Kaqtukowa’tekete’w The Thundermaker is retold and illustrated in this 2018 paper edition by Mi’kmaw artist. This 32-page Mi'kmaq / English dual language picture book from Nimbus Publishing’s publication for children explains the importance of thunder. In this account begins in a time long before the world was completed. Set in a small village, the story begins with a family sitting beside their cooking fire while the mother tells a traditional story. Father is Big Thunder, mother is Giju, a renowned storyteller, and their son, Little Thunder. Each has an important role. Mother tells stories to her son and helps him understand his place in the world. To keep the cycle of life functioning, Mother tells Little Thunder his father helps create new life on the earth. Big Thunder sends thunderbolts and lightning down to earth where it can start fires that clear dead trees so that new trees and plants grow. Big Thunder explains this process is called renewal and it is part of the great circle of life. Little Thunder begins his learning from mother and father as he takes on a new identity. One day Little Thunder will take over his father’s role and become Thundermaker. Learning involves paying attention and respecting others. When it is time, Little Thunder goes up the sacred mountain where he must throw lightning bolts and complete his task, creating Kluskap, the teacher, who will help the Mi’kmaq. Little Thunder completes his task and thereby becomes Thundermaker. The engaging account is highlighted by the colour drawings from Alan Syliboy’s petroglyph-inspired images. Syliboy’s unique style creates interesting ways of depicting the story’s important messages as the remarkable colour images stress the importance of family relationships along with the human-environment connections. Artist Alan Syliboy studied privately with Shirley Bear and attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Syliboy has been chosen as the 2016 Coady Chair for Social Justice at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This picture book will make an important addition to elementary and public library collections. The Mi’kmaw translation is provided by Lindsay R. Marshall. Highly recommended. Hard cover version ISBN 9781771083294 is now out of print.
