Arctic Land: Arctic Land; Arctic Sea; Arctic Sky. Vladyana Krykorka. Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2011. Boxed set containing 3 board books, $17.95 (boxed set), $5.95 (individual titles). ISBN 978-1-55451-345-1 (boxed set) ISBN 978-1-55451-342-0 (Arctic Land.) ISBN 978-1-55451-343-7 (Arctic Sea.) ISBN 978-1-55451-344-4 (Arctic Sky.) Subject Headings: Mammals-Arctic regions-Juvenile literature. Marine mammals-Arctic regions-Juvenile literature. Birds-Arctic regions-Juvenile literature. Board books. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-7. Review by Ellen Heaney. ** /4

Arctic Land, Arctic Sea and Arctic Sky depict the animals of three different environments in their habitats. The books pull out accordion style, and on each bifold panel, the parent and child of an arctic land or sea or air animal is shown.   

     Panels are labelled with the animal name in English and Inuktitut. Along the bottom is a simple line of text in rebus form. Thus “Daddy [picture of a narwhal] and his son show off their ivory tusks.”

If you are familiar with Krykorka’s work (Grain of Sand, by P.K. Page; Jeanne Bushey’s Polar Bear’s Gift; and several of Robert Kusugak’s stories), you will know that she takes the subtle shades of the Arctic land and sky and exaggerates them in glorious technicolour effect. The pairs of animals are engaging and the scenes are full of movement.

A nice little package of foldout board books, great for a kindergarten classroom or preschool play space but not designed for library use.

Recommended with reservations.

Ellen Heaney is Head, Children’s Services, New Westminster Public Library, New Westminster, BC.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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