Reviews The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin Illustrated by Beth Krommes

Smithsonian Magazine Notable Books for Children list, 2001 Click here to check out the list for Middle Readers [Ages 6-10]. ALA Notable Children's Books 2002 Click here to see the entire list [middle grades]. Starred Review and an editor's Choice -- Stylized scratchboard illustrations in soft beige, brown, gold, blue, and green tones add an emotional charge to this well-researched story of an Eskimo woman, her husband and children who, in 1913, found themsleves aboard a Canadian Arctic Expedition ship, The Karluk. ... Excellent for multicultural studies or a theme dealing with the Arctic or survival. -- Library Talk September/October 2001.

Martin includes details that will fascinate kids (Inupiaq sunglasses--how cool!). The quiet, intriguing language, with a poet's attention to sound, will lull young ones into the story's drama, as will Beth Krommes' captivating scratchboard illustrations, suggestive of Lois Lenski's work in their rounded shapes and bold lines. With its picture-book format and well-paced chapters, this is a great choice for primary classroom read-alouds. -- Booklist

Told with clarity, grace, and the scrupulous use of such words as perhaps and I think, the book includes a brief bibliography, a map (appearing, unfortunately, only on the back of the book), photographs of the survivors, and a list of those who set out and what became of them (Makpii's daughter was among those interviewed). Beth Krommes's scratchboard art is outstanding. Ice, artifacts, and characters are delineated in handsome black, softened with crosshatching and a limited palette that ranges from sealskin brown to ice blue; sweeps of white space pull readers into windswept vistas or set off cozy iglu interiors. Art, narration, and information are all perfectly integrated in a story that makes a fine introduction to arctic exploration. -- Horn Book

In The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish, Jacqueline Briggs Martin weaves information about Arctic wildlife, habitat, and the Inupiat people into a suspenseful and interesting tale of survival, based on the true story of the Karluk shipwreck. -- Online Librarian, Full review.

There is great respect in Jacqueline Briggs Martin's picture book The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) --respect for the Inupiat people and their culture, respect for science and respect for the Arctic and its dangers. Based on a true story, with wonderful scratchboard illustrations by Beth Krommes, the book tells of an Arctic expedition in 1913.
We begin and end the story with a seal-oil lamp, the symbol of the Inupiats rich heritage. The voyage is undertaken by a Canadian crew of scientists who set out to explore the Arctic. Fortunately, they take aboard some Inupiat hunters and an indigenous family with two small girls.
Martin's text for this thrilling adventure is spare and poetic. The illustrations perfectly echo the text and the designs of the far north. This book belongs in any study of the Arctic, of native peoples, of exploration and discovery and of bravery and tradition.  --  "Into the Unknown" by Carol Otis Hurst, Teaching PreK-8,  Aug/Sep2001, Vol. 32, Issue 1