When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar

Publisher's description (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2016): 
Bernice Johnson-Laxdal is Cree. This beautifully illustrated Picturebook brings the 12 month calendar, nature, and Canada together. A bear sleeping safely in her den, Kohkom telling a story by the fire, the trees crackling with cold—we are all connected to the seasons and the cycle of nature. The calming rhythm of the words echoes the rhythm of the land in this timeless Picturebook about the moon calendar of the northern Cree, and its warmly rendered watercolour illustrations bring Saskatchewan’s north to life. When the Trees Crackle with Cold is written in English and the northern Plains Cree (y-dialect).

Author biographies (Strong Nations): 
Bernice Johnson-Laxdal is a Cree language and culture teacher with over twenty years of teaching experience. Bernice enjoys cooking, going on canoe trips in summer and cross-country skiing in winter. Originally from Ile-a-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, she now lives at Potato Lake and teaches in La Ronge.

Miriam Körner is a writer, illustrator and arts educator. Miriam enjoys spending time with her sled dogs along the old trapline trails, talking to Elders about the times when they still had dogs, and writing for children and young adults about her northern adventures. Originally from Germany, she now lives at Potato Lake, Saskatchewan, just down the road from Bernice.

Resource format: Picturebook

Age recommendation: Kindergarten - Grade 5

Keywords: nature, seasons, moon calendar, Northern Plains Cree language, calendar, language revitalization, Metis, fur trade, sakitawak, siz seasons, twelve moons, y-dialect, forest, bear, Great Moon, Eagle Moon, Goose Moon, spring, Frog Moon, growing season, Leaf-Budding Moon, loon, Moshom, Egg-Hatching Moon, birds, shell, picnic, Feather-Moulting Moon, waterfowl, fish, Flying-Up Moon, blueberries, Rutting Moon, canoe, bull moose, Migrating Moon, cranberries, Hoar Frost Moon, moccasins, Frost-Exploding Moon, Kohkom, pronunciation guide

Year of publication: 2016

Publisher information: Your Nickel's Worth Publishing