A Promise is a Promise by Robert Munsch & Michael Kusugak, Art by Vladyana Krykora
It was the first day of spring and an Inuit girl, Allashua, living in the Arctic decided to go fishing. Her mother said, "don't go fishing on the sea ice. Under the sea ice live Qallupilluit. They grab children who aren't with their parents." Allashua agreed, saying: "a promise is a promise."
Allashua did go fishing on the sea ice and she taunted the Qallupilluit. She caught many fish and then, all of a sudden she heard a voice. There, "between her and the shore" were the Qallupilluit. They grabbed her and dragged her under the sea ice where they live. I can't tell you anymore because I don't want to rick giving spoilers.
This story is told in beautiful prose. This was an excellent collaboration between Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak. Kusugak grew up in the Arctic. The Inuit spend much time on the sea ice and made up the story about the Qallupilluit to keep their children away from danger. The illustrations are in vibrant colour and go perfectly with the words. Highly recommended! This is another book that your children will want to read over and over.
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I loved this book when I was a kid. Even though I had a really tough time saying "Quallupiluit."
Vanessa said... June 15, 2009 at 3:35 AM
NotNessie, How do you say Quallupiluit? LOL!
Teddy Rose said... June 16, 2009 at 10:02 PM
I agree it's a wonderful collaboration-- I think I prefer it to any Kusugak or Munsch books as single authors.
John Mutford said... June 22, 2009 at 7:20 PM
John, I didn't realize that Kusugak also wrote books on his own. I will have to check them out.
Teddy Rose said... June 23, 2009 at 9:21 PM
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