Finding Moose

Written by Sue Farrell Holler

Illustrated by Jennifer Faria

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-244-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

April 2022

Sue Farrell Holler and Jennifer Faria first introduced us to this grandfather and grandson in their first picture book collaboration, Raven, Rabbit, Deer (2020). That winter walk, which demonstrated a solid and heartfelt inter-generational relationship, was the means for teaching Ojibwemowin vocabulary related to the natural world and for connecting between people and place. Finding Moose strengthens that mission but now the two companions venture out into the early spring when cold and ice give way to buds and awakenings and they can search for a moose (mooz).

From Finding Moose by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

As they walk, Grandpa instructs the child to be mindful of the noise he makes, the sounds in the forest, the evidence of life and more. 

Soft footsteps and gentle voices.

Quiet as mice and rabbits and deer.

With patience and attention, Grandpa points out moose droppings and nibbles on branches where the moose ate. As they walk and sit and watch and listen, the two are a study of differences and similarities. Old and young, still and active, teacher and student. And there is much to experience in the woods.

From Finding Moose by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

The child reasonably connects all that his grandfather points out with his own experiences. The chewings of the beaver (amik) reflect his biting of an apple. The softness of the pussy willows (ziisigobimizhiig) bring to mind kittens. And he notes that they are only finding only boy prints and Grandpa prints, not moose footprints. But after much scrutiny, including the spotting of chipmunks, geese, woodpeckers, tiny purple flowers and rosehips (oginiig), the two head home, accepting that today would not be a day to find moose. Or would it?

From Finding Moose by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

Finding Moose is as contemplative and instructive as Sue Farrell Holler and Jennifer Faria's earlier picture book. Sue Farrell Holler gives Grandpa the wisdom of age and experience and the boy that of fascination and connection. Together they experience nature fully but perhaps in different ways. A walk in the woods becomes a sensory adventure without the drama and high-octane action that can be tiresome and ephemeral. Instead, the two walk and look. They are one with each other and the world. That patience and calm is carried with Jennifer Faria's illustrations. Her acrylic paintings are often reflective of a Woodland Art style (see the flowers in the illustration above), emphasizing line and shape and keeping the story grounded in tranquility and reality. Even her choice of colour expresses that oneness with nature, playing the browns and blues with occasional flashes of red or a shamrock green.

From endpapers of Finding Moose by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

For a lovely early spring walk, learning about nature and being introduced to words in Ojibwemowin, join an Anishinaabe grandfather with his grandson to see how forest life reveals itself and search for an elusive mooz.

Raven, Rabbit, Deer: Q & A with author Sue Farrell Holler and illustrator Jennifer Faria

Written by Sue Farrell Holler
Illustrated by Jennifer Faria
Pajama Press
978-1-77278-136-6
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
November 2020

Reviewed here

Yesterday I reviewed Raven, Rabbit, Deer, a new picture book from Pajama Press, by author Sue Farrell Holler and illustrator Jennifer Faria. Today I am pleased to present an interview with the author and illustrator.

 

HK:  At its heart, Raven, Rabbit, Deer is the story of an intergenerational relationship. Did either of you have a significant relationship with a grandparent that helped guide you in the telling of this story in words or pictures?

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  Thank you for recognizing this as a love story – the love between grandfather and grandson, the grandfather’s love of the land and the grandson’s love of play.

I adored my maternal grandmother but, because we didn’t travel much when I was a child, I saw my grandparents only for about a week a year, yet I think I carry part of her spirit. She was a very quiet woman who liked to garden, to cook and to gather people in her home. I never had the sense that anyone was invited; it just seemed that her house was always filled with people coming and going and she fed them all.

I think there is something very special about quiet relationships, the comfort of being with someone and not feeling the need to speak. That’s how I felt around my grandmother.

I wasn’t conscious of that when I wrote the story, but certainly, that’s the type of relationship we see in Raven, Rabbit, Deer.

Jennifer Faria:  Let’s just say my family history is colourful and complicated. My closest grandparent, one of my step-grandmothers, sadly passed away during the making of Raven, Rabbit, Deer. It’s disappointing, because she was one of the only members of my family who was excited about and interested in the book, and she didn’t get to see the finished product.

I have always had a good relationship with my great-aunt Glenna, who is a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, as I am. She exposed me to countless cultural events in and around Toronto throughout my formative years, which likely set the stage for my artistic development. I based the look and feel of the grandfather character on her brother, my great-uncle Leonard, and she provided me with many reference photos of him.

 

HK:  Because the species highlighted in Raven, Rabbit, Deer occur throughout Canada, did you have a specific setting or location in mind when writing or illustrating the book?

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  Yes. I had a very clear setting in mind. The place is called Muskoseepi Park, which incidentally, means “Bear Creek” in the Cree language. It’s an 1100-acre mostly wilderness area that runs the length of the city where I live, Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Except for paved walking trails, this is primarily a natural park that’s populated by lots of animals – magpies, woodpeckers, ravens, sparrows, chickadees, geese, ducks, and herons in the summer. There are beaver, deer, moose, rabbits, muskrats, chipmunks, squirrels, mice and occasionally bear and cougar. But the animals I encounter most often are birds and mule deer.

The area is my favourite part of the city. It’s where I walk almost every day to keep tuned into nature.

Jennifer Faria:  Since Sue lives in Grand Prairie, Alberta, I assumed that some of the details of the walk in the story might be local to her, so at first I was going in that direction. However, in researching which animals I would use, I found that to get a raven, a rabbit, and a deer together in the same place, in winter, it would have to be set in Ontario. So that’s what I imagined.

 

 

HK:  One of the unique features of Raven, Rabbit, Deer is the inclusion of Ojibwemowin. Was the choice of Ojibwemowin related to either of your backgrounds? If so, how and was it a language spoken at home?

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  The inclusion of the First Nations’ language is one of my favourite pieces of this story. I’m a bit of a “language nut” and I love the unhurried cadence of many of the Indigenous languages. When they are written, they are these really big words that you have to slow down to sound out and to me, that’s exactly how the language sounds, as if every word is a story. 

Ojibwemowin is a new language to me, but my dad taught us a few words of Mi’kmaq – mostly the words that mean, “Hurry up!”

I am not of Indigenous heritage, but Jennifer is a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation.

Jennifer Faria:  I am technically a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, however growing up in Toronto, I was not raised in that tradition, so I don’t know the language myself. For that, I consulted with my second cousin Janice (uncle Leonard’s daughter) who is qualified and educated in these matters, and she kindly provided the translations.

HK:  Raven, Rabbit, Deer is very much a sensory experience, from the visual of footprints in the snow looking like two hot dogs with two marshmallows, to the characters’ puffing as they climb a hill  and the snow shower that tickles the child’s face and the cold that creeps down his neck. Even without the illustrations, your text is very evocative. Did you start the story with these sensory elements or did you start with a story arc into which they were embedded?

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  Thank you for that!

Stories for me always start with emotion. While Raven, Rabbit, Deer appears to be a nature story, it is something a little bit deeper.

I’m very much myself and very much at peace in nature. With this story, I was thinking of how I’d like to share my experience with children and to encourage them to explore the natural world. For many kids, that will mean a city park, but it’s amazing what you can find when you slow down and really look. Key to that, of course, is knowing what to look for.

  

 

HK:  How flexible does an author have to be with an illustrator’s visualization of their words? As your visions may be very different, how do you allow the two to merge?

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  A picture book is an interesting collaboration. The author and the illustrator work with the same text, but usually in isolation.

I’m probably not supposed to say this, but the illustrations are my favourite part of a picture book. The illustrations make the words that much richer.

I love knowing a story has spoken to an artist, then seeing how she brings her perspective and experience to my words.

When I saw Jennifer’s final illustration – the one of the boy and his grandfather cuddled together – I teared up. It’s so tender and so beautiful and totally captures what this story is about.

 
HK:  If you could ensure young readers take away one message from Raven, Rabbit, Deer, what would it be? 

 

Sue Farrell Holler:  I would hope that children come away with the sense of security and comfort that comes from loving someone.

 

 

HK:  Though you’ve worked as an artist, this is your first picture book.  How did you find the process of illustration from working with the text, and trying to honour the author’s message to being true to your own style and artistic expression?

 

Jennifer Faria:  Many stages of development went into the creation of the preliminary artwork, with lots of input from the art director to help interpret Sue’s message, so that aspect fell into place pretty organically over time. With regard to my style and artistic expression, I went with the more bold, clean, and intricate look that I usually use in my portraiture (using multiple layers of acrylic paint and coloured pencil), which was probably too labour-intensive and inefficient relative to my deadline. I think it worked. However, if I get the opportunity to illustrate more books in the future, I might like to experiment with a looser, quicker style, perhaps in watercolour.

 

HK:  It’s not unusual for authors and illustrators to look to those in their circles for names and traits. Do the grandfather and child in your illustrations reflect any family or friends?

 

Jennifer Faria:  As I said previously, the grandfather is modelled on my great-uncle Leonard, whom I only met and spent time with a handful of times (he lived in B.C.), but he was a very strong and delightful presence, full of warmth and good humour. I used some younger photos of my son as references for the boy, and the green bear in the book is based on
my son’s own green teddy bear.

 

 

HK:  I’ve seen two different book covers with different details of your name. Which is your professional artist’s name and which name do you prefer me to use in my post?

Jennifer Faria:  At first I was going to go with both my maiden name and husband’s last name, but later decided it was best to stick with just my maiden name, hence the change you mention. I didn’t want to rebrand, plus I have a lot of history and equity built into ‘Jennifer Faria’ as a professional identity, so that’s the name on the published book, and the one I prefer.

 

• • • • • • •

Thank you, Sue and Jennifer, for your candid answers to my probing questions about Raven, Rabbit, Deer.  These details about the book, both text and illustrations, as well as your own backgrounds, will undoubtedly enrich its storytelling for young readers.

Thank you also to Laura Bowman, Sales & Marketing Manager at Pajama Press, for facilitating this interview with Sue Farrell Holler and Jennifer Faria.

 • • • • • • •

Also, do check out my review of Raven, Rabbit, Deer yesterday for more details about the book and to see samples of its illustrations.

Raven, Rabbit, Deer

Written by Sue Farrell Holler

Illustrated by Jennifer Faria

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-136-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2020

At its heart, Raven, Rabbit, Deer is a story about a grandfather and young grandson taking a walk in the snow. But simple pleasures and company are often bigger than they might appear, and that can be said for Raven, Rabbit, Deer as well. 

Though it is understood that the little boy is in the care of his elder, it's obvious that it's the child who is directing this day. He plops his boots on his grandfather's lap to suggest they go for a walk and he holds Grandpa's hand to ensure the older man's safety. Still, it's what his grandfather has to share that makes their hike all the more mutual.

From Raven, Rabbit, Deer by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

When they spot a raven, Grandpa tells the boy its name in English but also in Ojibwemowin, an Algonquian language. The boy takes note of the bird and what it looks like and the sounds it makes but just relishes making footprints and kicking snow. When they see marks in the snow different than their own, Grandpa says only, "Rabbit" and then "Waabooz" before the little boy is hopping.  And when deer appear in the woods, the child tries to count but, in mittens, it's near impossible. Fortunately, his grandfather can tell him that there are five waawaashkeshi.

From Raven, Rabbit, Deer by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

Still, when they see the tracks of a bird, the child correctly repeats the word for raven. He is mistaken however–the tracks are of a much smaller sparrow–but it's another teachable moment.

Finally the two return home, the elder to watch as the little one plays in the snow, until they both come in from the cold for cookies, a read and a snuggly nap together.

From Raven, Rabbit, Deer by Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria

Though Raven, Rabbit, Deer is culturally informative with its inclusion of Ojibwemowin, author Sue Farrell Holler has not created it as a picture book of vocabulary as much as a story of a touching inter-generational relationship. As grandfather and grandson walk and chat, they each give and take something different and yet together. The child finds everything about outdoors magical, recognizing the "snow shower that tickles my face and creeps cold down my neck" to trudging up the hill like tractors, making the letter "V" repeatedly with their boots, to the rabbit tracks that "look like two hot dogs with two marshmallows in the middle." The child sees the wonder of the natural world while the grandfather sees its reality, instead appreciating the wonder of his grandson's perspective. By focusing on the relationship and the sensory nature of that walk, Sue Farrell Holler makes Raven, Rabbit, Deer more personal and less informative than it could have been by another pen.

Similarly, debut picture book illustrator Jennifer Faria takes that heartfelt relationship and organic walk in a winter park and makes it into something warm and embracing. I defy young readers not to feel the cold and the damp of that walk and play and the glow of the hospitality of those cookies and fire. Using acrylic paint and coloured pencil, Jennifer Faria has given Raven, Rabbit, Deer a boldness of colour and shape but with an understated edge that complements Sue Farrell Holler's story and intensifies it.

 

In Raven, Rabbit, Deer, or gaagaagi, waabooz, waawaashkeshi as would be in Ojibwemowin, Sue Farrell Holler and Jennifer Faria have let us enjoy an outing with a grandfather and his grandson and feel the warmth of that harmonious connection between people and with place.

• • • • • • •

Look for my interview tomorrow with author Sue Farrell Holler and illustrator Jennifer Faria about this new picture book.