We're pleased to be featuring images from new picture book Nipugtug, written by Emma Metallic (from the Mi'gmaq community, Listuguj, Quebec, located in the seventh district Gespe'gewa'gi, Mi'gma'gi), illustrated by Natalie Laurin.

Set in the community of Listuguj, Gespe'gewa'gi, Nipugtug follows the journey of A'le's (Mi'gmaw for Alice), a young Mi'gmaw woman, snowshoeing through the forest. There, she meets animals, Wapus (Rabbit), Wowgwis (Fox), Tia'm (Moose), Ga'qaquj (Crow) and trees, Masgwi (Birch), Qasgusi (Cedar) who guide her through both challenging and nourishing emotions of learning her Mi'gmaw language. Grounded in her relationship with the territory, A'le's navigates memories of her language that cling to realities within and beyond her life.

Natalie Laurin is a Métis and settler illustrator and interdisciplinary designer, with family roots in the Georgian Bay Métis community. She holds a Bachelor of Design from NSCAD University, where she majored in Interdisciplinary Design and minored in Illustration. A central goal of her work is to create with an informed,collaborative approach. She hopes that by illustrating books for Indigenous youth, more people will be inspired to engage with themes of community and relationship-building to further our collective revitalization journey.

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Images from Nipugtug, copyright © 2023 by Emma Metallic and Natalie Laurin. Reprinted with permission of Kegedonce Press: www.kegedonce.com