South Slave Divisional Education Council unveils winner of 4th Annual Children’s Storybook Contest

FORT SMITH, NT – The South Slave Divisional Education Council is excited to announce What Would You Do With A Buffalo In Your Garden? by Canan Olvera as the winner of the 4th Annual Children’s Storybook Contest.

The humourous story follows the adventures of Kokum Nan after she discovers a buffalo in her garden. During the course of the story, Kokum Nam considers several methods for removing the buffalo before it can trample her herbs and vegetables.

Canan Olvera, the author, is a student at Paul W. Kaeser High School in Fort Smith. He was inspired to write What Would You Do With A Buffalo In Your Garden? after hearing about a buffalo appearing in a local resident’s garden. This is his first published book.

The story will be published as a dual-language book with text in English alongside Chipewyan (“T” Dialect) Dene Dedlıne Yatıe), South Slavey (Dene Yatıé), and Cree (nēhiyawēwin). The print book will also be reformatted as an ebook and made available on the SSDEC’s First Nations Storybook app, which is available for free on iTunes and Google Play.

“What Would You Do With A Buffalo In Your Garden? will make an excellent addition to our growing collection of self-published Indigenous language books,” says Dorie Hanson, Division Principal, South Slave Divisional Education Council. “This humourous take on a uniquely Northern predicament makes for fun reading that our younger students will enjoy for years to come.”