Owls See Clearly at Night

In her first book as both author and illustrator, Julie Flett worked with translators to preserve the Michif language. Michif is an endangered language - fewer than 100 people can speak it. An important detail to note, is that each letter represents a Michif word, which is then translated to English, rather than the other way around. It is first and foremost a Michif book. There are no sounds in the Michif language that translate to the English equivalent of Q or X, and therefore those letters were omitted. Many languages are noun-focused, but Michif is verb-focused, and this comes through in the words chosen to represent each letter.

For example, O is for “Ohpaho! Fly up! Fly away!” The bird is shown mid-flight, lines angled toward the upper corner. Seeds falling from the flower show the way the bird has disturbed the plant, as it carries one seed away in its beak. Again, Flett uses somber earth tones to illustrate each scene, with a hint of blue or red to emphasize and accent. The images do not elaborate much on the text, but do provide context for the words used for each letter.

Flett, J. (2010). Owls see clearly at night: A Michif alphabet. Vancouver, BC: Simply Read Books.