The Legend of the Fog

Qaunaq Mikkigak was an Elder, artist, and throat singer from Cape Dorset, Nunavut. She was born in 1932 in the Cape Dorset area and grew up on the land in a traditional Inuit community. She was featured in the books Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset and Cape Dorset Sculpture. She collaborated with author Joanne Schwartz on picture book versions of two traditional Inuit tales, The Legend of the Fog and Grandmother Ptarmigan.

Joanne Schwartz's first picture book Our Corner Grocery Store was a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award Finalist. Joanne had the honour to collaborate with Inuit Elder Qaunaq Mikkigak on two picture book versions of traditional Inuit tales, The Legend of the Fog and Grandmother Ptarmigan. Her recent picture book Town is by the Sea, illustrated by Sydney Smith, won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal and TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and was a Governor General’s Literary Award nominee. Joanne has been a children’s librarian for more than thirty years. She lives in Toronto.

Danny Christopher has travelled throughout the Canadian Arctic as an instructor for Nunavut Arctic College. He is the illustrator of The Legend of the Fog, A Children’s Guide to Arctic Birds, and Animals Illustrated: Polar Bear, and author of Putuguq and Kublu. His work on The Legend of the Fog was nominated for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustration Award. He lives in Toronto with his wife, four children, and a puppy.