At first glance Sweetest Kulu looks like an adorable children’s book, but this is not the case. Alexandria Neonakis’ soft muted illustrations of wild Arctic animals cuddling an infant are adorably heart-warming, but these images would never occur with wild animals in real life. The text is what makes this book for upper elementary,  middle, and high school readers. Each of the wild animals bestows an ideal, a trait, the “shared thoughts, feelings, and best wishes with you darling Kulu.”   Animals include: snow bunting, Arctic hare, fox, Arctic char, seal, narwhal and beluga, muskox, caribou, and polar bear.

“Polar Bear, with powerful instinct,

taught you to always treat animals with respect and to never scold them.

Polar Bear made an offering of gentleness, making you a modest

and kind Kulu.”

Author Celina Kalluk “is the Inuktitut Language Specialist and Cultural Arts teacher for grades seven through twelve at Qarmartalik School in Resolute Bay.”