Stories of the Amautalik: Fantastic Beings from Inuit Myths and Legends

by Neil Christopher, Louise Flaherty, Larry MacDougall (Illustrator)

In this colourful, illustrated children’s book, the dreaded amautalik haunts two Inuit communities, terrifying five young but resourceful children. With luck, courage, and the knowledge of their ancestors, these young adventurers are able to face one of the most frightening beings to roam the Arctic. Listen well, young ones, for the information in these stories might just save YOU one day!

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Juvenile, Native Americans, Folk Tales

48 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2007

Reviews

[Addie Hincks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was beautifully illustrated with pictures that enhanced each part of the story. One part of the book I really enjoyed were the pronunciation guides. Whenever there was an Inuit word, there was an asterisk next to it with a footnote definition and pronunciation. Both legends provide a window into different parts of the life of an Inuit child, while also acting as a mirror because of the common, everyday experiences the protagonists have - like bullying and friendship. I would like to do more research on the stories to see what kind of lessons I can build around the two legends in the book.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, which contains two creepy stories about children encountering amautilik, a child-eating ogress who lives in the Arctic. My daughter, who has been delighting in stories of Grylla and Baba Yaga, adored this beautifully illustrated book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of Amautalik before, and I'm not sure that I'm glad to have met her through the pages of this page. She seems exceptionally scary, especially since she is featured in tales told to children. Ah, but, of course, that's the point. This ogress needs to be scary to keep them from wandering too far. After all, as these Inuit tales indicate, she's always ready to kidnap children who roam too far from home. A brief introduction to Amautalik is provided, followed by two stories in which some savvy children manage to escape her grasp. I wish the book had included other stories about her, but instead, the rest of the book discusses other ogres and ogresses of the tundra. It contains images that will insure that children in the Arctic never go very far from where their parents are.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

OOOOH these stories are REALLY scary with that dark edge of the Grimm tales. There are two stories, the first one fairly long but well-paced. Definitions and pronunciations of Inuit words are provided and the illustrations are spell-binding!

I wish some factual back-matter had been provided as I would have loved to know more about the origins of the stories. Definitely for a slightly older picture book audience due to the wonderful creepiness of the tales.

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Ogress of the Tundra we learn about the fearsome Amautalik, who kidnaps disobedient children. This would be a great addition to a school library curriculum in Native studies.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting introduction to the monster ogresses that inhabit the Arctic circle. Includes folklore information and two stories.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction to the amautalik, one of the tundra’s most fearsome creatures. Good, creepy fun.

[Elizabeth]

I saw a post on Tumblr about Inhabit Media -- an Inuit-owned publishing company -- and proceeded to ILL like every picture book I could get my hands on.

This is too text-heavy to be a picturebook proper, but definitely still a kids' book. And the illustrations are well-done.

I liked that the kids who triumph are the underdogs. And it's interesting that in the first story, the bullied girl triumphs with essentially aid from her absent parents (who are absent only because her mother is ill and her father took her to find a healer); whereas in the second story we read, "Aviuq, however, had lived much of his life without help from others. His hardships had taught him to think for himself. He swallowed his fear and smiled bravely at the giant woman while he thought of a plan."

This is a revised edition and "contains general information about these supernatural beings, as well as two spine-tingling retellings of traditional Inuit legends." There's a partial list of "Other Ogres & Ogresses" at the back, including an Aasivak whose illustration looks like a centaur except a woman's head and torso on a spider's body, with the figure turning back to look toward the viewer with a great expression, and I was totally rooting for this evil spider lady. (In attempting to find this illustration online, I learned that "aasivak" is just a type of spider -- which I guess makes sense? since the book says "Aasivak is actually an ancient spider that possess the magical ability to assume a human-like form," but I still found this a somewhat confusing naming choice.)

One thing I found interesting in the introductory matter (which I didn't notice so much in On the Shoulder of a Giant: An Inuit Folktale ) was that the intro text treats the Amautalik (ogress) as if she really exists. Which makes sense, since the Inuit are a living people, but I'm so used to folklore being treated like mythology -- stories that we all agree are just made up.

[Hannah Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Inuit culture there is an ogress called the Amautalik who is and ugly old woman who likes to capture naughty children to eat, but can be tricked by whit and intelligence. The book is about the ogress, her glittery as well as three folktales about her. At the end of the book they also depict other ogress that are told in the Inuit culture. The book is incredible for representing a culture not as well known and depicting the historical beliefs in what the culture has viewed and passed down for generations. Although the book as many strengths including, simplistic text, well researched topics, and creative imagery, there are some weaknesses. The weaknesses include the controversial topic of kidnapping children who have been bad and punching them. However, weakness aside, the book is wonderful in depicting another cultures history and folktales.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for Larry McDougal's art, but ended up enjoying the stories quite a bit. They were expertly told and matched the art quite well.

I love the idea of ogres being out there somewhere, wandering the northern tundra, mostly minding their own business, living out their long lives in their caves, until they come across some humans they'd like to eat.

This was a fun look into the myths of a culture I know very little about. I should learn more about Inuit culture.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps not the best choice for a children's bedtime story. This is Children's Horror Genre at it's best.
I found this to be a very informative book on folklore and learning new words.

Some passages from the book:

An amautalik is usually described as a huge, ugly woman who carries a large basket on her back. Sometimes, instead of carrying a basket, this ogress wears a huge amauti made of walrus hide and lined with rancid seaweed.
_______

This huge woman was old, really old. Her skin was like walrus hide, with deep cracks and creases. Her hair was long and matted, as if it had never been brushed. The children could feel her hot breath on them as she growled. She smelled of old meat and rotting seaweed. As she opened her mouth to smile at them, they saw her teeth, which were yellow and rotten.
_______


After the children were inspected, the ogress smiled, liked her lips once more, and said in a deep, gruff voice, "You, small and fat. You smell tasty."
Then she took the skin belt from her jacket and wrapped it around the three squirming children. She pulled the belt tight, bind them together. The captives tried to wriggle away form the huge old woman. But struggling was useless.
When the amautalik was sure that the children were securely tied, she turned and stomped over to a large hole in the ground. This hole was the entrance to the amautalik's lair. The children had not noticed the hole earlier because it was half-hidden by rocks and vegetation. But as they began to look around, they spotted many bones scattered close to the hole. Kunaju quickly surveyed the remains that littered the ground. She realized that the remains scattered around this hole were not from animals. They were the weathered bones of unfortunate children.
_______

And that is how a little girl saved her friends and herself by listening to her mother and calling on old magic that had been passed down from her ancestors.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the version I have is different than the version listed on Goodreads. I enjoyed this one--I had never heard of the amautalik before, and she is legitimately pretty frightening. This version begins with an introduction of who and what she is, then follows with two stories of brave and clever children escaping her, and ends with information about other Arctic monsters. Very interesting.