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French Titles

		L'orignal blanc Jean Lacombe Saint-Damien-de-Brandon, Quebec: Éditions du soleil de minuit, 2004. 95 p. ISBN 2922691306 Ages 12 and up
L'orignal blanc Source

The comic strip section of L'orignal blanc introduces Maskwa, an Aboriginal hunter, who is looking for a mythical moose. He is determined to find him to ensure the survival of his clan. While travelling through the forest, Maskwa, assisted by a raven, meets Michaël, a young boy who is lost in the panels of the comic strip.

The comic strip alternates with the chapters of a book in which the memories of the narrator Michaël appear: a birthday interrupted by the surprise visit of a moose lost in the suburbs; holidays with his father in the forests of Abitibi; his return to the city and his mother's apartment. The episodes in the novel and the comic strip go back and forth, like a tale alternating between dream and reality.

Though their stories overlap, the hunter Maskwa and the young boy Michaël are clearly different when it comes to their personalities. The sketches of landscapes and animals are subtle, in shades of black, white and grey. The graphic layout, with its angular variations, makes the story very accessible. Jean Lacombe is a cartoonist, an animation teacher and children's author. L'orignal blanc is a unique original work.

–JP