Very Last First Time

Reads as if mythopoeic, also as if #ownvoices. I trust the history, the details revealed in the art of clothing, tools, housing, etc, and also of the biology of the tidal sea cave and the art of the ancestors. Too bad there's no note, but I still believe this is worthy of status as a classic, and of reprints to keep it in libraries.

Especially good for educators, of course, and not just of 'exotic cultures.' Really good example of strong (but not spunky or kick-ass) women, authentically holding to traditions to nourish their bodies and spirits.

Eva is going to walk on the bottom of the sea by herself for the very first time.
The gorgeous illustrations catch the eye first with this book. They radiate the cold and light on Northern Canada exquisitely. The text also draws the reader in because most of us don't understand what "walking on the bottom of the sea means, much less want to do it by ourselves. When Eva climbs down the hole into an under-ice world the text and pictures work together to really bring the reader somewhere new.
This is a lovely book, and I would recommend it for any elementary or public library, particularly if the library has no other books featuring Inuits.

Why is this her first time? I thought this might be an adolescent ritual - something to do as a rite of passage, but it will end up being her last time. There is a great deal of tension when she has wandered too far. This is like a fairy tale story where nature is the evil wolf.

One of the first books I read on my own. I remember it as being very thrilling, but apart from that it is about collecting something from underneath the ice during low tide, I do not remember much.

An Intuit girl gains courage by participating in her village's custom of walking on the bottom of the frozen ocean to collect mussels.

Jan Andrews was born in England and moved to Canada as a young woman where she wrote several children's book. She won numerous awards for her writing, including the Canada Council Children's Literature Prize. She travelled the world to collect folklore tales and produced two volumes of these tales.

Ian Wallace "attended the Ontario College of Art and has written and illustrated several hugely successful books that have won him many awards. He was Canada’s nominee for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award."
Illustrator's website

such beautiful and imaginative illustrations. The ice and snow is beautiful drawn and shown in all their colours

$5.95