On the Shoulder of a Giant
By Neil Christopher and James Nelson
4/5
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About this ebook
Inukpak was big, even for a giant. He loved to travel across the tundra, striding over the widest rivers and wading through the deepest lakes with ease. He could walk across the Arctic in just a few days.
But being so big, and travelling so far, Inukpak was often alone. Until one day, when he came across a little hunter on the tundra. Thinking that the hunter was a little boy, alone on the land, Inukpak decided to adopt him as his son.
And so, from the shoulder of one of the biggest giants to ever roam the Arctic, this hunter embarked on a series of adventures only a giant could enjoy!
Neil Christopher
Neil Christopher is an educator, author, and filmmaker. He first moved to the North many years ago to help start a high school program in Resolute Bay, Nunavut. It was those students who first introduced Neil to the mythical inhabitants from Inuit traditional stories. Together with his colleague, Louise Flaherty, and his brother, Danny Christopher, Neil started a small publishing company in Nunavut called Inhabit Media Inc., and has since been working to promote Northern stories and authors.
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Reviews for On the Shoulder of a Giant
11 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alaska’s Arctic tundra is a giant place and the perfect but lonely home for giant Inukpak, brought to life in this pan-Arctic Inuit legend. Inukpak adopts and then befriends a human hunter in this giant adventure, charming readers with unique features of the Arctic. Beautifully detailed illustrations add an impressive quality to a giant legend, making this book irresistible from the moment it catches your eye.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Story of a Inuit Giant named Inukpak. Who finds a normal size human and they become best friends. They know things like whales and polar bears as different things.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inukpak, “pronounced ‘ee-newk-pak,’” is a giant so large that he mistakes a whale for a small fish, a polar bear for a lemming, and a full grown human for a tiny child. When a lost Inuit hunter encounters him for the first time, the hunter finds himself unwillingly adopted by the giant—because who’s going to argue with someone that big? Perched on Inukpak’s huge shoulder the hunter learns what the arctic looks like from a gigantic point of view. This beautifully illustrated tale also has an informative introduction and a five page afterword, “More about Arctic Giants,” so the reader can tell the really big ones like Inukpak, from merely large giants. There’s also information about giant polar bears, and when you might be standing on sleeping giant without knowing it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When a great giant named Inukpak comes upon a human hunter in this Inuit folktale, he mistakes him for a child because of his small size, and decides to adopt him. The hunter doesn't want to argue with a giant, and goes along for the ride on Inukpak's shoulder, seeing many wonderful things. Eventually, as the two continue their adventures together, they become great friends...One of many high quality titles produced by Inhabit Media, an Inuit-owned publisher based in Nunavut, specializing in books with an Inuit theme, On the Should of a Giant pairs an engaging story from author Neil Christopher with appealing artwork from illustrator Jim Nelson. The tale is somewhat episodic, with no overarching quest narrative or problem to be solved, but no less enjoyable for that, while the artwork is quite expressive. I appreciated the inclusion of an afterword, discussing the different kinds of giants in Inuit lore. Recommended to all young folklore enthusiasts, those who enjoy giant tales, and to anyone looking for children's books with an Inuit cultural backdrop.