The Orphan and the Polar Bear
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
In the world of
Inuit traditional
stories, animals
and humans are
not such different
creatures. Animals
can speak to,
understand, and
form relationships
with humans.
In The Orphan
and the Polar Bear
an orphaned boy
who is abandoned
on the sea ice by
a group of cruel
hunters is discovered and adopted by a polar bear elder. While
living in the polar bear’s village, the orphan learns many lessons
about survival, but most importantly, he learns something about
himself and his own place in the world.
This book—retold for contemporary audiences by Inuit elder
Sakiasi Qaunaq and illustrated by internationally renowned artist
Eva Widermann—makes this beautiful traditional tale widely
accessible for the first time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Qaunaq, an Inuit elder, retells a traditional story about an orphaned boy who is educated in the ways of being "a man and a capable hunter" by a wise polar bear. Both the folkloric narrative and lush artwork command attention, though the story itself may puzzle readers at times. The unnamed orphan lives with his grandmother and a group of hunters; the boy accompanies the men on walrus-hunting expeditions, but they abandon him after each one (why is never made clear), forcing him to find his way back alone. On one occasion, the boy is confronted by a polar bear that briefly transforms into a man, then takes the boy back to a bear colony where the boy learns to defend himself. In the book's most dramatic but fuzzy sequence, the boy kills an aggressor polar bear; soon after, the bear resurrects itself and, after screaming angrily for the boy, suddenly extends the paw of friendship. Widermann's dramatic and sharply drawn pictures of the bears and the icy polar landscape go a long way toward smoothing over the story's rougher patches. Ages 6 10.
