The Lost Island - Hardcover

Johnson-Tekahionwake, E Pauline; Johnson, E Pauline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1894965078 ISBN 13: 9781894965071

Publisher: Simply Read Books, 2004

Synopsis

In 1911, Pauline Johnson published Legends of Vancouver, a collection of native stories she learned from a tribal chieftain. One of these stories appears here in a new edition. The Lost Island tells of a long-ago time when what is now Vancouver belonged to the Sqamish people. In poetic prose, Johnson retells the story of a native healer whose visit to a mysterious island ends in a tragic loss, a striking symbol of the arrival of white civilization. Acclaimed artist Atanas's shimmering illustrations evoke a world long vanished.

About this title

About the Author:

Emily Pauline Johnson in 1861 at Chiefswood, near Brantford, Ontario. Her father was a distinguished Mohawk chief and her mother was British. Even without a full formal education, Pauline was an accomplished poet by her late teens. From 1892 to 1909, she toured Canada, the USA and Britain, giving dramatic performances of her poetry. In 1909, she settled in Vancouver and renewed her ties with Chief Joe Capilano. She became the first English-speaking person to hear the legends of his people and began to write the stories down, which became Legends of Vancouver. Her published works of poetry and fiction also include The White Wampum (1895), Canadian Born (1903), Flint and Feather (1912), The Moccasin Maker (1913) and The Shagganappi (1913). She died in 1913 and her ashes are buried in Vancouver's Stanley Park. Atanas Matsoureff was born in Bansko, Bulgaria. His watercolour paintings are prized for their beauty and sensitivity to the natural world. The Lost Island was his first picture book.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-6–Taken from Johnson's Legends of Vancouver (Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), this story details the typical and oft-heard lament about the destruction of the Native Canadian way of life by the coming of the Europeans, and is told by one of Canada's best-known Native poets. A healer is plagued by visions of his people's demise. Driven almost to madness by his power to see the future, he paddles to a distant island where he leaves behind his courage, his fearlessness, and his strength. Upon returning to his village, the old man dies peacefully in his sleep, after instructing his people to search for the island where he left his bravery in the hope that the Squamish might one day regain their strength and ultimately be able to endure the rule of the white man. The text flows easily and is rich with descriptive language, but Matsoureff's breathtaking watercolor illustrations are the real strength of the book. These evocative pictures envelop the senses so that children can almost smell the pine needles or feel the chill in the air, giving a real sense of British Columbia's wilderness. A worthy addition to any collection of Native folklore.–Robyn Walker, Elgin Court Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
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About this edition

• Publisher: Simply Read Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1894965078
• ISBN 13: 9781894965071
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Matsoureff Atanas