Description
Dreamstones is a children's picture about the traditional Inuit stone landmarks called inukshuks. In this story, the son of a ship's captain leaves the safety of the ship to explore the surrounding Arctic landscape. Set in the time period when ships travelled from England into the Canadian Arctic, the story is told from the point of view of the young English boy. When the ship becomes icebound, the boy must entertain himself over the winter. On night he goes off the ship to explore the area. The story then takes a magical turn when the boy becomes lost in the winter night. Unsure how to stay warm, the boy is assisted by a mysterious Inuk who reassures the boy by building a fire and wrapping the child in grey sealskins. The ship's crew locates the boy sleeping peacefully in the shelter of an inukshuk. The ship is finally freed from the ice and returns home to England. The tale ends with an Inuk retelling the story of how an inukshuk walked and helped save an English boy. The final page offers the author's explanation of the Inuktitut word, inukshuk. The definition says it means, “to look like a person.” The full-colour illustrations capture the fantasy aspect of this story about the Canadian North. ATOS Reading Level: 3.5; Reading Level: 3.7.