Grandmother Ptarmigan

by Qaunaq Mikkigak, Joanne Schwartz, Qin Leng (Illustrator)

Overview

It's bedtime for baby ptarmigan, but he will not go to sleep. So his grandmother decides to tell him a bedtime story that he will never forget. With delightful illustrations by Qin Leng, this book is a simple, nursery rhyme inspired rendition of a traditional Inuit origin tale.

Published for the first time as a board book under the Inhabit Junior imprint, this book is perfect for the smallest of hands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772273656
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Edition description:	Boardbook Edition
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.53(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Qaunaq Mikkigak is an elder, artist, and throat singer from Cape Dorset, Nunavut. She was born in 1932 in the Cape Dorset area and grew up on the land in a traditional Inuit community. She was featured in the books Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset and Cape Dorset Sculpture. She has collaborated with author Joanne Schwartz on picture book versions of two traditional Inuit tales, The Legend of the Fog and Grandmother Ptarmigan. She is well known locally for her storytelling, and her throat singing has been featured on several recordings.

Joanne Schwartz was born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She has been a children’s librarian in Toronto for over twenty years. Joanne has written articles for Canadian Children’s Book News and other publications. Her picture books include Our Corner Grocery Store, City Alphabet, and City Numbers. She has collaborated with Inuit elder Qaunaq Mikkigak on picture book versions of two traditional Inuit tales, The Legend of the Fog and Grandmother Ptarmigan. Our Corner Grocery Store was nominated for the 2010 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Joanne lives in Toronto with her two daughters.

Qin Leng was born in Shanghai and lived in France and Montreal. She now lives and works as a designer and illustrator in Toronto. Her father, an artist himself, was a great influence on her. She grew up surrounded by paintings, and it became second nature for her to express herself through art. She graduated from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and has received many awards for her animated short films and artwork. Qin has always loved to illustrate the innocence of children and has developed a passion for children’s books. She has illustrated numerous picture books for publishers in Canada, the United States, and South Korea.

Editorial Reviews

A brief, illuminating glimpse into Inuit storytelling.” —Kirkus Reviews

“. . . [D]eceptively simple but effective illustrations . . .”—CanLit for Little Canadians

"Grandmother Ptarmigan deserves a place with Aesop’s fables and fables of all types.”—CM Magazine

From the Publisher

2014-03-03
Grandma tries to help her little one fall asleep. The baby bird asks for a story, but Grandma says she has none to tell. The baby keeps asking, however, so finally Grandma obliges. In her story, lemmings want to join them to get warm. "They want to crawl up your back, / under your armpits, / around your neck. / They want to crawl inside." Clearly the little ptarmigan is uneasy, but Grandma tickles him all over anyway. Frightened, he flies for the first time—away from Grandma. Bereft, Grandma cries, "nauk, nauk." This is no ordinary bedtime tale but a pourquoi tale that explains why baby ptarmigans fly at a very young age and females cry. Children who are accustomed to cuddling at bedtime may find this storytelling experience a bit unsettling, but in the harsh natural world of the Arctic, it provides an explanation for observed behavior. Co-author Mikkigak is an Inuit elder, storyteller and performer, and the Canadian publisher is Inuit-owned. Non-Inuit readers will probably wish for notes and a pronunciation guide, but as a cultural expression, the book has its own integrity. Leng's art in browns and blues is lovely, employing short brush strokes that animate both feathers and flight. A brief, illuminating glimpse into Inuit storytelling. (Picture book/folk tale. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews