"As Angela grew,
she started walking
up to the glacier by herself.
And day after day,
month after month,
year after year,
Angela went to her glacier
to feel and listen. She listened
to the temperature: she listened
to the colors; she listened to wind
and water play together in the snow."
After reading I Talk Like a River and My Baba's Garden, I was excited to see that Jordan Scott had a new book about a girl named Angela who had an enduring love of an Icelandic glacier. Our family has Icelandic connections through my husband's family, and we have tried to keep an interest for that history alive for my granddaughters. They are always keen to learn about Iceland and its many wonders.
Angela's glacier was obscured by clouds before her birth; on the day of her birth, it changed under the Arctic sunlight to colors of gorgeous blues. Her father wrapped her carefully before they ventured into the cold. From where they stood, he explained that the glacier was showing its delight at her arrival. There was great excitement at the discovery.
The glacier, named Snaefellsjokull, provided sights and sounds that would inspire child and parent through all her years of growing up. They walked and walked, discovering the flora and fauna of the region, always with the glacier as their backdrop. As they hiked and wandered, he repeated the glacier's name endlessly. Eventually, Angela was old enough to go out on her own. Her visits were many; her love for its sounds, colors, and cold gave her comfort always.
"Angela let the glacier listen to her too.
She'd whisper about what scared her,
like owls and falling off her bike.
And she'd whisper about how much
she missed her dad when he left for
work each day."
Snaefellsjokull was always there. When life got too busy, she no longer made those same visits. She felt the loss in her heart. With a reminder from her father, she returned to the glacier. As she arrived, she felt the rhythm of its name once more. Knowing that life was not going to be less busy for her, she made a promise to her glacier ... and to herself.
Artwork is beautifully created using digitally enhanced gouache watercolors, in shades of blue.
A bond with nature is a powerful thing. Angela learned that early, thanks to her father. In an afterword, Jordan Scott reveals that Angela is a real person who taught him how to 'be still and listen'. Further to that, Angela explains how important learning to listen is to each and every one of us ... no matter what we are listening to. She also explains that, with global warming, Snaefellsjokull is now predicted to disappear within fifteen to twenty years. It will be a terrible loss.
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