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A celebration of a tight-knit community in the Arctic
About the author
ANGNAKULUK FRIESEN grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, where she volunteers for the local fire department and does contract work. She spends time at the cabin with her family at the river and enjoys sewing winter clothing for loved ones. Angnakuluk lives with her husband in Rankin Inlet. This is her first book.
IPPIKSAUT FRIESEN is an Inuk from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She studied drawing and ceramics at the Matchbox Gallery located in Rankin Inlet. She's a graduate of Emily Carr University where she received her bachelor's degree in media arts, majoring in animation. Her mixed-media art focuses on Inuit community through animation or illustration. She lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
JEAN KUSUGAK is an interpreter and translator in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
Summary
The northern lights shine, women gather to eat raw caribou meat and everyone could be family in this ode to small-town life in Nunavut, written in English and Inuktitut.
Sisters Angnakuluk Friesen and Ippiksaut Friesen collaborate on this story about what it’s like to grow up in an Inuit community in Nunavut. Every line about the hometown in this book will have readers thinking about what makes their own hometowns unique. With strong social studies curriculum connections, Kisimi Taimaippaktut Angirrarijarani / Only in My Hometown introduces young readers to life in the Canadian North, as well as the Inuit language and culture.
Angnakuluk’s simple text, translated into Inuktitut and written out in syllabics and transliterated roman characters, is complemented by Ippiksaut’s warm paintings of their shared hometown.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
Additional text
"The sister collaborators work in harmony. … Heartwarming and illuminating." — Kirkus, starred review
"… the book pushes at the boundaries of literary conventions in both form and content, providing a much-needed mirror for readers within the culture, and an astonishing window for those outside. A lovely testament to community and cultural diversity." — Booklist
