Immi's Gift

by Karin Littlewood

Overview

Two children half a world away from each other are connected in an unexpected way.

In a snow-covered world up north, a young girl is surprised when, instead of a fish on the end of her fishing line, there is a small, brightly painted wooden bird. Day after day, her fishing pole brings up more colorful surprises. When visiting the fishing hole for the last time, she drops a little wooden bear into the water.

Far away, a young boy walks along a beach in the hot, hot sun. He throws a colorful object into the water. Then something catches his eye. A small wooden bear washed up on the beach.

Karin Littlewood has crafted a simple, affecting story of how individuals around the world connect and enrich each other's lives. Her beautiful watercolor illustrations vibrantly depict the story's shifting locations—from the frozen Arctic to the tropical shoreline.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561455454
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	10/05/2010
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Karin Littlewood studied graphic design at Northumbria University and illustration at Manchester Metropolitan University. Nominated three times for the Kate Greenaway Medal, she has created more than thirty books for children as well as illustrations for magazines, newspapers, and packaging. Littlewood lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

A fur-clad Inuit girl searches for the brightest objects she can find in a "frozen white world," rendered in smudgy watercolor and gouache with colored pencil detailing. Ice fishing, she finds a painted wooden bird, followed by an orange starfish, a green leaf, and a purple feather, which she uses to adorn her igloo. The decorations bring visitors "from far and wide" (gentle polar bears, a walrus, rabbit, and wild dogs), who share "stories of faraway lands," as a blizzard swirls outside. When the snow starts to melt, Immi drops the bear from her necklace into the water, and on the final spread a boy on a tropical beach finds it in the sand. With shades of David Wiesner's Flotsam and Suzy Lee's Wave, it's a story with a quiet magic and beauty. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Skilled, appealing watercolor-and-pencil illustrations. A warm story that emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings on earth."—Booklist

★ "A story with a quiet magic and beauty."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Skillful painting and the softness of [Littllewood's] expressive pencil work beautifully impart this gentle tale."—Kirkus Reviews

"The painterly illustrations done in colored pencil, watercolor, and gouache capture Immi's frozen world."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2—When Immi, an Inuit child, goes ice fishing, she is surrounded by a world of white. Hoping to catch just one more fish, instead she pulls up a brightly colored wooden bird, its vivid appearance in sharp contrast to the ice and snow swirling around her. She adds it to her necklace, next to a small white bear. On the days that follow, she fishes out other brightly colored objects and hangs them in her igloo until it is awash in color. Various polar animals are attracted, and Immi snuggles with them while they share stories of faraway lands. When the snow begins to melt, Immi departs, but before she goes she throws her small white bear into the ice-fishing hole. It is later retrieved from tropical waters by the boy who has been tossing his brightly colored creatures into the waves. The painterly illustrations done in colored pencil, watercolor, and gouache capture Immi's frozen world, and her little flight of fancy seems logical escapism for anyone living even briefly in such isolated and lonely circumstances. This might be a jumping-off point to discuss how the imagination can provide relief and comfort, but it's an additional purchase.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal

Immi is alone in her icy, white world. But while fishing one day, the young Inuit finds a trinket at the end of her pole. New treasures begin to arrive—an orange starfish, a green leaf, a purple feather. Soon her colorfully decorated igloo attracts visitors, and her life is filled with conviviality and cheer. When the snow melts, Immi must move on, but first she drops her own cherished charm into the sea for another to find. As in David Wiesner's Caldecott-winning Flotsam, the ocean presents gifts, both physical and memorable, that are then passed on across continents and cultures. Littlewood conveys her affecting story with illustrations done in watercolor, gouache and pencil. Through her compositions, she is able to communicate the scale of the environment, the expansiveness of the snow and the isolation—and later joy—Immi feels. The illustrator's skillful painting and the softness of her expressive pencil work beautifully impart this gentle tale about the power of receiving—and of giving in return. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews