On the Trapline

Product Description
A picture book celebrating Indigenous culture and traditions. The Governor General Award--winning team behind When We Were Alone shares a story that honors our connections to our past and our grandfathers and fathers.\nA boy and Moshom, his grandpa, take a trip together to visit a place of great meaning to Moshom. A trapline is where people hunt and live off the land, and it was where Moshom grew up. As they embark on their northern journey, the child repeatedly asks his grandfather, "Is this your trapline?" Along the way, the boy finds himself imagining what life was like two generations ago -- a life that appears to be both different from and similar to his life now. This is a heartfelt story about memory, imagination and intergenerational connection that perfectly captures the experience of a young child's wonder as he is introduced to places and stories that hold meaning for his family.
Review
WINNER of the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature — Illustrated Books!One of
CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021
— Starred PickOne of Quill & Quire's 2021 Books of the YearA New York Public Library Best Book for Kids (2021)\n“An outstanding contribution to the literature about family, intergenerational friendship, remembrance, community, Indigenous experience, and more.”
—STARRED REVIEW, The Horn Book\n“Robertson’s text is as spare as Flett’s artwork, leaving plenty of space for readers to feel the emotions evoked by both.”
—STARRED REVIEW,
Kirkus Reviews\n“A deeply affecting journey of memory and history.”
—STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly“This second collaboration between the Governor-General’s Award-winning writer-illustrator team — who share common Cree ancestry — focuses on the connection between a boy and his moshom (grandpa) as they travel by plane, foot and boat to the northern wilderness, where a young moshom once lived off the land with his family.”
—Globe and Mail\n"There are many lessons to be learned in this gentle story about intergenerational respect and relationships, both with people and the land."
—Canadian Children’s Book Centre\n“[A] powerful story well told in an understated manner.”
—CM: Canadian Review of Materials“
On the Trapline is a stunning picture book that highlights Indigenous values, including the deep connections to family and the land.”
—Mutually Inclusive
About the Author
DAVID A. ROBERTSON's books include the Governor General Literary Award--winning
When We Were Alone (McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award finalist, Indigenous Literature Award finalist),
Will I See? (Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Award, Graphic Novel Category), the YA novel
Strangers (Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction), and the adult novel
The Evolution of Alice (Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, Inuit Literature finalist). David also won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer in 2015. David educates as well as entertains through his writings about Indigenous Peoples, reflecting their cultures, histories, communities, as well as illuminating many contemporary issues. David is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg.\nJULIE FLETT is a Cree-Métis author, illustrator and artist. She has received many awards including the 2017 Governor General Literary Award for her work on
When We Were Alone by David Robertson (High Water Press), the 2016 American Indian Library Association Award for Best Picture Book for
Little You by Richard Van Camp, and she is the three-time recipient of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Award for
Owls See Clearly at Night;
A Michif Alphabet by Julie Flett,
Dolphin SOS by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki and
My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Gray Smith. Her own
Wild Berries was featured in
The New York Times and included among Kirkus's Best Children's Books of 2013.
Wild Berries was also chosen