Inuit folk tale

The Arctic region of North America is where this story takes place A not much known Inuit-folktale forms its inspirational base It's about a boy who'll change the hearts of all those following his trail Because there's a beautiful lesson in his wonderful and magical tale* *pun intended ;-)*********************** StoryThe Arctic region of North America (and Russia) forms the background of this interesting story about the power of kindness and hospitality, which is based on an Inuit folktale and retold by Vanita Oelschlager, a former teacher who was born and raised in Pittsburgh. This book tells us the origin story of why there are so many sea-parrots (I knew those birds as 'puffins') on the stony islands of the far North. It might be a little bit confusing for younger children because of the more difficult and resembling names of the characters, the structure of the story (the trade relation with the great hunter Menadluk has not much to do with the actual story and its sole purpose is to offer a frame of reference to introduce the Diomedes Islands and the sea-parrots) and the Inuit terminology. As regards the latter, most of these specific words are explained at the end of the book. But otherwise this original folktale forms a nice blend between imagination and non-fiction. Furthermore, it not only contains some good messages about social interaction, but it provides a very good starting point to dive further into different other fields as well. It certainly made me curious to discover more about: - geography: where are the Diomedes Islands and why are they called Yesterday Island and Tomorrow Island? (two interesting movies can be found here and here) - cultural customs: what is an umiak and how is it made? (more about it, can be found here) - … PicturesThe beautiful illustrations of Fish-boy (and of many other books published by Vanita Books) are made by Mike Blanc. They are very colourful and vibrant. Both the drawing style in this book and the very different ones of which you can see a glimpse on his website, make me really curious to discover more books illustrated by this gifted artist. Vanita BooksA special mention of the publisher is absolutely in order here. Not only does Vanita Books offer lots of interesting and instructive titles in their catalogue, but they support charities as well. All net profits are donated to The Oak Clinic for Multiple Sclerosis and other charities where "people help people help themselves".. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at 31, Jim Oelschlager founded the not-for-profit Oak Clinic, a facility where MS patients can get help for all aspects of the disease regardless of their ability to pay. His wife Vanita assisted him in these endeavours. To read about their experiences and about their multiple other donations, just type their names in Google and you'll get an idea of their relentless commitment. *Thanks to NetGalley and Vanita Books for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.