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Children's Fiction Native Canadian

Le delta, c'est mon chez moi

by (author) Tom McLeod & Mindy Willett

photographs by Tessa Macintosh

Publisher
Fifth House Books
Initial publish date
May 2011
Category
Native Canadian
Recommended Age
4 to 8
Recommended Grade
p to 3
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781897252840
    Publish Date
    May 2011
    List Price
    $19.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Tom McLeod is an eleven-year-old boy from Aklavik who is a gifted storyteller heard frequently on CBC Radio North. He is of mixed cultural heritage-Gwich'in and Inuvialuit.

Tom tells us why his home in the Mackenzie Delta is a special place and why he loves to live on the land. He describes how his town floods in the spring and why he loves ratting" (trapping muskrats) and hunting "black ducks" (white-winged and surf scoters) in the Delta.

Readers will learn why these ducks are decreasing in number and how and why they are important to Tom and his people. Tom says, "Northerners have always hunted animals for survival. We are careful about how we use the land. To be good hunters we need to pay attention to what is happening on the land around us-that's why it's important for us to be out there. We are the first to know if the land and animals are changing.""

About the authors

Tom McLeod's profile page

Mindy Willett lives in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. She is a teacher at heart although no longer in the classroom. She first came north to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut in 1987 and most recently taught in Kugluktuk, Nunavut from 1996 to 2000. Mindy stopped being a classroom teacher when she had her son Jack. To remain home as much as possible, she started her own home-based business, writing educational materials.

Mindy Willett's profile page

"Tessa Macintosh is an award-winning northern photographer who raised her family in Yellowknife. In 35 years she has been fortunate to photograph many wonderful northerners and fantastic places across the North. Her photos illustrate the 7 other books in The Land is Our Storybook series, and her work is included in Canadian Shield (2011). She has fond memories of previous visits to Great Bear Lake, beginning 30 years ago, toddler in tow, to photograph Elders making snowshoes."

Tessa Macintosh's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"The Delta is My Home, is presented in way children will take pleasure in reading. They will be enthralled with the photographs and in the end they will learn a great deal about the culture, family and life of Tom McLeod and the Gwich'in people."
ForeWord Magazine

"These are positive portraits of northern family life and of child life, cheerful and appealing as well as educational."
The Toronto Star

"Replete with sharp and attractive full-color photographs. . . These titles provide some useful information for reports and are interesting additions for general reading."
School Library Journal

"...a valuable introduction to an endangered culture."
Booklist

"Tom's bouncingly fun personality beams from every page. . . This is an exciting series for helping children, especially those outside the Northwest Territories, appreciate the day-to-day world of their peers."
Canadian Children's Book News

"(The Delta is My Home) feature a satisfying mix of old and new - traditional and contemporary - in the photographs and text. . . What both photos and text do very well is establish the strong connection between the people in the books and the land upon which they live. . . A book that children (will) choose to read both for pleasure and for information.
Recommended"
CM Magazine

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