Go Home...
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To the mountains in the north and the ocean in the west... IN GO HOME RIVER, a young Eskimo boy follows his family into the mountains to a river's beginning, sails down the gathering river to its end, and marvels as the river takes itself apart in its delta. His journey of discovery continues along the Arctic coast to a wonderous trade festival and an unexpected reunion with the river.
Elegant fiction, historically accurate and entertaining, Go Home River is based on historic accounts of traditional Eskimo life, and on descriptions of traditional Eskimo culture by contemporary scholars. This multidimensional book can be used to teach the water cycle, Alaska history, Eskimo culture, and geography, even to very young children. And children will be fascinated to learn that the illustrations are painted in octopus ink, a natural pigment with rich warmth and great depth.

We began to climb the side of a mountain... THE MOUNTAINS around us were bigger than anything I had ever seen. I felt that I, like the river below, had grown very small.
My father put me down in the snow. I scrambled onto the rocks. My feet were wet. My legs were wet. I looked back and saw my footprints were filling with water.
"The river begins here," my father said.


The river ends with many fingers... ONE DAY, the river began to take itself apart. It split into smaller rivers, first one to the left, and then another, and then again. I asked my father why the river was getting smaller.
My father held out his hand with his fingers wide. "The river ends with many fingers," he said, "This is but one."




© 1997 James Magdanz, Illustrations © 1996 Dianne Widom
From Alaska Northwest Books

For information contact Jim Magdanz


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