Dragonfly Kites/Pimithaagansa

Highway's text has a graceful simplicity, evoking the deep pleasure of brothers at play in a serene, remote setting. -- Horn Book

At once a celebration of heritage, the wilderness and imagination, this book is a breath of fresh northern air. -- Kirkus Reviews

Dragonfly Kites is a brilliant evocation of the very essence of childhood as Thomson Highway weaves a deceptively simple story about the power of the imagination. Joe and Cody, two young Cree brothers, along with their parents and their little dog Ootsie, are spending the summer by one of the hundreds of lakes in northern Manitoba. Summer means a chance to explore the world and make friends with an array of creatures.

But what Joe and Cody like doing best of all is flying dragonfly kites. They catch dragonflies and gently tie a length of thread around the middle of each dragonfly before letting it go. Off soar the dragonflies into the summer sky and off race the brothers and Ootsie too, chasing after their dragonfly kites through trees and meadows and down to the beach before watching them disappear into the night sky.

But in their dreams, Joe and Cody soar through the skies with their kites until it's time to wake up.

Tomson Highway is an award-winning playwright and the author of Caribou Song (winner of the American Indian Library Association 2014 Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book) and Fox on the Ice. He now splits his time between homes near Sudbury, Ontario and Gatineau, Québec.

Julie Flett is an award-winning author, illustrator and artist currently living in Vancouver, BC. She is Cree-Métis. Julie is the first-time recipient of the 2014 Aboriginal Literature Award, sponsored by the Periodical Marketers of Canada.