the jester's eyes and is moved to tears.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

But the armor does not survive, falling into useless pieces, while Milo emerges for the first time to feel the warmth of the sun and the stirring of the wind. By shedding his armor, Milo also sheds his fears and his mistrust.

 

Gatineau's Grégoire Laforce, former military, seems to have something to say about the roles we play in a community, from the protectors to the entertainers. No one is only one thing. And to restrict yourself by putting on a shield of armor that keeps you separate from others and from experiencing a life that is full and varied can be harmful. Milo only knew about being a knight, as did his ancestors. He didn't know otherwise. It was only the jester with his own perspective and suggestion that Milo remove his armor–an armor that was doing him harm at that point–that Milo becomes open to another life. Perhaps this was Grégoire Laforce's experience too, going from the military life of service and security to having kitchen parties with his family at home, as his bio reveals. It probably wasn't as easy as just removing a uniform but, as with Milo and the jester, a little outlook can bring big change.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Montreal artist Charlotte Parent, who illustrated Mireille Messier's The Magic Cap, uses coloured pencils to give Milo the Knight both a bright contemporary feel as well as a medieval tone appropriate for a story about a knight. Her use of colour that range from pinks and purples to oranges and greens keeps the story light and bright as do the patterns she uses to decorate borders with floral motifs and scenes of activity. Milo the Knight could've been a darker tale of perceived fears and wariness of others and even injury, but Charlotte Parent makes it a story of revelation through her radiant colours and emotive lines and shapes.

Milo the Knight thought his life had been determined and he would serve as he had been born to do so but a change in circumstance and an openness to see beyond the obvious gives him the opportunity for more in his life. His service was admirable, but it was time to live for himself and enjoy that which he'd never experienced before. Whether he becomes Milo the Jester or Milo the Vagabond or something else entirely, he's taken off his armor and left himself free and receptive to more possibilities.

 

The Magic Cap

Written by Mireille Messier

Illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Milky Way Picture Books

978-1-990252-21-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2023 

 

Oh, to have a magic cap that could fix everything! 

When Isaura and Arlo's pet hedgehog, Crispin, falls ill, the two children do everything to make him feel better. "They made him his favorite slug soup, brewed pots of cucumber tea, and even took turns rocking him for hours under the moonlight." Isaura is convinced that if they could find a gnome, it could heal Crispin. But how to lure a gnome?

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Because food is rare, they give up the last of their milk to lure the gnome. Heading into the woods, they place the milk out and wait. And they wait and they watch. The bowl of milk becomes very popular, with visits from a deer, a squirrel, a badger, a frog, a fox, a boar and even an insect. Sadly, all the milk is gone, and no gnome has visited it.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

The next day, hungry and with no food to offer, the two head out to search for some food, and, though they collect numerous berries, a hungry frog eats them all and leaves only a red-capped mushroom. So, with a lone mushroom as incentive, the children wait. And wait. And then they nap, along with all the animals who'd been keeping them company.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

As they sleep, a red-capped gnome appears and is quite taken with the mushroom that offers shelter from the rain. In exchange, she leaves them two gold coins. Though that will help sustain them for a very long time, it won't help poor Crispin who is still unwell and shivering.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

Unbeknownst to them, while they're out looking for something to warm their friend, a gnome offers its red cap to a bird to take down to the listless hedgehog. When the children return, still disappointed at never spotting a gnome, they are delighted to see Crispin wearing a jaunty red cap and feeling much better.

From The Magic Cap by Mireille Messier, illus. by Charlotte Parent

This is a picture book that will charm in every way. From the heartfelt wish of hungry children to heal their friend, to the numerous undetected gnomes that populate the woods, and animals who are community to Isaura and Arlo and Crispin, Mireille Messier's story feels like a fairy tale, and not the kind that scares. Mireille Messier's stories always have heart but here she gives us children living independently in the woods, managing with what little they have, and problem-solving how to heal their dear pet. And she gives us the magic and the happy ending. With a sweet story about benevolence, The Magic Cap is the best kind of fairy tale.

Bringing colour and shape to Mireille Messier's story are Charlotte Parent's coloured pencil illustrations. The detail and lushness of the art, from patterned clothing and quilts to verdant forest rife with textures of leaves, flowers and wildlife, takes the story from the page to a cottage in the woods where magic happens. 

We may not all have access to a magic cap that can heal, but Mireille Messier and Charlotte Parent's The Magic Cap can still transport us to a place where kindness prevails, community gathers, and small, mythological beings delight and do good.

 

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The French-language edition, Le Bonnet Magique (comme des géants, 2023), is also available.