Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this picture book. It will be released April 4, 2023, by Tundra Books.
Two children go on a trip to the land with their moshom (grandfather). Getting there tires him out. While Moshom naps, the hungry children, Lauren and James, take the canoe out onto the lake to go fishing.
Lauren has never paddled a canoe before. It capsizes and as she comes to the surface, she sees Memekwesewak taking James away. She follows after them and ends up in a portal to another place. Going through it in search of James, she arrives at an island where he is dancing around a huge fire with Memekwesewak. As she tries to pull him away, she too is caught up in the dance. They lose all sense of time. They forget why they are there.
A sound, thum thump, thum thump, brings them out of their trance. It is Moshom, beating his drum, calling them home. And so they dance again, this time following the same route in reverse.
In the author's note in the back matter, Robertson talks about the Memekwesewak: these little people are a humanoid race of people here on earth. We are the other. According to him, "Memekwesewak live between rocks, in the rapids, amid the trees of the land that provides us with life. They are mischievous. It is said that one of their favorite things to do is to crawl out of the rocks and capsize canoes. Children are far more likely to see them. Memekwesewak have a soft spot for children, and will help them out when they are in trouble or sad."
These Memekwesewak are interesting creatures. I wish my Menominee grandmother was still here so I could ask her about them. I remember her talking about the little people. I thought she was referring to the fairies and elves I grew up believing lived in the world around us. I like this idea better.
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