Scenic Adventures in the Yukon Territory: A Selection of Paintings and Illustrations by Chris Caldwell.

Patricia Morley is a professor of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University, an associate fellow of the Simone de Beauvoir
Institute, and author of Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

This cheerfully hilarious book of watercolour paintings by Yukon artist Chris Caldwell is pure slapstick, yet the paintings show readers the essence of life in Canada’s true northland, where the populace ranges from Yukon pioneers to modern residents. Each painting has been inspired by actual events and then ripened by Caldwell’s unique sense of humour. A delightful note facing the title page of the review copy is addressed “To the Staff and Editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.” Caldwell begs their patience, since the writer is “new at this” and thinks it classifies as humour, or “my inherently twisted sense of humour.”

Dawson City was originally the capital of the territory. It is now the tourist “Mecca of the North,” filled with unpaved streets, “high kicking dancehall girls, gambling casinos and crusty characters.” This busy scene has a river on two of its sides, one with adventurers such as a polar bear on a tiny chunk of ice. The bear holds a sign, “N.W.T. or bust,” while a jumping fish is dragging a sign, “South to Whitehorse.” One of the funnier scenes, dubbed “Swan Lake at Moose Creek,” was inspired by their resident prima ballerina and her husband, “a closet frontiersman.” It depicts dancing moose complete with tutus. The Swan Princess is dying in the arms of the Hunter, while the evil Black Swan is rejoicing. Caldwell comments to her readers, deadpan, on her own scene: “You have no idea how hard it is to get a moose and a caribou to do that!”

Caldwell observes that her skill in drawing animals as humans, and vice versa, is a popular theme in the Yukon, especially when the Yukon Special Olympics is held. Two posters, one for “Yukon Special Olympics Winter Games” and one for “Yukon Special Olympics Junior Golf Tournament,” take advantage of these events by depicting a bear and a wolf on a toboggan, the bear teeing off in the golf tournament poster while two much smaller animals try to track its course with binoculars.

Scenic Adventures in the Yukon Territory should win a prize for humour and satire.