scholarly journals Cub’s Journey Home by G. Graham

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Running Water ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University

Graham, Georgia.  Cub’s Journey Home. Markham, ON:  Red Deer Press, 2015.  Print.Georgia Graham is a fine artist, but as a writer, needs a good editor.  Like her earlier work Where Wild Horses Run, this is a beautifully illustrated book.  Graham’s landscapes, trees, rivers, rocks, bears and flowers are all highly realistic. She tackles a variety of environments including snow, running water, forest fire, a burnt landscape and a garbage dump. Many of the images are frame-worthy.  There are flaws in the flames of her forest fire, some of which look like they belong on racing cars; however, in the next image, she absolutely captures the complexity of the fire reflected on swamp water.  Unfortunately, the text is an amalgamation of strange images and unusual or extravagant word choices. Why, for example, is a baby bear growing inside the mother called a “speck”?  There is so much purple prose that the reader is constantly distracted.  There are “long needles of sunlight” that “stab”.  The snow covering the den is “a curtain of lacy ice”. “A breeze runs its icy fingers through his fur.”  The cub “skedaddles”.  “A dark blanket [of smoke] rises up and steals the stars from the sky.” The whole text would have been much better if Graham had just written in her natural voice, as she occasionally does, to good effect.While the unusual word choices make the reading level of the text much too advanced for a picture book, the images, with their excellent rendering of Alberta landscapes, make it valuable.  This book is recommended with reservations for elementary school libraries and public libraries. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

scholarly journals The People of the Sea by D. Uluadluak

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Elementary Children ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The People ◽  
The University

Uluadluak, Donald.  The People of the Sea, illustrated by Mike Motz, Inhabit Media, 2017The People of the Sea is a recollection by the late Inuit elder, Donald Uluadluak, of seeing an arnajuinnaq or a sea person, while he and his friends played on the beach near Arviat. The story is a simple retelling of the adventure which highlights the presence of sea-people in Inuit culture.  Unlike the vicious mermaids or tuutaliit of books such as Kiviuq and the Mermaids, who have frightening appearances and want to destroy kayaks and kill hunters, the sea-people in this story seem benign and simply curious. Mike Motz has drawn them as almost-expressionless creatures who look like fair-skinned women with long dark hair and facial tattoos – just as Uluadluak describes them. The two-page images are multi-coloured and do a good job of reflecting the sea and tundra environments. Text is overprinted on the images. The text is simple and comprehensible to the intended audience of 5 to 7 year-olds, but is above their reading level, so an adult would need to read this book aloud. The People of the Sea would also be appropriate for upper elementary children who are interested in traditional myths and legends.  Highly recommended for school libraries and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.  

scholarly journals Akilak’s Adventure by D. Kigjugalik Webster

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

Kigjugalik Webster, Deborah.  Akilak’s Adventure.  Inhabit Media, 2016.This is a first children’s book from Deborah Kigjugalik Webster, who grew up in Baker Lake, Nunavut.  It is a story of a little Inuit girl navigating the tundra by herself to reach her uncle’s camp.  As the child walks, she is joined by a caribou, who mysteriously knows her grandmother’s saying, “Your destination did not run away, you will reach it soon.”  The conversation between the two is about people changing into animals, but Akilak in the end decides to remain a person.   The story is deceptively simple.  On the surface, children will understand it as a little girl’s adventure.  However, it encompasses several important aspects of Inuit culture:  the relationship between grandparent and child, the importance of extended family support, the prominence of animals and the stories of people taking the shape of animals, the distance of travel across the tundra and the related concept of taulittuq or the sense of moving but not getting closer to your destination.Charlene Chua’s artwork is charming. Each two pages are an image with text overprinted on one page, often shaped to fit around parts of the image.  The images are simple and cartoon-like, but good representations of the tundra and its creatures.  While this is mainly a picture book with an intended audience of children ages 5 to 7, the reading level is upper elementary, so younger children will definitely need an adult to read it to them.Akilak’s Adventure would be an excellent addition to public libraries and elementary school libraries.Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals Animals Illustrated Series by Inhabit Media

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Related Text ◽  
The University ◽  
Natural Histories

Inhabit Media.  Animals Illustrated SeriesFlaherty, William.  Polar Bear, illustrated by Danny Christopher. Inhabit Media, 2016.Awa, Solomon.  Narwhal, illustrated by Hwei Lim. Inhabit Media, 2016.Niptanatiak, Allen.  Muskox, illustrated by Kagan McLeod. Inhabit Media, 2016. There are many picture book series that introduce the natural histories of various animals, often including Arctic animals.  However, few of these are created in the Arctic. These three authors all have first-hand knowledge of the animals.  William Flaherty is a conservation officer in Iqaluit and Solomon Awa is an Inuk from Igloolik, NU, who has lived a traditional lifestyle and Allen Niptanatiak is a hunter and trapper who lives at Kugluktuk, NU.   Polar Bear, Narwhal and Muskox the first three in Inhabit Media’s new Animals Illustrated series. Illustrations are usually spread across two pages with related text overprinted.  The illustrations, by Danny Christopher for Polar Bear and Hwei Lim for Narwhal are similar in style.  Both make extensive use of light blue, dark blue and white to represent the animals in their snow and water environments. Kagan MacLeod’s drawings for Muskox are brighter and show the more colourful tundra scenes.   There are also detailed drawings of the animals’ skeletons in each book.All of the books follow the familiar format of a natural history, with sections covering physical characteristics, range, skeleton, diet, reproduction, habitat and interesting information specific to the particular animal.  The interesting fact about the narwhal is that they have been known to dive more than 1,500 meters.  At the end of the polar bear book, there is a short description of the nanurluk, the mythological giant polar bear. The “Fun Fact” about the muskox is about how they use their horns.  There is also a “Traditional Uses” page that notes the use of the hides, meat and qiviut (muskox down).   Inhabit Media lists the audience for these books as ages 4-6, but the reading level of the text is Grade 4 and above. Younger children will enjoy the illustrations, but will need help to understand the text. These are excellent books that would be good acquisitions for school and public libraries, however, they contain little information that would not be found in similar works already held by many libraries.  Libraries with limited budgets might want to spend their money on some of Inhabit Media’s other works that contain unique content.  Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.  

scholarly journals Painted Skies by C. Mallory

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
High Quality ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Aurora Borealis ◽  
Excellent Work ◽  
The University

Mallory, Carolyn.  Painted Skies.  Iqaluit, NU:  Inhabit Media, 2015.  Print.The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are ethereal and difficult to reproduce in an image, however, illustrator Amei Zhao does an admirable job.  Carolyn Mallory’s story, told through the voices of two girls, Leslie and Oolipika, is a simple one encompassing the tradition that the northern lights are spirits playing a soccer-like game and that if they come too close, you might be hit by the ball.  To let the spirits know you are there, you click your fingernails together.  The Arctic environment is present throughout.  When Leslie jumps she is “all arms and legs like a young caribou”.  When the girls make snow angels they move their arms and legs “as if they were ptarmigans trying to get off the ground”.  The reading level is appropriate for a picture book. While the story is well-written, it is the artwork on which the story is printed that is the best part of this volume.  All of the pages are night pictures, so the images are shadowed, with highlights of moonlight.  The deep blues, blacks, purples and greens contrast with the pinks and lime greens of the northern lights. Zhao has also added whispy green figures of the auroral spirits running through the sky. While this is a simple book, it is another example of Inhabit Media’s excellent work in capturing Arctic stories and creating high quality publications with them.  This book is highly recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries.Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbelSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals I Want My Mommy! by T. Corderoy

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Picket Fence ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The University

Corderoy,Tracey. I Want My Mommy!  Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales, 2013. Print.This charming picture book addresses separation anxiety, which is common among young children being left with occasional caregivers.  The story is depicted with mice playing the roles of people.  Arthur is a small mouse, who is staying with his grandmother while his mother goes out for the day.  Arthur has "never been apart from Mommy for the whole day before".  He misses her a lot.  Although his grandmother distracts him with dragons, sword fights and lunch, Arthur is still sometimes sad and thinks that his mom has returned every time the doorbell rings.  Allison Edgson's illustrations are bright, attractive and somewhat romantic.  Grandma's garden has a white picket fence with an arched trellis, hollyhocks and climbing roses.  Throughout, Arthur is dressed in a green dragon suit.   The images are sometimes two-page spreads with text over-printed or smaller round pictures with in text the white spaces around them. The text is a large font, with a few words bolded or capitalized for effect.  The text is age appropriate for pre-kindergarten to grade three, but intended to be read aloud by an adult.I Want My Mommy! allows children to see their own situation depicted in a story.  Children can  empathize with Arthur and see that he does cope with being away from his mother and that his mother does return. This is an excellent book for public libraries and elementary school libraries and pediatric health collections. Highly recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré by R. Taniton & M. Willett

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Book Series ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Bear Lake ◽  
The People ◽  
The University

Taniton, Raymond and Mindy Willett.  At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré.  Markham, On:  Fifth   House, 2011.  Print. Indigenous author Raymond Taniton is a member of The Sahtugot’ine, or the “people of Great Bear Lake”.  In At the Heart of It, Taniton invites readers into his world.  We meet his family, see the Sahtu Region where he lives, meet the elders in the community, learn how to make a traditional hand drum, learn some games and read some of the stories.  The stories are particularly important. This book is the most recent in Fifth House’s “The Land is Our Story Book” series, all co-authored by writer Mindy Willett. Taniton concludes this volume by saying, “The land is our storybook. It is our school, our library, our church. It is where we learn our stories and where we discover who we are as true Dene people. The land is at the heart of it all”.  And in this book Taniton and Willett do succeed in helping us to understand “the land”. This is a picture book, an educational book and a celebration of what it means to be Satugot’ine. Tessa Macintosh’s photographs are used throughout. The top of each page has a border image of the beaded toes of twenty-one moccasins. Often a large image will form the background of a page with text and other images superimposed.  For example, for the story “The Lake is the Boss”, the background is an image which looks out through the mouth of a cave.  The story is about a giant wolf that lived in the cave. The text, along with smaller images of the island that the wolf became when he turned to stone, is superimposed on the cave photograph.  The images and text, taken together, form many lessons for young people.  The stories provide metaphorical and philosophical lessons, but the book also provides practical lessons, such as the illustrated steps to making a drum.  As a whole, the book celebrates Raymond Taniton’s family, the Sahtugot’ine people and their way of life.   Highly recommended for elementary school and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

scholarly journals On the Shoulder of a Giant: an Inuit Folktale by N. Christopher

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Christopher, Neil.  On the Shoulder of a Giant:  an Inuit Folktale. Iqualuit:  Inhabit Media, 2015. Print.This is another in a series of works designed by Neil Christopher, one of the founders of Inhabit Media, to preserve traditional Inuit stories.  In this book he retells a story, which is known in various forms all across the Arctic, of a giant who adopts a hunter as his son.  This giant, named Inukpak,  is one of the inukpasugjuit or “great giants” of Inuit stories.  Inukpak is so big that he can walk across the Arctic in “just a few days” and when he stands in the sea the water "never come[s] up past his knees". He is so big that he thinks that the hunter is a lost child, so he adopts him and carries him on his shoulder.This is a simple retelling, designed to teach about the mythical giants and to explain why the story is found in many cultures across the Canadian Arctic.  However, it also models a big person/small person relationship in which small people do not correct or talk back to big people.  Children will relate to the hunter, who is treated as a child and because the story is told from the hunter's perspective.  The giant sometimes doesn't recognize the impact of his own actions.  For example when he runs back to shore, he creates waves that swamp the hunter, but the giant thinks the hunter has been playing in the water.  "The hunter wanted to tell the giant that he had not been playing in the water.  He also wanted to explain to Inukpak that he had caught a bowhead whale, not a sculpin.  But, once again, the little hunter did not want to argue with a giant, so he just said, 'Okay.' "This is mainly a picture book. The illustrations run over two-page spreads with text over-printed on them.  Jim Nelson does a good job of presenting the difference in size between the giant and the human.  Inukpak is presented as a happy fellow, with black shaggy hair and a full beard.  Children will be amused by the giant picking up a polar bear by the scruff of its neck, like a kitten. The images are realistic and the backgrounds are lovely representations of Arctic landscapes. Overall, this is an enjoyable and high-quality work that should be included in elementary school libraries, public libraries and libraries specializing in Arctic children’s books.Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals Down by the River: A Family Fly Fishing Story by A. Weiner

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Fishing Trip ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Fly Fishing ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The University ◽  
Riverine Landscapes

Weiner, Andrew.  Down by the River: A Family Fly Fishing Story. Harry N. Abrams, 2018.  This is a beautifully illustrated book that tells a simple story about a boy, Art, who goes on a fly-fishing trip with his mother and grandfather. The story recalls a time when Art’s grandfather taught his mother to fish.  April Chu has used a subdued palette for her two-page riverine landscapes, with lots of green and rich autumn colours in the environment. The book has a calm and peaceful feel about it that mirrors the contemplative nature of fly-fishing.  The text is simple and descriptive of a day spent on the river. The reading level is too difficult for the intended Kindergarten to Grade 2 audience, so an adult will need to read the book aloud, especially those sentences that could confuse young readers with difficult concepts or complicated jargon: “The line arced forward and the fly landed softly a few feet above the rock. It drifted with the current past the rock. There was a splash and the line went tight.”  The last three pages contain information about fly fishing, the clothing worn by fly fishers and where to get more information about the sport. The end pages are decorated with images of intricate flys with such fun and mysterious names as: “Ian’s Crunch Caddis,” “Black Fur Ant,” and “Purple Parachute Adams.” This book is a good introduction to fly fishing for younger children that also tells a charming story. Highly recommended for school and public libraries. Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4 Reviewer:  Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals Kiviuq and the Bee Woman by N. McDermott

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
School Library ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Older Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Human Skulls ◽  
The University ◽  
Library Collections

McDermott, Noel.  Kiviuq and the Bee Woman. Iqauit, NU, Inhabit Media, 2019. When we last heard of Kiviuq, he had just survived a harrowing encounter with scary monster mermaids or tuutalik (Deakin Review by Kirk MacLeod). In Kiviuq and the Bee Woman, the grandfather who narrated Kiviuq and the Mermaid continues the bedtime story to his grandchildren. Kiviuq begins paddling home, but comes upon a tent where an old woman invites him to rest and dry his clothing. She turns out to be a giant Bee Woman who wants to cut up Kiviuq and put him in her cooking pot. For a bedtime story, both the text and the illustrations are quite scary. Illustrator Toma Feizo Gas lets us see into the dark, dramatic and frightening world of the Bee Woman, who is a determined killer. “She shouted, ‘I am Iguttarjuaq, the Bee Woman, and I am going to kill you with my ulu’.”  The accompanying image shows a woman with pointy teeth and insect mouth pincers, who is shaking a sharp ulu (knife) at Kiviuq. As is the case with many of Inhabit Media’s publications, the reading level is higher than one would expect to find in a picture book. For younger children, this book will need some adult intervention. In addition to the scary content, human skulls talk, the woman eats her own eyelids and “Kiviuq, realized the woman was boiling human meat.” Some of the language is difficult. For example, Kiviuq “fainted” of fright, but “feinted” to get away. McDermott also intersperses many Inuktitut words, which will slow down younger readers. These are defined at the end of the book. Overall, this excellent product from Inhabit Media should be included in public library collections and school library collections, but should probably be placed in collections designed for older children.  Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals Saila & Betty by C. Rooney

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Reading Text ◽  
Level I ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
The University

Rooney, Christina. Saila & Betty, illustrated by Ali Hinch. Inhabit Education, 2016.Inhabit Education has launched a series of text levelled readers, called the Nunavummi Reading Series.  Saila and Betty has been levelled using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient Level: I, which makes it appropriate for upper level Grade 1.   It is a picture book with two to three sentences per page including simple dialog.  The sentences get progressively more difficult through the book.  Ali Hinch’s comic-like artwork is black-line with bright colours for infill.  The animals all show animation and emotions.   While this is primarily a reading text, it contains a wellness message, as well.  The story is a simple one about birds, who fly very well and seals, who swim very well discovering that while their strengths are different, and they are not very good at each other’s strengths at all, they can still be friends and have fun together. It is great to see curriculum materials being developed with Arctic themes.  These will be very valuable learning tools in Arctic classrooms and as supplementary reading materials in southern classrooms.  Highly recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

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