The Origin of Day and Night

In this Inuit tale, the actions of a hare and a fox change the Arctic forever by creating day and night. This beautifully illustrated Arctic legend weaves together elements of an origin story and a traditional animal tale, giving young readers a window into Inuit mythology. In very early times, there was no night or day and words spoken by chance could become real. When a hare and a fox meet and express their longing for light and darkness, their words are too powerful to be denied. This particular tale has been passed orally from storyteller to storyteller for hundreds of years.

Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt is from Baker Lake, Nunavut. She has a degree in Creative Writing from Concordia University in Montreal and attended Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa, where she learned much about Inuit history and culture. She returned home for a year and learned how to sew, spoke to the elders in her community, and began to feel a very strong connection to her culture. Her first book, The Legend of Lightning and Thunder, was published in 2013.