Born and raised on the prairies, David Bouchard was a West Vancouver school administrator when he first provided the poetic text for Roy Henry Vickers' The Elders Are Watching (Eagle Dancer), about a Native boy learning spiritual values from his grandfather, as well as the text for If You're Not From The Prairie, in collaboration with prairie artist Henry Ripplinger. He has since produced more than 20 titles, plus his collaborations with Cree artist Allen Sapp entitled Song of My Heart (Raincoast, 2002, $19.95) and Nokum Was My Teacher (Red Deer Press, 2006). Having moved to Victoria, he was one of four co-authors of For the Love of Reading: Books to Build Lifelong Readers (Orca, 2004), co-author of the picture book Long Powwow Nights (Fitzhenry & Whiteside 2009) with Pam Aleekuk and illustrated by Leonard Paul and author of The Secret of Your Name (Red Deer Press, 2009), illustrated by Dennis Weber.
In 2017, Bouchard published The Journal of Etienne Mercier (Vidacom Publications $19.95) with art by Gordon Miller. Using the broken English, or Franglais of 19th century voyageur painter Etienne Mercier, it depicts the everyday tribulations of a typical voyageur and life on the Canadian colonial frontier in the 1850's.
Books:
The Elders Are Watching (Eagle Dancer) Illustrations by Roy Henry Vickers
If You're Not From The Prairie. Illustrations by Henry Ripplinger
The Song Within My Heart (Raincoast, 2002) $19.95. Art by Allen Sapp
For the Love of Reading: Books to Build Lifelong Readers (Orca, 2004)
Nokum Was My Teacher (Red Deer Press, 2006)
Long Powwow Nights (Fitzhenry & Whiteside 2009) co-authored with Pam Aleekuk. Illustrations by Leonard Paul
The Secret of Your Name (Red Deer Press, 2009), illustrated by Dennis Weber
The Journal of Etienne Mercier (Vidacom Publications 2017) $19.95 with art by Gordon Miller. 978-1-988182-10-0
Meet Your Family (Medicine Wheel Education, 2021) 24.99 9781989122662. Illustrations by Kristy Cameron.
[BCBW 2021] "Kidlit"
In 2017, Bouchard published The Journal of Etienne Mercier (Vidacom Publications $19.95) with art by Gordon Miller. Using the broken English, or Franglais of 19th century voyageur painter Etienne Mercier, it depicts the everyday tribulations of a typical voyageur and life on the Canadian colonial frontier in the 1850's.
Books:
The Elders Are Watching (Eagle Dancer) Illustrations by Roy Henry Vickers
If You're Not From The Prairie. Illustrations by Henry Ripplinger
The Song Within My Heart (Raincoast, 2002) $19.95. Art by Allen Sapp
For the Love of Reading: Books to Build Lifelong Readers (Orca, 2004)
Nokum Was My Teacher (Red Deer Press, 2006)
Long Powwow Nights (Fitzhenry & Whiteside 2009) co-authored with Pam Aleekuk. Illustrations by Leonard Paul
The Secret of Your Name (Red Deer Press, 2009), illustrated by Dennis Weber
The Journal of Etienne Mercier (Vidacom Publications 2017) $19.95 with art by Gordon Miller. 978-1-988182-10-0
Meet Your Family (Medicine Wheel Education, 2021) 24.99 9781989122662. Illustrations by Kristy Cameron.
[BCBW 2021] "Kidlit"
Articles: 9 Articles for this author
The Journal of Etienne Mercier
Info
The Journal of Etienne Mercier (Orca, $28.95) is the imaginative creation of David Bourchard. In this fabricated diary Etienne, a Hudson's Bay man, and former voyageur, trapper and coureur de bois, is sent in 1853 to record the life of the Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands. In fractured English, he describes the Winter Dance ceremony, a potlach and an encounter with a Haida raiding party. Detailed paintings are by Gordon Miller, whose work hangs in the National Museum of Canada and the Vancouver Maritime Museum. A companion CD records the author reading the story and singing Etienne's Franglais paddling songs. 1-55143-128-9
[BCBW WINTER 1998] "QCI"
A Barnyard Bestiary (Orca, $17.95)
Info
Onagodori Chicken. Blonde Mangalitza Pig. Schwarzhal Goat. David Bouchard's A Barnyard Bestiary (Orca, $17.95) honours once-prized domestic animals. His poems don't only recognize exotic creatures. Also featured are the hard-working donkey, the goose, a border collie and a Shire workhorse. The evocative paintings are by Bowen Islander Kimball Allen. 1-55143-131-9
In The Dragon New Year (Raincoast, $19.95), also by David Bouchard, a grandmother explains the clashing cymbals, blazing fireworks and fearsome Dragon Dance that announce the beginning of the Chinese New Year. It's the noise and fire, she reassures her little granddaughter, that keeps them safe. This is Bouchard's second collaboration with Zhong-Zang Huang. Their first book in the Chinese Legend series was The Great Race. 1-55192-200-2
[BCBW SUMMER 1999]
The Mermaid’s Muse (Raincoast $19.95)
Info
Retelling of the legend of the dragon boats, David Bouchard's The Mermaid's Muse (Raincoast $19.95) completes a Chinese Legends trilogy that includes The Great Race and The Dragon New Year. Illustrated by Zhong-Yang Huang, The Mermaid's Muse is the story of Qu Yuan, celebrated poet-in-exile in ancient China, who, when banished by his king, is befriended by a sea dragon in the guise of an enchanting mermaid. 1-55192-248-7
[BCBW SPRING 2000]
The Great Race: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac
Info
David Bouchard and illustrator Zhong-Yang Huang have won this year's Red Cedar Award for Non-Fiction for The Great Race: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac, a 1997 children's title from Raincoast.
[BCBW SUMMER 2000]
A Barnyard Bestiary (Orca, $17.95)
Info
Onagodori Chicken. Blonde Mangalitza Pig. Schwarzhal Goat. David Bouchard's A Barnyard Bestiary (Orca, $17.95) honours once-prized domestic animals. His poems don't only recognize exotic creatures. Also featured are the hard-working donkey, the goose, a border collie and a Shire workhorse. The evocative paintings are by Bowen Islander Kimball Allen. 1-55143-131-9
[BCBW AUTUMN 1999]
The Dragon New Year (Raincoast, $19.95)
Info
In The Dragon New Year (Raincoast, $19.95), by David Bouchard, a grandmother explains the clashing cymbals, blazing fireworks and fearsome Dragon Dance that announce the beginning of the Chinese New Year. It's the noise and fire, she reassures her little granddaughter, that keeps them safe. This is Bouchard's second collaboration with Zhong-Zang Huang. Their first book in the Chinese Legend series was The Great Race. 1-55192-200-2
[BCBW AUTUMN 1999]
Qu’Appelle (Raincoast $19.95)
Info
It was as a boy growing up in rural Saskatchewan that David Bouchard first heard the story of the Cree brave who leaves his young love to lead a war party and hears, after the triumphant battle, a voice crying out to him. He rides through the night, returning to his village, only to discover sweet Witonia has died of a broken heart. Qu'Appelle (Raincoast $19.95) is Bouchard's collaboration with Cree artist Michael Lonechild recalling the legend of Ikciv who still searches for his lost love. The magnificent Qu'Appelle Valley, stretching from Manitoba into the heartland of Saskatchewan, echoes with his plaintive call, "Qui Appelle?"; - Who is calling? Lonechild was born and still lives on the White Bear Reserve in Saskatchewan, where he sits on the band council. Bouchard, who lives in Victoria, just released Buddha in the Garden (Raincoast $19.95), the fourth in the Chinese Legend series with the paintings of Zhong-Yang Huang. Qu' Appelle1-55192-475-7; Buddah 1-55192-452-8 (2003)
[Spring 2003 BCBW]
Dragon of Heaven (Raincoast $39.95)
Review
Decadence in power never fails to fascinate. The butcherous Laurent Kabila liked to bathe in Chanel No. 5 after he finally gained power in the Congo. The Borgia Pope held orgies in the Vatican. And the Empress Dowager didn't lift a finger to stop The Boxer Rebellion: I Ho Chuan, a secret society of righteous fists (translated as 'Boxers' by Americans) hacked people to death with swords and left their heads on village gates to rid China of foreign devils in 1900, but the Empress Dowager refused to outlaw such activities. As a 16-year-old named Orchid she had been taken to the Emperor's palace with 60 other concubines and received the inappropriate name Tz-u-his, meaning kindly and virtuous. After she bore a son, she pleaded with the ailing Emperor Hsien-feng to name her son Chih the next emperor. He became China's ruler at five in 1861. Tz-u-his ruled China through her son as the Dowager Empress, then maintained influence through intrigues and alleged murders. Dave Bouchard has fictionalized her remarkable story for Dragon of Heaven (Raincoast $39.95) illustrated with 25 oil paintings by Zhong-Yang Huang.
1-55192-525-7-7 -[BCBW AUTUMN 2002]
Prairie Born (Orca $16.95)
Info
In Prairie Born (Orca $16.95), Dave Bouchard teams up again with artist Peter Shostak, this time to explore the prairie experience in verse and image. It focuses on the passing of the seasons and their effect on the people and the landscape; hockey on a frozen pond, golden wheatfields beneath an enormous sky and long days of work under a blazing summer sun.
1 55143 092 4
[BCBW 1997]