Appearing first in a collection published in 1911, this haunting Canadian legend about what the Indians have lost has been reformatted into a picture book for older children. A contemporary young man listens to his elderly Indian friend tell about searching for a lost island that legends say holds the strength of a once-great Indian leader. The leader predicted that whites would take over, build the city of Vancouver, and make the Indians give up everything: their land, their religion, their language, and their traditions. Matsoureff's stirring watercolor landscape paintings, which capture the beauty of the wilderness of days gone by and the loneliness of the present empty places with equal sensitivity, are a stunning match for an honest story, still told and retold across generations. There is no resolution, just the longing and loss.

Gr 1-6-Taken from Johnson's Legends of Vancouver (Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), this story details the typical and oft-heard lament about the destruction of the Native Canadian way of life by the coming of the Europeans, and is told by one of Canada's best-known Native poets. A healer is plagued by visions of his people's demise. Driven almost to madness by his power to see the future, he paddles to a distant island where he leaves behind his courage, his fearlessness, and his strength. Upon returning to his village, the old man dies peacefully in his sleep, after instructing his people to search for the island where he left his bravery in the hope that the Squamish might one day regain their strength and ultimately be able to endure the rule of the white man. The text flows easily and is rich with descriptive language, but Matsoureff's breathtaking watercolor illustrations are the real strength of the book. These evocative pictures envelop the senses so that children can almost smell the pine needles or feel the chill in the air, giving a real sense of British Columbia's wilderness. A worthy addition to any collection of Native folklore.-Robyn Walker, Elgin Court Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.