THE WEATHER KEEPER

Nelly Buchet & Elizabeth Haidle | Enchanted Lion Books, USA | 48pp | 11 x 10.5 inches

As the aurora borealis dances across the sky, a weather keeper crosses the icy plains to measure the temperatures at the edge of the world. Every three hours, she records movement and pressure, and if it’s warmer or cooler, to keep the seafarers, farmers, and community safe. Just like her mother did. And her mother’s mother did before her, and just like the daughter telling this story will do, too, one day.  Structured like a ballad, this story celebrates a female lineage of weather keepers stationed on a farm where the extreme temperatures make their job impossible for machines to do. This is a world where humans are still needed and still very much one with the natural world around them. The Weather Keeper beautifully foregrounds the awe-inspiring force that is Nature and the strength of people who choose the life they wish to live, however unconventional or full of hardship it might seem to others. Poetic, atmospheric, and inspired by a true story, this picture book about family, calling, and belonging tells the story of an Icelandic weather keeper in a world of ice, sea, and sky.

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