On the Trapline

April 15, 2021
A Swampy Cree grandfather shows his grandson what it means to be connected to family and the land. Moshom takes his grandson, the narrator, on a long journey to visit his boyhood home. He wants his grandson to see his family's trapline, "where people hunt animals and live off the land." To get there, they fly on a plane and go to a small house beside a big lake. "This is where we lived after we left the trapline." They walk through a forest and see an old school building. "Most of the kids only spoke Cree, but at the school all of us had to talk and learn in English." They travel in a small motorboat to an island, where "Moshom's eyes light up." He says, "That's my trapline." There are beaver dams and eagles and rock paintings. Moshom tells how everyone "slept in one big tent, so they could keep warm at night," how even the youngest children had chores, and everyone shared the work. He tells how they caught muskrats, ate the meat, and sold the pelts "to buy...things you couldn't get on the trapline." Before leaving the island, the boy holds Moshom's hand. His grandpa is quiet. "Kiskisiw means 'he remembers.' " Swampy Cree words and their definitions conclude each page, summing up its themes. Robertson's text is as spare as Flett's artwork, leaving plenty of space for readers to feel the emotions evoked by both. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 51.6% of actual size.) The illustrations' muted colors and the poetic rhythm of the words slow the world down for remembering. (author's note, illustrator's note, glossary) (Picture book. 5-10)

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April 15, 2021
Grades K-3 The creators of When We Were Alone (2017) team up here to highlight a traditional Indigenous experience. A young boy and his moshom (grandfather) travel far to the north (by plane, by truck, by motorboat, and on foot) to reach the site of Moshom's trapline. The older man describes how he and his family slept together in a tent in the years when they trapped animals, gathered berries, and fished in order to sustain themselves. The muskrats trapped, for example, provided food, while their pelts were sold to purchase supplies that couldn't be gleaned from the land. This succinct narrative emphasizes both the natural beauty of the wilderness and the satisfaction experienced from this lifestyle. Robertson also underscores traditional Indigenous values, including sharing with those in need and learning from the land. Flett's digitally enhanced pastel-on-paper illustrations employ a palette of greens, blues, and browns, often accented in red. Her use of simple shapes, textured patterns, and subtle shadings allows the landscapes and characters to shine. Appended with creator notes and a glossary of Cree words.

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Starred review from April 26, 2021
The Indigenous creators behind Governor General’s Award–winning When We Were Alone return for this grandparent-child exploration of traplines, “where people hunt animals and live off the land.” Robertson, who has Swampy Cree heritage, follows Moshom, a Swampy Cree Elder, who guides his grandchild through the trapline—as well as through memories of his time there as a child. In a deceptively simple, conversational tone, the child relays observations alongside their grandfather’s poignant recollections, offering a Swampy Cree word at the bottom of almost every page: “I ask Moshom what it was like going to school after living on the trapline.... ‘I learned in both places,’ he says. ‘I just learned different things.’/ Pahkan means ‘different.’ ” Flett (who is Cree-Métis) employs a naturalistic color palette for the simple, generously spaced geometric illustrations of light brown-skinned figures, rendered in pastel on paper, then composited digitally. A deeply affecting journey of memory and history. Ages 4–8.