Yellowknife (Feb 04/05) - Eleven-year-old Amelie Duval's images of the winter dance of the Northern lights, wandering caribou and frozen lakes tell the story of her birthplace well.

So well, in fact, that her poem now graces the pages of a book published by World Literacy of Canada, featuring works by one student from each province and territory.

Ecole St. Joseph student Amelie Duval's poem about the NWT graces the pages of a new book. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo

Duval, a Grade 6 Ecole St. Joseph student, turns proudly to the page in the Write to Read collection where her poem is displayed on a backdrop of a cartoon caribou.

It's a great place

"They are going to think it's a great place," she says when asked what readers will think about her description of the NWT.

She just returned from a visit with Mayor Gordon Van Tighem. He presented her with a certificate and his congratulations. Duval thinks her creative side will lead her into a writing or acting career, or maybe even as a singer.

"It's fun. It's a start for becoming a poet," she says.

More than 1,500 students across Canada sent in entries for the literacy project, which is in its first year. Students from Tuktoyaktuk, Deline and Yellowknife submitted their works in the spring of 2004.

Duval's French poem caught the eye of the judges, according to Allegra Newman, Canada reading series co-ordinator with World Literacy of Canada.

Students were asked to create poems and stories describing where they lived.

"This is a great way to promote literacy across Canada and to create a book that shows the diversity of Canada," says Newman.

A stack of the bright blue books is located in the St. Joe's library, advertising that it's a book by kids, for kids.

The surprise of her first published piece has diminished for Duval and she is already thinking about her next project.

She and a friend are moving into fiction, she says. This time she plans to write a fairy tale about dragons.

The Northwest Territories -- A dream place!

Somewhere in the far North
Somewhere in the great cold
This place you cannot imagine
You must see it to believe it.
The Northern Lights perform their winter dance
A great movie for the caribou
In all the shapes and colours
Above the Northwest Territories
They enchant our starry nights and mend our broken hearts.
The stone inukshuks rest in peace
On the snow banks
Artists take out their paint to
Reproduce astonishing landscapes.
The many lakes defrost as they
Awake from their winter sleep.
Imagine feeling the warmth of this midnight sun that shines
Thousands of rays in the summer time.
And marvel at the darkness of these star-filled skies during winter noon hours.

Let yourself be drawn
by this place where I was born
You will be captivated
by its unique richness!

- Amelie Duval, Grade 6
Yellowknife, NWT

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