The story of Samuel de Champlain has enough aspects of the hero epic to make one wonder why we Canadians (characteristically) make so little fuss about him. Like most heroes, Champlain was raised in obscurity, in a small seaport called Brouage. Yet he was instrumental in founding the first settlement in French Canada, and the village that became Quebec City. Moreover, he believed in a great future for Canada, when most Europeans saw it only as a source of fur: “These colonies, though at first of little account, nevertheless in the course of time will equal the states of the greatest kings,” he wrote. The text is spiked with such quotations, sure to bring tears to a patriotic eye.

Champlain’s elegant observations are set off by equally graceful text and pictures. The archival material, such as photos of Champlain’s map and astrolabe, meshes well with sumptuous new artwork by Francis Back, which reflects the style of 17th-century illustration and yet is clear and detailed enough to captivate children.

Children should also be won over by Christopher Moore’s bold Champlain: a peerless cartographer, an intrepid explorer, and – for his time – a humane leader. Christopher Moore (The Story of Canada) conveys all this and more in his silky prose, which effortlessly slips important facts into the reader’s mind while keeping the narrative alive. Moore uses Champlain’s story as a doorway to the greater tale of building Canada, which revolves around the humble beaver. Our national animal should not mislead us; Moore’s descriptions of the first winters endured by the pioneers leave no doubt that ours was not a country for the faint of heart.