Children’s love for animals and disguise come together in this award-winning introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals.

In this introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals, young children explain why they identify with different creatures such as a deer, beaver or moose. Delightful illustrations show the children wearing masks representing their chosen animal, while the few lines of text on each page work as a series of simple poems throughout the book.

In a brief author’s note, Danielle Daniel explains the importance of totem animals in Anishinaabe culture and how they can also act as animal guides for young children seeking to understand themselves and others.

Key Text Features
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

Danielle Daniel est une artiste métisse multidisciplinaire. Elle a écrit Parfois je suis un renard pour encourager son jeune fils à découvrir ses racines autochtones. Enseignante pendant de nombreuses années, Danielle travaille maintenant comme professeur d'art à temps partiel au Canada et aux États-Unis. Elle habite dans le nord de l'Ontario.

Danielle Daniel is an author and artist whose first picture book, Parfois je suis un renard, won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and was shortlisted for the First Nation Communities Read Award for aboriginal literature. A former elementary school teacher, Danielle is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing through the University of British Columbia. Danielle lives in Sudbury, Ontario.

Danielle Daniel's profile page

• Commended, TD Summer Reading Club, Recommended Reads
• Short-listed, Blue Spruce Award
• Winner, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Children and Teens
• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids and Teens
• Commended, TD Summer Reading Club Top Recommended Reads
• Commended, New York Public Library Best 100 Books for Reading and Sharing
• Commended, 49th Shelf Favourite Picture Books of the Year

This book will fascinate children expanding their horizons and learning about other cultures (or, in the case of Anishinaabe kids, their own).

Kirkus Reviews

The stylized masks, soft colours and big eyes of the children convey a seriousness, almost an otherworldliness, to the animal/human relationship. . . . Haunting and thought-provoking.

Toronto Star

Reminds readers of the importance of critical self-reflection and of our connection to the animal world — two ideas worth championing at any age.

Quill & Quire

A captivating book with an important message.

ETFO Voice