Debra Dubac – Illustratör

The patience of a little musk ox is sorely tried when he suffers an itch that he can’t scratch. There’s not a tree in sight—nothing to rub against for relief—so he wanders away from the herd looking for a branch, a rock pile, anything. On his journey, he meets with three individuals: a buffalo, a wolf, and a Native woman. Through his interaction with each one, he learns something new and affirming about himself before returning to the herd. Endnotes include information about how musk ox were native to Alaska until they were decimated by hunters in 1865, then reintroduced in the early 1930s; biological/behavioral details about the animals; and info about the cottage industry among Native villages in which women knit the qiviut (KIV-ee-oot), the rare underwool, into beautiful, warm garments.  "Learn more" two-page section provides facts and information about the animal and about qiviut, the softest wool in the world which comes from musk ox.