Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 

In Julie Flett’s dedication to her father in her newest picture book, We All Play / Kimêtawânaw (Greystone, May 2021), she writes: “Growing up with you taught me about our connections to the land that inspired so much of the work that I do.” Indeed, this new book features that very thing — animals at play in the natural world (swimming, running, sniffing, yipping on the land) and the human children that play in much the same ways. It’s a book with spare, plainspoken language, perfect for the very young children at whom it’s aimed, and bold, uncluttered images to draw their eye. It’s spectacular in its seeming simplicity.

Below are the book’s first four spreads to give you a sense of what it offers. This pattern is repeated throughout the book: We see spreads of creatures in the wild with robust verbs to convey their movement (“Animals slip and slide”), and then we see children playing in the same ways (children slipping and sliding on a snow drift). The book incorporates brief sentences in the Cree language.

Flett brings readers up close to the animals; we are never distanced from them, since we humans too are part of the natural world. She keeps her compositions simple. There is much breathing room in these spreads so that our eyes focus on the creatures at play in nature. And there is an enticing texture to these illustrations; you want to reach out and pet the bobcat kittens and stroke the wolf cubs.

The book closes with a list of the animals featured in the book with their English and Cree names. Best of all, Greystone’s website now has a page for the book that includes a pronunciation guide. Head here for the We All Play Cree Glossary and to see the creatures in the book. Click on their names to hear the Cree pronunciation.

Enjoy the spreads!

 

WE ALL PLAY / KIMÊTAWÂNAW. Text and illustrations copyright © 2021 by Julie Flett. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Greystone Kids, Vancouver.