Winnipeg authors Pearlene (left) and Devon Clunis’ newest children’s picture book, The Little Girl from Osoyoos, is about Pearlene’s multicultural childhood, starting in the Okanagan. (Contributed photo)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Winnipeg author Pearlene Clunis is from Osoyoos, was raised in rural Manitoba, and her new book details her multicultural upbringing while teaching acceptance.

Co-written with her husband Devon, The Little Girl from Osoyoos, a children’s picture book, tells Clunis’ story, starting in an Osoyoos home in the middle of an orchard, and then relocating to Moosehorn and Minitonas, MB.

“The story is about how even though I grew up in a small town where everybody looked like me, had the same skin colour as me, had the same hair colour and ate the same kind of food and listened to the same kind of music, I got to meet people from all over the world,” Clunis said.

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Clunis’ mother had a fabric store in their basement, and in her book she recalls local Indigenous women coming to buy buttons and fabric.

“I would imagine what they were going to make with them,” she said.

Although the book is for children, Clunis notes that adults reading it out loud can learn from it as well.

“It talks about how we all laugh the same when we’re happy, we all cry the same when we’re sad, we all love being together with family and friends and celebrating and dancing and eating food,” she said.

“It encourages kids and the adults who are reading the book to children to get to know people who may not be like them because Canada is growing and our biggest population is from immigration growth.”

The Little Girl from Osoyoos officially launches in Winnipeg on Nov. 30, but is already available online at friesenpress.com. (Contributed image)

The book is the second in what is planned to be a series. It’s preceded by The Little Boy from Jamaica, published in 2017, which tells the story of Devons’ immigration to Canada when he was 11.

With help from a dedicated teacher, Devon went from struggling in school to finishing at the top of his class.

“He grew up to become a police office and rose through the ranks and he became the first black chief of police in all of Canadian history,” Clunis said.

The Little Boy from Jamaica is dedicated to teachers and explores the need for “helpers.” Its follow-up focuses on social change and creating a “healthy Canada” for its young residents, Clunis said.

“In order to have a strong Canada we have to have people who know each other because when we know each other, we’re not afraid of each other and then we feel safe and we have communities that are tight-knit and functioning to the highest quality that they can be.”

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Both books are illustrated by artist Emily Campbell, and all illustrations are based off of photographs.

The cover of The Little Girl from Osoyoos shows Clunis holding a large sunflower.

“It is from a real photograph of me holding a sunflower, and it really was that big,” she said. “Every picture there is authentic.”

As for the next book, Clunis already has a few ideas.

“We have plans for more books that will be really, hopefully useful for the development of children and for the identity of Canadians and who we are,” she said. “We hope that we can use them for a lot of social good.

The Little Girl from Osoyoos officially launches in Winnipeg on Nov. 30, but is already available online at friesenpress.com.