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Windspeaker.com Books Feature Writer
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With spring upon us and the song of the frog filling the air, Joseph Dandurand admits it was that sound that inspired his newest children’s book Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog as part of the Kwantlen Stories Then and Now series.
Dandurand, a member of the Kwantlen First Nation in British Columbia, says he was also influenced by his childhood memories of the Brothers Grimm’s The Frog Prince.
“I had this image of a young Kwantlen girl who was a little small and not as fast as the other kids…Kwantlen means ‘the tireless runners.’ The idea (was) of her needing an advantage and then coming across this frog and touching it and then basically transforming into someone who can run now and is a part of the games,” said Dandurand.
But unlike The Frog Prince where the princess benefits solely from the prince’s charms, Tsa’kwi’ah, the young Kwantlen girl, uses her new knowledge to help her mother and villagers who are covered with red spots.
Dandurand says that aspect of the tale was influenced by both the COVID19 pandemic and the history of smallpox. Smallpox wiped out 80 per cent of the Kwantlen population leaving only about 300 people.
“I had this idea of, ‘Okay, maybe the frog is magical.’ The young girl brings it back to the village and allows all the sick people to touch it. And they're healed,” said Dandurand.
He said that children giving something back is one of the teachings he likes to deliver in his children’s stories and plays.
Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog is his fourth children’s book illustrated by Elinor Atkins, also a member of the Kwantlen First Nation and a Nɬeʔkepmx artist. Atkins has illustrated the covers of Dandurand’s poetry books as well.
Dandurand says he provides Atkins with little direction, simply sending her the manuscript of his children’s books and she “starts creating images for it…She’s an amazing kid.”
As for the illustration of the frog Pipa:m̓, he said, “It’s pretty simple. And I love the colours.”
Dandurand hopes that Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog and the other children’s books he has written can become stories that Kwantlen families pass down through the generations.
“Everything was lost (to) our people. Nothing was written in books or anything. And pretty much by my grandmother's generation, language was lost and all the stories were lost too,” he said. “So everything I write is created from my imagination. I usually begin with an image.”
For Indigenous children who read Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog, Dandurand wants them to embrace Kwantlen’s idea of mythology gain a sense of truth.
“In some cases, sickness can be overcome…with belief,” he said.
For non-Indigenous children, he hopes Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog makes them want to read other Kwantlen stories.
Pipa:m̓: The Touch of the Frog was published in April by Nightwood Editions. It can be ordered at https://harbourpublishing.com/products/9780889715004?srsltid=AfmBOorYV86FHYCcAAEDbha7vAxyk2op5c9X9WPyLz2Fe6dfQiS9qjWI