Michael Kusugak

As Aggataa spends time at her grandmother's hut, she is dismayed by the ravens that hang around, finding them ugly and their caws discordant. Her grandmother explains that the smaller raven follows her (the grandmother) because she took him in the previous winter, when he was injured. As winter turns to spring, and spring to summer, Aggataa enjoys the wealth of avian life that migrates to her area for the duration of these seasons. But when winter comes again, and the birds have flown, she show more finds the world rather silent and dreary. Until, that is, a familiar figure returns...

Published this past year (2020), The Most Amazing Bird is the second picture-book I have read from Inuit author Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak, following upon his Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails. Kusugak's story is accompanied by the illustrations of Andrew Qappik, an Inuit artist who is perhaps best-known for his work on the Nunavut coat of arms. I found the story here engaging, and appreciated the way in which the seasons were contrasted - winter with its few ravens, spring and summer with its wealth of different birds - and how Aggataa learned to appreciate both. The artwork has a simple quality to it that is appealing. I particularly liked that Qappik wasn't afraid of the white space on his page, given that he was depicting an Arctic landscape. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for stories set in the Arctic, or with an Inuit cultural background. show less

The Most Amazing Bird is a gentle story of a girl observing her surroundings and learning to appreciate the gifts of each season with the help of her grandmother. The language is simple and direct and, at times, beautiful in its description. The text is perfectly complemented by the drawings by Andrew Qappik. The spare, delicately coloured drawings illuminate the Northern landscape.

That both author and illustrator are Indigenous people helps to achieve a particularly unified vision for The show more Most Amazing Bird. show less

Inuit storyteller Michael Kusugak, and Czech-Canadian illustrator Vladyana Krykorka - an author/artist team that has also worked together on titles such as Baseball Bats for Christmas and My Arctic 1, 2, 3 - here join forces to tell the story of Kataujaq, a young Inuit girl (named after the rainbow) who loses her beloved mother to a sudden, unnamed illness. Quietly grieving over her loss for a number of years, she is eventually comforted by her grandmother's story of the Northern Lights - show more said, in Inuit tradition, to be the souls of departed loved ones - and their game of celestial soccer.

The winner of a Ruth Schwartz Award (subsequently renamed the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award) in the picture-book category, Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails combines a poignant tale of loss, and the comfort that tradition can bring, with lovely illustrations. I particularly liked the full-page portrait of Kataujag in her anorak, with the Northern Lights in the background! All in all, an engaging title, one I would recommend to young readers interested in the Northern Lights, or in Inuit Culture, as well as to children who have lost a parent, or other loved one. show less

This is a bit of a scary tale of a little girl who disobeys and as a result is visited by a Qallupilluq an imaginary Inuit creature kind of like a troll. The illustrations are wonderful but the whole concept is a little scary for very young children. Could be used to introduce different cultural beliefs into the classroom.