Amorak - Hardcover

Tim Jessell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568460929 ISBN 13: 9781568460925

Publisher: Creative Editions, 1994

Synopsis

In this retelling of an Inuit creation myth, Grandfather explains why the caribou and the wolf are brothers

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Jessell, a prize-winning magazine illustrator, achieves an exceptional harmony of narrative tone, art and design in this beautiful picture book. As the story begins, Grandfather is tucking the young narrator into bed when they hear a wolf's chilling howl. Grandfather reassures the boy that "the caribou and the wolf are brothers." But the warm words don't negate the child's simple perception--"Brothers don't eat each other," he replies. So Grandfather tells him an Inuit story about how the "Great Being in the Sky" created a woman, a man and their sons to inhabit the empty, snow-covered land, then populated the earth with all manner of creatures, saving the caribou for last. But as the sons hunt the healthy caribou, the sick and weak proliferate. The woman prays for "a tool to cut the sickness from the caribou," and the Great Being brings forth Amorak, the father of wolves, whose hunting will make the caribou herds strong again. The legend's explanation of the larger, unified relationship between two apparent enemies satisfies the narrator--and is also likely to engage youngsters disturbed by nature's violence. Jessell recreates several settings simultaneously, drawing the reader into the intimate bedtime exchange between grandfather and grandchild and sensitively evoking an arctic culture. His suggestively lit paintings, rich with nocturnal blues and golden firelight, sustain the intensity and wonder of his tale. All ages.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review:

According to Inuit legend, "Amorak" means "the spirit of the wolf. " And it is this spirit that springs from the pages of Tim Jessell's exceptional illustrated story. Based on an ancient myth, Amorak bears witness to the interconnectedness of all life. In spare but resonant text, Jessell tells the story of how the wolf and the caribou came to be brothers -- how, though the wolf hunts the caribou, both are part of the same spirit. The simple beauty of this myth is preserved in timless illustrations that evoke the chill winter, the howl of the wolf and the thundering hooves of a caribou herd on the run. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Creative Editions
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1568460929
• ISBN 13: 9781568460925
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Tim Jessell