Books published by publisher Alaska Northwest Books Jan - 2008

Long ago, the only berries on the tundra were hard, tasteless, little crowberries. As Anana watches the ladies complain bitterly while picking berries for the Fall Festival, she decides to use her magic to help. ""Atsa-ii-yaa (Berry), Atsa-ii-yaa (Berry), Atsaukina!"" (Be a berry!), Anana sings under the full moon turning four dolls into little girls that run and tumble over the tundra creating patches of fat, juicy berries: blueberries, cranberries, salmonberries, and raspberries. The next morning Anana and the ladies fill basket after basket with berries for the Fall Festival. Thanks to Anana, there are plenty of tasty berries for the agutak (Eskimo tee cream) at the festival and forevermore. As she did with THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE (praised by the New York Times Book Review, a San Francisco Chronicle Choice, and a Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Picture Book Award winner), Yup'ik Eskimo elder Betty Huffmon shared this folktale with author/illustrator Teri Sloat, who brings it to life with her delightful illustrations.

Charlie loves to watch his relatives and friends get thrown high in the air during the traditional Inupiat blanket toss. But secretly, he's afraid to try it himself. At the Whaling Festival, he's ready to step up and overcome his fears. Warm humor and good energy fill the pages in this inspiring story while authentic details of Alaska Native life are shared to anchor the story in place. Glowing illustrations depict Charlie’s family and village friends as they prepare for the big celebration while action scenes capture the excitement and spirit of the Festival. Exhilarating moments are expressed in the text with fun to read aloud phrases that little ones will enjoy.

Against the backdrop of the great Bristol Bay salmon fishery, thirteen-year-old Zoey Morley struggles withher parents divorce, her moms bush-pilot boyfriend, and the pangs of growing up during her summer in thereal Alaska. Author Annie Boochever tells a compelling tale of a divided family living a remote lifestyle wheregetting along as a team is a matter of survival. Zoey learns to trust the artist inside her and finds she and hernew friend Thomas have something in common. Readers will live the lessons learned and taught by this younggirl who finds that hard work, compassion, and the ability to see things in her own special way lead her towardhappiness in a place that at first seems just too far away.

All four books of Seldovia Sam's exciting misadventures are now collected in one book! Eight-year-old Sam Peterson from Seldovia, Alaska, doesn't go looking for trouble, but he always seems to find it! This book collects the entire series of Seldovia Sam's exploits, from digging up clams and rescuing sea otters to encountering wildfires and meeting bears.

Born into a family of aviators, Merrill Wien was destined to become a pilot. His father, Noel Wien, was one of the first pilots to fly in Alaska and his life was full of firsts, including making the first round-trip flight between Asia and North America in 1929. His mother played a big role in the founding and development of Wien Alaska Airlines, the second-oldest scheduled airline in the United States and territories. One of the most versatile and experienced pilots of his time, Merrill has flown just about every aircraft imaginable from DC-3s to Lockheed 1011s to historic military planes like the cargo C-46 and B-29 bomber to the Hiller UH-12E chopper. Although fundamentally modest by nature, family and friends encouraged Merrill to share his remarkable stories given his accomplishments and experiences with so many famous people and events. His tone is engagingly informal as he recounts crossing paths with such luminaries as Joe Crosson, Howard Hughes, Lowell Thomas Sr. and Lowell Thomas Jr., Sam White, Don Sheldon, Brad Washburn, Wally Schirra, and Bill Anders. He re-creates for readers his firsthand experiences flying top-secret missions for the Air Force, viewing the devastation of the Good Friday Earthquake in Anchorage, and the challenges of starting his own helicopter company, to name just a few. His fascinating narrative is complemented by photographs from his personal archives.

A collection of twenty stories showcasing the supernatural legends and unsolved mysteries of Southeast Alaska, with a focus on the region between Yakutat and Petersburg, where the author has lived his entire life, writing, teaching, guiding, commercial fishing, and investigating ghost stories. Each chapter is rooted in Bjorn’s own adventures and will intertwine fascinating history, interviews, and his reflections. Bjorn’s writing, sometimes poignant and often wickedly funny, brings to mind Hunter S. Thompson and Patrick McManus.Chapters touch on legends such as Alexander Baranov, Soapy Smith, James Wickersham, and the Kóoshdaa Káa (Kushtaka) to lesser known but fascinating characters like “Naked” Joe Knowles and purported serial killer Ed Krause. From duplicitous if not downright diabolical humans to demons of the fjords and deep seas and cryptids of the forest, Bjorn presents a lively cross-section of the haunter and the haunted found in Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Children of the Midnight Sun was chosen as one of Parenting Magazine's 1998 Books of the Year and School Library Journal's Best Books of 1998. For Native children, growing up in Alaska today means dwelling in a place where traditional practices sometimes mix oddly with modern conveniences. Children of the Midnight Sun explores the lives of eight Alaskan Native children, each representing a unique and ancient culture. This extraordinary book also looks at the critical role elders play in teaching the young Native traditions. Photographs and text present the experiences and way of life of Tlingit, Athabascan, Yup’ik, and other Native American children in the villages, cities, and Bush areas of Alaska.

Ann Dixon's delightful story, illustrated with enchanting, colorful linocuts by Evon Zerbetz, presents a playful look at the secret world of woodland creatures. In tender and playful detail, Blueberry Shoe describes the sequence of creatures who sleep in, play with, and plan to eat Baby's lost shoe. First vole curls insid ethe shoe and makes a cozy nest of it. After vole slips away, a fox mother finds the shoe and tosses it, thinking it will be a fine plaything for her kits. And finally, a bear sniffs the lost shoe and expects it will yield a tasty morsel.As the shoe is lost and found several times, young readers will wonder just what will happen to Baby's shoe. But it will take the arrival of another summer and another blueberry-picking trip up Ptarmigan Mountain to reveal the answer. Through lilting words and the bright, inspired linocut illustrations, children are sure to find this a memorable, memorizable story.

In this revised and updated third edition, Bill Sherwonit brings to life the adventure, heroism, triumph, and tragedy of climbing North America's highest peak, Denali. He offers great insight and tales of daring adventure for both experienced climbers and armchair explorers who wonder why people climb mountains. The book contains stores about some of the best known personalities associated with the mountain --- from Bradford Washburn to Vern Tejas. Sherwonit has added new records and climbing data along with some stories of new faces who have attempted the climb. He also updated the Park Service rules regarding climbing Denali.

On a beautiful Arctic morning, Kumak looks out the window of his house at the sun rising over the frozen river. "Ahhh, spring," says Kumak to his family. "The days are long, the nights are short, and the ice is still hard. Good day for fish." Eager to give Uncle Aglu's amazing hooking stick a try, Kumak packs up his family and heads out to go ice fishing. "Good day for fish!" they all agree. Hapless Kumac is the only one in his family without fish until the tug at the other end of his line incites a mighty battle. A clever ending reveals that the whale-sized fish that Kumak imagined was actually a line of small fish in tug o' war position. Kumak reigns, and there's plenty for everybody. Authentic details throughout the playful art and text, as well as endnotes on Inupiat fishing, provide young readers with a fascinating window into another culture in this follow up to KUMAK'S HOUSE a 2003 Children's Book Council Notable Trade Book in Social Studies.