When Pumpkins Fly

Written by Margaret Lawrence

Illustrated by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-249-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2020

 

Though Halloween will be a very different holiday for many children this year, author Margaret Lawrence demonstrates for young readers how different it must always be in her territory of Nunavut when getting a pumpkin into the community is a very big thing.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

As always in remote communities like Margaret Lawrence's home of Sanikiluaq on Flaherty Island in Hudson's Bay, cargo flights play an important role in delivering much needed provisions. Getting a pumpkin is not as easy as heading to a field of thousands and picking out one.  When the pumpkins arrive and one becomes part of each class's celebrations, which includes carving and eating, a draw is held to select the lucky student from each who gets to take the carved pumpkin home.

As with all children who go out trick or treating, the children of the community dress up in the costumes but also in heavy coats and mittens and carry flashlights to ward off the darkness. But it's after the trick-or-treating and the community hall dance is over that young minds go to the dark places of the night.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

As I drift off, I think about the tunnaat who live out on the land. Halloween is a night to think about these ancient and wise beings that like to visit our community.

As the wind blows and temperatures drop, the child wonders about the pumpkin on the steps outside which may be appropriated by a fox or ravens but also perhaps tunnaat.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

The cargo planes may bring the pumpkins to Margaret Lawrence's home but When Pumpkins Fly brings all young readers to this Inuit community to experience a Halloween that is a little bit different. Though illustrator Amanda Sandland may live in the Toronto area, her artwork, with contributions from Margaret Lawrence, takes us to that cold climate for this annual holiday, ensuring authenticity of location with her landscapes and people. 

At its heart, Halloween is still an event of pumpkins and trick-or-treating for the children of Sanikiluaq and When Pumpkins Fly depicts it as such. But it is also a one-of-a-kind occasion for a community that enjoys the popular aspects of the holiday along with their own traditions. By allowing Inuit children the opportunity to see themselves and for non-Inuit children to learn about cultures other than their own, When Pumpkins Fly takes us all out on Halloween.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

When Pumpkins Fly is also available in Inuktitut from publisher Inhabit Media.

Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing

Written by Nadia Mike

Illustrated by Amanda Sandland

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-135-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2017 

Ukaliq is an Arctic hare and Kalla is a lemming and they are friends, though they are very different.  Ukaliq is energetic and loud and acts before thinking.  On the other hand, Kalla is careful, thinking before he acts and preparing for all circumstances.   When the impetuous Ukaliq disrupts Kalla’s quiet to insist they go fishing, their trip becomes a study in contrasts.

From Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing

by Nadia Mike 

illus. by Amanda Sandland

While Ukaliq is already heading out on his snowmobile, noisily disturbing the char beneath the ice surface, Kalla is thoughtfully preparing snacks and ensuring he has sufficient fuel.  Ukaliq has already been fishing, impatiently yanking on his line by the time Kalla arrives but it is Kalla who quickly catches the first of many fish.  Kalla tries to advise Ukaliq about patience, but the Arctic hare pays him no heed.  Eventually Ukaliq realizes the wisdom of Kalla’s approach, benefiting from the lemming's preparedness and attention to detail in more than a few ways.

From Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing 

by Nadia Mike 

illus. by Amanda Sandland

The lesson in Nadia Mike’s Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing is easily recognizable, making it essentially an Arctic fable about self-control and foresight.  The silly Arctic hare may appear to be the go-getter, but he’s loud, too quick off the mark and exasperating.  It’s the lemming who is shrewd and considerate.  With Amanda Sandland’s cartoon illustrations, the humour in Ukaliq’s brash and inconsiderate behaviour is unmistakable.  I suspect it’s better to laugh at his silliness rather than focus on how futile or dangerous his efforts are.  Kalla, on the other hand, is Yoda-esque, small in stature but big in heart and insight.

From Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing 

by Nadia Mike 

illus. by Amanda Sandland

With Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing, Nadia Mike and Amanda Sandland have created a children’s book that contrasts different personalities and teaches an obvious lesson about being self-possessed and cautious in the unique setting of the Arctic.  Moreover, this lesson is sure to be extended beyond just this book as it is also available in an Inuktitut edition and like another Inhabit Media picture book, The Owl and the Lemming, Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing has become a short (5 min.) film by Taqqut Productions.  

Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing Inuktitut edition

The Owl and the Lemming

by Roselynn Akulukjuk

Illustrated by Amanda Sandland

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-120-1

32 pp.

Ages 5-7

November 2016

Like Aesop’s Fables, The Owl and the Lemming is a tale with a moral but it is more than just a morality story. Through the words of Nunavut-born filmmaker Roselynn Akulukjuk and illustrator Amanda Sandland, this fable is an Inuit legend with a lesson based on a local predator-prey relationship amidst that Arctic ambience of mossy and rocky tundra.  The Owl and the Lemming is as elegant in its story-telling and art as it is wise in its teaching.

A young lemming makes her way out of the den in the spring to partake in some much-needed feeding on tasty moss.  So engrossed in her eating, she fails to notice a snowy owl land directly in front of the entrance to the lemming’s den.   The young lemming tries to trick the snowy owl with some juvenile ploys based on distraction but, though young, the owl is wise to her intentions. Finally the lemming invites the owl to play a jumping game with the lemming’s fate as a meal the prize.  The owl is only too happy to show his prowess at jumping, sadly for him allowing the lemming to scurry back into her den.  Though his father cautions him, “Next time, don’t play with your food” (pg. 25), the little owl knows it was his pride that cost him his meal.

That old adage of pride going before a fall is ever so true in this Inuit tale, told with humour by Roselynn Akulukjuk who directed a puppet-based film of the story for Taqqut Productions, just winning Best Animation at the 41st annual American Indian Film Institute Festival.  It’s an auspicious recognition of the talent of Roselynn Akulukjuk to tell such a legend with both clarity and richness, staying true to her Nunavut roots while extending herself into her new pathways for story-telling.  Similarly, Amanda Sandland uses her artwork to combine the whimsical with the realistic, creating composite images of drawings with photographic backgrounds.  With only a few touches of comic design, like the den’s doorway and fencing, added to the true tundra landscape, Amanda Sandland puts all her efforts in creating a lemming and an owl worthy of the legend’s title.

From The Owl and the Lemming 

by Roselynn Akulukjuk, 

illus. by Amanda Sandland

Readers should look for the release of Taqqut Productions’s film of this story, but indulge in this literary version from Inhabit Media for teaching and learning an important moral about pride and survival from a very northern perspective.