PEBOAN AND SEEGWUN

An Anishinabe (Ojibwa) riddle/myth about the turning seasons. An old man invites a young visitor to sit in his wintry lodge. After the two exchange boasts (old man: ``When I blow my breath, streams stand still...''; young man: ``I breathe, and flowers spring up everywhere''), it is seen that the old man is ``Peboan'' (winter) while the other is ``Seegwun'' (spring). Peboan melts away (in the author's odd phrase, he ``grew less and less''), leaving only an early-blooming flower. Larry's first book is written in a formal, ornate style (``My breath unlocks the streams, which fill the air with musical laughter'') that carries over to his paintings; small, dignified figures go about their daily pre- European lives in big Northern landscapes rendered in exquisite colors, with sharp, careful detail. The story appears in several other collections, but these illustrations add a sense of place—as well as a light dose of cultural information. Afterword. (Folklore/Picture book. 6-10)