Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Friday, March 9, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife author Jamie Bastedo celebrates the release of his latest book this weekend, an illustrated children's story.

"Writing for kids is the same as writing for adults, only you have to write better," said Bastedo. "The writing needs to be so simple, so pure and direct and powerful."

Free as the Wind is about the rescue of the wild horses of Sable Island in Nova Scotia.

The tale is told from the point of view of young Lucas Beauregard, whose father is the retiring superintendent of the island.

Bastedo named his protagonist as a combined tribute to Zoe Lucas, biologist and lone full-time resident of Sable Island, and the Acadian people, whose confiscated horses were taken to Sable Island after their owners were deported by the British in the 1700s.

The story is set in 1960, and the government has decided to cease the staffing of a rescue station on the island. It is reported that all of the horses will be rounded up and sold for dog food.

Lucas vows to save the horses, particularly an aged stallion named Gem of whom he is very fond.

The rest of the story recounts the real-life event of thousands of Canadian children penning letters to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker about the plight of the Sable Island horses.

After perfecting his own work with an editor, Bastedo's story was then sent to Halifax-based illustrator Susan Tooke, who painted the scenes based on her material from the island and Jamie's characters. In the end, Bastedo said, "it was a real thrill to see the images my words had inspired."

He said the whole ended up being greater than the sum of just the words and the pictures. He said writing in a new genre for a new age group was also a learning experience.

"I would recommend (writing for children) to any writer," he said. "This strengthens all of my words."

The nudge towards younger audiences came from his own children, said Bastedo. He said they made their wishes clear about 10 years ago in the forthright manner of youngsters.

He said "'No more books, Daddy, until you write a kid's book,'" was their ultimatum.

At the time Bastedo was a bird biologist working for the Ekati mine. While on a flight with other biologists who were tracking bears, he was inspired by a great big bear who appeared from behind the cover of a rock, and seemed to be shaking its fist at the plane.

"I thought, there's a story in that," said Bastedo, and it inspired his teen novel "Tracking Triple Seven," about a family of grizzlies in the barrens.

Aiming for an even younger audience is a natural progression for Bastedo, who works with kids a lot at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, sometimes dressing up as historical characters for storytelling.

He said he likes working with children, especially on environmental issues.

He said children have a natural link with nature that is "less- buffered" than in adults. Also a self-professed "environmental evangelist," Bastedo said the message of the story about Sable Island's horses is that kids can make a difference.

"It's about children changing the world, a great conservation story, almost too good, and too wholesome, to be true," he said.

While working on the book, Bastedo was able to get copies of some of the letters sent to Diefenbaker before and after the decision to save the horses.

The title of the book came from one letter sent to thank the prime minister, in which the young person writes that the ponies "instead of going to the glue factoryÖ will be as free as the wind."

A reading and book signing happens Saturday at the Book Cellar at 2 p.m.