The illustrations by Mike Blanc in Magic Words are beautiful. The full color pictures and simple line drawings are a delight for grown ups and children. I appreciate this children’s book about an Inuit creation story. However, the book itself is extremely short. By the time you get into it, the book is over. The words are Edward Field’s English translation of Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen’s writings which were supposedly told to him by the Inuit people. That is a lot of non-Inuit people involved in an Inuit story. It would have been much better to go speak with Inuit people about the creation story, credit them, and have them add more to the story. While the illustrations are 5 stars for me, the failed attempt to convey a culture from that culture gets 0 stars.
Disclaimer: A copy of the book was provided by Vanita Books.
Novel Obsession 
Leave a Reply