From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3. In 1885, an Inupiat family journeys first to the mountains where the river begins, and then to the sea where the river condenses into fog and "goes home." The story is narrated as a boyhood memory of a trip to a trade fair. The writing is simple and dignified, giving a poetic impression of life before European contact, and of the water cycle as well. A historical note at the end mentions the ways in which the Inupiat differed from their neighbors and the importance of the annual Sisualik trade fair in their life. Paintings in a warm brownish-gray illustrate the story; the medium is octopus ink. The technique resembles Japanese sumi-e painting, and it is very well suited to the text. The faces of the people are appealing, and the fur of their garments looks soft enough to touch. Details such as the construction of the umiak, the large skin-covered boat in which the family travels, are carefully portrayed. An attractive, unusual offering.?Pam Gosner, formerly at Maplewood Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Ages 5^-7. A young boy and his parents travel upstream into the mountains, then down to the coast, where many people gather to trade oil, sealskins, flour, coffee, cloth, beads, jade, and ivory. Along the way, the boy's father shows him the river's origins in the mountain snow, a small stream, the falling rain, and even the coastal fog. An appended note explains the historical basis for the story, set in 1875 among the Inupiat people of the Kobuk River. Octopus ink is the illustrator's medium. The sepia-toned artwork has a soft-edged quality, though the characters' faces are somewhat more closely defined than other aspects of the illustrations. The story is told in the first person but seems more like an adult recalling his childhood and retelling an incident for another generation. Of particular interest to teachers seeking picture-book stories related to the water cycle or the native peoples of Alaska.
Carolyn Phelan
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
