Kamik

April 1, 2013
An Inuit boy begins to understand his puppy with the help of his grandfather, an experienced sled-dog owner. Jake is a boisterous, impatient little boy who is unsuccessfully trying to train his first puppy, who is just as ebullient and unruly as his owner. Jake brings his dog, Kamik, to his grandfather's house, where the older man's gentle, introspective stories about his own years of dog training help Jake to see his puppy in a new way. Jake's grandfather shows his grandson that quiet bonding with the dog will help more than yelling or pulling at the dog. The grandfather speaks in a gentle, understated tone that is echoed in the softly shaded pen-and-ink illustrations and gray text in a type that evokes hand-printing. The sensitively told story is adapted from the recollections of an Inuit elder from the Canadian province of Nunavut, where the book was first published. For the U.S. market, readers would have appreciated an author's note, a map showing the location and a pronunciation guide for the Inuit names and terms included in the text. (For example, Grandfather's name is Ataatasiaq.) An intriguing, positive glimpse into Inuit traditional culture. (Picture book. 4-9)

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July 1, 2013

Gr 1-4-Jake, a young Inuit boy, has trouble with his puppy: Kamik has a mind of his own and won't obey him. How will he ever learn to be the great sled dog Jake hopes for? His grandfather comes to the rescue by telling tales of how the Inuit have been raising sled dogs for generations and how to train the dogs to behave. "Adapted from the memories" of Uluadluak, a real-life elder from Arviat, Nunavut, this is less a story than an obedience-training guide or a manual about dogsled teams. While this title offers some sound advice that would benefit any dog owner, such as being patient and kind in order to win a dog's trust, it will have limited appeal to general audiences. The writing is competent and suited to independent reading, but characterizations are kept to a minimum. The colorful watercolor and ink illustrations are lively, suggest movement in action scenes, and convey the Inuit characters and setting. However, facial expressions aren't differentiated, and, despite the fact that this book is based in memory, there isn't a real sense of an exact time frame. There is no glossary of Inuit words or pronunciation guide. This will be of interest mostly to readers in the Far North and/or those familiar with dogsled racing and/or Inuit culture.-Carol Goldman, Queens Library, NY

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