Kiviuq and the Mermaids

by Noel McDermott, Toma Feizo Gas (Illustrator)

Overview

Kiviuq, one of the greatest and most important characters in Inuit mythology, is said to have travelled over land and sea overcoming obstacles and successfully defeating various fearsome foes. In Kiviuq and the Mermaids, young readers experience one of Kiviuq's most heartpounding adventures: an encounter with a group of frightening mermaids. With only his qayaq to keep him out of their clutches, Kiviuq must think fast to defeat these angry creatures of the deep!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772270822
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Series:	Kiviuq , #1
Edition description:	English Edition
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	625,084
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Noel McDermott is a retired professor of literature at Nunavut Arctic College where he lived and taught in Inuktitut and English for thirty-five years as a classroom teacher, school principal, and lecturer in the teacher training program. He has held Teaching Appointments at many other educational institutions, including McGill University, Trent University, the University of Waterloo, Ontario, as well as at the Sami Universityin Kautokeino, Norway.

From his early days of reading sci-fi and fantasy books, Toma Feizo Gas has been fascinated with the dramatic scenes portrayed on the covers of those books. There started his lifelong love affair with telling stories through pictures. Today, Toma’s key influence remains the people in these stories, the motives that drive us, and the decisions that shape us, propelling him to craft bold visual statements and contrast in his own art. As a career illustrator, his work can be found gracing the pages and covers of titles such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, the Star Wars and Mutant Chronicles role playing games, as well as several upcoming fantasy novel series.

Editorial Reviews

A breathless escapade featuring battles against both monsters and the elements.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Vivid descriptions and a pulse-racing narrative . . .”—Hakai Magazine

“. . . [T]he eerie and menacing nature of the images of the mermaids amplify the dramatic fight that Kiviuq must win in order to escape with his life.”—CM Magazine

From the Publisher

11/01/2016
Gr 2–4—McDermott, a retired literature professor at Nunavut Arctic College in Nunavut, Canada, retells a thrilling tale about the adventurer Kiviuq and his narrow escape from deadly mermaids, or tuutaliit. Gas's dramatic illustrations in combination with an action-packed story create a must-have selection for kids comfortable with chapter books. Although there are moments of genuine terror (the tuutalitt are quite gruesome creatures with sharp fangs and claws), Kiviuq's eventual return to safety will soothe those not quite ready for unhappy endings. The tale concludes with Kiviuq drifting off to sleep in his tent and the narrator asking readers: "What do you think he dreamt about?"—offering students a moment to reflect, imagine, and discuss. The pronunciation guide to Inuktitut vocabulary is an added bonus. VERDICT What a find for chapter book—level mythology collections: more Kiviuq adventures, please!—Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

School Library Journal

2016-09-19
Mermaids prove more of a danger to an Inuit hunter than wild storms and spirits.Following a roaring storm raised by a seal that turns out to be the grandson of a powerful angakkuq (shaman), Kiviuq finds himself lost and alone in his hide in his qajaq (kayak) among floating ice and barren islands. There he is repeatedly attacked by a strong and malign tuutalik (mermaid)who goes off and summons her sisters after he whacks her with his unaaq (harpoon). In Gas dim, realistically drawn Arctic illustrations, the mermaidsnot at all the Disney sort but grinning, fishtailed creatures with long spiky black nails and mouths full of sharklike teethchase Kiviuq in a rage as he desperately paddles his qajaq toward the nearest land. That night he falls into an anything but restful sleep in the wake of his narrow escape. What do you think he dreamt about? closes the narrator, tantalizingly. Readers too may have trouble settling down after encountering such thrillingly hideous denizens of the sea in this retold legend. A breathless escapade featuring battles against both monsters and the elements. (glossary) (Picture book/folk tale. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews