A Voice & Vibe Book Review
Coyote Tales. Thomas King.
Juvenile literature. Indigenous literature. Canadian literature.
This review covers four of King’s stories: Coyote Sings to the Moon (1999), A Coyote Columbus Story (2002), Coyote’s New Suit (2004), and A Coyote Solstice Tale, (2009).
All four stories feature a traditional Indigenous trickster character (Coyote) who interacts with animals, humans, and historical figures. They explore themes of creation, greed, colonization, and cultural survival.
Their tone is conversational with rhythms that are consistent with traditional forms of oral storytelling. Coyote’s interactions are humorous and often satirical, conveying values and teaching lessons that are central to indigenous culture.
I read these stories as a part of my own journey in search of themes, ideas, and characters suitable for a culturally-unified and distinctly-North-American fantasy tradition.
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.