The Walrus and the Caribou

A “Publishers Note” on the copyright page of The Walrus and the Caribou says that “This book is based on an Inuit traditional story. Versions of this story can be found across the Inuit North. The story you are about to read is a creative retelling of the original story.” The story, a combination creation myth and pourquoi tale, is quite simple. Guk, an elderly Inuit woman (as portrayed by Marcus Cutler’s artwork), has the capacity to create animal life. However, having seemingly not done so before, she’s uncertain about where the various body parts are to go. Guk begins with a walrus by breathing life into her sealskin parka. Her finished walrus product has large antlers which overturn the hunters’ kayaks when the walrus surfaces from beneath them, upsetting the hunters both literally and figuratively. Undeterred, Guk then uses her sealskin pants to create a caribou, one that has tusks. When hunters attempt to stalk the caribou, it charges, threatening the hunters with its fearsome tusks and scaring them away.

Faced with Inuit hunters upset by both of her creations, Guk decides she must do something, and that something is to trade animal parts. Consequently, she removes the walrus’ antlers and gives them to the caribou while transferring the caribou’s tusks to the walrus. But Guk is not finished with the caribou:

As punishment for hurting the hunters, she kicked its forehead flat, and its eyes bulged.

“For being so rude, you will stay far away inland!” she scolded.

Ever since, whenever a caribou smells a human, it is afraid.

And the story ends there, but Harper closes the book by inviting her young readers to create their own new animals. “Imagine the possibilities!”

Cutler’s cartoon-like illustration style is perfect for this lighthearted story, and his backgrounds clearly situate The Walrus and the Caribou in the Arctic. End matter consists of brief bios of Maika Harper and Marcus Cutler plus a one-page glossary.