Painted Skies by C. Mallory

Abstract

Mallory, Carolyn.  Painted Skies.  Iqaluit, NU:  Inhabit Media, 2015.  Print.

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are ethereal and difficult to reproduce in an image, however, illustrator Amei Zhao does an admirable job.  Carolyn Mallory’s story, told through the voices of two girls, Leslie and Oolipika, is a simple one encompassing the tradition that the northern lights are spirits playing a soccer-like game and that if they come too close, you might be hit by the ball.  To let the spirits know you are there, you click your fingernails together.  The Arctic environment is present throughout.  When Leslie jumps she is “all arms and legs like a young caribou”.  When the girls make snow angels they move their arms and legs “as if they were ptarmigans trying to get off the ground”.  The reading level is appropriate for a picture book. 

While the story is well-written, it is the artwork on which the story is printed that is the best part of this volume.  All of the pages are night pictures, so the images are shadowed, with highlights of moonlight.  The deep blues, blacks, purples and greens contrast with the pinks and lime greens of the northern lights. Zhao has also added whispy green figures of the auroral spirits running through the sky. 

While this is a simple book, it is another example of Inhabit Media’s excellent work in capturing Arctic stories and creating high quality publications with them.  This book is highly recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries.

Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4
Reviewer:  Sandy Campbel

Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.