The Origin of Day and Night - by Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt (Paperback)

About the Book

In this Inuit tale, the actions of a hare and a fox change the Arctic forever by creating day and night.

Book Synopsis

"Spare and beautiful."--★ Kirkus

In very early times, there was no night or day and words spoken by chance could become real. When a hare and a fox meet and express their longing for light and darkness, their words are too powerful to be denied. Passed orally from storyteller to storyteller for hundreds of years, this beautifully illustrated story weaves together elements of an origin story and a traditional animal tale, giving young readers a window into Inuit mythology.

Review Quotes

"This origin story captures the cadence of the storyteller's voice as readers watch Siri, the Arctic fox, and Ukaliq, the Arctic hare try to find a compromise that each can hunt and find food."--The Globe and Mail

"Rumbolt grew up listening to traditional Inuit stories and customs shared by her family and other elders. Her cadenced retelling of this traditional origin story will help young readers learn how to compromise and problem solve. Lishchenko's deliberate palette of black and white, plus touches of a few other colors, plays strikingly with negative and positive space and adds a subtle dimension to this story of opponents learning how to coexist. Spare and beautiful."-- ★ Kirkus, STARRED review

"A simple story told with mighty text and illustrations, The Origin of Day and Night enlightens about beginnings, people and place."--CanLit for Little Canadians

"[A] picture book you absolutely must see to believe - the illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and shouldn't be missed."--Raincity Librarian

"This book is a must for every classroom, home, library, business school, legislature, and think-tank on conflict. I hope the United Nations purchase multiple copies! We all need this story of sensitive and nuanced ethical compromises that assure the survival and well-being of those who occupy the land--a shared joint place, a shared ecology and destiny. Highly Recommended."--CM Magazine

About the Author

Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt is from Baker Lake, Nunavut. She is currently attending Concordia University in Montreal. Growing up, formal education was strongly encouraged by her grandmother because she realized that this is the way to make it in the modern world. After high school, Paula attended Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa. There she learned much about Inuit history and culture. She realized how important it was to connect with her culture and began to learn as much as she could after her year in the program. She returned home for a year and learned how to sew, spoke to the elders in her community, and began to feel a very strong connection to her culture.

Lenny Lishchenko is not a boy. She is an illustrator, graphic designer, and comic maker, who will never give up the chance to draw a good birch tree. Ukrainian born and Canadian raised, she's interested in telling stories that people remember years later, in the early mornings where everything is quiet and still. She's worked with clients such as Lenny Letter, Power Athletics Ltd. Alberta Venture, and Rubicon Publishing, and is based out of Mississauga, Ontario.