March 2020 - Page 11 of 13

Nattiq and the Land of Statues
by Barbara Landry (Author) and Martha Kyak (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A ringed seal, known in Inuktitut as ᓇᑦᑎᖅ nattiq, has returned to his Arctic home after a long journey south. His friends — a polar bear, caribou, raven, walrus and narwhal — gather round to hear about his trip.

“What did you see beyond our land?” shouts the polar bear.

ᓇᑦᑎᖅ nattiq describes the amazing sights he has seen ― from crystal clear waters full of giant icebergs to the tundra in full summertime bloom to strange, tall statues, far to the south. The statues swayed in the autumn breeze, howled when winter storms set in and opened their arms to nesting birds in the spring.

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Roosevelt Banks, Good-Kid-in-Training
by Laurie Calkhoven (Author) and Debbie Palen (Illustrator)

Booktalk: When ten-year-old Roosevelt Banks discovers that his two best friends are planning a bike and camping trip, he wants more than anything to go along. There’s just one problem–he doesn’t have a bike. Roosevelt’s parents agree to buy him a bike if he can manage to be good for two whole weeks. How can Roosevelt be good and be the same fun guy his friends want on the camping trip? Trying to be good leads to more trouble than expected–and to the discovery that being a good friend is more important than any bicycle.

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