This was a short book about how words were seen anciently, and how humans and animals used to be one and the same. It was odd and ended abruptly, and I’m not really sure what to think about it. I think even my toddler would think this was weird.

Beautiful illustrations to go with this simple story. Great for young children. As a teacher I'm always trying to add new FNMI stories to my classroom and I definitely feel like this one will be a great addition.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

The artwork of this book is absolutely stunning and the fact that it has been lovingly adapted from Inuit drawings adds to the magic of the book.

This isn't your average children's book as the words are sparse and the "story" is minimal. I will admit to not really understanding it until I read what others had said about it and I think therein lies the value: this book shares something of a culture that we might not have come across before or at all.

A rich, powerful telling of the Inuit tradition. The vivid, colorful illustrations work seamlessly with the text to provide a mystical and magical reading experience.

The art is the standout part of this title, with beautiful illustrations that match the text and move the story forward. The story is simple, but I enjoyed it. An excellent choice for libraries looking for stories from diverse cultures for their collections.

On the one hand, the art in this short picture book is stunning. It's also interesting to learn an Innuit myth about a time when animals and people could become each other and strange things happened.

On the other hand, the book is translated and illustrated by white men and nobody seems to have worked with Innuit people in any way in publishing it. The text was translated by the author from text written by a Danish explorer a hundred years ago. The words are sparse and the book ends so abruptly that I thought there was something wrong with my copy. There is no information for kids about the Innuit people, how the text was found and translated, the myth, anything. There are a lot of misses here, despite the lovely art and interesting story.

I love the illustrations in this children's book. It is a short read, but there are some beautiful ideas within. It is great for beginner readers because there is not much text to read.

Beautifully illustrated. While the words don't create a conclusive story, they still provoke interesting ideas, and the fact that they're translated from Inuit provides a fresh cultural experience. As a whole, the book is worth sitting with for a while.

Magic Worlds is brilliantly vibrant and colorful. The illustrations are by far the best part of the book. I wish the book was longer or that other Inuit lore had been added to it, the book seems short and doesn't seem to have an ending.

Magic Words was an enjoyable and whimsical read. In a sense it was the illustrations which made this story come alive, but I wish both the illustrator and the author had been Inuts, as they would probably have been more familiar with the story.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

The only thing I liked about this book was the illustration. It was so beautiful and colorful and creative. I’d love to see more work from this illustrator because I was blown away by it.

However, the story just lacked for me. It didn’t make any sense and I kept pausing while I was reading to double check that I really read what I read. I understand that it’s a children’s book so my expectations for this type of fiction is low.

The actual story wasn’t enjoyable for me but the pictures were.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

This short children’s book is a translation of an Inuit creation story. The story is told via free form verse, which is quite lovely. The illustrations are stunning. The human characters in the story are quite obviously Inuit, and the artwork resembles Inuit style art. The colors are wonderful but not too bright or overly “hip”. The illustrations include animals. Field has a list of animals in the book at the end.
The other thing that the book has going for it is that it makes use of words. It showcases the power of words in a rather beautiful way.

The artwork from the cover to the end was fascinating and beautiful. Fun story about animals and the messages they share.

The artwork is glorious, and clearly Inuit-based. As for the text, perhaps it was a pity to use an old translation by poet Edward Field, rather than attempt to re-translate. I have read this material in translations by Tom Lowenstein in his Ancient Land, Sacred Whale: The Inuit Hunt and Its Rituals. Lowenstein is more playful with the text, while Field seems determined to be very plain. The concepts in these few lines are valuable and fascinating for children or for adults, and are fully expressed by the art.

The artwork is beautiful but why not have an actual Inuit artist to do the illustrations? Could you not find a member of the Inuit nation to tell this story?
I wish an author's note with the actual poem was included to honor the original format. Did Field talk to the Inuit people to gain approval for this?

Beautiful little story from the Inuits' oral tradition, about the power of words and the profound connection between humans and animals. The illustrations are simply gorgeous, made me look at them in detail several times.

This is a very short book. It's not so much a story as an introduction to an idea. It is, however, nicely illustrated. After reading this, I'm curious about other Inuit stories and beliefs. We get some tantalizing hints about shapeshifting and the magic of words, but since there really isn't a story here, that's about all we do get.

So it's a nice introduction to this Inuit idea; I wouldn't really call it a creation story, since the first lines are:

In the very earliest time,
When both people
and animals
lived on earth...


I'm curious to know if there's an actual creation story that happens before that (i.e., where did the earth and the people and the animals come from in the first place?).

Ohh.. I really wish I love this book as much as others do. It's not bad at all, but it's just an okay read for me. I am glad that this book help me to more about Inuit. Because I only ever heard about Inuit from The Fish Boy and this one. So, I really appreciate it in that way. Also, the illustrations are really beautiful.
Even though I did not love it as much, I still recommend this book to others. Maybe it would be more fun to read it with the kids :) It will surely make a great gift for kids though :D

Thank you Net Galley!

This is a gorgeous book full of lovely Inuit artwork. I l adore how simple the story is. It's written in the way that the story would have been told when passed down orally. This is perfect for a children's book that is (generally) read out loud to children. The simplicity of Magic Words allows for very young children to have a way to learn about Inuit tradition. Not only are the pages brilliantly drawn and coloured, but each page design helps illustrate the limited words on that page. I could easily see a child loving this book so much that they learn the words on every page by heart.
The absolute best part of this book is the magical feeling it invokes. It stretches our imaginations to think of a time when people could be animals. I love the line "nobody could explain this: that's the way it was." As it is the last line in the story it leaves the door open for a conversation with the child about what animal they would want to become and why. I can absolutely imagine a child saying a bird and flapping their wings, or maybe a pig and oinking. The possibilities this story leaves in the mind of a child are endless. I also like that magic is mentioned here in a different context than usual. It's in a more spiritual and less tangible way. It's not a spell or a wand or even a prayer that allowed the Inuit to become animals; it just was. As though the Earth bid it to be and so it was. I like the ambiguity of this statement (and will confess it's in-line with some of my own personal spiritual beliefs).
I would love to see this book in the hands of all Canadian children so they could start having appreciation and understanding towards the Inuit of our country. As a child I knew there was a difference between the Native Americans and Inuit but I'm not sure I really understood what that was. These types of stories are critical to children realizing that everyone has their own culture and beliefs. It's always good for children to have exposure to other cultures than their own; but also who doesn't want to believe in magic?

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.