When We Were Alone

David A. Robertson (he/him/his) is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, as well as the Writer's Union of Canada Freedom to Read award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, podcaster, public speaker, and social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba for outstanding contributions in the arts and distinguished achievements in 2023. He was nominated for the 2026 Hans Christian Anderson Award. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg. Julie Flett is a Swampy Cree and Red River Métis author, illustrator and artist. She has received numerous awards for her picture books, including the Governor General’s Award for When We Were Alone and On The Trapline (written by David A. Robertson), the American Indian Library Association Award for Little You (written by Richard Van Camp) and a BolognaRagazzi Award special mention for We Sang You Home (also written by Richard Van Camp). She is the three-time recipient of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Award. Her picture book Birdsong was awarded the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for 2020 and Wild Berries was chosen as Canada’s First Nation Communities Read title selection for 2014-2015.

A quiet story…of love and resistance.… Flett’s collage illustrations, with their simplicity and earthy colors, are soulful and gentle….  All readers will connect with how Nókom lives in celebration of colors, her long hair, her language, and, most of all, her family.