Jean Fauchon, a John Paul II staff member, was asked to write a children's book for an Education Curriculum class at the University of Saskatchewan.
He and the other teachers involved in the course were assigned to write and create a children's book as part of their class.
"I chose the topic of the Métis Alphabet because I am a Métis, and I was working with the Gabriel Dumont Institute at the time. I've seen many alphabet books for children relating to other cultures, yet I've never seen one that related to the Métis," said Fauchon.
Fauchon's professor for the education curriculum class, Cynthia Fey, gave him 100 per cent on the assignment, and liked the book so much she submitted it to the Gabriel Dumont Institute for publishing, and told him she had done so afterwards.
"I'm not sure if she knew that I worked there," Fauchon said.
When Fauchon was first told his book, The Métis Alphabet Book, had been submitted to the publisher, he didn't think it would end up being published as it was only an assignment for a class.
The Métis Alphabet originally had pictures taken from the Internet to illustrate each letter. When the Gabriel Dumont Institute decided they would like to publish the book, they had to remove the pictures due to copyright issues. Fauchon was asked if he would be OK with having Sheldon Mauvieux, a Métis artist, illustrate the book.
Mauvieux and Fauchon knew each other, as they played hockey on the same team, and Fauchon went to the University of Saskatchewan with him. Fauchon agreed to let Mauvieux illustrate the book.
Currently, three pieces of work all stemming from the Métis Alphabet Book are on sale at the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatoon.
"There's the original Métis Alphabet Book, The Métis Alphabet Book Study Prints (for teachers and older readers which goes into more detail about the topics in the book), and a Michif (language of the Métis people) version of the book," Fauchon explains.
The Michif translation was done by Norman Fleury.
The Métis Alphabet book was selected for the Best in the West Catalogue for 2006, and was also nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award in 2006, and won the award.
In the future, Fauchon plans to write a short novel dealing with Métis history.
