William Kurelek (1927–1977)

Canadian artist William Kurelek was very ill in 1977 when he left Canada to visit to his father's village in the Ukraine. He was looking forward to getting back to Canada and sharing with his father the photos of places and people he would know well. Unfortunately his father was also very ill and each, not wanting to inconvenience the other, was persuaded to wait before sharing. Sadly Kurelek died within the month, before the two men were able to enjoy reminiscing. The text was taken from letters sent to his wife while he was away. Beautifully illustrated with drawings made during the trip.… (mer)

Fun read-aloud with beautiful paintings. This book made my children and I want to visit the Canadian bush (so long as we wouldn't have to use leaves as toilet paper. My kids were not at all keen on that idea).

I'm so glad that Kurelek preserved the last days of the traditional lumber camps with his recollections and his artwork. I think this book might actually hold more for adults than for kids (like the part about the former Nazi who made fun of Kurelek for being so skinny. I'm pretty positive my kids didn't find that as disturbing as I did).… (mer)