Friday, January 28, 2011

Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection

Matt Dembicki has compiled an impressively varied collection of 21 trickster tales. Depending on the source of the tale, the trickster's shape differs, but he's always a troublemaker. Many of the authors are Aboriginal and some of the artists are as well. Colourful, high quality art in 21 different styles, together with great storytelling, make this book really stand out.

Coyote in the southwest desert wants to learn the pottery-making song of Horned Toad Lady. In the wet woodlands of the Choctaw homelands, Rabbit falls in love with Girl-Wolf. Raven in Alaska tricks men into giving up their freshly-caught whale meat. Pretending to be dead is another common trick in order to get a meal without expending too much effort; this same theme is also found in Stories of Our People: A Metis Graphic Novel Anthology.

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