Peoples of the Arctic

School Library Journal

Gr 1-2Low has a noble goal: to teach primary-grade students about indigenous peoples who live in the Arctic regions. Unfortunately, the coverage of the subject is too broad and the book is quite general. The large-print format is similar to titles in the "New True Books" series (Childrens). The full-color photographs in Low's book are acceptable and the native groups are identified, but where they live is not indicated on a map. Phonetic pronunciations are not included in the glossary, and the capitalizing of the accented syllable within the text does not lend itself to deciphering by primary students, as in (en-VIE-ron-ment). Lumping the Inuit, the Sami, theYakut, and the Chukchi together takes away from each unique culture without giving readers a true feeling for the individual groups. Peoples of the Arctic is like a brief taste testwithout the flavor.Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AK