Photo: The Old Man of Pangnirtung

The classic children’s book, The Old Man of Lochnagar, written by Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1980, served as inspiration for the new Inuktitut book, The Old Man of Pangnirtung, which was officially released at Nakasuk Elementary School in Iqaluit on Tuesday, March 13. The new book, written and illustrated by Mike Parkhill and translated by Leena Evic, fulfilled a promise made by Charles when he visited Iqaluit on a royal tour last summer. Charles has sponsored 13 books across Canada in an effort to support Indigenous languages and literature, as well as funding digital literacy workshops and children’s programming. Over 1,300 copies of The Old Man of Pangnirtung will be distributed for free to students across the territory. Its story is presented in syllabic and Roman orthography Inuktitut and English. Pictured above, Nellie Kusugak, the commissioner of Nunavut, sits alongside author Mike Parkhill, Nakasuk teacher Rosemary Akulujuk and Astrid-Maria Ciarallo during a reading to Nakasuk students in the school library. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)