Out of the Ice: How Climate Change is Revealing the Past

Written by Claire Eamer

Illustrated by Drew Shannon

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-731-6

32 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2018

In another life, I did research on the historical record trapped in peatlands in Alberta. Most people would be fascinated to learn that deep within the plant material there are records of volcanic eruptions from thousands of years ago, deforestation and agriculture in the surrounding areas, and more.  Claire Eamer, prolific writer of non-fiction including Inside Your Insides: A Guide to the Microbes That Call You Home (Kids Can Press, 2016) and What a Waste! Where Does Garbage Go? (Annick Press, 2017), brings similar information from the past as it is trapped in frozen water from glaciers, permafrost, and more, now being revealed with the global warming of the Earth's air, ground and water.

Starting with explanations about global warming and how the Earth acts as a greenhouse, Claire Eamer then focuses on specific circumstances under which clues from the past become revealed. There is the 4300 year old stick with a bit of feather and sinew found in ice patches in the Yukon alongside 2400 year old caribou dung, revealing the first organic evidence of the hunting atlatl, a stick used to throw darts. There are more archaeological clues from Norway, spurred on by the Yukon finds, of large groups of people using scaring sticks to funnel herds of reindeer for easy hunting. In 1999, the mummified body of Kwädąy Dän Ts'ìnchį, meaning "long-ago person found", was discovered at the edge of a melting glacier in BC, providing evidence of his age, food eaten, and clothing worn, as well as his ancestry through DNA. The famous Iceman, Ötzi, found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, is also discussed, as are the Scythians in the permafrost of the Altai Mountains of Asia, the Incan children of Llullaillaco, sacrificed to the gods and buried high in the Andes, and the cave-lion cubs and mammoths discovered in Siberia and Russia.

From Out of the Ice: How Climate Change is Revealing the Past by Claire Eamer, illus. by Drew Shannon

 All these discoveries further our understanding of the people and animals who inhabited these areas, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of years ago. With contemporary testing and advances, like radiocarbon dating, and biochemical and DNA analyses, more and more can be learned about them and their world, which Claire Eamer recognizes is our world too.

 "The past is us." (pg. 29)

Drew Shannon, a Toronto illustrator, provides realistic depictions of how these people and animals might have lived, giving context to the circumstances of the artifacts and bodies recovered. A photograph for each story is usually provided but Drew Shannon's illustrations help the reader see beyond the science and into the lives of those left behind and now being exposed. Coupled with information boxes, a glossary, a timeline and references for further study, Out of the Ice: How Climate Change is Revealing the Past becomes a well-organized and informative read that still draws the reader in with its compelling stories of lives lived before, useful for teaching the science of climate change or history and archaeology.

From Out of the Ice: How Climate Change is Revealing the Past by Claire Eamer, illus. by Drew Shannon

When the Moon Comes

Written by Paul Harbridge

Illustrated by Matt James

Tundra Books

978-1-101-91777-0

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2017

In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive. – Stephen Leacock

With Stephen Leacock's words prefacing the book, readers can anticipate a book of cold and ice which only hockey can warm to life.  This is our Canada.

Separate illustrations from When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

The children in When the Moon Comes anticipate the coming winter, but it's all about the hockey.  November may still find ducks on the beaver flood in the woods but December finally brings the cold snap that causes it to freeze.  They're already envisioning being on the ice but Arthur suggests they must wait for the moon. When the snow finally comes, dumping it on town and country alike, and the lunar cycle progresses until the full moon, the children make their way after school to the place of dreams and action.

From When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

Their long trek is rewarded with a fire that warms their skates and their anticipation as they take turns clearing the "magic ice."

It is dark, dark now, and the face of the sky is freckled with stars.  But on the far side of the flood, the sky is brighter behind the trees. The moon is rising.
     When the moon comes, we glide out onto the ice we have claimed.  It is marvelous ice, as good as any we have known.

From When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

In several wordless pages of Matt James' extraordinary art, the children skate and play and are stars in their own arena.  It is only when the puck disappears into the snow that Arthur, the voice of reason, suggests it is time to end the game.  The game may be set aside but the magic at the fire, drinking tea and toasty sandwiches, is just a new play before heading home.

Our wet pants freeze solid in the cold, and we walk clanking like knights in armor, lances over our shoulders, hoods like helmets around our faces. 

The story ends with the children warm and slumbering at home while the moon with its promise of more hockey accompanies their sleep.

Paul Harbridge's story of late night hockey on a frozen beaver flood is as magical as the ice.  His words of anticipation and emotion are subtle but reverent, packed with feeling.  Like the world hidden beneath the snow and ice, there is a story of expectation from the past and of the future that underlies what is at its core a tale of shinny.  Artist Matt James, whose work I've admired in Northwest Passage (Groundwood, 2013), The Stone Thrower (Groundwood, 2016) and From There to Here (Groundwood, 2014), enriches Paul Harbridge's text with acrylic and India ink illustrations that convey the awe and appreciation of the children for their landscape and their activity.  There may be darkness and frigid temperatures but there is warmth and camaderie and action.  With many strokes of pen and paint, Paul Harbridge and Matt James take all readers to a place of inhospitable iciness and hospitable hockey that can only be witnessed and fully appreciated When the Moon Comes.

Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni’s Ice Machine (Great Ideas Series)

Written by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Renné Benoit

Tundra Books

978-1-77049-795-5

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

January 2016

It’s always a great day when another of Monica Kulling’s Great Ideas Series books comes out.  These illustrated biographies, enhanced with artwork by an assortment of talented Canadian illustrators, highlight key individuals whose innovations we have come to rely upon but about whose stories we often know so little.  There’s been George Eastman’s photography, Elijah McCoy’s invention for oiling train engines, Elisha Otis’ elevator, Margaret Knight’s paper bags, Lillian Gilbreth’s efficient kitchen, Marconi’s wireless and now an invention dearly loved by hockey fans the world over, the Zamboni invented by Frank Zamboni.

Opening with a poem called Bone Blades that emphasizes “a way to fly around, when ice is on the ground”, Monica Kulling takes young readers to the early 1940s when Frank Zamboni and his brother and cousin opened their Iceland Skating Rink.  Resurfacing the ice, while skaters waited, was a time-consuming endeavour of a tractor levelling out the pits and grooves, a crew shovelling away the shavings, washing the surface and then spraying with fresh water, and all before a gleaming finish was added by hot water.

Having learned to tinker with trucks and tractors on their Idaho farm and working at his brother’s auto repair shop in California, as well as studying at an electrical school in Chicago, Frank was a busy man, working with his brother Lawrence doing electrical work, drilling wells, installing pumps and then making ice for home ice-boxes.  It wasn’t a big jump to making ice rinks with the smoothest surfaces ever.

But it wasn’t until after the war that Frank was able to buy military parts that became the foundation for his ice-resurfacing machine and a version of his famous Zamboni machine was created.

Oh, how I wish that the Zamboni had been a Canadian invention.  It seems so quintessentially Canadian.  But Monica Kulling still makes the reader applaud for the innovation and brilliance of Frank Zamboni to find a ground-breaking solution to a common problem.  By sweeping in details about his early years and training, as well as family and engineering development, in addition to some Zippity Zamboni! fun facts appended to the story, Monica Kulling again demonstrates how extraordinary developments can arise from very ordinary circumstances.

Having Renné Benoit, whose artwork has graced award-winning picture books such as Lily and the Paper Man (2007), Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion (2009), and The Secret of the Village Fool (2012) as well as the recent A Year of Borrowed Men (2015), do the illustrations for Clean Sweep! seems intuitive, as she creates memorable work that feels like old photographs from a bygone era.  Her colours and lines are soft and sepia-like, both light and substantial, depicting people and places of a different time so naturally.

Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni’s Ice Machine is a fresh take on a historic innovation told simply but with sparkle by Monica Kulling and perfected by Renné Benoit’s art.

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I encourage teachers to consider using this wonderful series for teaching biographies to young children.  Clean Sweep! and others in the series demonstrate an innovative way to share someone’s life story without the boring parts that are so often embedded in the teaching of biographical literature.

Here is a complete list of Great Ideas Series books, including upcoming releases:

1. It’s a Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph (Tundra, 2009)
2. All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine (Tundra, 2010)
3. In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up (Tundra, 2011)
4. Going Up! Elisha Otis’s Trip to the Top (Tundra, 2012)
5. Making Contact! Marconi Goes Wireless (Tundra, 2013)
6. Spic-and-Span! Lillian Gilbreth’s Wonder Kitchen (Tundra, 2014)
7. Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni’s Ice Machine (Tundra, Jan/2016)
8. To the Rescue! Garrett Morgan’s Underground (Tundra, Jan/2016)
9. Zap! Nikola Tesla Takes Charge (Tundra, Aug/2016)

Ghosts of the Pacific

by Philip Roy

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-130-6

251 pp.

Ages 11-14

2011

Though the term "ghost" suggests frightening disembodied souls, it can also refer to a faint trace, a remote possibility, a false image, or even be a synonym for our spirit.  As such, the title of Philip Roy's newest book in The Submarine Outlaw Series, Ghosts of the Pacific, could evoke horror or things left behind or future possibilities.  Fortunately, Philip Roy has not chosen to emphasize one over another, but instead embraces a more comprehensive definition, resulting in another fabulously rich tale of adventure.

Since fourteen, Alfred has been exploring the world using a twenty-foot, diesel-electric submarine built by junkyard genius and friend, Ziegfried.  Accompanied by his crew of Hollie, his dog, and Seaweed, a seagull, Alfred has travelled from his home in Newfoundland around the Maritimes (Submarine Outlaw, Ronsdale Press, 2008), across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean (Journey to Atlantis, Ronsdale Press, 2009), and down the St. Lawrence River (River Odyssey, Ronsdale Press, 2010).  Now 16, Alfred is ready for his postponed trip to the Pacific Ocean, choosing to travel northward through the Arctic and head for Saipan, part of the Mariana Islands.

Travel to Baffin Island seems easy enough, until a hunk of ice with dark pebbles turns out to be a polar bear that chases a kayaking Alfred back to the sub.  This first "ghost" hails the onslaught of dangerous "growlers" (calved ice that has broken off icebergs and floats just below the surface) that are virtually imperceptible until they hit the sub, repeatedly.  Inattention in this unforgiving landscape puts Alfred and his crew into deathly peril several times (even if he does get some great photo ops).  However, it also provides him with the chance to meet Nanuq, an elder in Igloolik, who sadly talks of the sea dying and its inevitable destruction of all.

Death begins to haunt the story even more.  Travelling blindly beneath impassable ice, searching for occasional small breaks to allow for a battery recharge, and getting stuck for days in shifting ice brings out Alfred's fear but also his resilience and resolve.  His extraordinary character continues to help him endure the anguish of typhoons, the violent death of animals, the blight of garbage and the suffering of others.  Still, he enjoys the company of new friends, including a young girl named Cinnamon, learning more about the world, and consciously making a difference whenever he can.

Alfred has undertaken this journey to explore unbelievable places and their tragedies, from Franklin's expedition in search of the Northwest Passage ("...the Arctic was guarding them in an icy grave"; pg. 64), to Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance, to the graveyard of warships in the Bikini Atoll, and ultimately to the island of Saipan where Japanese civilians and officers chose suicide rather than surrender to the Allied forces in 1944.  But along his journey, his interest in the past brings him face-to-face with the tragedies of the present:  fishing trawlers whose illegal practices kill countless dolphins, sharks and turtles; acres of plastic garbage, twenty to thirty feet deep, trapping and killing all life, while slowly decomposing and killing even more; and the irradiated land and waters of the Bikini Atoll, testing grounds for atomic and hydrogen bombs during World War II.  Luckily, Philip Roy capably brings Alfred to see choices in his future that will allow him to continue exploration while addressing his new preoccupations.

Like a great adventure, Ghosts of the Pacific does not allow the reader the opportunity to be distracted or bored.  Even seemingly mundane tasks such as exercising or finding shelter become significant experiences which the reader must follow until settled.  The plot is relentless, always enriched with unexpected subplots, steeped in a multifaceted landscape of cold and warmth, hardness and softness.  Though Cinnamon who is still a vague character may take on a more important role, those of Ziegfried, Sheba, Hollie and Seaweed provide the depth to carry Alfred on further journeys.  Fortunately, I hear Philip Roy is already working on a fifth book in the series.


The video below captures Philip Roy talking about his Submarine Outlaw Series, including the submarine.

Uploaded by Overmarsh on February 12, 2010 to YouTube.com