Northern Lights: the Soccer Trails Paperback – Picture Book, May 1, 1993

Kid loved the story! Good way to find peace in a grieving situation.

This award winning picture book is the story of Kataujaq, a young girl living in Canada's arctic who loses her mother to a sudden illness. Kauaujaq greatly misses her mother, and several years pass with her dealing with her grief on her own. It is explained that the people of her village like to play soccer out on the sea ice under the moonlight, using a caribou skin ball stuffed with moss and fur. Her grandmother tells her that the thousands of thin strands of light moving about in the northern lights above them are really the souls of those that have passed on, playing soccer with a huge, frozen walrus head. This greatly consoles Kataujak as she feels her mother's presence, and no longer feels as lonely.Full of Canadian content, the text and illustrations realistically convey many aspects of life in Canada's north. Highly recommended as a read-aloud for children in grades 1-2.

素敵な絵本である。読めばよむほど、その内容とイラストに惹かれていく。極北の大自然の中でも母と子の絆は変わりない。今はやりのヒーリングブックともいえる。こどもたちに是非読ませたい。