This book is about a young boy that gets lost in a storm. I'd be curious to hear Haidi and Tlingit (as well as other Northwest Coast of North American Native groups) opinions on this piece. If you are looking specifically for a book that relays a truly traditional Native story or is written by an Indigenous author (ie, for a school unit or a reading diversity challenge), you should look somewhere else. If you want to read it just for fun, go for it. TL DR - it's an interesting book with beautiful illustrations.
But - It's also entirely possible that he did not consult with appropriate groups, and it could be problematic in ways that I'm not aware of, so I'm hesitant to 100% wholeheartedly recommend it.
I would hate to make assumptions and judge him negatively if this is the case. My personal conclusion on this topic - It's entirely possible that Paul Owen Lewis worked closely with Indigenous groups and received their blessing on this project. Debbie Reese (tribally enrolled, Nambé Pueblo) appears somewhat critical of Paul Owen Lewis's "Frog Girl." So basically, my search for more info was inconclusive. A lesson plan for this book is included on Strong Nations' website (an Indigenous owned store & publishing house). He thanks three people by name for their assistance - one married to a well-respected Kwakwaka'wakw woman, one of Norwegian descent who makes artwork "positively received by local Native American artists" but more negatively received by the British Columbian First Nations upon whose art forms his work is primarily based (see "About Humanity, not Ethnicity?" by Alice Marie Campbell), and a third that I could not find much information about. He notes that this book was "carefully composed entirely of Native story elements both in its narrative and art" and references the Haida and Tlingit tribes specifically as inspiration. Here is what I found in relation to this topic - Paul Owen Lewis is a non-Native man.
I'm not giving this book a rating because I'm not sure how Indigenous communities feel about it, and I think that it's their voices that should provide the primary judgements. I also appreciated the author's note, which added depth and gave room to continue thinking and learning. It encouraged you to contemplate the pictures and fill in the blanks of the story in a self-guided, exploratory way - kind of a nice break from picture books that feed you the entire story. The story was simple, but because the illustrations were so powerful it still worked.
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