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Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak (Inuktitut: ᐊᕐᕚᕐᓗᒃ ᑯᓱᒐᖅ); born April 27, 1948 in Repulse Bay, Nunavut (then the NWT), where he spent much of his childhood. He is a storyteller and a Canadian children's writer, who tells stories about Arctic and Inuit culture. Kusugak currently lives in Rankin Inlet and spends his winters in Bowser, BC, on Vancouver Island. He has also worked as an educational administrator for Nunavut Arctic College. Michael Kusugak grew up living a traditional, nomadic Inuit life with his family. Every night, Michael pleaded with his grandmother to tell him a story, until she eventually gave in. In this environment, Michael’s love of storytelling was born. In 1954, a plane arrived to take Michael and many of his friends away to residential school. The following year, Michael successfully hid when the plane came to take him and his friends away again. However, he returned the following year and became one of the first Inuit in the eastern Arctic to graduate from high school. He was educated in Yellowknife, Churchill and Saskatoon. It wasn’t until Michael had his own children that he realized that there was hardly anything written for children about life in the Arctic, so he started telling them his grandmother’s stories. In the late 1980s, Robert Munsch visited a local school and stayed in the Kusugak household. Along with Munsch as a co-author, Michael wrote his first book, ''A Promise is a Promise,'' published in 1988. Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak has been writing ever since. His books have been published in French, Korean, Japanese and Braille.〔()〕 All of Kusugak's books, except for ''T is for Territories'', which is part of a non-fiction series, are illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka. Krykorka came to Toronto from Prague when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. She illustrated ''A Promise is a Promise'' in 1988, and since then has been to Nunavut many times to visit, photograph and paint the land and people. She has also written and illustrated a set of her own books depicting the land and animals of the north: ''Arctic Land'', ''Arctic Sea'', and ''Arctic Sky''. 〔(http://www.vladyana.ca/ )〕 Ijiraq, a moon of Saturn, was named by astronomer John J. Kavelaars after encountering the term in one of Kusugak's books. ==Reception== Kusugak holds a unique place in Canadian children's literature, speaking from "the in-between of cultures" and finding common ground that relates to the very different parts of Canada.〔(J. M. (2002). The Role of Canadian Children's Literature in National Identity Formation. English Quarterly, 34(3/4). Web. 1 Feb. 2014. )〕 He is valued not only for the captivating content of his books, but also for his role as one of very few Inuit authors, and his commitment to sharing stories. Kusugak has to take stories that he naturally tells out loud in Inuktituk, and put them into writing in English. He rehearses his stories first out loud, and his books are praised for having "the well-worn feeling of an old, much-told tale".〔(Joanne. "Michael Kusugak: Reviving Tradition,Bridging Cultures." The Horn Book Magazine Jan.-Feb. 2009: 65+.Canadian Periodicals Index Quarterly. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. )〕 Michael Kusugak is known for his power to keep large groups of kids captivated for long periods of time with his stories. He is a storyteller, not only a writer of children's books, and spends a lot of his time telling stories to children in schools and libraries. At these events, he doesn't read his books out loud; he tells stories that he heard as a child and stories from his own life.〔()〕 “Before books, or even reading, should come the story, says Inuit storyteller and children's author Michael Kusugak. It should be told in person, with lots of repetition, facial expressions and feedback from listeners, he says. "You can take these stories and write them down, but I think you lose something if you don't actually go and tell them".〔(Richard. "Inuit Storyteller Inspired by Kids; Children's Author Michael Kusugak Says Audience Reactions are Key to the Story." Times - Colonist. Nov 12 2011. ProQuest. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. )〕 His stories stimulate interesting questions and prompt classroom discussion. They seem to have a power in their unique nature and topics. A group of teachers who introduced their classes to Kusugak's books reported that their students were keenly interested in learning more about Canada. Rich discussions were held in classrooms and the children expressed pride in being part of such a large country with diversity in geography and people. They often asked challenging questions about life in the various regions of Canada.〔(J. M. (2002). The role of Canadian children's literature in national identity formation. English Quarterly, 34(3/4). Web. 1 Feb. 2014. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Kusugak」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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