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Grandmother’s Pigeon
by Louise Erdrich; illus. by Jim LaMarche • University of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 978-1-5179-1147-8 • $17.95 Hardcover
This book brings a story that will endure and a wonderful fantasy to read on Christmas afternoon. Louise weaves
a magical tale, wrapped in family, about a bold, brash and wise Grandmother who one day takes off on the back of a friendly porpoise. In their grieving for her long, long absence, the family visits her room. They discover black stones from Lake Superior and plenty of other keepsakes from her adventures … including three eggs in one of the multiple nests she’s collected.
The eggs promptly hatch into three pigeons, but not just any pigeons … the long extinct (or so it is believed) passenger pigeons. And then the family’s own adventure and decision-making begins. Jim’s luminescent illustrations echo those of Chris Van Allsburg, but with his own warm style. Each page-turn brings a new glowing sense of wonderment.
As any good story does, this one completes its circle by the end and leaves us smiling and wishing “if only” … if only a lost species could be found among our grandmother’s keepsakes.
The Big Island, A Story of Isle Royale
by Julian May, illus. by John Schoenherr • University of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 978-1-5179-1069-3 • $17.95 Hardcover
This reprint of a 1968 book will not officially hit the bookstores until early January, but for Big Lake lovers, it might
be worth putting a little IOU in the stocking for after the New Year. John’s powerful illustrations carry this story that gently teaches how eco-systems work – how each part of the system is required, both predator and prey, for the balance to be maintained. An unfortunate loss of one species or another can threaten the whole of the system. Such has been the recent history of Isle Royale, and this book about the coming of wolves to the island resonates with the newly transplanted wolves now there. The one twinge the 1968 text gave me was reference to when people arrived, showing fur trading post and proclaiming, “They called it Isle Royale.” In telling the true history, even a short version, the first recorded human-generated name likely would be the Ojibwe “Minong,” perhaps meaning “The Good Place.” This new version includes an endnote by wolf researcher David L. Mech and a mention of the most recent chapter
Continue to read this article in Lake Superior Magazine.
