Baseball Bats for Christmas

I think books set in Nunavut are awesome and I try to get them for my son since he is growing up in the territory. The story of Arvaarluk & his friends growing up in Repulse Bay in the 1950s was so interesting to read. The illustrations are beautiful and add so much to the story. I do think that something should be added to the book saying that Repulse Bay has recently changed their name to Naujaat so that people trying to look up the town would be able to find it.

This engaging tale provides a rare glimpse into life for Inuit children, providing a much needed look at how holidays can be celebrated without such heavy reliance on capitalism!

This book takes place above the arctic circle. A land with no trees. I too have lived in such a place (Adak, Alaska). One year, the plane brings it’s Christmas supplies, which includes six trees. At least one of which is used to make a baseball bat. I lovely story with lovely illustrations to o along with it. It reminded me of a time when I too lived in a land with no trees.

Baseball Bats for Christmas is being reissued by Annick Press in September of this year. I had never read this children's story before but I am glad I now have done so. This is a beautiful book that I will be adding to my Christmas library. The illustrations are gorgeous and could easily be framed and hung by themselves.

This story is set in Canada's far north in the community of Repulse Bay, which is situated on the Arctic Circle in 1955. There are no trees yet the children frantically look for sticks to use as baseball bats to play one of their favourite past times, just like children play everywhere. When Rocky, the pilot brings in six Christmas Trees, the children do not know what they are. They decide after Christmas that they could be whittled down to make baseball bats. A fun story, however there is so much more to it than that. Learning about the Inuit Christmas customs was very interesting. What they do about gifts and their Spiritual celebrations was eye opening. The story is recommended for ages 4 to 8, but I would use it with older children as well. This would make a wonderful resource teaching about the Inuit culture, Christmas traditions and multiculturalism. A great addition to school, classroom and family libraries.