Klee Wyck's Magic Quest

Ted McGee is chair of the English Department at St. Jerome’s College,
University of Waterloo.

This West Coast fairy tale is intended to capture the spirit of the
Commonwealth Games to be held in Vancouver in 1994.

Klee Wyck, an orca whale and the official mascot of the Games, loses
her Games’ medal and, more important, her younger brother to the evil
sea witch, Hagema. To recover the former and free the latter, Klee Wyck
must obtain a silver telescope from Raven the Sly, a golden clamshell
from Diablo the Demon Octopus, and the Book of Ocean Spells from Skara
the Giant Troll. All this is clearly the stuff of fantasy, but it is
fantasy informed by pride of place: witches, trolls, walking whales, pet
sharks, and the like inhabit Robson Bight, Johnstone Strait, and Barkley
Sound. To succeed in her quest—not only to recover these things but
also to defeat Hagema—Klee Wyck must have courage, intelligence,
physical strength, positive thinking, and helpful friends, some with
magical powers. The best illustrations (the lavish two-page ones)
capture vividly the moments of intense conflict and the distinctiveness
of the central characters, fierce Hagema and an endearing troll.

As one might expect of a story occasioned by a sports event, the moral
terms of the tale are simplified (good versus evil, and good wins) and
the final representation of the motives for competition mystified (sheer
delight in the triumph of good over evil is not, of course, the sole
reason for athletic contests). However, given Klee Wyck’s qualities
and his collaboration with others, this story might well be useful in
encouraging children, engaged as they are in myriad competitions, to go
beyond winning at all costs. Highly recommended.