Very Last First Time [Hardcover]

Jan Andrews (Author), Ian Wallace (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2003 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Eva lives in an Inuit village in northern Canada. In the winter, people search along the bottom of the seabed beneath a thick shelf of ice for mussels to eat. Eva usually helps her mother, but for the first time, she’s going to go by herself. She soon gathers a pan full of mussels. But then, her candle goes out, and the tide threatens to return! When she is finally safe with her mother, Eva proclaims, “That was my very last first time walking alone on the bottom of the sea.” An ALA Notable Children’s Book, Very Last First Time comes from one of Canada's most distinguished storytellers and an award-winning illustrator.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In search of mussels while the tide is out, an Inuit girl walks alone beneath the ice of the frozen ocean, knowing she will never do it-for the first time-again. Pointillist paintings in purple and yellow emphasize the beauty of her undersea adventure. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3 Eva Padlyat had often walked on the bottom of the sea with her mother. This extraordinary-sounding feat is routine for the Inuits of Northern Canada, who lower themselves through the thick winter ice at low tide to search for mussels on the ocean floor. It is now time for Eva's first trip under the ice alone. She and her mother pull their sleds across the snow until they find a place to chisel a hole; then Eva carefully lowers herself into the darkness. Lighting a candle, she begins to look for mussels; she then goes exploring. When she hears the tide coming in and drops her candle, she feels panicky, but she soon finds her matches and another candle to light her way back to the ice hole. On the surface of the ice once again, Eva sums up her adventure as her "very last first time" for walking alone on the ocean floor. This look at Eskimo life today combines the ancient custom of collecting mussels with modern features such as airplanes and snowmobiles. The story is well-developed, with just the right amount of suspense. The watercolor illustrations are somewhat uneven in quality; the colors in the land scenes are rather garish, and some figures are awkwardly proportioned. The eerie shades of the ocean floor are quite effective, however, and the strange seascapes lend an air of unreality. Very Last First Time is an intriguing view of a little-known way of life. Lucy Young Clem, Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Lib . , Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088899043X
• ISBN-13: 978-0888990433
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Story that I found through Five In a Row, November 9, 2005

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Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Very Last First Time (Hardcover)

My children (1st & 2nd grade) really love this book. The premise had them leaping off the bed in amazement - "She goes under the SEA??? The ice is over her HEAD???? She goes by HERSELF????"

Every detail was interesting to them - the tools used to hack under the ice, the mother letting her child go alone, the small Inuit homes, Eva living in a land where no trees grew - and they had so many questions - most of which were answered by the end of the story.

We used the book to talk about:

1. mussels and how they grow & live,

2. tides, what causes them and how much the water level can vary between high tide and low tide,

3. the climate in northern Canada

4. the Inuits,

5. emergencies - what happens initially to our bodies when we are afraid, and what we should try to do so that we can get out of our emergency safely, and

6. pointillism and the artist Seraut, and we made our own pointillism art masterpieces with Q-tips and paint.

I did search the Internet for actual photographs of what Eva might have seen, but I couldn't find a single one! I couldn't find other references to the Inuit walking under the ice either. I would have loved to have shown those to my children.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful - a genuine adventure for young girls., July 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Very Last First Time (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback)

This is one of the best books for young girls that I have come across. A young Inuit girl is sent under the ice at low tide to collect muscles for the family.. this time by herself. She gets distracted, the candles burn out leaving her in darkness just as she starts to hear the water returning. What an adventure. I buy this book as a gift whenever I need a present for a beginner reader girl.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beneath the Ice....., May 5, 2003

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Last First Time (Hardcover)

"Eva Padlyat lived in a village on Ungava Bay in northern Canada. She was Inuit, and ever since she could remember she had walked with her mother on the bottom of the sea. It was something the people of her village did in winter when they wanted mussels to eat. Today, something very special was going to happen. Today, for the very first time in her life, Eva would walk on the bottom of the sea alone..." So begins Jan Andrews' tale of a young girl's first trip alone through the thick winter ice. In painstaking and intriguing detail she describes Eva's adventure; cutting a hole in the ice at low tide, descending to the dark ocean floor below, lighting candles to illuminate the sea bed, collecting mussels, and exploring this beautiful hidden world..... Ms Andrews' engaging tale, filled with history, mystery, drama, and suspense captures the imagination, and is rich in imagery and magic. Illustrator, Ian Wallace's quiet, dreamy artwork, in soft, textured tones, pulls the reader beneath the ice and right into the story. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, Very Last First Time is a fascinating and evocative experience that shouldn't be missed, and works well as part of a unit introducing the Inuit culture and way of life, or as a stand-alone for story time.