June 2021 - Page 4 of 15 - Anastasia Suen

Kits, Cubs, and Calves: An Arctic Summer
by Suzie Napayok-Short (Author) and Tamara Campeau (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Akuluk is visiting her family in Nunavut and can’t wait to get out on her uncle’s boat for a ride into the powerful Arctic Ocean. Surrounded by her family, and with her trusty toy polar bear Piulua beside her, Akuluk experiences the beautiful sights, sounds, and animals that abound in the ocean and along the shore during the short Arctic summer–from a mother polar bear and her cubs to a family of belugas and tiny Arctic fox kits. As they encounter each animal, Akuluk’s aunt and uncles share with her how each species cares for its young, and how they protect their babies from the other animals who share their ecosystem.

Snippet: One large, white beluga surfacing among the waves actually has a little grey calf with her! Akuluk’s eyes open wide as she holds onto the boat and Piulua at the same time. Akuluk has never seen anything like this before. Belugas–even a baby–swimming playfully and freely in the icy waters of their Arctic home.

The Sand Elephant
by Rinna Hermann (Author) and Sanne Dufft (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Paul has no one to play with. The sandbox is empty. Or is it?

As he digs and pats the sand, a shape appears: an elephant. Curling up under the elephant’s warm, sandy trunk, Paul drifts off to sleep. But then something amazing happens. The sand elephant stands up, and lifts Paul onto its back!

The sand elephant takes Paul to a wonderful land where sand animals and their children are laughing and playing together. But what will happen when the wind starts to blow and the rain starts to fall?

Snippet: The sand animals leapt and danced to the thundering roar, until they mixed in a wild, swirling rush . . .