Review - Peace Dancer

Peace Dancer
by Roy Henry Vickers & Robert Budd
Date: 2016
Publisher: Harbour Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

The children of the Tsimshian village of Kitkatla love to play at being hunters, eager for their turn to join the grown-ups. But when they capture and mistreat a crow, the Chief of the Heavens, angered at their disrespect, brings down a powerful storm.

The rain floods the Earth and villagers have no choice but to abandon their homes and flee to their canoes. As the seas rise, the villagers tie themselves to the top of Anchor Mountain, where they pray for days on end and promise to teach their children to value all life. The storm stops and the waters recede. From that point on, the villagers appoint a chief to perform the Peace Dance at every potlatch and, with it, pass on the story of the flood and the importance of respect.

With eighteen new illustrations from Roy Henry Vickers and exceptional narrative, Peace Dancer will delight readers of all ages and add to the collection of global flood stories.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Our library may have some really weird books in its collection, but it apparently has some great examples of local cultural literature, too.

Peace Dancer is a flood story. One day, when the adults are out hunting, the children get into mischief by trapping a crow. After they mistreat it by pulling out its feathers (preventing it from flying), the Chief of the Heavens causes it to rain and rain and rain, flooding the earth. The villagers get into their canoes and anchor themselves to a mountain to wait out the storm. While they're there, one of the elders has a vision and realizes that they must teach their children love and respect.

But that's not the end of the story. The Chief of the Heavens sees that all the birds are having a tough time, unable to land anywhere because of the waters. Their feathers are falling into the ocean. The Chief of the Heavens figures that it isn't fair for the animals to suffer because of a stupid thing the humans did (I love that part!) so he stops the rains.

Afterward, the villagers decide they need a special ceremony to remind them of the need for love and respect. So they appoint a Peace Dancer, and part of this person's job is to shake out eagle down as a reminder of the birds' feathers falling on the floodwaters.

I really enjoyed the story. The pictures, though... Not so much. I have a couple of family members who are really interested in Northwest Coast indigenous art, so I've been exposed to quite a bit of it in my life. The artwork in this book looks a little too modern, and some illustrations almost look like they were slapped together in MS Paint. The flat colours and simple lines didn't really impress me. There were a few illustrations I did sort of like (such as the full-page spread showing all the birds in the sky after the floodwaters had receded), but most of them left me cold. Perhaps if the drawings had been done by hand rather than with a computer, I would've liked them more.

But I would still recommend this book for the story alone. It's a great example of indigenous culture and adds another interesting story to the collection of global flood myths.

Quotable moment:

The canoes were thrown this way and that in the stormy seas. The waters were rising swiftly, but the canoes made it to the tall mountain not far from Kitkatla.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.67 out of 5