Leo Yerxa

A beautiful and visionary book, Ancient Thunder celebrates wild horses and the natural world of the prairies. Using an extraordinary technique, Leo Yerxa, an artist of Ojibway ancestry, makes paper look like leather, so that his illustrations seem to be painted on leather shirts. The art is accompanied by a rich song of praise for the wild horses that came to play such an important role in the lives of the First Peoples. 

Years in the making, the book is truly a work of art — one that reflects Yerxa's sense of nature and the place of the First Peoples within it.

Awards

• In 2008, Ancient Thunder was the award recipient for First Nation Communities Read.
• Winner of the Governor General's Award

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 4 and up (Grades k and up)

Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, Visual Arts

Additional Information
40 pages | 8.30" x 10.80"

Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall takes us on a dreamlike voyage into nature at that secret moment when fall turns into winter. We find ourselves in a kind of paradise, which humans may be part of but which they have not despoiled. 

A father and son lead us through forests, down rivers, over lakes and ponds. Along the way we experience the primordial beauty of the physical world. This is nature as we all feel in our hearts it must once have been. 

Through lyrical words and a masterful collage technique, Leo Yerxa has created an exquisite and poetic evocation of this moment.

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Science and Nature, Visual Arts, Language Arts.

Recommended ages: 5-8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.13" x 11.00"