Storm at Batoche

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

When James accidentally falls out of his parent’s covered wagon during
a prairie blizzard, the young boy knows he must find shelter fast or he
will die. A man riding a horse suddenly appears and rescues him just in
time. The stranger takes James to a simple cabin, feeds him supper, and
gives him his own bed to sleep in. James finds out that the man’s name
is Louis.

The storm lasts for three days. With so much time on their hands, Louis
and James learn a great deal about each other. Louis shows James how to
make gallette and James says it is exactly like the bannock bread his
own mother makes. James tells him that his parents are from Scotland,
and Louis talks about how the French and the Indians made a new people
called the Métis. On the third day, the storm is over. Louis says he
can take James to the edge of the nearest town, but the young boy will
have to walk the rest of the way because people in town do not like him.


This fictional story by Maxine Trottier is about a small immigrant boy
who meets Louis Riel. The plot is well researched and backed up with a
two-page nonfiction account of Louis Riel at the end of the book. The
story is soft and sweet, and illustrated by John Mantha’s absolutely
gorgeous, high-realism, full-color artwork. For those who like to snack
when they read, Trottier also includes a recipe for gallette/bannock.
Recommended.