Sweetest Kulu

by Celina Kalluk, Alexandria Neonakis (Illustrator)

Overview

« Rêve un peu, Kulu, ce monde te louange avec la plus magnifique des chansons. »

Dans cette magnifique histoire poétique à raconter au coucher imaginée par la chanteuse de gorge de renom Celina Kalluk, les animaux de l’Arctique viennent offrir leurs plus beaux présents à un nouveau-né.

Raconté de façon lyrique et tendre par une mère parlant à son petit « Kulu », mot inuktitut pour désigner affectueusement les bébés et les jeunes enfants, ce livre superbement illustré est empreint des valeurs inuites traditionnelles de l’amour et du respect envers la terre et sa faune.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772270099
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Edition description:	French Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Language:	French
Age Range:	3 Months to 2 Years

About the Author

Celina Kalluk was born and raised in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, to Zipporah Kalluk and Leonard Thibodeau. Celina has two brothers and five sisters, one sister-niece, and many more beautiful nieces and nephews. She also has four daughters of her own, Jazlin, Aulaja, Saima, and Ramata. She dedicates this book to all the mothers and fathers of this earth and to our wonderful children. Celina is also a visual artist and has illustrated several book covers and other literacy materials. Currently, she is the Inuktitut Language Specialist and Cultural Arts teacher for grades seven through twelve at Qarmartalik School in Resolute Bay. Sweetest Kulu is her first book for children.

Alexandria Neonakis is an illustrator and designer from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She currently lives with her cat, “Kitty,” in Santa Monica, California.

Editorial Reviews

[A] lovely bedtime book . . . Young children will be captivated by the stunning beauty of the Arctic world embracing little Kulu.

From the Publisher

12/22/2014
Debut author Kalluk presents a series of warm affirmations for a newborn (the name "Kulu" is an Inuktitut term of endearment). Neonakis's artwork, while indebted in some places to conventional animation (the baby's button nose and rosebud mouth have a distinctly Disney feel), offers a genuinely folklike sensibility and strong, dynamic compositions. "Sweetest Kulu," Kalluk begins, "on the day you were born, all of the Arctic Summer was there to greet you." Neonakis paints baby Kulu (whose gender is indeterminate) nestled against its mother, whose long brown hair swirls around the baby like waves in the ocean. One by one, several Arctic animals offer Kulu their virtues: "Arctic Hare, with rock willow and roots,/ came to show you love so easily./ You became a best friend, baby Kulu, loving to give." Set in the world of the first peoples of the Arctic, the book hints at the idea of treating the Earth, its plants, and animals as a single living entity and suggests that a family's wishes for its children gain power from being spoken out loud. Up to age 3. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2017
Baby-Toddler—This picture book adaptation about a new child born in the Arctic succeeds in its new board book form. While the language is sophisticated and the text is longer than most found in board books, the lyrical quality will capture children's attention. The animated illustrations dominate each page and complement the text. This purchase should be considered to add diversity and elegance to board book collections.

School Library Journal

2014-10-01
A newborn child is welcomed by the sun, the wind, the Arctic land and all its animal inhabitants, who bring gifts of love and self-respect.This sweet bedtime poem, in the tradition of Debra Frasier's On the Day You Were Born (1991), is filled with the animals of the far north and the values of the author's Inuit culture. Believe in yourself. Be generous and helpful, modest and kind, creative and spontaneous, patient and never lazy. "[G]et out of bed as soon as you wake." Look to the stars. Lead gently. Neonakis' illustrations use the colors of that northern world splendidly, especially the blues and greens of the water echoed by the baby's green footie sleeper with its fur-trimmed hood. Her animals—from snow buntings and musk oxen to Arctic char and beluga whales—are stylized but recognizable, and the baby is charming. The text, a series of stanzas spoken or sung by a mother to her child, is written in sentences that are lengthy for a poem or song, but the sections are patterned in a way that is soothing and predictable, and each includes an affirmation: "happy Kulu," "magnificent Kulu," "cutest Kulu," "beloved Kulu." "Kulu" is an Inuktitut term of endearment, but this appreciation for the baby and the baby's world would make a lovely gift for any new parent. (Picture book. 0-5)

Kirkus Reviews