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, 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.

Lynn Blaikie was born in Southern Ontario and moved to the Yukon Territory at the age of eighteen. During the long and dark winter days in the small mining community of Elsa, she discovered the art of batik. She fell in love with the medium and practiced in isolation, far from other artistic influences. Now Lynn looks on her isolation as an asset; her many years of private development have resulted in a unique personal style.

Lynn Blaikie's profile page

"The colours and shapes created by well-known fabric artist Lynn Blaikie to accompany her simple poetic homage to Raven and her adopted environment lift off the page in flamboyant wonder and splendour. Inspired book design by the publisher complements the vivid batik designs that adorn each full page illustration and several wordless two-page spreads. . .

"It is a stunning book, with warm, rich, evocative illustrations."

-- CM Magazine

"The book is visually stunning, the story reads like a quiet lullaby."
-- School Library Journal

"Words and images flowed together seamlessly. These Blaikie images, which have been seen in local art galleries and on Run For Mom T-shirts, finally have a voice � a soothing voice.
"I want my children to be small again so I can read them this book."
-- What's Up Yukon

"Raven transports a northern girl to all manner of magical places, into the skies, beyond the northern lights, under the sea. And Lynn Blaikie transports us with her magnificent batik prints depicting the girl and Raven on their adventures. The lilting text is a gentle rhyme for bedtime, but it's the pictures - a wondrous combination of ancient and modern, north and south, indigenous and imported - that make this book stand out."
-- The Edmonton Journal

"Embrace the beauty of the north with Beyond the Northern Lights by Lynn Blaikie. Blaikie uses vat-dying methods for her batik prints and the result is a distinctive mystical style."
-- The Chronicle Herald (Halifax)

"A beautiful picture book with an aboriginal flavour. . . The most impressive feature of this book is its illustrations, which are done in batik using traditional dyes plus brilliant colours in pen and ink."
-- Winnipeg Free Press

"The text is easy to read, and is sure to transport the young bedtime reader to that magnificent other world wrought by Blaikie's rich art and her lovely, rhyming text."
-- Books In Canada (Toronto)

"Gallery owners have described Yukon artist Lynn Blaikie's batik work as 'unique,' 'exuberant,' and 'joyous,' words that apply equally well to both the text and illustrations of her first picture book. . . Blaikie's brief, poetic text is ideal for reading aloud. By introducing each stanza with a question and concluding it with a plea, she provides solid narrative structure. Her rhymes and near-rhymes are deft. She uses words to summon warm images (dreams that 'twinkle,' wisdom that 'blesses,' northern lights triggered by children's laughter) in a cold setting. . . It will appeal to youngsters, will interest teachers and students working on northern studies and art curricula, and will delight everyone who appreciates art and beautiful books."
-- Quill & Quire

"Every so often, a book is created that is as much a piece of art as a picture book, and so has relevance beyond the age group for which it was primarily designed. Beyond the Northern Lights is such a book. . . This is a beautiful book for Canadian picture book collectors and useful for creative writing, fine arts and northern studies at any grade level."
-- Canadian Teacher Magazine