The Hungry Giant of the Tundra

I recommend The Hungry Giant of the Tundra because it’s a super funny and entertaining story. I loved how the clever animals outsmarted the giant. It’s a great read for anyone who enjoys playful and imaginative tales.

The Hungry Giant of the Tundra is a traditional story with a giant similar to that of Jack and the Giant Beanstalk. The story is about Yupik children playing in a field who chose to not listen to their parents and go inside when it was getting dark. Consequently, the giant was able to find them and takes them to be eaten. With the help of animals, the children were able to escape and the giant falls into the ocean and is swept to see. The illustrations are rather dull in regard to color, but they capture a lot of traditional Yupik clothing and Alaskan scenery and animals. The tone of the book feels cautionary, like a warning to children who do not follow directions. It’s not a book I would pick up again unless I was doing a compare show more and contrast lesson between tales of different cultures.

Alaskan Connection: Yupik children, Alaskan animals
Activity: Compare and contrast tales across cultures featuring giants, discuss following rules, safety, and consequences. show less

Village children are out playing too late, and as the sun sets, they fail to heed their parent’s calls home. A giant appears and captures them, but because he’s not very bright, he puts them somewhere safe to go find a knife. The children get some unlikely help from a crane and use their wits and skills to escape and join their village again.

Fun illustrations and an emotional story make for a good book about listening to parents and cooperating to accomplish goals.

Fiction: Picture Book
Sloat, Teri The Hungry Giant of the Tundra. Illust. by Robert and Teri Sloat. Alaska Northwest Books, 1993. Unp. Primary/Intermediate
Delightful retelling of a Yupik folktale. Northern village children who refuse to go inside when their parents call are captured by a hungry giant and with the help of Crane, must use their wits to escape. Told as a narrative with a straightforward style, theme is importance of obedience. Illustrations are colorful and depict tundra life realistically.
AK: Northern village life, tundra, crane
Activity: Ask children if they thought the giant was scary. Have they seen cranes before? If so, what do they look like? What kind of sounds do they make?

SS
Alaskan/Canadian folktale, consequences of disobeying parents