The fantastic Legend team of Kathy-jo Wargin and Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen have another beautiful book to add to the Sleeping Bear and Mackinac Island stories. A Grandmother's love for her grandchildren is magically portrayed in "The Legend of the Loon". A perfect addition to your collection, this book remains true to the heartwarming qualities you've come to expect from these legendary storytellers.

If you’ve ever heard it, you know that Loons have a very distinctive call like no other bird. Their calls echo over many hundreds of Canada’s lakes in spring, summer and fall. But, if you’ve ever seen a loon, you’ll know that they also have very special markings like no other bird. The Secret of the Loon’s Necklace is the traditional Indigenous legend of how the loons got their special neck and back markings. It is the story of old Kelora, a self-proclaimed medicine man who is almost blind. Mocked by almost his whole tribe, he proves that there is still magic in the land of humans and animals. He also proves that being old doesn’t mean you can’t use that magic to help your family and community. The old and those with disabilities, too, have value in our communities. His story shows how much more we can achieve when we work together and respect each other.

It started with a mother's love... Fleeing from a forest fire, a mother bear urges her two cubs into the watery shelter of a vast body of water. Though it will be difficult, she knows if they can swim across to the opposite shore, they will be safe. With calls of encouragement and steadfast love, Mother Bear guides her cubs across the great lake, Lake Michigan. And the story of what happens once Mother Bear reaches the far shore becomes the legend behind the natural wonder known as Sleeping Bear Dune. In 1998 writer Kathy-jo Wargin and nature artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen combined their talents to bring The Legend of Sleeping Bear to life. Published to wide acclaim, the book was soon named the Official Children's Book of Michigan.

In the time before animals were as they are today, Raven and Loon were both white. Their feathers had no colour at all. Raven spent his days swooping through the sky trying to fight off his incessant boredom, while loon spent her days in her iglu working away on her sewing. One day, too bored to even fly, Raven visited Loon and suggested a sewing game that would give their feathers some much-needed colour. The results - not at all what the two birds expected - led to Raven and Loon acquiring their now-familiar coats. This whimsical retelling of a pan-Arctic traditional story features lively, colourful illustrations from Kim Smith.

The Legend of the Lady's Slipper is a suspenseful tale of a young maiden's run through the forest in an attempt to save the people of her village. Dashing through the forest, with starlight at her heels," Running Flower is a testament of courage, loyalty, and sacrifice. You will remember her story whenever you see delicate pink and white lady's slippers carpeting the ground of a northern forest. Add The Legend of the Lady's Slipper to your collection and let it enchant you for years to come. Kathy-jo Wargin aims to help young readers notice the most intricate details of a story by adding the nuances that create magic and wonder in a good tale. Kathy-jo Wargin (Nelson) was born in Tower, Minnesota and moved to Grand Rapids at the age of seven. She studied music composition at University of Minnesota-Duluth. Her transition to writing books was a natural step. As well, her love for children and her desire to expose them to vivid written descriptions, inspire her to write with great attention to the nuances of a story, opening their minds to see all the possibilities in a scene or situation. Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen captures his lifelong connection to nature and wildlife. His talent for mural painting can be seen in several museums, including Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Born in the Netherlands, Gijsbert studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Holland and immigrated to the United States in 1976. In 1993, after 17 years as the Art Director for the Michigan Natural Resources Magazine, he ventured out on his own. His highest professional achievement comes from being selected numerous times into the internationally renowned Leigh Yawkey Woodson Birds in Art exhibition, held in Wisconsin. Gijsbert and his wife Robbyn, give nature tours at their home outside Lansing, Michigan where they live with their two daughters, Kelly and Heather.

The story of the Blind Man and the Loon is a living Native folktale about a blind man who is betrayed by his mother or wife but whose vision is magically restored by a kind loon. Variations of this tale are told by Native storytellers all across Alaska, arctic Canada, Greenland, the Northwest Coast, and even into the Great Basin and the Great Plains. As the story has traveled through cultures and ecosystems over many centuries, individual storytellers have added cultural and local ecological details to the tale, creating countless variations. In The Blind Man and the Loon: The Story of a Tale, folklorist Craig Mishler goes back to 1827, tracing the story's emergence across Greenland and North America in manuscripts, books, and in the visual arts and other media such as film, music, and dance theater. Examining and comparing the story's variants and permutations across cultures in detail, Mishler brings the individual storyteller into his analysis of how the tale changed over time, considering how storytellers and the oral tradition function within various societies. Two maps unequivocally demonstrate the routes the story has traveled. The result is a masterful compilation and analysis of Native oral traditions that sheds light on how folktales spread and are adapted by widely diverse cultures.

A beautiful tale of the painted turtle Makinauk, his animal friends, and their discovery of new lands and long-lasting friendship.