Champlain

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University. She is the author of several books, including The
Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret
Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

Samuel de Champlain was born in 1580 into a seafaring family in a
seaport on the coast of France. His father and uncle were both sea
captains, and the nearby harbour was rich in tales of foreign lands. He
would grow up to be a world-famous explorer, map-maker, and adventurer.
This beautifully designed book celebrates the man who helped to found
Acadia, the first permanent settlement in North America. Champlain’s
skilfully drawn maps of the area aided both further exploration in the
early 1600s and the establishment of vast trading networks.

The man is brought to life by Torontonian Christopher Moore, whose
earlier works include the award-winning Louisbourg Portraits: Life in an
18th-century Garrison Town and The Story of Canada. Moore’s engaging
text (the print is large and well spaced) is generously illustrated by
Montreal artist Francis Back, a historical illustrator who specializes
in early Canada and New France, and whose work has been displayed at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization and at the Saint Croix Island
International Historic Site. Her half-page full-colour illustrations
enliven nearly every page and are interspersed with occasional full-page
scenes.

Champlain is truly a book for all ages, and a delight to read. Highly
recommended.