“The wailing wind -or is it a wolf? -sends shivers up and down our spines, even though we’re crouched in front of a crackling fire, bowls of oatmeal warming our bellies. It’s only the north wind we tell ourselves, as we dress in winter clothes and step outside into the purple light of morning.”

Acclaimed Canadian author Jean E. Pendziwol is the author behind one of my longtime picture book favourites, Once Upon a Northern Night (illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault), so I was very much looking forward to exploring the author’s latest! For Skating Wild on an Inland Sea, Pendziwol joins creative forces with Canadian artist Todd Stewart (The Wind in the Trees) for a mesmerizing, gorgeously lyrical picture book. Readers follow two children as they bundle themselves up and prepare for a morning of skating on the frozen bay of Lake Superior. During their walk to the bay, readers see as the children stare out on the frozen shore of Superior- watching as the “sea smoke rises…a fortress of fog”; investigate various animal prints left in the snow; and listen as “ravens croak” and “chick-a-dee-dee-dees greet” them from “branches of birch and alder”. In the story’s penultimate moment, as the children are at last laced up, ready, and “slide onto the surface of Superior”, with their skates “scoring patterns, hissing and swishing”, “Lake Superior sings again”: “She hums a haunted melody, the song of water held captive by winter, mysterious magical music as old as the earth, rising from her depths, echoing up and up and into us”.

There is something so incredibly felt and evocative about Skating Wild on an Inland Sea– through both Pendziwol’s text and Stewart’s artwork- which makes it a standout picture book. Todd Stewart’s digital art combines with colourful screenprints to add layers and textures to the artwork, and makes for an especially poignant complement to Jean E. Pendziwol’s beautifully expressive words. Particularly stunning to behold are the rich, deep colours of early morning (and its shadows), as well as the orange-gold-yellows as morning sun starts to land on the snow-blanketed surroundings.

Readers may find themselves completely (and happily) immersed in the experiences the children have throughout the story; and for long after reading, might also find themselves imagining the sounds they would hear and feel while gliding on a “wild ice of a vast inland sea”. A Junior Library Guild Selection, and recipient of a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, Skating Wild on an Inland Sea is not to be missed. Perfect for fall/winter themed reading, or for those looking for a sensorial, lush picture book, Skating Wild on an Inland Sea is highly recommended reading.

I received a copy of this titles courtesy of Groundwood Books/House of Anansi in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own. Title has been published and is currently available.

Stories about polar bears, penguins and other winter creatures; stories about the changes of the season; stories about playing in the snow, going sledding, snuggling up by a roaring fire…

Here, in no particular order, are some of my favourite wintry reads:

Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward, illus. Julie Morstad

Little Cub by Olivier Dunrea

Chilly Milly Moo by Fiona Ross

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Red Sled by Lita Judge

A Bedtime for Bear by Bonnie Becker, illus. Kady MacDonald Denton

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead, illus. Erin E. Stead

I Am Small by Emma Dodd

Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle

Forever Friends by Carin Berger

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illus. Jon J. Muth

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illus. Jon Klassen

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo, illus. David Small

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

No Two Alike by Keith Baker

Iris and Isaac by Catherine Rayner

Stella, Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illus. Jane Chapman

Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman, illus. Liza Woodruff

Baby Penguins Everywhere! by Melissa Guion

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, illus. Christopher Silas Neal

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na