Beyond the Northern Lights
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, 2007 Silver Medallist\ \ - Picture Book Category\ Quill and Quire's Best Picture Books of the Year selection, 2007\ Raven, will you carry me into the northern skies?\ A stunning book by an acclaimed artist!\ Batik artist Lynn Blaikie calls on Raven to take the reader on a magical tour of the North. Here readers will dance beyond the northern lights and plunge into the icy deep, where whales mingle with dolphins. And they will find the warmth of the fire pit,...
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Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, 2007 Silver Medallist - Picture Book CategoryQuill and Quire's Best Picture Books of the Year selection, 2007Raven, will you carry me into the northern skies?A stunning book by an acclaimed artist!Batik artist Lynn Blaikie calls on Raven to take the reader on a magical tour of the North. Here readers will dance beyond the northern lights and plunge into the icy deep, where whales mingle with dolphins. And they will find the warmth of the fire pit, where hand in hand the spirits dance.Her simple poetic text is enhanced with stunning images created in batik, filled with rich colors and powerful designs that evoke the spiritual landscape and peoples of the remote north. A beautiful introduction to the North for children and a book for art lovers to treasure.Children's LiteratureRaven of Inuit folklore carries a faceless child on a journey far away, a journey into the mysterious northern skies where the days go on forever and the night lights up lives. Beyond the northern lights Raven and child dance in the swirling colors of children's laughter. They plunge into the icy deep where northern fishes sleep, and warm themselves near a crackling fire shared with Arctic animals and native spirits. In the end, one last flight takes the child onward through the night and back to a warm bed where love is waiting and dreams become daylight. The author/illustrator is an artist known for batiks made with traditional dying methods and pen and ink. Her magical batik illustrations (full- and double-page spreads) are a joy; the accompanying rhyming text less so. Nevertheless, the poem and pictures together have an undeniable appeal.
\ Children's Literature\ - Anita Barnes Lowen\ Raven of Inuit folklore carries a faceless child on a journey far away, a journey into the mysterious northern skies where the days go on forever and the night lights up lives. Beyond the northern lights Raven and child dance in the swirling colors of children's laughter. They plunge into the icy deep where northern fishes sleep, and warm themselves near a crackling fire shared with Arctic animals and native spirits. In the end, one last flight takes the child onward through the night and back to a warm bed where love is waiting and dreams become daylight. The author/illustrator is an artist known for batiks made with traditional dying methods and pen and ink. Her magical batik illustrations (full- and double-page spreads) are a joy; the accompanying rhyming text less so. Nevertheless, the poem and pictures together have an undeniable appeal.\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalPreS-K\ In rhyming verse, a young girl calls to Raven to fly her away to fantastic dreams. "Raven, will you dance with me/beyond the northern lights,/Where all the children's laughter/Swirls color through the night,…/Dance me, Raven, dance me /beyond the northern lights." A spread then shows her dancing with other children in the snow, the sky a swirl of rich colors and golden suns. Next, Raven takes her into the icy deep to swim with the fish, whales, and dolphins, and finally to the tribal fire to hear the elders tell stories. Rich batik illustrations have saturated hues of blue, teal, purple, and salmon. The fabric's wrinkles are visible, creating a fine web of lines across each picture. While the book is visually stunning, the story reads like a quiet lullaby, and the lack of plot or action may limit its appeal to children. Raven's role as a dream giver is never explicitly stated or explained in any notes from the author. Regrettably for educators, there are no endnotes explaining the cultural traditions that informed this tale.\ —Suzanne Myers HaroldCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsIn this Canadian import, a rhymed invocation to Raven accompanies stylized, crackle-finished batiks depicting faceless human figures (plus the occasional angel) in leggings and fringed overcoats dancing beneath stars or the Northern Lights with creatures of land and sea. Though the pictures don't always match-a fire in one scene, for instance, is on flat ground, not in a "crackling fire pit"-they're better than the text, which runs to verses like, "Raven, will you carry me into the northern skies, / Where days go on forever / And night lights up our lives." Rich colors and mystical details, particularly in the several wordless spreads, give the art a metaphysical air that may draw susceptible viewers, but Blaikie's writing won't make a positive impression. (Picture book. 6-8)\ \
