Torvald Sund

Mari, her baby brother Jon, and her mother and father set out on the day-long skiing trip from their holiday cottage deep in the mountains to their home in the village in this engaging Norwegian picture-book. Halfway home, they become caught in a terrible blizzard, and must dig themselves a snow hole, in order to weather the storm. After more than a day in this subterranean refuge, they are finally able to emerge, making the rest of the journey with the help of Arvid Jama, a Sami man with a snow scooter. Once home, Mari can share her adventures with her admiring friends...

Originally published in Norway in 1984 as Snøstormen, and then translated by Michael Crosby-Jones into English in 1985 for the St. John's, Newfoundland-based publisher, Breakwater Books, The Snowstorm pairs a gripping but understated story from author Torvald Sund with lovely, impressionistic artwork from illustrator Wenche Øyen. The story is told from Mari's perspective, and touches upon the real danger faced by her family, while also offering the reassurance that her capable parents know what they are doing, when it comes to surviving in the wild. I was surprised to see the term 'Laplander' being used to describe Arvid Jama, as I had understood this to be an outdated and potentially offensive term, but perhaps Sami had not been adopted as the more common word to describe these people of northern Scandinavia, back in the 1980s. This is fairly text-heavy for a picture-book - one might almost say it was an illustrated short story, with full-page illustrations on the right side of each two-page spread paired with full pages of text on the left - so I'd recommend it to slightly older children, who have the attention span for longer tales. I'd also recommend it to readers interested in Norwegian children's literature.… (more)