Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

A gorgeous picture book that pays homage to aviator Freddie Carmichael - the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Arctic - with each month of the year highlighting moments from his life, the beauty of the North, and the power of dreams.

The above quote from the front book flap is an excellent summary of this biography. While this is a brief reflection on the the life of Freddie Carmichael, a member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, it serves the format well. The publisher includes the Inuvialuktun and Gwich'in translations (and pronunciation guide) for the months of the year which greatly enhances the context. The artwork, acrylic paint on canvas, by Audrea Loreen-Wulf is beautiful and evocative of Canada's Western Arctic. Another engaging title from Tundra Books. Thanks to the publisher for this review copy made available through a LibraryThing GiveAway.
… (altro)

I really enjoyed this biography of aviator Fred Carmichael. I think it does a great job introducing readers his life story, with a nice amount of more detailed information in the back matter along with a translation guide and some photos. The illustrations throughout the book were beautiful and really helped set the scene and atmosphere of the story. My only complaint was that the framing device of having each page be a different month of the year felt a little random, it didn't seem like there was a clear connection between the life events appearing on the page and the month they were paired with.… (altro)