Maxine Trottier
Author of Migrant
About the Author
Maxine Trottier was born in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on May 3, 1950. When she was ten, she moved with her family to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario. She was an elementary school teacher for show more 31 years. After retiring from teaching, she began to write children's books. Her books include The Paint Box, Prairie Willow, Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord, Circle of Silver Chronicles, Alone in an Untamed Land, Forget-Me-Not, Three Songs for Courage, and Terry Fox: A Story of Hope. Claire's Gift won the Mr. Christie's Book Award and The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: fitzhenry.ca
Series
Works by Maxine Trottier
The Death of My Country: The Plains of Abraham Diary of Geneviève Aubuchon (2005) 168 copies, 1 review
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Trottier, Maxine
- Birthdate
- 1950-05-03
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Western Ontario (education)
- Occupations
- teacher
children's book author - Agent
- Transatlantic Literary Agency, Inc.
- Short biography
- Maxine Trottier is a prolific writer of books for young people. Born in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on May 3, 1950, she moved to Windsor, Ontario in Canada with her family ten years later. In 1974 she became a Canadian citizen. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.
Maxine spent 31 years working as an educator in elementary classrooms, guiding children toward literacy. The students in her class, who of course thought of her only as their teacher, saw each step in the creation of a new work. They heard the unillustrated story, saw the roughs, and were the first to view the finished book.
Maxine lives with her husband William and their two Yorkies, Ceilidh and Moon, at Newman’s Cove, Newfoundland. Her studio overlooks the Atlantic Ocean; it is a wonderful place to write. - Nationality
- USA (birth)
Canada - Birthplace
- Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA
- Places of residence
- Newman’s Cove, Newfoundland, Canada
Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
Windsor, Ontario, Canada - Associated Place (for map)
- Canada
Members
Reviews
I liked this book a lot for a number of reasons. I think that the theme - travelling migrant workers with no permanent place to live - is not an easy one to describe to a child, yet the author did that brilliantly. Through the eyes of Maria, youngest child in the family of German-speaking people from Mexico, the author shows how uneasy, yet interesting the life of such family can be. Even though the story is told in 3rd person, it feels very personal and relatable. Through metaphors, show more allegories, and comparisons, the author takes us through a season of life in this family: "when her parents' backs are bent under the sun [...] that is when all of them are bees." Illustrations for this books are amazing: not only they describe the story, they also add to it. The farmhouse full of "ghosts" of previous workers is depicted with people sitting and looking from cupboards and from behind the doors. The drawings remind of child's drawings: some details are intentionally simplified and drawn with a plain pencil. The story is short, but the bright metaphors allow us to truly feel the sufferings, little life moments, and everyday troubles of a life of a migrant family. This book pushes us to think about the people that many of us might not notice. show less
Anna and her Mennonite family migrate every year from their farms in Mexico to work in Canada's fields. Still citizens of Canada, which they left in the 1920s, they come for the work that will help them survive in their adopted home, where life is hard. Anna wonders about many things, chief amongst them what it would feel like to be settled. She sometimes feels shy and out of place amongst Canada's English-speaking people - her community speak Low German, or Plautdietsch - but she also show more enjoys hearing unfamiliar words and tones. Eventually, at the end of the season, her family migrates again...
Migrant pairs an emotionally rich but understated narrative from author Maxine Trottier with lovely artwork from illustrator Isabelle Arsenault, poignantly depicting the emotional life of a child of migrant workers. I was unaware of this community of Mennonites, before picking up the book, and although I didn't learn much more about them specifically - something I have seen criticized - I felt that the story was successful in exploring, not just the emotional costs of this kind of work, but also the feeling of being set apart, when one belongs to a small religious minority. The artwork is beautiful, ably capturing Anna's flights of fancy, whether she is imagining herself and her sisters as kittens, or her family as migrating birds. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books that offer a gentle introduction to the idea of migrant work and workers. show less
Migrant pairs an emotionally rich but understated narrative from author Maxine Trottier with lovely artwork from illustrator Isabelle Arsenault, poignantly depicting the emotional life of a child of migrant workers. I was unaware of this community of Mennonites, before picking up the book, and although I didn't learn much more about them specifically - something I have seen criticized - I felt that the story was successful in exploring, not just the emotional costs of this kind of work, but also the feeling of being set apart, when one belongs to a small religious minority. The artwork is beautiful, ably capturing Anna's flights of fancy, whether she is imagining herself and her sisters as kittens, or her family as migrating birds. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books that offer a gentle introduction to the idea of migrant work and workers. show less
The pictures in this book are so simple, yet so elegant. When you angle the book or turn the pages, you can see a shimmer to some of the patterns or colors. It was wonderfully illustrated because the tone of the book is really tranquil and dreamlike. The author does a great job at comparing the characters to a different animal every page. She uses repetition of the line, "Now that would be something" to elude hope and wonder into her readers. The plot is of migrant workers that travel every show more year for work. However, this does not become clear until almost at the end when it is revealed that the girl doesn't understand the majority of the language the other people are speaking. This is such a harsh lifestyle of such a little girl to be in. I do not know much about migrant labor workers, so I am glad that I read this book. show less
In Maxine Trottier’s Migrant, we learn what’s like to be a migrant worker through the eyes of a young girl named Anna. Trottier relates migrant families to a flock of birds, comforts them with a kitten’s warmth, and compares their temporary housing to a jack rabbit’s burrow. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault bring Anna’s imagination to life – her transformation to a jack rabbit to comparing the voices of her fellow migrants to crickets before she is whisked away by one upon show more its back. As a child whose mother traveled across the state and country for work while she was growing up, this book echoes her memories. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated that all readers will fall in love with it immediately. show less
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- 2,883
- Popularity
- #8,884
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 55
- ISBNs
- 107
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