Grade 3-8-A lovely portrayal of the art of the Inuit people, especially those in Cape Dorset on Baffin Island and in Nunavut, Canada's northern-most province. The only quarrel with this book is that the subtitle leads readers to think that all Inuit art is represented, whereas only one group of Eskimos is featured. That flaw aside, the generalized text is accurate and informative. The full-color photographs are sharp and clear and the art itself is marvelous. The map and the photographs and biographies of the artists are additional strengths. Shirley Glubok's The Art of the Eskimo (Harper, 1964; o.p.), Wendy Adler Jordan's By the Light of the Quilliq (Smithsonian, 1979; o.p.), and Susan W. Fair's Alaska Native Arts and Crafts (Alaska Geographic, 1985; o.p.) are all fine sources but dated.
Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AK
About the Author
Kathleen Connors is a Visiting Scholar at Indiana University Bloomington. Sally Bayley is at Balliol College, Oxford University.
The earth's polar regions have been the subject of three major research initiatives called "international polar years" (IPY). Beginning with the first IPY in 1882-1883, these initiatives have shared the goal of advancing basic scientific knowledge of the geography and geophysical processes of these remote lands and oceans. International polar year events have always captured the imagination of the public, yet the polar regions remain a distant and disconnected realm for most people. The global science community is set to begin another IPY in 2007-2008 with a special sense of urgency: simply put, the polar regions are a critical part of the earth's climate system, which is now undergoing rapid change in response to human activities. The 2007-2008 events will extend beyond basic studies in the geophysical and biological sciences to focus on global climate change and the research presently underway to advance our understanding of the human dimensions of a shifting Arctic environment.
