Description
Raven Brings the Light is one of the finalists for the First Nation Communities Read 2014–15 selection. Raven Brings the Light is a 48-page picture book that retells the classic Northwest Coast traditional story about the origin of daylight and its importance to the First Nations of the Northwest Coast. Renowned visual artist Roy Henry Vickers has taken the creation story he first heard from Chester Bolton, Tsimshian Chief of the Ravens, from the village of Kitkatla around 1975 and by adding 20 colour paintings has created a magnificent rendering of the story. Vickers has collaborated with Robert Budd to create a legend that will live on in readers from the junior elementary level to adult readers. In a time when darkness covered the land, a boy named Weget is born who is destined to bring the light. With the gift of a raven's skin that allows him to fly as well as transform, Weget turns into a bird and journeys from Haida Gwaii into the sky. There he finds the Chief of the Heavens who keeps the light in a box. By transforming himself into a pine needle, clever Weget tricks the Chief and escapes with the daylight back down to Earth. In addition to bringing sunlight to the First Peoples, the book tells how the salmon came to populate the many streams of mainland British Columbia, and how plants provided sustenance for the First Nations of the Northwest Coast. An amazing book from artist, carver, and printmaker Roy Henry Vickers that will be a must-have for all school and public libraries. Highly recommended. Author website: http://www.royhenryvickers.com/prints/raven_brings_the_light/