The Hungry Giant of the Tundra

by Teri Sloat

The hungry giant is tricked out of his delightful supper.

Genres: Picture Books, Folk Tales, Childrens, Fantasy, Native American, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Ronyell]

It is rare that I read folktales from Yupik, so when I stumbled upon a book called “The Hungry Giant of the Tundra,” I just had to see for myself how this story would turn out and man was I extremely impressed with this story!

The story starts out with a group of children playing across the fields in a village far to the north. Even though the children were supposed to run home before the big giant A· ka· gua ·gan ·kak came across the tundra, the children were having so much fun that they decided not to go back to their homes and continued playing in the fields. Unfortunately, A· ka· gua ·gan ·kak manages to catch up to the children and ended up grabbing them and is about to eat them when he realized that he forgot his knife. So, he put the children into his trousers and left them in a tree while he went home to get his knife. It was then that the children saw a chickadee and they begged the chickadee to help them.

Can the chickadee and the crane save the children from the giant?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! I must admit that I was quite impressed with this book since I have never read a folktale from Yupik before! Teri Sloat has done an excellent job at retelling this ancient folktale from Yupik as the story is interesting and intense as I felt scared for the children and I wanted to see how they will get away from the giant in this story. I was also impressed with how the crane and the chickadee helped out the children with the chickadee using its strong beak to carry the trousers with the children inside out of harm’s way and the crane stretching its long legs to get the children across the river. It reminded me of other folktales where the main character receives help from other characters who possess special powers that can easily be used to help the main character out of their predicament. Robert and Teri Sloat’s artwork is truly amazing as I loved the Yupik influenced artwork and I thought that the giant look quite appropriate for the part of being menacing yet being dimwitted at the same time. I especially loved the scene where the giant took off his trousers and put the children inside them, since it was both hilarious and surprising to see such an image pop up in a children’s book!

Parents should know that the giant might scare smaller children, especially when it tried to eat the children. Parents might want to read this book first before reading it to their children to see if they can handle the scenes with the giant.

Overall, “The Hungry Giant of the Tundra” is a fantastic book that children who love books about giants should definitely check out! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the images of the giant might scare smaller children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Erin]

What a delightful find in this book! This is a retelling of a traditional Native Yupik tale from Alaska. My kids and I loved the long many-syllabled giant's name, and how it is repeated over and over in the narrative. The book serves as a great introduction to the folktales of a less-commonly studied culture, and the narrative style is ideal for ages 3 up to 10 or older. Finally, the illustrations by Robert and Teri Sloat are really marvelous. I highly recommend it to any age.

[Nicholas]

it is a very strange tale but i think the moral of the story is listen to your parents.

[Bre Scott]

Folktale, Children, Tundra

Sloat, Teri. The Hungry Giant of the Tundra. Illustrated by Teri and Robert Sloat. Dutton Juvenile, 1993. 25 pp. Ages 11-14.

This fast-paced and kind of dark folktale tells the story of a giant named A-ka-gua-gan-kak that lived in the Tundra and ate people. There was a group of kids that were supposed to run home before the giant came across the tundra looking for his dinner, but they did not listen, and how the giant was after the group of children so he could eat them, but the giant ran into many obstacles before he could eat them, like forgetting his knife and having to tie up the children in his pants to a tree, where they eventually escaped. I didn’t really like this story as much because of the whole cannibalistic kid eating giant, but I’m just happy the children made it home. I guess this folktale could be used as a scary story to tell at night or as a way to make sure children listen to their parents or else, they will get eaten by a giant!

Alaska Connection: Tundra, Far North, Inuit Children

Related Activity: Discuss in your group what the children could of done differently in that situation.

[Kortney Rupprecht]

Set in the Northern Tundra of Alaska, a group of young children disobey their parents and ignore their calls to come home. A giant comes and attempts to eat them, but with a little luck, and the help of a chickadee and crane the children are able to escape and make it back to their parents alive. The third person viewpoint, lyrical text, and detailed earth-toned drawings add a humorous tone and make this Yupik folktale fun to read aloud.

AK: Yupik Folktale, Giant, Chickadee

Activity: Conduct a classroom comparison with this story and “Jack & the Beanstalk”. Have students discuss similarities and differences they can find within the story.

[Ksenia Roeder]

one of the most beloved books. Giant is super hairy, forgetful children's eater, just a suspense delight for hyper boys. good illustrations, memorable story

[David Ward]

The Hungry Giant of the Tundra by Teri Sloat (Dutton Children's Books 1993) (Fiction - Children's) is a book that my kids adored when they were very young (ages 2-5). This is a picture and story book of a Yupik Indian tale about a mean giant and the consequences that await kids who don't come home for dinner when they are called. We read this book over and over (and over) as a bedtime story; I bought myself a copy from Amazon years later. My rating: 8/10, finished 1998.

[Ruqayya Jarad]

In this story of an old Yupik Eskimo tale,that captured children outwit the enemy in a classic story of "little" triumphing over "big." When it's time for dinner,the hungry giant goes looking for children who didn't go inside when their parents called them in.When the children play outside too long, the hungry giant captures them. Then the children escape with the help of two birds in this folktale story.This story is for grade level K-2.

[Kristin]

A group of Yupik children disobey their parents’ call to return home from playing in the tundra and are captured by a hungry giant for dinner. With the help of a chickadee and a crane, the children return home safely and the giant is surprisingly defeated. The Sloats used earthy tones in watercolor for the background and colored pencil for the characters. This fast paced, humorous tale will entertain young listeners and readers alike.

[Judy]

Children will enjoy the slow, plodding pronunciation of the giant's name: A•ka•gua•gan•kak. And, yes, if children were familiar with this formidable "bad guy" they wouldn't want to wander far into the tundra by themselves. Especially since the giant chants, "I found little children warm in the sun. I'll eat them all one by one." Intentionally meant, I assume, to sound like 'Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum.'
The art by Sloat, children, tundra, chickadees, and a crane all make for a guaranteed good book.

[Rebecca]

This is a cute Native Alaskan story, that reminded me of Jack and the Bean Stock. Not the same, but similar, I couldn't help but add FEE FI FO FOM, before the Giant said anything. :)

Fun to read to the kids.