Seagull Island = kiyāsko-miniscikos

Seagull Island = kiyāsko-miniscikos, a lovely picture book, tells the story of a young child, Luke, who goes to collect seagull eggs with his mosōm and kohkom. It is a gentle story about a family outing, and Körner’s beautiful watercolour illustrations add to the feelings of peacefulness.

The text is written primarily in English with some phrases and words in Woodland Cree. There is an extensive pronunciation guide and a brief overview of the Woodland Cree language at the end of the book.

The story is inspired by the author’s memories of gathering eggs with his grandson in northern Saskatchewan. Charles is a Woodland Cree Elder and artist. The Woodland Cree translations were done by Minnie McKenzie, who has done extensive work in Cree language education. The co-author and illustrator Miriam Körner is of settler ancestry.

The Woodland Cree words and phrases in the story are bolded (with the exception of names) and are often repeated in English. As this reviewer had no previous experience with the Woodland Cree language, this format of the story was helpful for comprehension, especially when it came to longer sentences. The extensive pronunciation guide and introduction to the language were both helpful and interesting. This book could be very useful to families working on reclaiming their language, as well as, for educators and students of any age who are learning Woodland Cree. More broadly, this book is a wonderful family story about land-based learning that honours the Indigenous language.

Seagull Island = kiyāsko-miniscikos would be a wonderful addition to school, classroom, and home libraries in the territory of the Woodland Cree as well as throughout Canada.