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A few posts ago I mentioned British illustrator Karin Littlewood’s latest book – Immi, as something I was looking forward to reading. Having typed those original words I was overcome by temptation and bought us a copy on spec – we’ve loved all of the books we’ve seen where Karin Littlewood has been the illustrator and that was good enough reason to take a punt on Immi. And Wow! wow! wow! Immi has immediately become my favourite new book! Here are some of the reasons why….
Photo: Margrét G.J.
Immi, an Inuit girl, catches fish through a hole in the ice. One day instead of fish she finds a small trinket, a little wooden bird, on the end of her line and is amazed by its beauty and colours.
As each day passes she catches another wonderful curio and so she starts to use them to decorate her igloo. Her home becomes a thing of wonder and animals from far and wide come to visit.
They always stayed for supper,
and they filled those long dark nights
with stories of faraway lands.And Immi’s world seemed a brighter
and more colourful place.
In the closing pages of this stunning book the mystery of the source of the treasures adorning Immi’s igloo is revealed and the generosity is reciprocated, leaving readers feeling both in awe at the beauty and diversity of the world, at the same time feeling touched by the possibility of being able to reach out across oceans and cultures to share something special.
This respect of and faith in humanity is a theme close to my heart, and then add to that the thread in this book of how sharing stories can move us and enrich our lives… well you can see why I love the tale told in Immi.
If the beliefs at the heart of this book weren’t enough to persuade me to encourage you to find this lovely book to read with your own children, then the illustrations would clinch it.
The watercolour and pencil illustrations sing out throughout this book. The brightly coloured treasures Immi catches glow like jewels against the icy, dark backdrop of a polar landscape, and yet their vibrancy never swamps the sense of peacefulness that the landscapes and night skies exude.
Immi reminds me of two other books I love – The Red Book by Barbara Lehman, (which I reviewed here) and Polly and the North Star by Polly Horner (which I reviewed 4 Comments on The ability of stories to transport us, last added: 11/11/2010
SUCH A COOL (haha pardon the pun!) IDEA!!!
Thanks Carrie! Yes, the gloves were a real necessity, and to slow down the melting of the ice we turned off the heating whilst we were playing so everything was indeed cool! I had visions of the girls playing with it in the garden in the snow or at least with a good frost so that the whole world could be white (and even colder!)
Oh, this is such a “try-able” idea!
And I so agree with the idea of reaching out across cultures to share something special.
Hi Sandhya,
One of the things I love about Playing by the book is that there are quite a few of you in the community we have here who share this idea, and that makes me very happy!