From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6–This Quebecois folktale has all the charm, humor, and characteristic spark of Roch Carrier's
The Hockey Sweater(1984),
TheBoxing Champion(1991), and
The Basketball Player(1996, all Tundra). "So you don't think that a birch bark canoe can fly?" With this challenge, this adventure begins. On New Year's Eve in 1846, 11-year-old Baptiste is working in an isolated logging camp in the dead of a frigid Canadian winter alongside several lumberjacks. They find themselves overcome with homesickness, and climb aboard a flying canoe that will transport them home for the holiday. Readers are instantly drawn into a past world, when "rivers were the roads." The author's unique slant on historical detail rings loud and clear, and the unusual action will make this book appealing to a broad audience. Fischman's translation retains the flavor of the original. Drawn in pencil, and colored digitally, the pictures are a charming cross between a folk-art and a cartoon style. There is considerable text to read through, but it is thoughtfully broken up and enhanced by the poster-style illustrations. Vocabulary is challenging, and students will need assistance with pronunciation of some of the French geography and terminology. Carrier's works seem to be "flying canoes" in themselves, transporting readers back in time to colorful historical settings and wonderful childhood perspectives. This is a book that will never become dated–a real keeper.
–Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
On New Year’s eve, 1847, eleven-year-old Baptiste finds himself far from his friends and family and his home in La Beauce. He has come to the woods of the Ottawa Valley to live and work among “the finest lumberjacks in Canada.” As the New Year approaches, Baptiste and the lumberjacks grow more and more homesick. Resolved to see their families again before the stroke of midnight, the crew board a magical canoe that lifts them into the air, across villages, and closer to home.
This beautiful retelling of the Quebecois folktale reunites Roch Carrier with illustrator Sheldon Cohen and translator Sheila Fischman.
(The Hockey Sweater, The Basketball Player, The Longest Home Run), and brings this beloved story to life.
