A Coyote Columbus Story

Joan Weller is Head Librarian at the West Branch of the Ottawa Public
Library.

This book should never have been published. The unpleasant story
concerns a female coyote who wants to play baseball with forest animals
but is interrupted in her search by the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
He carries away Natives as slaves and returns for more, but is outwitted
when the Natives disguise themselves as animals.

The language used throughout this mindless story speaks for itself:
“Christopher Columbus grabs a big bunch of men”; “Boy, what a
bunch of noise, says Coyote. What bad manners you guys got”; “So,
she has to play by herself. So, she gets bored”; “Those things
aren’t worth poop, says Christopher Columbus.”

The illustrations are among the ugliest I’ve ever seen in a
children’s picture book. Garish neon colors depict silly-looking
animals, racist figures of Natives, and dreadful cartoon figures of
machine-gun-toting characters, to name only few.

There is no readership for this book, which defies description. If it
is an attempt at satire, it fails and leaves the reader wondering about
its raison d’кtre. Not a children’s book, not an adult book, not a
funny book—not a book worth publishing or buying.