Dragonfly Kites

by Tomson Highway, Julie Flett (Illustrator)

Overview

"Highway's text has a graceful simplicity, evoking the deep pleasure of brothers at play in a serene, remote setting."
— Horn Book

"At once a celebration of heritage, the wilderness and imagination, this book is a breath of fresh northern air."
— Kirkus Reviews

Dragonfly Kites is a brilliant evocation of the very essence of childhood as Thomson Highway weaves a deceptively simple story about the power of the imagination. Joe and Cody, two young Cree brothers, along with their parents and their little dog Ootsie, are spending the summer by one of the hundreds of lakes in northern Manitoba. Summer means a chance to explore the world and make friends with an array of creatures.

But what Joe and Cody like doing best of all is flying dragonfly kites. They catch dragonflies and gently tie a length of thread around the middle of each dragonfly before letting it go. Off soar the dragonflies into the summer sky and off race the brothers and Ootsie too, chasing after their dragonfly kites through trees and meadows and down to the beach before watching them disappear into the night sky.

But in their dreams, Joe and Cody soar through the skies with their kites until it's time to wake up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781897252642
Publisher:	Fifth House Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/2019
Series:	Songs of the North Wind
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	595,084
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.13(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tomson Highway is an award-winning playwright and the author of Caribou Song (winner of the American Indian Library Association 2014 Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book) and Fox on the Ice. He now splits his time between homes near Sudbury, Ontario and Gatineau, Québec.

Julie Flett is an award-winning author, illustrator and artist currently living in Vancouver, BC. She is Cree-Métis. Julie is the first-time recipient of the 2014 Aboriginal Literature Award, sponsored by the Periodical Marketers of Canada.

Editorial Reviews

02/08/2016
Written in English and Cree, this second book in Highway’s Magical Songs of the North trilogy, first published in Canada in 2002, gains new artwork from Flett (Wild Berries). The story follows brothers Joe and Cody as they play games along a Manitoba lakeshore, where they spend summers in a tent with their mother, father, and dog, Ootsie, “who was almost a person.” Much of the boys’ activity revolves around creating names and stories for various objects and animals they discover, but their favorite game involves gently tying strings around dragonflies, turning them into living kites. Although that particular “game” may give some children and adults pause, Highway’s matter-of-fact text and Flett’s crisp, gently textured forms create a loving portrait of a family in communion with their environment. Ages 6–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2016
Gr 1–3—A bilingual book in English and Cree. Joe and Cody are two Cree brothers who live in Northern Manitoba. With their vivid imaginations and isolation from others, they roam the world. While their parents are fishing, they make toys out of sticks and rocks to play with and befriend the terns, loons, eagles, and squirrels they meet. Their favorite creature are the dragonflies. During the day, the boys tie thread around them and turn them into magic kites. At night in their dreams, they run behind their dragonfly kites, bounding up into the sky, into the sunset until morning light. Flett's illustrations are full of color with clear, sharp lines. The dragonflies' wings look like they landed on the page. VERDICT This charming tale is an engaging look at the universal joys of childhood. Recommended.—Amy Zembroski, Indian Community School, Franklin, WI

School Library Journal

2016-03-16
A bilingual English/Cree picture book describes the lakeside summer idylls of brothers Joe and Cody. Living with their parents in a tent on the shores of Manitoba's northern lakes, the First Nations boys have little human company, but they are far from alone. There's Ootsie, the little dog "who was almost a person," and the sticks and rocks they name and play with. They make temporary pets of wildlife, too: Arctic tern, loon, and eagle chicks, along with "the squirrels and the rabbits and the chipmunks that ate from their hands"; each creature is carefully named, sometimes with an English name and sometimes with a Cree one. Highway's text is spare and declarative, carefully isolating child-friendly details that brim with gentle humor. One eagle chick is named "Migisoo, which means ‘eagle' in Cree," while the other is "named Wagisoo, which doesn't mean anything but rhymes with Migisoo." Flett's equally spare signature style is a perfect match, placing black-haired, brown-skinned boys in shorts and Chucks against dark green grass and chilly-looking blue water. The titular kites are the boys' "favourite pets": dragonflies with long pieces of thread tied "gently around the middle of each." They run along with the dragonflies before letting them go over the lake. The English text is printed in black, with the Cree text printed in brick-red beneath it; both are by Highway himself. At once a celebration of heritage, the wilderness, and imagination, this book is a breath of fresh northern air. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews