My First Book of Canadian Birds

Text by Andrea Miller

Art by Angela Doak

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-544-4

32 pp.

Ages 0–4

September 2026 

 

There are any number of books for children that help them identify birds. But My First Book of Canadian Birds from Nova Scotians Andrea Miller and Angela Doak is a little different in two ways. First, this is a board book, written for our very youngest children, most who cannot read yet. So, it is a book that will be read to them, that is, until they pick up on the words after more than several repetitions. Secondly, the artwork by Angela Doak, who also did the art for The Old Oak Tree by Hilary Briar) is created with collage. With cut paper, she creates unique textures that help convey the feathers of birds and composition of landscapes. 

Illustration by Angela Doak from My First Book of Canadian Birds, written by Andrea Miller

Andrea Miller's text begins and ends with a parent and child spotting birds and identifying them. For each bird seen, there is a brief intro about the bird before it is identified on the second half of the spread. For example, for the Atlantic Puffin, the text reveals that, "This bird looks like a clown. Its name means 'little brother of the north.'" There are notes about each animal's name or behaviour, its behaviour or its song. It's just the right amount of information for a young child to learn and remember when connecting to each name. 

Illustration by Angela Doak from My First Book of Canadian Birds, written by Andrea Miller

Andrea Miller introduces children to the American Robin, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Red-Winged Blackbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Canada Goose, Northern Gannet, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Yellow Warbler, Snowy Owl, and Grey Jay. She covers birds from the West Coast, the East Coast, the North, and everything in between. The list is both comprehensive and yet limited for her audience of readers and pre-readers, offering just enough for the curious to learn more on their own.

 

Much of bird identification comes from visual representations, whether using a bird book or an app. As such, My First Book of Canadian Birds relies on accuracy of artwork to communicate what a bird looks like. Angela Doak gives us detailed and precise depictions of all the birds, from colours to proportions, from beaks to feet. And yet her collage art is highly stylized so that the birds are seen as both delicate and robust, flying off the page, strolling on a beach, or perching on a tree.

Illustration by Angela Doak from My First Book of Canadian Birds, written by Andrea Miller

Perfect for our youngest children, My First Book of Canadian Birds will help them recognize some of our most familiar birds, no matter where they live, and undoubtedly excite them to learn more about them and others.

 

2026 Lane Anderson Award: Shortlists announced

The Lane Anderson Award, an award created and funded by the Fitzhenry Family Foundation, just announced the shortlists in its two categories, Young Reader and Adult Reader. These awards honour the very best in science writing in Canada today. Each of the winners will be awarded $10,000 at a ceremony to be held in Toronto in January, 2027.

Young reader shortlist:

The Buzz on Wild Bees: The Little-Known Pollinators that Keep Our Planet Humming
Written by Kira Vermond 

Illustrated by June Steube 

Owlkids Books

The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones
Written by Rachel Poliquin

Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer 

Greystone Kids

The Story and Science of Hope
Written by Andrea Curtis

Illustrated by Ana Suárez 

Groundwood Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• • • • • • • 

 

(While we don't promote adult books on CanLit for LittleCanadians, I thought you might be interested to see the Adult shortlist. Here it is:

The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink
Written by Greg Mercer 

Penguin Random House Canada / McClelland & Stewart

Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist
Written by Sarah Boon 

University of Alberta Press

The Mind Mappers: Friendship, Betrayal and the Obsessive Quest to Chart the Brain
Written by Eric Andrew-Gee 

Penguin Random House Canada

 

 

 

 

 

• • • • • • •  

 

 

For more information about the Fitzhenry Family Foundation and the Lane Anderson Award, please visit their website at www.laneandersonaward.ca.

 

The Sea We Call Home

Written by Dominique Demers

Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard 

Pajama Press

978-1-772783674

36 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2026 

 

Little Gnouf and Mirabelle are two Gnoufs—I don't know what they are but they're adorable—who are excited about going to the sea for the first time. But when they arrive, they spot a baby whale caught in a fishing net and stranded on the shore. 

Illustration by Gabrielle Grimard in The Sea We Call Home, written by Dominique Demers

Fortunately, Little Gnouf has been reading "The Big Book of the Sea," and the two friends know they need to return him to the water. And with his mother waiting off shore, they have a big job. With the help from a sand crab that cuts the ropes binding the baby whale, and some seagulls that help lift it to the sea, it is finally reunited with its mother. 

Illustration by Gabrielle Grimard in The Sea We Call Home, written by Dominique Demers

To add to their extraordinary day at sea, Little Gnouf and Mirabelle enjoy underwater sights that remind them that the sea is home to many amazing creatures.

 

While The Sea We Call Home is a picture book, Dominique Demers has used a story to share information about sperm whales, thereby installing it as a STEM resource too. Dominique Demers, whose books always include whimsical characters, first introduced her gnome-like Gnoufs in her French-language series Le petit Gnouf that includes titles Le Noël du petit Gnouf (2011) and La magie de l'hiver (2013). Now, with this English edition, new readers can learn about empathy, helping others, and kindness along with information about sperm whales from these charming characters.

Illustration by Gabrielle Grimard in The Sea We Call Home, written by Dominique Demers

Just as the French-language series is illustrated by award-winning artist Gabrielle Grimard—see my reviews of Melanie Florence's Stolen Words (2017) and Bahram Rahman's The Library Bus (2020)—so too is The Sea We Call Home. And Gabrielle Grimard brings the whimsy of Dominique Demers's Gnoufs and the colour and wonder of the sea with her artwork. Typically using watercolour, gouache, oil, and pencil, Gabrielle Grimard integrates subtlety with boldness to amalgamate the two story components: an environmental tragedy of a stranded baby sperm whale, and the marvel that is the sea. Her art, through colour and shape, makes us feel sadness and joy, concern and relief.

 

For learning about the sperm whale, you can head to the non-fiction section of a library. But for discovering more about the sea and its elements, including the sperm whale, while appreciating how kindness and empathy can help support the natural world, then The Sea We Call Home should be your choice.

All the Water on Earth (CitizenKid)

Written by Rochelle Strauss

Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Kids Can Press

978-1-525310881 

40 pp.

Ages 5–8

June 2026

 

Kids Can Press's CitizenKid series has brought world issues to the attention of young readers for over twenty years. The series is all about making children global citizens who are aware of how children live in other countries, of environmental issues, and of their own roles in making the world a better place. Because of scarcity, pollution, and waste, water is an important global issue, and All the Water on Earth focuses on its importance to life and in our lives.

Illustration by Madelyn Goodnight in All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss

Using a picture book format, Rochelle Strauss tells the story of water: where it is, what it does and how it's used, why we need it, how it connects us, and what we can do to ensure that there is enough clean water for all. Her text is comprehensive and yet uncomplicated. Instead of loading her book with facts and maps, infographics and tables, Rochelle Strauss makes it into a story. It's the story of water: past, present and future.

Illustration by Madelyn Goodnight in All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss

I love this format for bringing information through storytelling. Rochelle Strauss is an accomplished writer of non-fiction for the CitizenKid series (e.g., Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth, 2004; One Well: The Story of Water on Earth, 2007; The Global Ocean, 2022) and can tell a story in a multitude of ways. This picture book format is perfect for younger readers and will be a great introduction to water. (Additional references, including discussion questions, will help teachers direct science lessons on the topic.)

From All the Water on Earth, written by Rochelle Strauss, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Because All the Water on Earth is told as a picture book, the illustrations are key. Oklahoma's Madelyn Goodnight, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, created the artwork with graphite, coloured pencils, watercolour paper, and digital painting software. She gives an innocence to the scenes of children playing by the water, in puddles, and on the ice. She also takes us to a well in Kenya, to farmlands and gardens, and to cities where water is used in industry, energy production, and more. The naturalness of her illustrations matches water's commonplace essence while still demonstrating the complexity of its nature.

Introduce young children to water in all its greatness with All the Water on Earth. They will learn and become aware of water's many capacities and forms, beyond what may come out of a tap or a water bottle. Perhaps with a new appreciation for water and our connections to it, young readers will become truer citizens concerning all the water on Earth.

Eon: My Pet Tardigrade

Written by Cybèle Young

Illustrated by Cybèle Young and Nell Jocelyn

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-041-8

56 pp.

Ages 3–7

Releases August 11, 2026 

 

Don't be surprised if you've never seen or heard of a tardigrade. They're very tiny. Very, very tiny. At about 0.5 mm in length, they are barely visible to the naked eye. Ah, but a microscope reveals this tiny creature to a young scientist with a new tool and captures her heart.

From Eon: My Pet Tardigrade, illustrated by Cybèle Young & Nell Jocelyn, written by Cybèle Young

Once she spots the micro-animal with his two little eyes and his ambling, plodding gait, she wants to take care of him. Actually, she wants to hug him but that's impossible so she plans to make that which he might appreciate. A bed? A chair? A slide? 

From Eon: My Pet Tardigrade, illustrated by Cybèle Young & Nell Jocelyn, written by Cybèle Young

But this young scientist knows it's best to ask questions, so she researches the little guy she names Eon, and learns he's a tardigrade a.k.a. a water bear or a moss piglet. She learns of the extremes at which it can live, and the diversity of habitats it can occupy. So, she prepares a wide variety of dioramas in which to live. And when she loses sight of him—he is very small—she learns more about what a tardigrade needs and gives him an opportunity for a new life where he might have a new home that is "the most magical most-est yet." (pg. 42)

From Eon: My Pet Tardigrade, illustrated by Cybèle Young & Nell Jocelyn, written by Cybèle Young

As small as Eon, the tardigrade, is, Eon: My Pet Tardigrade tells a big story. It's a story of scientific discovery, creativity, and benevolence. It's seeing what is almost not seen and educating oneself to help guide one's actions. Cybèle Young has garnered much attention and many awards with the intensity of her simple texts and the complexity of her mixed media illustrations. With Eon, she and collaborator Nell Jocelyn will charm readers into discovery, into looking deeper and smaller, and finding ways to express creativity. They've blended pencil drawings (Cybèle Young) with paper sculptures made with Japanese papers (Cybèle Young) and a variety of western papers (Nell Jocelyn). This blending of media gives substance and texture to a story of something almost imperceptible. Because Eon is so small, young readers may have to hunt for him on the many pages, especially when he's dressed in scuba equipment, hiding among stalagmites, or basking on a cactus. The creativity of the child—or rather Cybèle Young and Nell Jocelyn—to create miniature scenes of wondrous detail and movement brings Eon, the tardigrade, from insignificant to something substantial, a star of her displays and a superstar on the planet. (Read about tardigrades in Cybèle Young's "The story behind Eon" or do your own research. It will fascinate.)

From Eon: My Pet Tardigrade, illustrated by Cybèle Young & Nell Jocelyn, written by Cybèle Young

The story of Eon: My Pet Tardigrade is as much about the child and her response to Eon as it is about learning about tardigrades. I'd never heard of tardigrades and am now excited to learn more. Teachers might love to create lessons on adaptation, habitats, life cycles, and more based on these little invertebrates, but they shouldn't limit themselves to STEM lessons. Eon: My Pet Tardigrade gives opportunities for teaching about compassion, understanding, and letting go as well. For a little guy, Eon has a lot to give.

Wait Like a Seed

Written by Erin Alladin

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press 

978-1-77278-359-9

32 pp.

Ages 4–8 

March 2026  

 

Understanding life cycles, particularly of plants, can be a challenge for young children because of the extended time needed for a seed to progress through its stages. Kids may get the idea of a flower but knowing how a flower came to be and what it can produce is far more difficult. Using simple rhyming verses, bold words, and additional info pages, Erin Alladin leads young readers through the parts of a plant and how that plant can produce a new plant or hundreds.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

The story is set up with text and a drawing of the seed or plant as it is developing opposite an illustration of the children, and occasional orange tabby, watching the plant grow. From a seed waiting for the spring rains to fall, through rooting, sprouting, and growing leaves, buds, flowers, and pods, the milkweed plant goes through its life cycle. 

Smile like a flower,

Giving and grand.

Smile like a flower

'Til the butterflies land. (pg. 14)

The children wait and watch and delight in what they get to witness over the seasons, from spring rains to winter dormancy. And because the monarch butterfly is tied to milkweed plants, children can also witness the development of eggs to larvae, to caterpillars and further. 

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

While I don't usually review paperback releases of previously published hard copy books, I never got to see Wait Like a Seed when it was released last year. And seeing this new edition, I really wanted to share Erin Alladin's latest. She has a lovely talent of telling stories, particularly those related to the natural world. (See her Outside You Notice, 2021.) By blending the life cycles of the milkweed and the monarch butterfly with the experiences of two young children, Erin Alladin gives us a personal story with which young children may be familiar. And with her rhyming text, she makes an educational book into a charming read with a tempo that balances with the pace of the plant's development.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

But without Tara Anderson 's coloured pencil illustrations, Wait Like a Seed would not have the colour and shape to carry readers effortlessly through the milkweed's life stages. Instead of a book of non-fiction, Wait Like a Seed is the story of two playful children as they swing, pop milkweed pods, build a snowman, and play with their cat. She gives them joy and curiosity.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

I know that teachers and parents will want to use Wait Like a Seed as a teaching tool for life cycles and the seasons, but don't forget the soft poetry that sweeps through the book. It tells its own story of imaginative and educational play, helping children to grow in their own way.

Briarwood

Written by Natalie Hyde

DCB Young Readers

978-1-770868199

246 pp.

Ages 9–12

March 2026 

 

"Sometimes, inspiration and creativity combine in weird and wonderful ways to produce something unexpected." (pg. 99) 

 

It's whispered that Briarwood is a camp of magic, and Callie Garcia is desperate to go there. When a teacher accuses her of cheating on the entrance test and Smedley St. Claire is selected to go instead of her—though she'd scored 98%—Callie believes her dream of following in the tradition of her grandmother's grandfather, Theo Garcia, is lost. GG Theo was a man of ideas who'd left a journal of scientific formulas and inventions' designs and a final message to "Find Archer." But then the director of Briarwood, a Dr. Archer, intervenes and offers Callie a job as a mechanic and she wonders if she has been fated to attend.

 

Briarwood is a camp in the trees, with bunkhouses, walkways, bridges, and all workings powered by steam. So, while her bunkmates Smedley, Shawna, Hank, Tiffany and Dan participate in activities like swimming, alchemy, ropes, and rocketry, Callie is told she'll be reporting to Mr. Davenport. Instead, it's Dr. Archer who takes her to a treehouse lab where she will be fixing things. But there's also a secret lab which she is not allowed to enter, although Dr. Archer tells her that if anything happens to him she is to hide or destroy the special wrench that will allow access to it.

 

When Callie sees inventions that resemble those in her GG Theo's journal, like a hovering bicycle, she knows there must be a connection. But she's too busy trying to figure out the nature of the special metallic water that powers the machines at Briarwood. She is warned against touching the water ever, and not to tell others about what she has seen. With readings of journals at the lab and that of her GG Theo, as well as with her observations, Callie starts putting together a story or two of deception, surveillance, sabotage, and science. And when Dr. Archer goes missing, Callie with a few bunkmates whom she may or may not trust sets out to save Briarwood and its director.

 

Briarwood is magical, but not magical in the supernatural sense. It's wonder comes from the automated nature of its workings, like food delivery at the table, mechanical chameleons that carry messages, and the zip bridges that appear and disappear. Natalie Hyde has created a weird and wonderful place of creativity and engineering, a camp where ingenuity is encouraged, and young people are challenged to see marvels in the mechanisms within. She has shown us clever middle graders who are neither stereotypes of nerdy brainiacs or unrealistic pre-teens with unbelievable skills or strengths. Natalie Hyde makes Briarwood and the mystery to be solved true to life. Moreover, Natalie Hyde makes science, specifically mechanical engineering and chemistry, a fantastical element to the story. The inventions are amazing and yet possible. Camp Briarwood is a marvel that would captivate any young person with imagination and a sense of discovery.

While many young people will be attending summer camps this year, I doubt any camps will be as amazing as the marvel that is Briarwood. Still, I hope that, wherever they go, they find friendship, challenges, perhaps a little mystery, and a whole lot of wonder, just as Callie did at Briarwood.

Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions

Written by Anjali Joshi

Illustrated by Kathleen Ng

Annick Press

978-1-834020310

128 pp.

Ages 8–12

March 2026 

 

The natural world has always astounded. From within its plant and animal species, its landforms, its waters, and environmental factors like weather come examples for processes that work for adaptation, communication, farming, and more. In Built Like a Bug, Anjali Joshi, a science educator, focuses on insects and reveals all the ways they inspire important inventions and developments.

From Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, written by Anjali Joshi, illustrated by Kathleen Ng

The table of contents to Built Like a Bug demonstrates the complexity of the book's content. It looks at mosquitoes and cockroaches, spiders and leafhoppers, termites and fireflies, ants, hawk moths, dung beetles, and bees and dragonflies. The assortment of insects is only matched by the contributions they have made to innovative research and development.

From Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, written by Anjali Joshi, illustrated by Kathleen Ng

In addition to providing basic scientific information like common and scientific names, life and size, Anjali Joshi highlights key features of their behaviour that should be noted. For example, information on how the mosquito effectively jabs an animal and prevents clotting is being used by researchers to reduce pain from needles and to develop synthetic anti-coagulants.

From Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, written by Anjali Joshi, illustrated by Kathleen Ng

Silk from spiders is inspiring researchers to develop sutures for stitches, to deliver medicines, to create bullet-proof materials, and to investigate it as a building material.

From Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, written by Anjali Joshi, illustrated by Kathleen Ng

Insects are models for farming, for electricity, for flight, for navigation, for medicine, and so much more. They can inform us about engineering and building robots, as well as about energy efficiency and dealing with trash. There is so much information in Built Like a Bug that any reader—or teacher—will be able to get both a broad overview of how insects inspire innovation and the finer points about insects themselves and the research and development they generate. Regardless of the complexity of information, Built Like a Bug is organized so well that it is a pleasure to delve into the material. Tidbits of interesting facts are posted in info boxes called "Bug Bites" and the illustrations by Toronto-based artist Kathleen Ng give colour and details to strengthen the information and to keep the text from becoming overwhelming. Her digital art is specific enough to help convey key information, but it is not so detailed that a middle grade reader would get bored.

From Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, written by Anjali Joshi, illustrated by Kathleen Ng

I know kids will enjoy this book, especially those interested in STEM activities, but teachers will adore it. Not only is it a prime example of a non-fiction book for middle-grade readers, offering opportunities for learning and creativity, teachers will appreciate the variety of features, from the glossary, full index, and references to the numerous experiments and activities. Built Like a Bug will give young readers lots to think about and to do, perhaps inspire them to see more within the natural world.

 

Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear (Orca Think)

Written by Erin Silver

Illustrated by Xulin Wang

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-4098-0

96 pp.

Ages 9–12

February 2026 

 

Reviewing Erin Silver's latest non-fiction book, Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear on Earth Day seems fitting. On a day on which we celebrate our Earth and how to protect it, we have much to learn from a book about global locations threatened by climate change.

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

Erin Silver, who has written countless books of non-fiction including Good Food, Bad Waste (2023), Mighty Scared: The Amazing Ways Animals Defend Themselves (2024), and Plant Attack (2025), takes on the challenging topic of climate change. However, by taking the perspective of showcasing key locations, from the Arctic to the Pacific Islands and the Amazon rainforest, Erin Silver speaks less of generalities and more to familiar sites and places people live. 

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The book is organized into four major chapters:

1. Major Meltdown
2. Cue the Waterworks
3. Under Fire
4. Life on Earth

The first looks at the impacts of global warming on the ice caps in Antarctica and in the Arctic. The impacts examined go beyond the ice sheets and glaciers, and into the water, the krill, polar bears, and more. Insights from those who visit those locations are shared, as are suggestions about helping to combat climate change.

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The next chapter looks at changing weather patterns, which cause more rain and severe storms in some areas, resulting in places being flooded, and sinking and shrinking. Mitigation with mangroves and engineering are just two approaches. Other areas will get drier, which could lead to food insecurity. A Q & A with a climate architect reveals much about solutions to this aspect of global warming. 

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The next chapter examines the fires in California and in British Columbia, while the final chapter looks at the threat to biodiversity, focusing on the Amazon rainforest and the Galápagos Islands. As in the earlier chapters, there are interviews, including with a climate adventurer and a biologist, info boxes called "The Info Express" with interesting tidbits,  and always assurances that activism can help. Completing this book are a comprehensive glossary and lists of resources for young people to access.

 

Erin Silver delivers a thorough examination of how climate change is affecting our world. And, though she makes it a global discussion, her research brings it closer to home, even if it's not our home specifically. It's a personal look at how global warming is impacting everyone and everywhere. That means it's up to everyone to do something, anything. With numerous photographs and Toronto's Xulin Wang's bold and colourful digital art, Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear takes the reader around the world to see evidence of climate change. But with text and art combined, the message is not one of hopelessness but rather one of expectancy and action. And on this Earth Day, Gone Forever?—note the question mark—has a productive message to share.

The Cedar Mother (Mothers of Xsan)

Written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
HighWater Press
978-1-77492-158-6
32 pp.
Ages 9–12

February 2026

 

Eight years ago, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, who is also known as Brett D. Huson, started his Mothers of Xsan graphic novel series to share his knowledge of the stories of the Gitxsan Nation of the Northwest Interior of BC. This series, now of eight books, has covered insects, fish, birds, amphibians, and mammals, and now I'm delighted to share his book about the cedar tree. Not only does The Cedar Mother speak to the life cycle of a cedar tree and its connection with other living things, but Hetxw'ms Gyetxw also shares his knowledge of the Gitxsan Nation and their Moons.

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

This story of the western red cedar begins in April and the Spring Salmon's Returning Home Moon (Lasa ya'a). This tree, which has been around for over 300 years, now sits by a road that was "only a trail used by the Gitxsan, who had never seen a car, wagon, or horse." (pg. 2) Its growth from a tiny seed is helped by nutrients, rain, and sun. (Words that might be new to young readers, including nutrients, foliage, photosynthesis, and reverence, are defined in info boxes throughout the book.) 

 

But Hetxw'ms Gyetxw also explains how Nox Sim Gan (the cedar mother) is connected to other organisms in the ecosystem. She provides shelter and feeds animals with foliage and oxygen. She gives materials to the Gitxsan for clothing, for home-building, for medicines and, at the end of her life cycle, she will become a story pole. Because of her persistence and vitality, "she is a beacon of hope and a symbol of the enduring strength of the natural world. (pg. 15)

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw writes with reverence for Nox Sim Gan in The Cedar Mother and for the role she plays in the environment and for the Gitxsan Nation. From birth through death, she provides. And, because of this, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw gently reminds us that attention must be paid, and our stewardship is required so that she may continue to share herself with the earth and its living things. Not a boring life cycle story, The Cedar Mother tells us how a western red cedar is a part of something far greater. It is part of a community.

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Natasha Donovan, who illustrated the earlier books in Mothers of Xsan series and Tasha Spillett's Surviving the City series, takes readers into the forests where Nox Sim Gan grows and flourishes, giving and sharing. Its majesty is evident from the scale at which she draws it, and the benevolence of its presence is clear in all illustrations as it interacts with other species. Natasha Donovan keeps the focus on Nox Sim Gan always, whether at the base of its trunk or buried in its foliage, preserving the natural elements in earthy colours of browns and greens. With Natasha Donovan's illustrations and Hetxw'ms Gyetxw's occasional contributions of formline art (see the spirit pole above), as well as his text, The Cedar Mother is a respectful acknowledgement of the connection between the natural world and the Gitxsan, and the reverence necessary to appreciate and to sustain its place.

 • • • • • • •

 

Mothers of Xsan series

The Sockeye Mother (2018)

The Grizzly Mother (2019)

The Eagle Mother (2020)

The Frog Mother (2021)

The Wolf Mother (2021)

The Raven Mother (2022)

The Bee Mother (2024) 

The Cedar Mother (2026)