This is an exceptional book by an innovative author from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Not only does it guide the young reader through the numbers 1 to 10, it does so in English, French, Inuktitut, and Inuinnaqtun. The numerical progression in the color images, which are of Inuit figures cut from fabric and arranged anew for each number, is further represented by each figure acquiring a bright red heart, reinforcing the overall theme of friendship among people of different languages and races.
Picture Book
The Fire Stealer
This is the story of Nanabozho and how he brought fire to the Indians. Nanabozho transformed himself into a rabbit, tricked his way into a warrior’s wigwam and stole a torch of fire enabling his people to warm themselves in winter and cook their food. So that he would always be remembered for what he had done, Nananbozho worked his magic on the trees and every fall we still see the flaming colors of fire in their leaves.
Here Is The Arctic Winter
Cumulative text introduces the animals of the cold white world that is the arctic winter.
Arctic Spring
Spring in the Arctic brings new activity among the fox, seal, and other animals, but the polar bear has a very good reason for remaining firm by her den.
Tiktala
When the spirit guide changes her into a seal, Tiktala learns the ways of seals and how harmful humans can be.
Baseball Bats For Christmas
Never having seen trees, the children in Repulse Bay decide that the funny things sent them one year must actually be baseball bats. An autobiographical tale from Michael Kusugak’s childhood tells a story of life in the arctic, and easily different cultures can interpret things differently.
People of the Ice: How the Inuit Lived
Describes how the Inuit built their igloos, kayaks and sledges; made their clothing and prepared their food; played games and carved objects from soapstone; and how they hunted and fished.
The Loon’s Necklace
According to Canadian Indian legend, when an old man’s sight was restored by a Loon he gave the bird his precious shell necklace as a reward. That is why the loon has a white collar and speckles on its back. Elizabeth Cleaver’s rich and beautiful style of picture-making gives new visual excitement to the splendors of the British Columbia landscape, and to the magic of this Indian legend.
Atuk
A young Inuit vows revenge when a wolf kills his dog.
How Summer Came To Canada
When the giant Winter came down from the North to live in eastern Canada the land became frozen and white. Glooskap, mythical lord and creator of the Micmac Indians, saves his people from endless cold when he brings a beautiful Queen to his country. Her name is Summer and she persuades Winter to relax his icy grip every Spring while she awakens the land from its deep sleep and bestows life on everything that grows.