This is the story of Rockwell Kent's year in Alaska, as told from the viewpoint of his nine year old son.
Rockwell Kent is considered a local artist here in Northern New York, so it was fun to find this book in Alaska. I never knew he spent a winter in Alaska painting.
Rocky and Rockwell spent a winter on Alaska's Fox Island in Resurrection Bay near Seward. The only other inhabitant of Fox Island was this man named Olson.
Rocky explored Fox Island, meeting the animal inhabitants.
Olson said they could use a run down old cabin, so they spent some time repairing the floor and stuffing moss in the gaps between logs.
It is interesting to me that Rockwell Kent brought his nine year old son with him on this trip. A winter in Alaska where he was going to be focused on painting doesn't sound like a great father-son bonding idea.
But clearly it worked!
With his father busy, Rockwell had a lot of freedom, exploring the island and imagining all sorts of great adventures on his own.
Was that a pirate ship he saw?
Did he hear a wood troll coming along behind him?
But life was pretty safe and cozy on Fox Island. With Olson near by to drop in after supper with one of his goats and Seward only 14 miles by rowboat, they had as much society as they wanted.
And the father-son bonding thing? It happened too. Which makes me like Rockwell Kent. Here they are playing checkers and doing tough and manly snow baths to keep clean--running out, laying in the snow and then rubbing down with snow to wash and zipping back inside.
Rockwell did a lot of painting
And Rocky did a lot of experiencing in the cold Alaskan winter.
A scary rowboat trip from Seward.
Claudia McGehee creates her images using scratchboard and xacto knives. I love elemental quality of scratchboard--it looks almost primitive, but with so much detail and design.
Fox Island. Spring meant leaving this little Alaska oasis.
"We left Fox Island behind, but the wilderness came to stay in my heart forever."
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