Iceberg by Claire Saxby illustrated by Jess Racklyeft

Antarctica is a fascinating place but it is also a place very few of us will ever visit. If you do visit Antarctica you will only be there for a very short time and only see a fragment of this huge continent. People do work at the various stations in Antarctica but only a small number of people will ever experience a whole year in the coldest, windiest, driest place on earth.

Every word in Iceberg is liquid gold. The text is informed by facts but expressed using a carefully constructed lyrical text. Referencing the seasons as a way to mark time is perfect in the context of an iceberg in Antarctica. The colours beautifully reflect the icy environment and a sense of wonder is created by the see-through transparent layers of water which allow the reader to see the mysteries beneath the ocean. 

This book has been carefully designed. The front cover has a stark image of an iceberg but closer inspection reveals the different animals that call this place home. The end papers actually look cold and contrast beautifully with the exuberant colours found on the fold out page later in the book. The text and illustrations in this book beautifully complement each other. There are tiny touches of humour in the faces of the sea creatures and this adds a lightness to the story. This book will stand the test of time, the sense of place is very strong and the text will give young readers a rich reading experience.

Publisher blurb (click this link to find very comprehensive teachers notes): In the final freeze of an Antarctic winter, green tails wave across a star-full sky, as if to farewell endless nights. If this world looks empty, look closer ... Penguins trek across the ice to their winter homes. As the temperature warms, birds fly above on their long migrations. And with the advent of summer, beneath an iceberg, the sea is teeming with life. Ocean, sky, snow and ice - minute greens and giant blues - dance a delicate dance in this evocative portrayal of the life cycle of an iceberg.

In 2017 Claire Saxby wrote a poem for our NSW School Magazine (Touchdown issue #1 February 2017).  I was luckily able to obtain a copy. Claire mentioned this in an interview with Joy Lawn for her blog Paperbark Words. Claire talks about this process here. 

Here is part of the poem:

In a blue Antarctic dawn

an iceberg calves - 

shears from a glacier

and is released to the sea

sharp and angular

it hoards ancient weather

layers of ice clothing

a coat for each year volcanoes blew

and black ash fell like snow

Iceberg was the 2022 Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year winner but because it was entered for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year I haven't been able to talk about it until now.  Book Week and the announcement of the CBCA Award winners for 2022 happened last month. As a CBCA judge I had to wait to share these books until the judging was completed.

Here are the judges comments:

The writing is sophisticated; facts and technical vocabulary are lyrically combined with beautiful description. The sentences are perfectly balanced, and verbs are used precisely to describe the vivid life of this icy place. The choice of artistic medium offers a perfect complement to the text; the illustrations are subtle at times and commanding at others. The use of many shades of blue beautifully reflects this icy environment and immerses readers in the Antarctic. A sense of wonder is created through transparent layers of water allowing readers to spot life above and the mysteries below the surface.

Awards:

• Adelaide Festival Award for Literature shortlist 2022
• CBCA Notable Picture Book of the Year 2022
• CBCA Notable Eve Pownall Award
• CBCA Shortlist Picture Book of the Year 2022
• CBCA Picture Book of the Year 2022 Winner

In this video shared on Facebook Jess Racklyeft talks about her research and processes in creating the art for this book. 

Here in Australia, by now, most children in Primary schools are sure to have heard (hopefully someone read the book in a library or classrooom) and/or seen (Storybox Library) this book but I know people from other places in the world read my blog so I do hope you can find Iceberg in your local library, school or book store. Here is the website for Jess Racklyeft and for Claire Saxby.

Her text is both narrative and non-fiction, effortlessly creating a wonderful reading experience for teachers, librarians or parents while also providing an educational, fact-learning feast for children in kindergarten to middle primary. Reading Time

Saxby’s text is sophisticated, poetic and accessible all at once and Racklyeft’s illustrations are multi-layered and luminescent; ‘Iceberg’ is text and images in perfect harmony ... Children's Books Daily

Here is the US cove which is slightly different - I wonder why they added a subtitle?

Here are some craft works inspired by this book:

Le Page Primary School Victoria

Booragul Public School, NSW

Here are some books you could use to compare the way illustrators depict Antarctica:

Other books by Claire Saxby:

Bartlett and the ice voyage by Odo Hirsch

I am a massive fan of Odo Hirsch and I often recommend his books to the students who visit my school library.  I am such a fan that when people talk about inviting six authors to an imaginary dinner party Odo Hirsch is always at the top of my list.  Read his book Hazel Green to see why I would bake Chocolate Dippers.

I bought home the audio book of Bartlett and the Ice Voyage which I first read in 1998. There have been times over the last weeks when I just could not get out of my car because I needed to listen to a little more of this engrossing story.  I can see why this book was short listed for the Blue Peter Award in 2001.

The Queen is given every treasure you can imagine for her birthday from every part of her extensive kingdom but the one thing she desires is a melidrop.  They grow in a far away land and spoil one day after picking.

"People sent melidrop seeds, but they failed to shoot. They sent melidrop trees, but their leaves curled up and died. Then the people tried sending melidrop fruit, but no matter how early they picked them, the fruit always spoiled in the box. The Queen would open the packing case to find a disgusting, smelly pile of darkened melidrop skins."

The Queen is desperate to taste this exotic fruit but she is unwilling to travel the vast distance needed. One of her advisers, Sutton Pufrock, introduces the queen to  Bartlett and his friend Jacques le Grand. Sir Hugh Lough is not impressed :

"this famous Bartlett was about as dashing a milkman. He had freckles on his face and his hair was obviously not very friendly with his comb. His fingers were knobbly. He came to see the queen in a plain shift, patched trousers and a pair of worn leather boots ... creased and creviced as a turtle's neck."

Bartlett does find a way to transport the precious melidrop.  You need to read the story for yourself but his method is quite inventive and perhaps surprising.

There is so much to discuss as you read this book.  How can Bartlett bring back a melidrop? Should he try to bring a large quantity?  Will the Queen even like the fruit and will this satisfy her desire for unusual gifts? Odo Hirsch is a master of description - so many parts of this book could be used as writing models for your class.

My favourite scenes involve food (as usual).  When Lord Roland of Tull visits the Queen each Thursday he enjoys eating her little butter cakes and sipping tea. After months of waiting Bartlett has not returned with the precious melidrop. The Queen is impatient and furious and she now shuns Lord Roland but one day he does come for tea. "He stared. There were lemon slices on the plate. Where were the butter cakes? What had the queen done with the butter cakes?"  You are sure to grimace as he is forced to do more than take a dainty bite of this bitter slice.

Here are my reviews of two other Odo Hirsch titles - Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, Darius Bell and the crystal bees.

Our copy of Bartlett and the Ice Voyage is in very bad shape so once again I have searched a second hand seller and found a copy.  It is on the way.  Here is a five minute audio sample from page 10 onwards describing the giraffe which the Queen is given as one of her multiple gifts.  This book is also available from itunes.  Here is the Kirkus review.

I would pair this book with The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King and The quiltmakers gift.