The Blind Boy and the Loon

by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Illustrated by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Daniel Gies

Inhabit Media

978-1-927095-57-7

48 pp.

Ages 6-10

2014

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril makes it clear from her preface that the story of The Blind Boy and the Loon, first developed into her film Lumaajuuq (National Film Board of Canada, 2010), is both just a small part of an epic story told by her Inuit elders and simply her version, with its mistakes and omissions, "which our elders would never have committed." (pg. 3) Honouring their telling of the story, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril has compressed it into just a few minutes of film and a mere 48 pages of impressive text and illustration to tell a story of cruelty and revenge and the origin of the narwhal.

Living with his sister and mother in the far north, a blind boy endures his mother's resentment and cruelty. With the return of spring, he gets his sister to lead him to the lake to visit with the loon, a creature with formidable eyesight.  In addition to learning that his mother was responsible for causing his blindness, the boy regains his eyesight after repeated divings into the lake on the loon's back. Fully-sighted again, the boy resumes whale-hunting and uses an outing to exact revenge on his mother, whose plunge into the water turns her into the narwhal, her braids twisted into its characteristic tusk.

The dark tale within The Blind Boy and the Loon is nurtured by the highly-stylized elements of the illustrations, from the simple lines of the boy in his parka, to the hills and waters of the harsh landscape. Using shades and tones of greys, dark teal and taupe,  The Blind Boy and the Loon is rich with uncompromising elements of unkindness, deep waters, and expansive tundra, all essential in supporting the story within.  While Alethea Arnaquq-Baril may undervalue the content or interpretation of her telling of this origin tale, The Blind Boy and the Loon is an accomplished and breath-taking rendition.

If you want to see the animation of the stunning beauty that is The Blind Boy and the Loon, sneak a look at the original short film Lumaajuuq (National Film Board of Canada, 2010) upon which the picture book is based.  You will not be disappointed, but rather stunned by the starkness of its richness.

The Door in the Mountain

by Caitlin Sweet

ChiTeen (imprint of ChiZine Publications)

978-1-77148-191-5

251 pp.

Ages 13+

March 2014

Reviewed from uncorrected proof

If you feel the cover image I've included above is larger than the norm posted here, it is.  I wanted to show readers the powerful cover of The Door in the Mountain so that you may well understand why I deferred (worthlessly, I might add) my reading of this young adult novel which helped launch Chizine Publications' new imprint, ChiTeen. The minotaur-like creature frightened me, as I'm sure he would have if I'd met him in a dark, lonely labyrinthe.  While there are treacherous acts and despicable characters in The Door in the Mountain, however, I should not have allowed the cover to discourage my reading.  I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.  It was like rubber necking at a horrific accident.  You had to see how it would turn out.

"How what turns out?" you might ask.  Well, if you think the stories of Greek mythology have already been told, you are so wrong. What we won't know how it turns out is the culmination of Ariadne's rivalry with all her god-marked siblings, most especially Asterion, her youngest brother, marked by the Bull-god himself, Poseidon. Seems their mother, Pasiphae slept with Poseidon's priest to ensure that son would be god-marked by Poseidon, same as herself, in conflict with her husband, King Minos, who'd been marked by Zeus. (Gifting by a god manifested itself in powers such as shooting fire from one's hands, controlling water, crafting marble, creating wind, etc. ) Shamefully unmarked, Ariadne often found comfort as a child at the workshop of craftsman, Daedalus, whose own son, Icarus, sprouted feathers and bird-like features, though he could not fly. But as she grew older and more beautiful, she found consolation, at least temporarily, in humiliating, even hurting, her siblings.

One of her first acts of vengeance against her little brother Asterion, then age 2, begins as a ploy to see if her hypothesis that his little horns reacted to heat was valid.  Young Asterion endures the pain of being badly burned, but this does not appease Ariadne as the boy's transformation into a bull is seen by her mother and Poseidon's worshippers as another honour bestowed upon him.  Now Ariadne receives even less attention as Asterion is regarded as god-like and included in regular rites of the priests and priestesses.

When Ariadne's eldest brother, Androgeus, is murdered while attending the Games in Athens, everything changes.  Without the protection of Androgeus and with the assignment of Chara, Asterion's only friend, to be Ariadne's slave, Asterion's fate becomes tragically directed by Ariadne's evil resentment. The Greek myths may suggest where this story may go but don't doubt that Caitlin Sweet will show you another path.

More crushing than a Shakespearean tragedy and more surreal than the myths we heard as children, The Door in the Mountain overwhelms. Jealously begets evil, and propositions become ritual sacrifices, and there are no promises or trust that can survive. The only prospect for redemption must come at the pen of Caitlin Sweet as the fates of all in The Door in the Mountain achieve no resolution.  You may hate Ariadne's wickedness and cheer for Chara's eternal caring.  But to what end? Only Caitlin Sweet and perhaps the Greek gods know.  I will leave that capably in her (their?) hands for now.

You can check out Caitlin Sweet's progress on Book 2 on her blog at http://caitlinsweet.com/

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nota bene
Again I have learned never to judge a book by its cover. (But, just so you know, ChiZine Publications, the weird face on your address labels and some marketing concepts still creeps me out. Big time.)

The Camel in the Sun

by Griffin Ondaatje

Illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-381-0

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2013

Imagine the oppressive, unrelenting heat of the desert east of the Red Sea, and the heavy, cumbersome weights of spices, silk, silver, wool and such that a camel has been forced to carry year after year for a merchant who disregards his beast of burden, only focusing on reaching his destinations so that he may rest in the shade and become more prosperous. 

Not surprising that, after many, many years of such toil and hardship, a camel would become overwhelmed by the sadness of his situation, shedding tears for the futility of his life and his suffering, both past and yet to endure. The merchant witnesses the tears but chastizes the camel for wasting time and keeping himself away from the water the camel requires.

A chance encounter with the Prophet gives the camel the emotional and physical support to release his sadness, trembling in heaving waves of unhappiness against the Prophet's shoulder.  But as the camel sobs, his tears enter the dreams of the merchant who sleeps in the cool shade just steps away from the camel tethered in the hot sun.  When the merchant awakens from his grief-stricken sleep filled with tears and heartache, the Prophet simply asks, "Can't you see that the camel is sad?"  Yes, he finally can.

Inspired by a traditional Muslim hadith–an account of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings–Griffin Ondaatje (yes, son of Michael Ondaatje) simply and eloquently conveys the lesson that empathy has value in making respectful connections between living things, resulting in greater peace and contentment.  The text of The Camel in the Sun is appropriately subdued, never rushed but epitomizes the plodding burdens, physical and emotional, endured by the camel. The illustrations by Austrian Linda Wolfsgruber complement the very essence of this retelling of the hadith, conveying the vastness of the world and its overwhelming nature while still emphasizing the importance of compassion on a one-to-one scale.  Respectfully, the Prophet is never illustrated and the faces of both the merchant and camel are ambiguous, allowing the reader to extend the message in The Camel in the Sun–empathy as the foundation of all positive relationships–to all living things, human and otherwise.