Everyone Gets a Turn

Written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

Princeton Architectural Press

978-1-7972-2729-0

60 pp.

Ages 3-6

March 2024 

Turtle, Hare, Bear and Mouse are spending a beautiful day in the forest, when they discover an egg. They decide they will each take turns caring for it. 

From Everyone Gets a Turn, written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

At Mouse's house, a voice from within the egg declares that it is cold so Mouse hurries to remedy that. First, Mouse lays a fire and then he wraps the egg in a scarf and a hat. Mouse is very kind and accommodating,

The next day Mouse takes Little Egg to Bear's house. But Bear's lifestyle is a little more active, and while he exercises Little Egg cracks. Though it's apparently too tight inside the shell for Little Egg now, it needs a little help to get out. When Little Bird finally emerges, exhausted for her efforts, Bear offers comfort.

From Everyone Gets a Turn, written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

Then, it's on to Hare's house where the rabbit is surprised to see a bird, not an egg. But now Hare has to meet another need for their new ward: food. And though Hare has a stacked pantry, it's a bit of a mystery what Little Bird will eat.  

 

Finally Little Bird is taken to Turtle's place, a house of wonders. It’s filled with trinkets that have stories and that sparkle and that amaze Little Bird and make her dream.  

From Everyone Gets a Turn, written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

But when Turtle wakes up the next day, he is bereft that she is missing. All the friends are in tears, until they realize that Little Bird’s absence is just the next step in the bird’s development. Gone from one place, or four places, does not mean gone forever.

 

Each of the friends gets a turn with Little Egg/Little Bird and each excels at giving their ward exactly what she needs, whether it’s a little warmth, a little assistance in cracking the shell, sustenance, or the inspiration to dream. Like parents who must support and encourage their children until they are ready to become independent, the four friends learn to work together to be everything Little Egg/Little Bird needs until she can do for herself. And just because she has become independent, it doesn’t mean that she longer wants them in her life. Marianne Dubuc gives us a story that all parents will need to learn sometime in their children’s journey to adulthood. Her message is one of love and support but also the courage to let them fly and be their own selves. 

 

Marianne Dubuc has always created soft worlds, just as she did in On Baba's Back, Bear and the Whisper of the Wind, and Little Cheetah's Shadow. Like Beatrix Potter, who could see worlds and relationships within the animals of the natural world, Marianne Dubuc takes us into their homes, the forests, and the meadows with her subtle use of ink, watercolour, and coloured pencil. She shows us ourselves as we are or could be: friends, parents, children, good people. And she teaches sophisticated lessons of sharing and caring delivered by sweet creatures who are uniquely themselves, while being supportive and cooperative. And though a message about sharing and taking turns may seem paramount according to the title, Everyone Gets a Turn also speaks to the steps we all take in our development, going from needing to be nurtured to shifting to self-actualization.

Tanna's Owl

Written by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-250-5

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

January 2020

In "A Greeting from Rachel" as the preface to the book, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley recounts how all animals were important and considered family. When her father brings home an orphaned baby snowy owl, she learns an important lesson about caring and ownership.

I don't think you can really own an animal. Or a piece of Land. Or anything, actually. You can only bring things together. Learn to help. To care.

The little grey and brown owl with the big eyes that Tanna thought to be ugly at first needs lots of care. They house the little bird whom they called Ukpik (Inuktut for owl) in her father's workshop. It needs to eat several times a day and that means Tanna and her siblings must go out to catch lemmings. When Ukpik does not get her food right away, she stomps and sways and chomps in her demanding way.

From Tanna's Owl by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

As Ukpik grows, becoming both bigger, less cute and more dangerous with her sharp beak, Tanna continues to feed her, now giving her any kind of meat or fish. When Tanna takes her outside, Ukpik looks interested in flying, flapping her wings, but she is too young to fly yet. After Tanna goes away to school and returns the following summer, she learns that Ukpik is gone.

"It was grown," Father told her. "The owl didn't belong to us. It had to fly free."

From Tanna's Owl by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Though the child had felt burdened taking care of the little owl, she missed Ukpik. So when she spots a fully grown snowy owl, Tanna hopes that maybe it was the owl she'd cared for.

From Tanna's Owl by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Though many a child will bring home an animal for which to care, Tanna's Owl is a unique tale of the far north and embedded in a culture and heritage that respects its animals as part of the Land or Water or Sky. Tanna's father is very matter-of-fact about her need to care for the orphaned bird but also for its need to leave when ready. Staying as a family pet was not respectable nor natural. Tanna knows this in her heart but she obviously comes to care for the animal who may not have seen the little girl as more than a food source. Fortunately, her father's wisdom is subtly shared with the child about what she needs to do, positive or sad.

Nunavut's Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley's stories always bring readers to an Inuit world of place, people and experience. I've reviewed a variety of their tales from origin stories in How Things Came To Be: Inuit Stories of Creation (Inhabit Media, 2016) to history in Tuniit: Mysterious Folk of the Arctic (Inhabit Media, 2015) or picture books like Lesson for the Wolf (Inhabit Media, 2015). They provide a real glimpse into life in the Arctic for the Inuit people and a reminder that they reside in a natural world that is vast and complex. With their stories, we learn more each time. Accompanied by the simple and informative illustrations by Toronto's Yong Ling Kang, children will see what a baby owl and a full-grown snowy look like as well as how an Inuit family may live. The art depicts a modesty of life with a practicality of wisdom and pleasures while still representing familial and natural connections.

Inviting us in to learn the story of Tanna's Owl, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley with Yong Ling Kang have taught us more bout compassion, responsibility and respect, as well as cultural experience, than any school lesson might.

From Tanna's Owl by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull

Written by Nancy Mike

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-166-9

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2017

When her father Livee brings home a baby seagull, seven-year-old Elisapee adopts it, calling it Naujaaraq or Nau for short.  She adores the little bird, caring for it as a mother would: making a soft bed for it and gathering sculpins and other food to feed it.  As Nau grows and begins to accompany Elisapee outdoors, they realizes they must encourage Nau to learn to fly.  After a few attempts, Nau takes to the air and even joins other seagulls, returning nightly.  Giving Nau a pink ribbon for her foot, Elisapee is delighted to be able to pick out Nau amongst the other gulls. And then a few days pass and Nau never returns.  Learning about loss is a hard lesson for Elisapee but one she accepts, rich in memories and understanding for the wildlife of the Arctic.

From Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull 

by Nancy Mike 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Only in the Arctic, a world of sculpins and krill, tundra and brilliant northern lights, could the story of Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull be as real as it is.  Most children will have brought home a found animal or injured bird to tend at home until time to let it go but Elisapee with the help of her little brother Jimi extends her care for Nau beyond the norm.  She gathers food along the shore, she draws pictures of the seagull, and she doesn't squirrel it away in her house to ensure it never leaves her, as some children may be want to do.  Elisapee is a mother in spirit and action, knowing the time would come for her little one to leave the nest, and, though it saddens her, she accepts it as a part of life.

This is Nancy Mike's first picture book and it is based on a childhood experience in Nunavut.  Her devotion to Nau and delight in her is palpable, raising the story from one about removing an animal from its habitat, as might be the case here in southern Ontario, to one of fostering a little one until it is ready to leave the nest and be with its own kind.  Charlene Chua, who illustrated previously-reviewed Akilak's Adventure (2016) and Fishing with Grandma (2016), brings that wide-eyed wonder and adoration to life in her artwork.  She also embeds the story in an Arctic environment and Inuit culture, making it all the more authentic.  

The beautiful spirit that Elisapee remembers as Nau is there in the story too.  It is the spirit of childhood and home, all the more memorable for being shared with the feathered and non-feathered.

From Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull 

by Nancy Mike 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Kamik Joins the Pack

by Darryl Baker

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-125-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

October 2016

Like Inhabit Media’s original Kamik story (Kamit, An Inuit Puppy Story by Donald Uluadluak, 2012), and its sequel (Kamik’s First Sled by Matilda Sulurayok, 2015), Kamik Joins the Pack is adapted from the memories of the author, here from Darryl Baker, an Inuit teacher and dog musher who learned about raising dogs from his late brother-in-law Bernie Sulurayok.  In Kamik Joins the Pack, Jake now is learning from his uncle how to care for his dog, Kamik, to help the husky ultimately become part of a team.

From Kamik Joins the Pack 

by Darryl Baker

illus. by Qin Leng

Jake is proud to show his uncle how well behaved Kamik is, hopeful that his puppy would lead the boy’s own dogsled team one day.  Jake’s uncle, well-versed in raising dogs to be mushers, demonstrates to Jake that there is more to making a dog a musher than just putting a harness on.  He teaches him about keeping Kamik healthy by checking his nails and paws and ensuring that he is always well fed.  He also indicates that Jake must learns some additional skills like braiding and repairing leather for harnesses, repairing a sled and building shelter for his dogs if the boy is to become a successful musher like his uncle.  But, the ultimate test comes when Jake’s uncle adds Kamik to the end of his own pack to see how well the puppy fares in a trial run.

From Kamik Joins the Pack 

by Darryl Baker 

illus. by Qin Leng

There are many Inuit and children of northern climes for whom this story will resonate.  They will recognize the landscape, the dogs, the mushing, and the wisdom imparted by Jake’s uncle, lessons which author Darryl Baker undoubtedly learned from his accomplished brother-in-law. But every child will recognize the value of caring for one’s animals and the skill-building necessary to ensure their well-being.  Kamik Joins the Pack is both a story of lessons and hope, about a future and achievement that comes from doing things well and in small steps.  Darryl Baker makes sure that readers get this message, just as Jake’s uncle emphasizes the same to his nephew.  But while teaching important lessons, Kamik Joins the Pack has a light story-telling feel to it, more sharing than preaching, and much of this has to do with Qin Leng’s artwork.  Just as she illustrated Kamik, An Inuit Puppy Story and Kamik's First Sled, Qin Leng uses the almost weightless touch of fountain brush and ink with high-contrast colours against the snowy background to keep the story graceful and self-assured, not unlike Jake’s uncle’s teaching.  Kamik is growing up and young readers, both those familiar with his home and those of more southern habitats, will enjoy watching his progress.