The illustrations in Fox and Bear are made from recycled or reused paper Körner collected. (submitted photo/Miriam Körner)

By larongeNOW Staff

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Northern author selected as Family Literacy Day reader

Jan 22, 2025 | 2:20 PM

La Ronge’s Miriam Körner has been selected to read from her book Fox and Bear as part of Family Literacy Day on Jan. 27.

“I was really excited when the Saskatchewan Literacy Network contacted me and let me know that Fox and Bear was chosen for Family Literacy Day,” she remarked.

“The theme is Learning to be Green Together, and I was really excited the book would get exposure and amplify the message because that’s really what it is about is rethinking how we related to the natural world and exploring that together with Fox and Bear makes me really happy.”

Fox and Bear, which is a Saskatchewan Book Award winner under the Children’s Literacy category and was shortlisted for a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, was released in November 2022.

It’s a story revolving around a fox and a bear who live together in the woods and live happily until Fox decides to make life more productive and efficient. When Fox’s inventions set off events that complicate life in unexpected ways, Bear is faced with a difficult decision.

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“I think that’s Bear’s lesson in the book is never to take more than what you need and to really think about the difference of what we need and what we want,” Körner said.

“I think this a really great way province-wide to think about what we can do as even small children to protect the Earth.”

In 2024, an international study by the Programme for International Student Assessment showed Saskatchewan had the second/third worst in reading scores in all of Canada. Saskatchewan had a mean score of 468, which was tied with New Brunswick and ahead of only Newfoundland and Labrador with 459.

The Saskatchewan Literacy Network is a not-for-profit provincial organization that promotes and supports literacy throughout the province. On Jan. 27, Körner will participate in a livestream event between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., which will include a reading and a question and answer session. Those interested in joining can register online here.

Körner will also appear at La Ronge’s Early Years Family Resource Centre between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m on that day. She will be doing a reading, craft, as well as activities with children in attendance.

This marks the second time Körner has been selected as a Family Literacy Day reader. In 2020, the book When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Calendar. Pīsimwasinahikan was chosen. She wrote the award-winning book with Bernice Johnson-Laxdal.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com