Arctic Winter

Photographs and simple text contrast Arctic landscapes and animals in winter and summer.

The Arctic winter is cold, snowy, and dark. The barren landscape is covered by a layer of snow that stretches to the horizon, with nothing to disrupt it but jagged rocks. There are only a few plants and no sunlight. And yet, there are animals hardy enough to survive this bleak environment: the arctic wolf, hare, cod, and fox; the snowy owl, polar bear, ringed seal, and Peary caribou, all inextricably linked together in the chain of life. With lyrical text and glowing paintings that capture this mystically beautiful environment with stunning realism, this unusual book fascinates and inspires children of all ages.

Author Kim Norman (Crocodaddy) and illustrator Liza Woodruff have whipped up a rollicking, jolly, snow-filled adventure! In the land of the midnight sun, all the animals are having fun speeding down the hill on Caribous sled. But as they go faster and faster, Seal, Hare, Walrus, and the others all fall off…until just Caribous left, only and lonely. Now, a reindeer likes flying-but never alone, so…one through ten, all leap on again! An ideal picture book for reading-and singing along with-over and over.

Short-listed for the 2012 Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award and Rocky Mountain Book Award, commended for the 2011 Best Books for Kids and Teens Mike Watson’s team has just won the Alberta Bantam Provincial box lacrosse championships. The euphoria of victory and plans for next season are short-lived when Mike’s father, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is transferred to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The transition to life inside the Arctic Circle is a tough one. With temperatures of -30 Celsius, a hulking monster named Joseph Kiktorak threatening him at every turn, and not a lacrosse ball in site, Mike’s resentment at moving north escalates. As his friendships with local youth develop, Mike is introduced to the amazing spectacle and athleticism of traditional "Arctic Sports." When his father witnesses the natural talent of Mike’s new friends, the idea of an Inuvik lacrosse team is born! With hearts full of desire, the motley group of athletes heads south to participate in the Baggataway Lacrosse Tournament, and to face Mike’s former team, The Rams.

A chilling true story about a pregnant mother with two children who must battle cold, starvation and exhaustion. Ultimately it's a story of survival and trimph amid unspeakable sorrow.

A finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Minds of Winter is a mesmerizing novel about the chance meeting of two present-day travellers who expose one of the most perplexing mysteries in the history of Arctic exploration. Fay Morgan and Nelson Nilsson have each arrived in Inuvik, Canada, about 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Both are in search of answers about a family member: Nelson for his estranged older brother, and Fay for her vanished grandfather. Driving Fay into town from the airport on a freezing January night, Nelson reveals a folder left behind by his brother. An image catches Fay’s eye: a clock she has seen before. Soon Fay and Nelson realize that their relatives have an extraordinary and historic connection — a secret share in one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of polar expedition. This is the riddle of the “Arnold 294” chronometer, which reappeared in Britain more than a hundred years after it was lost in the Arctic with the ships and men of Sir John Franklin’s Northwest Passage expedition. The secret history of this elusive timepiece, Fay and Nelson will discover, ties them and their families to a journey that echoes across two centuries.