Painted Skies

by Carolyn Mallory, Amei Zhao (Illustrator)

Overview

Leslie is new to the Arctic, and no one told her there would be so much snow, and so many interesting animals to see. Along with her new friend, Oolipika, Leslie soon discovers one the Arctic's most unique and breathtaking natural wonders, the northern lights.
Having never seen such lights before, Leslie is understandably shocked by them. Oolipika, on the other hand, knows that the ancient lights are more than just colours, and that the mischievous, playful spirits that the northern lights hold can be dangerous.
This contemporary narrative introduces young readers to an Inuit legend about the northern lights, followed by an epilogue that explains the science behind this amazing natural phenomenon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772272192
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Edition description:	English Edition
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Carolyn Mallory grew up in northern Ontario, raised her own three children in Nunavut, and has always considered herself a northern girl. She loves snow, animals, the tundra, wildflowers, reading, writing, and painting. She is the co-author of Common Plants of Nunavut and the author of Common Insects of Nunavut. She now lives in Nova Scotia with her dogs, cats, lizard, gerbils, frogs, fish, and a house-pig named Stella.

Amei Zhao works in visual development and production design for TV and feature animation.

Editorial Reviews

Painted Skies not only finds a way to demonstrate the richness of the northern lights but also convey the Inuit tale of its origins . . . .”—CanLit for Little Canadians

From the Publisher

2015-08-12
A young newcomer to the frozen north sees the northern lights for the first time and hears the Inuit legend associated with them. Awed and frightened by the sweeping trails of green and pink in the sky, Leslie starts to whistle—and is frantically shushed by her friend Oolipika, who explains that, according to her grandmother, the lights are Anirniit, spirits, playing a game with a walrus skull, and the sound will draw them dangerously close. Ghostly figures chase a nebulous "ball" across starlit skies bright with shimmering curtains of light in Zhao's atmospheric illustrations, and Mallory caps her matter-of-fact descriptions of two girls playing in the snow and then standing, awestruck, to view the show with a poetic flight: "Sometimes green, sometimes red, / the night sky dances…." A following final note on what science has to say about the aurora's causes brings the encounter to an informative if prosaic close. A touch bland, but a glimpse at least of the phenomenon's visual wonders and a widely told bit of related folklore. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews