Fiction Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
The Man of the Moon
- Publisher
- Inhabit Media
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2021
- Category
- Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology, Short Stories (single author), Animals, Cultural Heritage
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781772273861
- Publish Date
- Aug 2021
- List Price
- $13.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Selected for American Folklore Society's Aesop Accolade
Based primarily on explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen’s transcriptions of oral tales, the stories in this anthology of old Greenlandic myths and legends have been passed down through generations. This collection features stories about children and young people—stories that were told in the depths of winter, that the youngest listeners would one day tell to their own children.
Talking animals, flying shamans, orphans so poor they have to walk barefoot through the snow, and men so strong they can carry a whale all on their own: you’ll meet all of them and more in this collection.
"A compendium of Greenland’s Inuit culture places readers in a realm of icy waters and shape-shifting animals." - Wall Street Journal
"The Man of the Moon delighted our reviewers with its mix of darkness and humor, necessary surely for the cultures that have thrived in such inhospitable landscapes. The watercolor illustrations with a color palette to match the icy blues, grays, and browns of Greenland drew us further into the world of the stories." - American Folklore Society
About the authors
Gunvor Bjerre is a journalist and librarian. She has travelled much of the world, but Greenland holds a special place in her heart. Gunvor has worked with children her whole life, primarily with Danmarks Radio’s children’s programming, but she has also written books and songs for children. She is passionate about sharing old Greenlandic Inuit myths and legends, which are a part of the country’s cultural heritage.
Miki Jacobsen is one of Greenland’s best-known and most highly regarded artists. In his career, he has worked with many different artistic media, and the close relationship between Greenlandic culture and nature is a recurrent theme in his work. There is strength and vigour in his watercolours that add an extra dimension to these old tales.
Excerpt: The Man of the Moon (by (author) Gunvor Bjerre; illustrated by Miki Jacobsen)
From: Kamikinnaq and the Giants
As time went by, Kamikinnaq realised that he had started to grow. He grew and he grew, and he was soon as big as his foster father.
One day his foster father asked him whether he had family elsewhere.
Then Kamikinnaq told him that his parents lived at Noorsiit.
“Don’t you want to visit them?” his foster father asked him.
Kamikinnaq realised that his anger towards his parents had disappeared because he had grown and found a new place to live, so he decided to visit them again.
He got into the big kayak he now had and paddled and paddled. When he reached his old settlement, he was so big that he could effortlessly put his hand on top of the big headland.
The people got very scared when they saw the giant in the big kayak. They didn’t recognise Kamikinnaq and asked who he was.
“I’m Kamikinnaq, the boy you used to call a little wimp.”
Then he went ashore and up to his parents’ tent. He had grown so tall that he didn’t fit inside the tent, and in order to talk to his parents, he had to scoop them up in the palm of his hand.
Afterwards, he went hunting to get plenty of food for his parents, who had grown very old while he had been away.
He paddled far out into the open sea and caught a lot of harp seals, which he put in his kayak. If they wiggled too much, he would grab them by the back flippers and bash their heads against each other, killing them.
It wasn’t until he had caught enough seals so that his parents would have food for many, many years that he got ready to travel back to Akilineq.
Editorial Reviews
A compendium of Greenland’s Inuit culture places readers in a realm of icy waters and shape-shifting animals.