On the day Luke is born in the Arctic, his parents are visited by an Inupiat friend, Aalak, who offers the baby an Inupiat name. "His name may be 'Kupaaq,' for my papa,"Aalak tells them, "an Eskimo name to go with his English name."Jean Craighead George's restrained, lyrical text cycles through the seasons of a harsh and beautiful landscape, and through the years of a young boy's life. Kupaaq grows from infant to toddler to school-age child, learning the ways of the Arctic, and the ways of the Eskimo, from Aalak and others in the village. He witnesses the northern lights in the cold of winter, and welcomes back the sun. He sees millions of birds returning in the spring, and helps on a whale hunt as the weather begins to warm. This fictional work that looks at contemporary life in an Arctic village is based on the experience of the author's grandson, who lives with his parents in the Arctic and was given an Inupiat name when he was born. The text is graced by Wendell Minor's richly colored illustrations that emphasize the many moods of dark and light in the far northern part of the world. (Ages 5-9)

Eskimo life has adjusted to the long summer day and the long winter night, the severe cold, and the arrival and departure of wildlife. In this stunning tribute to the Arctic and its inhabitants by the celebrated author of "Julie of the Wolves", the warmth of the Inupiat Eskimo culture shines through.