The Legend of Lightning and Thunder

by Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt, Jo Rioux (Illustrator)

Overview

Shortlisted for the 2014 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award

In The Legend of Thunder and Lightning, a traditional legend that has been told in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut for centuries, two siblings resort to stealing from their fellow villagers.
In this tale of guilt and consequence, the actions of the two children lead them to flee punishment by escaping to the sky as thunder and lightning.
This beautifully illustrated traditional legend weaves together elements of an origin story and a traditional cautionary tale, giving young readers an accessible window into centuries-old Inuit mythology that is specific to the Kivalliq region of Nunavut.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927095287
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	07/31/2013
Edition description:	English Edition
Pages:	44
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt is from Baker Lake, Nunavut. She is currently attending Concordia University in Montreal. Growing up, formal education was strongly encouraged by her grandmother because she realized that this is the way to make it in the modern world. After high school, Paula attended Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa. There she learned much about Inuit history and culture. She realized how important it was to connect with her culture and began to learn as much as she could after her year in the program. She returned home for a year and learned how to sew, spoke to the elders in her community, and began to feel a very strong connection to her culture.

Jo Rioux was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. An artist from an early age, she was eventually drawn to children’s books, illustrating Swordquest for HarperCollins and the graphic novel series A Sam and Friends Mystery for Kids Can Press. Her love for the comic medium spurred her to author her first graphic novel series, Cat’s Cradle. She lives in the lush suburbs of her hometown, where, when not working at her drawing desk, she can be found nestled within a pile of books.

Editorial Reviews

Highly recommended for elementary school and public libraries . . . . 4 stars out of 4.”—The Deakin Review

“. . . [C]larity and richness of Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt‘s story easily and eloquently tells the legend.”—CanLit for Little Canadians

From the Publisher

01/01/2014
Gr 2–4—According to the foreword, this picture-book retelling of an Inuit myth is the product of an initiative to have Inuit elders share and record their own stories. The hoped-for results were to increase exposure for the traditional tales and to have new writers creating their own retellings. A hungry, orphaned brother and sister are looking for support in a world in which lying and stealing do not exist. After they are turned away from a celebration, however, they are forced to steal, and instead find a caribou skin, among other items, that they fashion into instruments and playthings. The world seems to react to their playing, creating waves in the sky as they bang on the skin, and the activity obviously takes their minds off their hunger and loneliness for a little while. When they hear members of the camp coming, however, they realize that they have to escape and run up into the sky to hide. Legend states that they remain there to this day in the form of lightning and thunder. The tale itself is well and simply told, and readers will be able to use context clues and illustrations to follow the story and identify important topics. The illustrations feature heavily in the book, setting off blocks of text with images of wide open spaces, muted colors, and natural scenes, and a focus on people-the siblings' forlorn expressions are very effective and will make readers root for these children.This title is ideal for reading aloud with a class or storytime group, and it lends itself well to discussions of moral ideas such as stealing and exclusion.—Heather Talty, formerly at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City

School Library Journal

2013-10-02
An orphaned Inuit girl and her brother flee to the sky and create the forces known as lightning and thunder. Hungry and rejected by those gathering for the spring festival, the girl and boy steal caribou meat and some necessities of daily living. Using the dried caribou skin and flint and rock, the children begin to have some fun, making noises and creating sparks. As they realize that they will be accused of thievery, they plan their escape. The younger brother suggests they turn into Arctic animals like "Rabbits? Ptarmigans? Grizzly bears?" The wiser older sister thinks flying into the sky is the better escape, and they go, bringing their playthings. And so the pourquoi tale explains that the children, when bored or lonely, create lightning and thunder. This Canadian publisher specializes in folklore retold by Inuit authors, in this case a young woman who has experienced both traditional and urban life. The illustrator has worked on contemporary graphic novels and combines a mangalike portrayal of the children with a more traditional style employed in Inuit printmaking. The brown and gray tones with just a hint of red evoke spring in the vast Arctic; the dejection in the lonely children's body language is palpable. An unusual tale with obvious curriculum applications in weather units or projects about the region, it also serves to bring the far north a little bit closer. (Picture book/folk tale. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews