Arctic Stories

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak (auth)
Vladyana Langer Krykorka (ill)
Annick Press 1998
Ages 4-7 40 pages
softcover ISBN 10: 1550374524
ISBN 13: 9781550374520
hardcover ISBN 10: 1550374532
ISBN 13: 9781550374537


In Arctic Stories, Michael Kusugak recounts three stories, from his own childhood, through the eyes of Agatha, a young Inuit girl.

The first, Agatha and the Ugly Black Thing, was inspired by an event that happened in Kusugak’s community in 1958. It was then that a large helium filled airship, called a ZPG-2, carrying a scientific expedition, passed over the settlement near Repulse Bay. The people were terrified of the black aircraft that looked like a bomb. They began to run, panicked. Kusugak uses this event as the driving force in a story that describes, in brilliant detail, the awakening of the Arctic, in spring, substituting a little girl, for himself. This sleepy little girl, Agatha grows tired of running and becomes angry. She shouts at the ugly black thing which goes away. She is a hero, but being a typical child, she is too sleepy to walk back, and is carried home, sleeping. Agatha and the Ugly Black Thing is concluded with my favourite of Vladyana Langer Krykorka’s illustrations- Agatha nestled in her father’s arms, sucking her thumb.

The second story, Agatha and the Most Amazing Bird, sprang out of another childhood memory of Kusugak’s. When he was a young boy, his grandmother befriended a raven by feeding it. As a result, the bird felt an attachment to her. Again, it is Agatha, not Kusugak, who moves this story. Anyone interested in birds will revel in this tale. Kusugak gives an amazing amount of detail, following not only the physical changes undergone by the raven throughout the seasons, but also the amazing spectar of the many migratory birds, as well. I found it hard to read because my daughter, Koogiook (Swan) could not stop asking questions. I love a story that ignites wonder and curiosity.

The final story, Agatha goes to School, is based on a less happy time in Kusugak’s life. Agatha is taken by plane, along with two of her friends (who were named for two of Kusugak’s real life classmates) to the residential school at Churchill. The realities of residential school are touched on in a very delicate manner that make it easy for young children to understand that it was not always a kind and loving place, without giving them nightmares or scaring them from going to school. In this tale, Agatha decides that she would rather ski than skate, having had little success on the ice, even though her friends would rather skate. It turns out lucky that she has chosen to bring skis when Father Fafard (a well liked priest) falls through the ice of the RCMP Lake. The skis are resourcefully used to rescue the drowning priest. A plethora of images from Kusugak’s childhood, are present in this story- from the nuns that sang like angels (but were definitely not angels) to the RCMP members hacking ice from the lake for their own use, and the talented skills of Father Fafard on a pair of skates. This is a relevant story for your children (if you are Canadian) as they are likely to be exposed to the concept of residential school, over the next few years. With the recent (and very long overdue) apology by Stephen Harper to the students of the residential schools, and a truth a reconciliation committee slated, the media will be ripe with discussions of the subject. This truly is an important read for anyone, regardless of heritage. It may be a part of our cultural and historical experiences as Canadians, but speaks to the experiences of humanity as a whole. If you are a teacher, this is a great story to use in your classroom, as no doubt the social sciences curriculum will be expanded, considerably, to include more education about residential schools.

This set of stories is a wonderful resource for any parent or teacher interested in the Arctic, the Inuit, or even just another way of life. Arctic Stories constructs a (vanishing) world that is filled with fears of technology, wonder at the abundance of Mother Nature’s fauna, and heartache at the hands of those who would consider themselves more civilized. You cannot help but come away from reading Arctic Stories, with a sense that you have been given a very special peek into another human’s collection of experiences. We can be grateful, once again, to Kusugak for pulling back the curtains and turning on the light.

Hide and Sneak

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak (auth)
Vladyana Krykorka (ill)
Annick Press 1992
Ages: 4-7 32 pages
softcover ISBN 10: 1550372289
ISBN 13: 9781550372281
hardcover ISBN 10: 1550372297
ISBN 13: 9781550372298

Hide and Sneak paints a serene portrait of an Arctic summer, while exploring Inuit folklore. Young Allashua wanders off, one day, while playing hide and sneak. She explores poonds, chases butterflies and even meets the fabled Ijiraq. It is said that when this bashful creature hides a child, they can never be found. Allashua is clever, though and tricks the Ijiraq into leading her back. However, the Ijiraq vanishes on Allashua, before she has made it safely home. It is then that Allashua sees a distant Inukusugaq (Inukshuk). She follows this, until she sees her family's camp. Her family are relieved to have their daughter return. It is then that Allashua's father explains that the Inukusugak is to help people find their way home.

Michael Kusugak lays out such a vivid picture, through Allashua's eyes, that one feels like they are exploring the Arctic in summer, themself. This book would make an excellent suplement for any class studying a unit about the Arctic. My own children (2 1/2 and 4 3/4) were engrossed in the amazing detail and charmed by the Ijiraq. Many parents may be turned off by the word length of Kusgak's books, but my finding is that his mastery with words keeps my little inspirations captivated.

Vladyana Krykorka, has illustrate this book beautifully, infusing Allashua's face with touching expressions, and brining to life the various creatures of Kusugak's tale.

With the Inukusugak everywhere, escpecially in light of the Vancouver Olympics, this is a wonderful way to learn more about it, while enjoying a vivid and imaginative read.

Who Wants Rocks?

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak (auth)
Vladyana Krykorka (ill)
Annick Press 1999
Ages: 4-7 24 pages
softcover ISBN 10: 155037881
ISBN 13: 9781550375886
hardcover ISBN 10: 155037589x
ISBN 13: 9781550375893

Who Wants Rocks? is a poignant environmental tale, and stands out as a unique work from the rest of Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak’s stories. On the dedication page, he writes, “People talk about moving mountains. Yukon Territory, in Arctic Canada, is the only place on earth I know where they actually do it. This story came to me in Dawson City, Yukon.”

Move mountains? Yes, that’s right. Isn’t it amazing what greed can drive human’s to accomplish. Who Wants Rocks? tells the story of a prospector named, Old Joe. His discovery of gold in a stream sets off the Yukon Gold Rush. Each time he is lucky enough to find gold in a mountain, his excitement gets the better of him and he gives away his discovery. The other miners are quick to reduce that mountain to a pile of rubble. Little Mountain watches all of this. She watches as North Mountain falls, and then another. She feels a deep sadness and empathy as the great mounds are picked to rubble. At last, Old Joe climbs Little Mountain, but despite all his hard work, all he finds are rocks. So, he shouts out “Rocks!” instead of “Gold!” this time. The other miners shout back, “Rocks? Who wants rocks?” Old Joe climbs a mountain to the east and repeats his cry. It is then that he realizes that every time he finds gold, others strike it rich, but wealth still eludes him. He sits to rest and gazes out at Little Mountain. He becomes aware of the all of the wildlife that is supported by the mountain. He notices that people camp on her slope. He builds himself a home where he can view Little Mountain, having found the true riches he had dreamed of. No more mountains are invaded by miners because of him, and he finds a deep love for rocks.

This story is touching in a “Giving Tree” sort of way. The three inspirations (ok, well just the two eldest) were very moved by this story, and it was a topic of conversation, for them, for a very long time after we first read it. While it has not received enormous commercial success, it is my hope that it will slowly grow in the book buying public’s awareness. This is one of those books that should be on every school reading list. It speaks of greed and the consequences of it, it recounts an important piece of Canadian history, and it holds a contemporary tale of care for the environment.

The message of environmentalism, in this book, cannot help but hit its mark with children. Gold holds little wonder for children. A mountain being reduced to rubble is simply repulsive. This is compared to Little Mountain who was left unharmed. As usual, Kusugak paints her with such brilliant imagery that you cannot help but yearn to see her and bask in her abundant ecosystem. Even adults (and we are famed for our greed), will clearly prefer an intact mountain to a shiny little rock.

Vladyana Langer Krykorka illustrates Old Joe with charm and character. But don’t expect to see traces of A Promise is A Promise, here. Who Wants Rocks is a showcase of Krykorka’s vast vocabulary as an artist. These pages are filled with something completely different.

There is so much room for discussion, in this book. If you are a teacher, or even just a parent who enjoys challenging your child to examine their values, you will love Who Wants Rocks? It is the type of tale that will creep into your bones and stay with you long after you have closed the cover. This book deserves to have a place as a Canadian classic.

A Promise is A Promise

Robert Munsch & Michael Kusugak (auths)
Vladyana Krkorka (ill)
Annick Press 1998
Ages: 4-7 32 pages
ISBN 10: 155037009X
ISBN 13: 9781550370096

I am not even sure where to start, when it comes to A Promise is A Promise. Robert Munsch, Michael Kusugak, and Vladyana Krykorka. These are the thoroughbreds of the Annick stable.

A Promise is A Promise is the story of a defiant girl, Allashua, and her encounter with the mythical Quallapilluit. She is warned not to fish in the cracks in the sea ice, but ignores her parents advice. While alone, out on the sea ice, she is vulnerable to the Qualllapilluit who prey on children who are not with their parents. They pull her into the sea. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she promises to bring her brothers and sisters for the Quallapilluit. They throw her out of the sea and she is able to make it to her doorstep before losing consiousness. That is where her mother and father find her. After Allashua is revived, she owns up to what she has done. Her parents are disapointed with her, but they devise a clever plan to help their remorseful daughter. While the Quallapilluit are distracted, Allashua takes her brothers and sisters to the cracks in te sea ice. The evil beings are unaware that the children are there and thus miss their chance to claim their victims. After it is certain that the children are safe, Allashua shows much more caution, having learned her lesson.

There is no filler in this book. You can expect a nice hunk of meat. The imagery is something you can sink your chops into. Allashua taunts the Quallapilluit by saying that they "smell like a dead whale in the summertime", and their voices are described as sounding like "snow blowing over the ice". It will set your child's imagination on fire. And as if the descriptiveness of the story wasn't enough, the pages are filled with Krykorka's best work (ok, that's just my opinion, but I think it is a fair one). Her visual interpretation of the Quallapilluit would make you believe the creatures real, as if she painted them while they posed for her in her studio.

Kusugak and Munsch have written a book with a rich plot that appeals to the human experience of both the parent and the child. And have done so, wrapped up in an ancient piece of lore (that takes a bit of work). Allashua's defiant rational is spelled out for us, in the beginning in a way that children can relate to, and parents will become npstalgic over. When she finds herself in trouble, her parents do not rant and rave at her (like I would likely do, at least until page 28). They agree that her mistake was dumb, but as loving parents, they help her find a solution. We know, as caregivers that we would walk barefoot across the Arctic Circle for our children. It will tug at your heart strings. As for the munchkins (that's who the book is for right?), it is important for them to be reassured by a message of parents who will forgive anything and continue to love them. Clearly Allashua has made a whale of a mistake (one of those ones rotting in the summer), but the story is not didactic. We experience the remorse of Allashua, and the desperation of her parents. While a mythical story, the human element is raw and genuine.

As for my three inspirations, Koogiook (swan), Bunikpuk (big daughter), and Ukluk (bear), the real critics in this house, we've had the book for over a year and it comes off of the shelf more than once a week. I love reading it, their father loves reading it, their grandmother loves reading it, they love hearing it, and filling in the words they have now memorized (pretty much the whole book).

If you haven't read it, please, do. You will be well satisfied by the methods used to deceive the Quallapilluit. History, Anthropology, Mythology (and a whole lot more), wrapped in a thick fatty coating of delicious language. I rate it at the top of my all time favourite children's books.

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak: Storyteller, Man's Man, Children's Author

It was late April, 1948, and the temperature was between -25C and -30C when Kusugak and his wife, Kukik, travelled by dog sled to Qatiktalik (Cape Fullerton), NWT (now Nunavut). It was there in a small sod hut, on a beach along the west coast of Hudson Bay, that Kukik bore a baby boy. Shortly after giving birth, the family continued on to Repulse Bay, which is located in the Arctic Circle. Times were hard. At one point, Kukik’s milk even dried up because Kusugak had not had a successful hunt in a long time. The baby cried, until a friend shared his stores with the family and Kukik’s milk returned.

Sound like a synopsis for a Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak book? Well, it isn’t. What it is is a recount of his beginnings in the world.

Michael Kusugak spent his first twelve years in Repulse Bay, a community that was home to a Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trading post (where people could trade pelts for supplies like bullets and flour), and that only ran the flag up the pole when an airplane was coming. The people of the community spent their winters in igloos and their summers in tents.

One day, when Michael was seven, an airplane came that would alter his life. The plane would carry off Michael, and the children of Repulse Bay, taking them from their nomadic life of hunting and fishing, to attend residential school. Michael attended school in Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet, Yellowknife, Churchill and Saskatoon, before becoming one of the first Inuit from the Eastern Arctic to graduate school.

Michael did not take to school, in the beginning. He spoke no English and claims to have cried the entire first year. After his first summer vacation, the resourceful child hid in the hills, until he saw the plane leave- successfully skipping school for an entire year.

Michael did prove to be a good student, though. He showed an ability to command the written word, early on. However, with home calling his heart, he dropped out after his first year of university and returned to Repulse Bay.

But fate had not forgotten Michael. It visited him in the form of Robert Munsch, who stayed with Michael, while touring the North. Michael took the famous author hunting and fishing and entertained him with the stories he had been told by elders, when he was a boy. Robert Munsch asked Michael to write some of these down and send them to him in Guelph.

The rest, as they say, was history. After several drafts, Annick Press finally agreed to publish A Promise is a Promise. It is then that Michael met another important person, Vladyana Krykorka, who would illustrate his many books.

Several books followed A Promise is a Promise (for a list see below), as well as plays. He even received the Ruth Schwartz Award in 1994, for his book Northern Lights.

Michael’s skills as a storyteller are legendary. He blends his ability to tell tales with such traditional Inuit methods for story telling as using string and bones as props for illustration. As the father of four sons and the eldest child of twelve, himself, he no doubt, had a great deal of practice entertaining, long before he found fame.

Michael is in high demand to speak at schools, libraries, museums, and conferences such as the Northern Hearts Festival and the Allainait Festival in Igaluit(where he will be on the 24th of this month, telling stories and teaching string game workshops). His latest book is Igvillu: The Littlest Sled Dog , published by Orca Book Publishers.

For more booking information, or more information on this amazing author, visit his website at http://michaelkusugak.com/ .



*A Promise is a Promise (co-authored w/ Robert Munsch) (Annick Press, 1989)
*Baseball Bats For Christmas (Annick Press, 1990)
*Hide and Sneak (Annick Press, 1992)
*My Arctic 1, 2, 3 (Annick Press, 1996)
*Arctic Stories (Annick Press, 1999)
*The Curse of the Shaman, A Marble Island Story (Harper- Trophy, 2006)
* Igvillu: The Littlest Sled Dog (Orca Book Publishers)