Amanda Redi-Stevens

Author: Amanda Reid-Stevens (Haida)
Illustrator: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Haida)

The author of this precious book is the daughter of renowned Haida artist Bill Reid. She tells the charming tale of Loos Taas, a 50-foot carved cedar canoe. The translation of the name means “Wave Eater”. The story is written in rhyme – four lines to a page with the last word on each second line rhymes.

On the opposing page, Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas frames the creation of the canoe in traditional shapes of Haida art form such as the ovoid, U form, and S form. The pages are dark deep colours that contrast the pastel painted images and force the art to burst from the page. This small book is similar to a coffee table book – the printing quality is exquisite. The pages have a nice weight and a smooth finish. The flyleaf at the beginning of the book is velum with a copper design of the boat that is embossed.

Even though this lovely story is written in rhyme, it is a true story about the creation of the boat and the community who made her. This book could be classified as an illustrated storybook or non-fiction.

The ‘afterword’ describes in more detail about the boat such as the boat was built for Expo ’86 and it was approximately hundred years since a boat was carved in Skidegate, Haida Gwaii.

Theme: First Nations, history, art, engineering, and language arts.
Grade level: all grades, lots of classroom potential.… (meer)