Little Badger and the Fire Spirit

a standalone illustrated storybook by Maria Campbell

AN AUTHENTIC CREE TALE OF COURAGE FROM AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR

Part of the ground-breaking Kanata Classics list, with a new introduction by the author, Little Badger and the Fire Spirit, initially published in 1977, is Maria Campbell’s recreation of a classic traditional story about how humans first acquired fire.

Eight-year-old Ahsinee is overjoyed that she gets to visit her grandparents and spend the whole summer in their little log house. Every night, she asks her Mooshoom for a story, and one evening, she asks for the story of fire. With a puff of his pipe, he tells the story of Little Badger and Grey Coyote.

Long ago, when the people and animals all spoke one language, Grey Coyote helped a young blind boy named Little Badger and taught him about the earth and the world around him. When Little Badger’s people needed heat from the freezing cold, he set off with Grey Coyote’s guidance to find the dangerous and elusive fire spirit in the heart of a mountain.

A heartwarming and charming tale of bravery, compassion, and friendship, this reissue of a 1977 classic is filled with beautiful new art, bringing to life the teachings and wisdom of one of Canada’s most respected Elders.

Kokum Rap

Featuring Maria Campbell, Rita Bouvier, Maxine Roy, and Louise Halfe—make some noise!

PRAISE FOR HALFBREED BY MARIA CAMPBELL

“The daring account of a strong-willed woman who defeated poverty, racism, alcohol and drug addiction by the age of thirty-three.”— SATURDAY NIGHT

“Here speaks a voice never heard before with such direct frankness, such humour: the voice of the true Canadian woman.”— RUDY WIEBE, author of The Temptations of Big Bear

“You can almost feel this book vibrating in your hands, it is so compelling. You read it with a kind of agonized heart-in-the-mouth sensation, halfway between laughter and tears…. Truth is stronger than fiction.”— VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST

“Sometimes a book tells us what we have always known but in a way that makes it seem as if we have not heard it before.”— THE TORONTO STAR

“Powerful, simple, direct, and passionate without being bitter.”— CBC RADIO VANCOUVER

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112 pages
Final proofs now available

RIGHTS SOLD

North American English: McClelland & Stewart (July 14, 2026)

Photo: Ted Whitecalf

ABOUT MARIA CAMPBELL

Maria Campbell is a Métis writer, playwright, filmmaker, scholar, teacher, community organizer, activist, and elder (born 26 April 1939 in Park Valley, SK). Campbell's memoir Halfbreed (1973) is regarded as a foundational work of Indigenous literature in Canada. She has authored several other books and plays, and has directed and written scripts for a number of films. She has also worked with Indigenous youth in community theatre and advocated for the hiring and recognition of Indigenous people in the arts. She has mentored many Indigenous artists during her career, co-established shelters for Indigenous women and children, and run a cultural centre at Gabriel’s Crossing.

Campbell is the winner of the 2023 Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence, was named a fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in 2012, was appointed for Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Brandon University, and has served as Cultural Advisor at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law and Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching since 2017. She is an officer of the Order of Canada and holds eight honorary doctorates.