sweetest kulu written by celina kalluk and illustrated by alexandria neonakis

Kalluk, Celina. Sweetest Kulu, Illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis. Toronto: Inhabit Media Inc., 2014. ISBN: 978127095775

Plot Summary:
    Kulu is a young infant whose introduction into life and nature is told by his mother. Throughout his introduction to life and nature, his mother details how nature's visitors gift him with thoughts, feelings, and qualities that he will use within his lifetime. Some of the gifts and qualities given to young Kulu include: patience, instinct, balance, and tenderness. His mother continues to advise Kulu of the importance of these gifts as he lives with nature to ensure his meaning and sustainability in life.
           

Critical Analysis:
     Sweetest Kulu is a picture book from the USBBY Outstanding International Books list. By being included on this list, this book is known and recognized as an international book. The author, Celina Kalluk was born and raised in Nunavut, and incorporates her personal culture, beliefs, and traditions within this title which further strengthens her insider approach.
     The protagonist of this story, Kulu, is depicted as a sweet young infant who is greeted into the world by spirit animals, animals, and the nature around him. The author, Kalluk, shares her Inuit culture by how she describes how each animal, spirit animal and nature greets baby Kulu. She describes each greeting with a great sense of imagery as she coincides each element with a particular gift and characteristic. For example, Kulu is visited by the Muskox which shared heritage and empowerment in order to display protection. The muskox is an Artic ox known for its strength and protection of its territory and herd. Not only does the author successfully correlate the characteristics of each animal, but she also utilizes a method in which she maintains cultural authenticity as she includes animals that are among this particular country.
     Not only does the author provide her readers with vivid imagery to convey her story, but she also collaborates with illustrator Alexandria Neonakis. Neonakis incorporates beautiful acrylic illustrations which bring to life the words of the story of Kulu. As the author describes "waters so sea green," her readers are met with illustrations that utilize sea green colors that depict the home of the Arctic Char that is being described. The collaboration between the two allow for the story of Kulu to be enjoyed in a literary manner, as well as visually. 

Review Excerpts:

"Debut author Kalluk presents a series of warm affirmations for a newborn (the name "Kulu" is an Inuktitut term of endearment). Neonakis's artwork, while indebted in some places to conventional animation (the baby's button nose and rosebud mouth have a distinctly Disney feel), offers a genuinely folklike sensibility and strong, dynamic compositions. "Sweetest Kulu," Kalluk begins, "on the day you were born, all of the Arctic Summer was there to greet you." Neonakis paints baby Kulu (whose gender is indeterminate) nestled against its mother, whose long brown hair swirls around the baby like waves in the ocean. One by one, several Arctic animals offer Kulu their virtues: "Arctic Hare, with rock willow and roots,/ came to show you love so easily./ You became a best friend, baby Kulu, loving to give." Set in the world of the first peoples of the Arctic, the book hints at the idea of treating the Earth, its plants, and animals as a single living entity and suggests that a family's wishes for its children gain power from being spoken out loud." - Publishers Weekly

"Just when you thought your library didn't need another picture book about parental love, Kalluk and Neonakis have created this far North fantasy that combines awe and coziness in equal measure. Nestled in a warm snowsuit, baby Kulu (an Inuktitut endearment) receives gifts from a parade of magnificent Arctic well-wishers, including Caribou, Snow Bunting, Narwhal, Land, Sun, and Wind. The poetic text reads like a blessing for a new child, pointing out the splendors of the natural world while also invoking character traits that parents wish to inculcate in their children, such as patience and generosity. The pictures mix the warmth and sweetness of mid-century illustrators such as Mary Blair with an animation-style eye for the dramatic: Neonakis zooms in close, as when Artic Hare's cuddly body fills a spread, and pans out wide to show rugged mountain peaks and tundra vegetation. The length and sophisticated vocabulary of the text may overwhelm the youngest listeners, but nonetheless the book's tender rhythms and endearing images immerse readers in an experience of beauty and connection among living things." - School Library Journal 

"A newborn child is welcomed by the sun, the wind, the Arctic land and all its animal inhabitants, who bring gifts of love and self-respect.This sweet bedtime poem, in the tradition of Debra Frasier's On the Day You Were Born (1991), is filled with the animals of the far north and the values of the author's Inuit culture. Believe in yourself. Be generous and helpful, modest and kind, creative and spontaneous, patient and never lazy. "[G]et out of bed as soon as you wake." Look to the stars. Lead gently. Neonakis' illustrations use the colors of that northern world splendidly, especially the blues and greens of the water echoed by the baby's green footie sleeper with its fur-trimmed hood. Her animals—from snow buntings and musk oxen to Arctic char and beluga whales—are stylized but recognizable, and the baby is charming. The text, a series of stanzas spoken or sung by a mother to her child, is written in sentences that are lengthy for a poem or song, but the sections are patterned in a way that is soothing and predictable, and each includes an affirmation: "happy Kulu," "magnificent Kulu," "cutest Kulu," "beloved Kulu."" - Kirkus Reviews 

Connections:
Customers who bought this book also purchased A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat, Viva Frida, and Amazing Grace.

Interactivity:

• Ask children to choose an animal in the wild and correlate a quality they share with that animal.
• Have children inquire and/or research the meaning of their names and ask if they feel as if they encompass those meanings.
• Teach children the importance of valuing and cherishing their land and environment.

a time of miracles written by anne-laure bondoux

 

Bondoux, Anne-Laure. A Time of Miracles. New York: Random House Children's Books, 2009. ISBN: 9780385739221

Plot Summary:
     Blaise Fortune is a twenty year old refugee who retells his story of how he was saved from the arms of his mother after surviving a trail derailing. However, Blaise was saved by Gloria in the Republic of Georgia. After being saved by Gloria, Blaise depicts his constant struggle as the Soviet Union collapses and he and Gloria flee heading toward France. Throughout this journey Blaise seeks a better life while embarking on a journey to understand his own identity.

Critical Analysis:
     A Time of Miracles is an international work of fiction that encompasses many elements of multiculturism such as: cultural markers, an insider perspective, and a consistent historical setting. The author, Anne-Laure Bondoux is a French native who provides readers with an insider approach as she is able to portray the French culture group from a personal perspective through the protagonist of her story, Blaise Fortune. Bondoux sets the story of Blaise during the middle of when the Republic of Georgia was fighting for their independence from the Soviet Union. Throughout this novel the author includes vivid imagery and history which allows her readers to understand the struggle and civil war that refugees and their country were fighting for. As Bondoux depicts the journey that Blaise Fortune embarks on she utilizes cultural markers such as the English Channel, Charles de Gaulee Airport, and prominent historical figures. Not only does she incorporate a plethora of cultural markers, but she also includes the French language within the story of Blaise. This inclusion builds awareness of not only a foreign language, but it also strengthens Bondoux's cultural authenticity as it relates to this time era. 

Review Excerpts:

"An exceptional story." - School Library Journal

"[A] beautifully nuanced novel." - Publishers Weekly

"A refugee boy and his mother flee Georgia in 1989 and travel alone through the Caucasus for eight years to reach France. Koumaïl has always lived with Gloria, who tells him stories of rescuing him from a bombed train and stealing passports from his dead French mother. As civil war engulfs the Caucasus, they escape, moving from one refugee camp to the next, suffering hunger and illness. Along the way, Koumaïl makes friends and finds first love, supported by Gloria, who calls him her "little miracle," promises "tomorrow life will be better" and reminds him to "be happy... at all times." When they arrive in France, Gloria vanishes, leaving Koumaïl to survive alone to become a real French citizen. Koumaïl tells his story "in the right order," from the perspective of a 20-year-old refugee who ultimately discovers his true identity and that of the optimistic, resourceful woman who made "up stories to make life more bearable." A beautifully cadenced tribute to maternal love and the power of stories amid contemporary political chaos." - Kirkus Reviews

"Blaise Fortune—citizen of France—is telling his story, now that he's grown up. It starts when he was seven, living in the Republic of Georgia with other refugees fleeing as the Soviet Union dissolves. Life is uncertain, but Blaise (or Koumail, his Georgian name) has Gloria to love him and keep him safe. Her story says that she rescued him as a baby when his French mother died in a train explosion near Gloria's farm. Now they are on their way to France to make a new life; after all, Blaise is French, isn't he? Their extraordinary journey takes years, as they move slowly westward, mostly on foot, encountering other refugees, overcoming heart-stopping obstacles, and receiving help from local residents, including a restaurant cook and a Chinese forger. Most of their experiences will be hard for American teens even to imagine; one of the worst is digging through a huge hill of toxic debris for nickel wires that can be salvaged. Bondoux is sparing with words and scenes, yet deftly reveals tantalizing bits of the past as the travelers trudge through Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, and Germany. In Romania, with Gloria desperately ill, they are taken in and cared for by a band of gypsies. Will they make it to France? This novel of love, determination, and the power of stories is almost heartbreakingly poignant, especially when Blaise, as a young adult, finds Gloria after years of separation and learns her true story. Readers may want to whisper with him, "Deep down, I think I always knew it." Bondoux, an award-winning author in her native France, is well served here by translator Maudet." - Children's Literature

Connections:

Customers who purchased this title also purchased the following titles: Once, Bog Child, Rose Under Fire, and Then.

Interactivity:

• Ask children if they have ever moved from one state to another. After their responses, ask them the differences they encountered from different states.
• Have children research the history of the Republic of Georgia as they fought for their independence from the Soviet Union; this will allow them to see that it was that long ago.
• Ask children what was the longest trip they've ever been on. Now ask them how they would feel if they had to embark on a trip that lasted five years.