Iceberg

October 24, 2022
Poetic depictions of a newly calved iceberg across the seasons characterize Saxby’s witness to abundant Antarctic biodiversity. “If this world looks empty,/ look closer,” beckon early lines, which go on to name leopard seals, “fish-fat and sleek” emperor penguins, “clouds of krill,” terns, blue-eyed cormorants, and humpback whales, among others, as just some of the creatures that share the iceberg’s environment. Employing techniques including watercolor and collage to capture the icy landscape, Racklyeft’s illustrations help to enliven Saxby’s portrait of the Antarctic, and a gatefold immerses readers into what is a luminous underwater home for multitudes of marine animals. Interconnectedness is emphasized throughout (“Squid chase krill./ Birds chase squid./ Orca gather, linger, watch and seize./ Short-tailed shearwaters feast then return/ to their chicks”), and when the iceberg tips below velvety water, verse remarks on nature’s cyclical characteristics for a majestic, conservation-oriented conclusion about a place that “feels everything we do.” A note about polar regions and glossary conclude. Ages 3–6.

November 18, 2020
There is no absolutely question as to why Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft are both multi-award-winning creators, and this book is a perfect partnership, eliciting the very best from both of them. Suited to mid-primary readers, Iceberg loosely follows the life cycle of an iceberg through the seasons, and will draw children to a glorious Antarctic landscape and drive adults to help follow up on new knowledge by researching some of the more scientific (occasionally distancing) terms buried in the delicious narrative. (Though I wonder if a glossary might have worked.) Racklyeft’s watercolours have a subtle and light touch yet nurture enormous intensity in their layered blues. Shifting swirls construct the ocean, ice and air, and feel like layer upon layer of X-rays or memories. Drifting in the deep, the immense shadows of whales contrast with the sharp ice-blues in which seabirds slide and the cold terrain upon which penguins scatter. This nonfiction book is richly informative and brimming with detailed facts presented in lyrical, sophisticated, evocative language—an expert merging of knowledge with grace. Text and image balance each other perfectly in their delicate yet powerful tone, conveying exactly the world Saxby and Racklyeft set out to reveal to us. The first-person plural postscript is a quiet plea for the respect this landscape demands, and in turn for a global landscape in dire need of protection. Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a freelance editor, writer and reviewer, and has worked as a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop for over 10 years.  

September 15, 2022
Grades K-2 This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the life story of an iceberg, from when it first calves off a mighty glacier in the waning Antarctic winter through the seasons to the following spring. The lyrical text describes what's going on with climate, currents, and sunlight and how they all affect the iceberg, along with commentary on the animals, birds, and fish that live in the Antarctic habitat. Spring turns to summer, chicks hatch, penguins begin their treks to the interior, and leopard seals and humpback whales dive down to the depths. Fall comes, and the critters depart to warmer climes and tropical birthing waters. Then comes the long, cold, dark season, where all the icebergs are ""winterbound, icebound, seabound. Stuck."" Spring returns, and our poor iceberg, now completely worn down by the elements, slowly tips and falls into a sheltered bay, just as a new iceberg calves off in the distance. The watercolor illustrations aptly capture both glistening, sunshine-filled days and the dark mysteries of the depths. A glossary and author's note complete this handsome offering.

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July 15, 2022
Glimpses of the life all around a seemingly deserted Antarctic iceberg. "If this world looks empty, / look closer," Saxby suggests--going on to catalog in sonorous sentences the arrivals and departures of seals and penguins, of krill and terns, and other visitors as seasons turn. Meanwhile the small but stately glacier, newly calved at the start, changes shape as it floats, is slowly frozen into sea ice as winter comes and goes, and at last in spring tips over and vanishes...as another berg calves in the "pale Antarctic dawn." The author closes with a note about how many of these seasonal patterns are being affected by climate change. Racklyeft more often goes for glassy rather than rough or stormy waters in her blue-tinged seascapes in order to make the glacier's underwater parts at least faintly visible, and above and below the surface her ice is translucent in all weathers, which lends a lyrical quality to each scene. Her renditions of marine life, particularly in an artificially populous but eye-filling gatefold, are done with reasonable fidelity. A distant ship in several scenes is the only sign of a human presence. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Despite the seasonal tilt, an evocative view of a timelessly ancient natural cycle. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

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