From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8In the Arctic, an inuksuk is a stone construction that can act in the place of a human being. These structures, sometimes in human shape, have been built in the tundra to serve as directional signs; markers for sites of important events, food caches, or rest stops; memorials to beloved individuals; aids in hunting; and even as surrogate caribou herders. For the modern Canadian Inuit, they also serve as striking connections to the past. The introduction reminds readers that most people employ tools where human help is not available: scarecrows, traffic lights, statues, and signs serve as our modern equivalents. The author explores the meanings and uses of inuksuit and describes the people who built them and the Arctic environment. By providing both a historical and modern context for these structures, she helps readers view them as more than just artifacts. The numerous full-color and black-and-white photographs present a good mixture of current and historical images of inuksuit and the Inuit people. Wallaces landscape paintings are interspersed throughout the text. The artists vivid hues dispel the stereotype of a monochromatic north. Instructions for constructing an inuksuk and a glossary of Inuktitut words are appended. This well-designed book makes a much better introduction to Arctic life than the usual peoples-of-the-polar-regions overviews.Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
For hundreds of years the Inuit people living in the Arctic region of North America have built stone structures called
inuksuit. The various structures have been used to point the way for travelers, show where food is stored, and even warn of dangerous places. Wallace describes the daily routines of the Inuit as she demonstrates the importance of the
inuksuit, historically and in contemporary times. The last chapter demonstrates how to construct an
inuksuk. Children may be as fascinated with the examples of the Inuktitut language Wallace includes, which uses symbols to represent sounds. Numerous photos, many from the early 1900s, as well as colorful silk paintings, are scattered through the book, and there's a glossary explaining the Inuktitut words used for chapter headings and as titles for the paintings. An exceptional resource for study of the Arctic and Alaska.
Karen Hutt
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
