I Would Give You My Tail

Beautifully illustrated with a cloth-like spine, this imaginative picture book shares an Inuk child’s experience with gratitude and celebrates family connections from the newest siblings to cherished Elders.

A young boy, Kalluk, leaves his camp to tell his grandmother that his mother is about to have a baby. Along the way, Kalluk meets different animals and he asks them why they are so happy. The rabbits say they love to be fast enough to outrun the fox and clever enough to know when to hide. They are happy to protect each other from the winter wind: ＂I’d give you my tail if I could!＂ they say. A mother fox tells the boy her pups make her happy (and her pups say their mother makes them happy: ＂We would give her our tails if we could!＂ they say. Even the river and the wind have reasons to be happy. Kalluk’s encounters with nature make him reflect on his gratitude for all it provides.

On the trip back, Kalluk and his grandmother talk about happiness, peace and choices. They speak to the ravens and get a lift from the wind right to Kalluk’s doorstep. And waiting inside is a new baby sister! Holding her in his arms, Kalluk discovers a new reason to be thankful.

TANYA TAGAQ is a Canadian (Inuk) throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuutiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island. She is an author, improvisational performer, avant-garde composer, and experimental recording artist who won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize for her album Animism, a work that disrupted the music world in Canada and beyond with its powerfully original vision. Tanya’s most recent album Retribution was released in fall 2016. Her first book for adults, Split Tooth has received numerous accolades and awards. Tanya’s first picture book, It Bears Repeating, will publish in fall 2024.

QAVAVAU MANUMIE was born in Brandon, Manitoba. He returned to Cape Dorset as a very young child and has lived there since. Qavavau has demonstrated a range of stylistic abilities over the years -- from the very literal to the more expressive. His work is idiosyncratic and often amusing in his depictions of Inuit legends and mythology, Arctic wildlife, and contemporary aspects of Inuit life. For several years, Qavavau has worked for the Kinngait Studios. He is an accomplished and precise printmaker who enjoys the opportunity to demonstrate printmaking techniques to young artists and visitors to the studio. Qavavau lives with his wife and son, Peter, in Cape Dorset.