This is a beautiful and heartbreaking book. It makes the complex global issue of climate change a very personal story and thus is an exquisite introduction for children to the subject.

My Wounded Island by Jacques Pasquet is a beautiful book. The artwork is breathtaking. The main character fears the sea. She and her family are forced to move to the center of the island because of the rising sea level. Things are changing and it is scary. The artwork really helps you understand the emotion of the story. It might take awhile for the kids to understand the beast is global warming, but it has a great message about why it's a problem, even though there's no real conversation about how to solve the global warming problem.

The book is a story of Imarvaluk, a young girl who lives on a tiny island near the Arctic Circle. She is part of a strong community that continues to live the way their ancestors had. Still, things are changing. The weather is impacting their small island, shrinking the pack ice and flooding the island. Scientists try to help by studying the impact and new barriers are put up, but there is no stopping the monster of climate change as it ravages the Arctic. The little girl imagines it as a huge sea monster, coming to gobble them up. For now, their homes are being moved to the center of the island but eventually, they will have to decide if they will leave and lose their community.

I recommend this book for bigger kids who are interested in environmental issues. 

I received this book from Orca Book Publishers via NetGalley.

***This book was reviewed for Orca Books via Netgalley

**This book was translated from the original French by Sophie B Watson

Imarvaluk is a young Inupiat girl who tells her story of being forced to leave home because of a monster. In her native language, her name means 'song of the waves’, and once she lived along the coast of Sarichef. But then the sea turned against the people. An invisible sea monster drove the Inupiat away from their wee island home of Sarichef, nestled in the Bering Sea. He has made traveling the once safe pack ice a dangerous endeavour.

Now, instead of the song of the sea, Imarvaluk is surrounded by fear of this creature who eats away at their island home. Even though houses have been moved to the interior of the island, soon that won't even be enough. Her people will have to leave their ancestral island home. If they move to a city such as Nome, they are in danger of losing their traditions, and what makes them who they are.

The artwork of Wounded Island is just plain gorgeous. I loved the depiction of the invisible sea beastie as a human faced jellyfish creature. He was shown noshing on teeny Sarichef. This little book may be a children's picture book, but it tells a terrifying, sad story. It is the story of fear of losing home and identity to invisible, implacable forces. It's a wake-up to the dangers and full depth of devastation due to climate change.

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Great way to introduce global warming to kids and start a conversation about the environment and how native peoples are losing their traditions and how important those traditions are to keep. This honestly made me tear up with its poignant story and beautiful pictures.

What a heartbreaking book! A very simply written and drawn story that deals with quite heavy issue. Seen through the eyes of a little innocent child, this is really upsetting but gives a brilliant account of what happens to the ordinary person when such geographical disasters happen.

It’s a tiny island and the monster is the water taking over their land and home. I think the watercolours and nature of the paintings were perfect for the story and themes and everything works so well on so many levels. A very important book with a simply conveyed message with a little girl who will stay in your mind.

I found myself learning about the Iñupiat people and way of life so it works for adults as well!

An arc was provided generously in exchange of an honest review via Netgalley.*
Beautiful illustrations that give you a sense of wonder. The text gives you a real situation of global warming and its consequences. The story leaves a kid worrying, because there is no ending as we know it. It's more of a "it is as it is" and we are sad and scared.
PS: One thing pulled me out of the story. The island is described as situated between Alaska and Russia. Alaska is a State, and Russia is a country, which is quite big and multinational. The book could have mentioned a Russian region too. There live people who have the same lifestyle as in a book. Or is it not interesting? Then why not say between USA and Russia? And an illustrated map cut would have being interesting.

It may be a children's book and it may be short, but it is an incredibly powerful story. The story serves to remind others of those, like the Iñupiat , that are being directly impacted by climate change today, not years from now, and everything they have to lose with it. It also puts climate change into a perspective that can be easily understood by a child and could be a great way to breach the topic. The illustrations, as well, are absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend this book.

Beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated. I am a huge advocate for more diverse stories and am thrilled to see this available -- thank you NetGalley. There's no happy ending to this story. While the addition of a brief glossary was nice, I think the book could've benefited more with information about global warming/climate change. It would've made the book more informative and a useful tool to bridge the story with the current issue.

A sad and quiet but still beautiful book with an important story. The depiction of the invisible monster is amazing!

A beautifully written story for any child. I adored reading it with my daughter and she equally enjoyed reading it with her little sister.

This book is beautiful. The artwork is breathtaking. It is rather short, so I do not have much to say, but I really enjoyed the story. It is not every day you read a picture book about climate change.

The main character fears the sea. She and her family are forced to move to the center of the island because of the rising sea level. Things are changing and it is scary. The artwork really helps you understand the emotion of the story.

This is quite an unusual and heavy topic to be addressed in a children's book: climate refugees. It is therefore fairly heavy reading for your minds, but a highly educational topic. The pages are so packed full of colour right up to the edges, and the illustrations are simply beautiful. I like that the text is a nice clear serif typeface which is well spaced and therefore easy to read. The young girl in the family talks about the 'creature' that is threatening the safety of their island, the creature being the water. The illustrations are so bold and powerful that they embody the persona of the creature perfectly. It's certainly an interesting story but I can see some young people getting lost in following this story due to the depth of the topic. I also found it ended a little abruptly.

Imarvaluk, an Inuit girl, lives in the island of Sarichef. It is a very small island close to Alaska that is gradually getting smaller due to the rising water levels. She is scared of "the monster" that is devouring their island. It is forcing the settlement to move further inland each year. In the summer they head to the mainland to hunt caribou and return to the island in the winter. Many of the islanders are now staying on the mainland year round due to the shrinking island. Her grandfather is worried that if they have to move to the city, Nome, they will lose their culture and heritage. The illustrations are wonderful. They are done in watercolour and will evoke some real emotion in the reader. There is an explanation about climate change, what is causing it and how it is affecting places like this island. It is a very powerful message told in a way that children will easily understand and be able to relate to. A book that should be in all school libraries and/or primary/junior classrooms.

In a story originally in French. a little girl—I’m guessing Inuit, since the island is close to Alaska—is scared of a monster that is forcing her family to move further inland by raising the water level around their island. It’s an invisible creature, though its outline is in the shape of a giant jellyfish.
This book might introduce you to a new term: climate refugees. You can’t help but feel the heartbreak in her words as she tells us the monster is forcing them out of their homes, and giving her nightmares. As a metaphor for what the world’s going through today it’s very effective, and the pastels are lovely in an impressionistic sorta way.

My Wounded Island

by Jacques Pasquet, illus. Marion Arbona

Orca Book Publishers

Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 29 Aug 2017

I am reviewing a copy of My Wounded Island through Orca Book Publishers and Netgalley:

In this beautifully written and illustrated Children’s book we are taken to Sarichef where an invisible creature in the waves is altering the lives of the Inupiat people who call the Island Home. In this book a young girl and her family are forced to move to the center of the Island for refuge from the rising sea.

I give this book five out of five stars!

Happy Reading

A haunting look at climate change and those who are often lost in the bustle.

Imarvaluk lives on Sarichef, a small island off the coast of Alaska-- but she is unsure of how much longer she and her community will be able to stay there. A monster from the deep is rising slowly and taking the island community under. The depiction of this monster is of a jelly fish-like entity, but as we read we learn that it is the rising water levels caused by climate change. What is feared the most is not only the loss of a home--but that what the loss of the island will mean to the people's culture and heritage.

It is interesting that a children's book takes such a heavy subject on... well, subject--climate change and cultural loss. I appreciate that someone has--they are hard subjects as adults to fully understand and a story told from the perspective of a peer is a really great.

Moving is hard. This book deals with climate change. It deals with the effects of change on a family. A great resource for your classroom library..

A beautiful, yet somewhat tragic story about how climate changing is making it harder for tribal natives to keep their customs and way of life. Being forced to move away from their homelands, they must decide if they still want to hold on to old traditions, or accept the modern way of life.

The pictures are magnificent, and the message powerful! A great story told in an easy to understand way, shows children what it's like to live in the arctic, and how the glaciers and islands are affected by climate change.

A deeply touching and informative story about the Iñupiat people and their native island as they, in the face of climate change, make decisions to stay or to move their families to the mainland, meanwhile pondering the survival of their ancient culture in the face of these changes. Lovely and sensitive illustrations. I love to see books for the young about native peoples, and this one does not disappoint. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.