Betsy Bowen

This book begins with May when it is still cold in the Northwoods and continues through December. It is the story of how summer days in the north are savored and appreciated as the people prepare for winter. Many children have thoughts like these, but more to enjoy summer days in preparation for school days, and so they will relate to the sentence: "Summer is the time . . . to collect lots of warm memories to make it through the long, cold winter." Surely people everywhere there are cold winters who can understand such thoughts.… (more)

An tale of an Ojibwe Legend, or Chippewa legend about Shingebiss, and ancient diving bird or duck. The ancient legend speak of the Shingebiss taking on Great Winter and all its incarnations in the moon cycle. Shingebiss is honored in Chippewa tradition as being transformative and resilient. One of the more interesting part of this book came from its brief descriptions by the author of Ojibwe's legends being "alive" and with "spirit" and how that differentiates them from traditional European fairy tales and fables that are "human-made". I loved this preamble to the book from local Louisiana native Nancy Van Laan. Although early elementary level readers might be very interested in this living tale, it is funny that in the South, winter is neither great nor much of anything.… (more)