Saskatchewan author writes children’s book about a Métis girl

Arnolda Dufour Bowes said her goal with her new book, 'Maggie Lou, Firefox,' was that it be something parents read with their kids.

A Saskatchewan author has written a children’s book with a Métis girl as the heroine.

Arnolda Dufour Bowes said her fictional story Maggie Lou, Firefox is inspired by her own upbringing, as well as her daughter’s.

“I was an avid reader growing up, and then being a homeschooling mom I just noticed there was a kind of void for Indigenous heroines,” Dufour Bowes said.

She said she wanted to bring something to life that her children could relate to, adding that a Métis family is distinct and unique.

Dufour Bowes said her children enjoyed her stories of her childhood like when they would box or wrestle in the living room.

She said she also learned how to hunt, as well as helped her dad on the construction site.

“I told them as a little girl I always played with Barbies, but my Barbie is supposed to be a pilot, so I had to build planes, and just doing those kinds of things. I wanted to make sure that they knew little girls are just as adventurous.”

Dufour Bowes said her goal with the book was that it be something parents read with their kids, noting there was some stuff in the book that parents would find entertaining as well.