The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Overview

A riveting, unforgettable survival story, poetically told and exquisitely illustrated with rounded scratchboard art, that captures the strength and grace of Inupiaq culture.

In 1913, a boat called Fish, part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, became stuck in the Arctic ice. On board were a captain and crew, scientists and explorers, a cat, forty sled dogs, Inupiaq hunters, and an Inupaiq family with two small girls.

Even with the Inupiat and their skills of hunting and sewing, even with the family’s care and wisdom, even with the compassion and courage of their captain, odds for survival in the cold dark Arctic seem against the passengers of the Karluk.

And by the story’s end, readers will know something of the way of life in the high north, something of the song of the place, the wide sky, the sound of the wind, the ptarmigan.

This beautiful 48-page book includes details of centuries-old crafts and skills—of sewing boots from caribou legs and ugruk skin, of quickly cutting snow houses, of wearing wooden goggles to ward off snow blindness—that will enrich modern imaginations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618548958
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/28/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	310,772
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	920L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of Snowflake Bentley, winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal, and The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish, an ALA Notable Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Riverbank Review Finalist, Notable Social Studies Trade book and winner of The Golden Kite Award for Illustration. She grew up on a farm in Maine much like the one in this story. She lives in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Editorial Reviews

"Stylized scratchboard illustrations in soft beige, brown, gold, blue, and green tones add an emotional charge to this well-researched story of an Eskimo woman, her husband and children who, in 1913, found themselves aboard a Canadian Arctic Expedition ship, The Karluk. Excellent for multicultural studies or a theme dealing with the Arctic or survival." — School Library Journal (starred review)

"Martin includes details that will fascinate kids (Inupiaq sunglasses–how cool!). The quiet, intriguing language, with a poet’s attention to sound, will lull young ones into the story’s drama, as will Beth Krommes’ captivating scratchboard illustrations, suggestive of Lois Lenski’s work in their rounded shapes and bold lines. With its picture-book format and well-paced chapters, this is a great choice for primary classroom read-alouds." — Booklist

"Beth Krommes’s scratchboard art is outstanding. Ice, artifacts, and characters are delineated in handsome black, softened with crosshatching and a limited palette that ranges from sealskin brown to ice blue; sweeps of white space pull readers into windswept vistas or set off cozy iglu interiors. Art, narration, and information are all perfectly integrated in a story that makes a fine introduction to arctic exploration." — The Horn Book

"Martin’s text for this thrilling adventure is spare and poetic. The illustrations perfectly echo the text and the designs of the far north. This book belongs in any study of the Arctic, of native peoples, of exploration and discovery and of bravery and tradition." — “Into the Unknown” by Carol Otis Hurst, Teaching PreK-8

From the Publisher

The author merges fact and conjecture with mixed results in this dense account of the 1913 expedition of a ship named the Karluk (the Aleutian word for "fish"). The vessel sailed north from British Columbia toward the Arctic Circle and stopped at Alaska's Point Barrow to pick up an I upiaq family. The expedition's mission, "to study the plants and people in the high north," takes a backseat when the Karluk becomes locked in ice and eventually sinks--survival becomes the crew's goal. Unlike Snow Bentley, in which Martin neatly balanced the historical framework with telling anecdotes, here details of the expedition outweigh the human story--despite some interesting facts (e.g., "Qiruk, the mother, could look at a man,/ cut a fur skin with her round-bladed ulu, and sew a pair of pants/ that would fit him exactly"). Though the author guesses about how various family members feel while awaiting rescue (she writes about one daughter, "Maybe she looked into the seal oil lamp and heard/ her grandmother singing the song of home./ And she did not feel so lonely"), Martin does not speculate about why the I upiaq family leaves their grandmother and their home to travel by sea with strangers. Despite scattered moments of suspense and Krommes's (Grandmother Winter) engaging, earth-toned scratchboard art, youngsters are apt to find this journey laborious and slow moving. Ages 6-up. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-6-Martin has attempted a difficult task-to tell children the story of the last voyage of the Karluk. The tale, told several times before by survivors of the Expedition, is by all accounts a dramatic one. The Karluk, a past-its-prime, wooden Aleutian fishing vessel, was appropriated by Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who wanted to prove his theory that a continent underlay the Arctic ice cap. When the ship became icebound, he left the crew and a small I-upiaq contingent to fend for themselves. From there the Karluk drifted, was trapped fast in the ice, and then sank. Thanks to the skills of hunters Kataktovik and Kurraluk and skin sewer Qiruk (wife of Kurraluk), 14 of the party survived an ordeal that spanned 14 months. Briggs's poetic retelling focuses on the I-upiaq family, particularly Kurraluk and Qiruk's two young daughters. Evocative scratchboard illustrations show many details of the cultural and physical environment that cannot be detailed in the text. Black-and-white photos of the survivors will remind readers that this fantastic story is not just a yarn. The text may be too long to read aloud in one sitting to younger children, but there is no doubt that listeners will want to hear the whole story.-Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal