Ookpik’s New Home

Ookpik and his new friends

I just had a wonderful surprise.  After reading my blog post a couple of weeks ago about Ookpik, my sister went into her storage boxes and found her little fuzzy yellow owl along with the original book about him.  She thought that Ookpik would be happier among my library of children’s books and book related toys than stuffed into a dark box.  Guess what?  He is.  And so am I!

 

I had no idea that he still existed.  Apparently this little toy meant a lot to her too, since she kept him this long.  He did need a little work.  One of his googly eyes was missing, so he had a little operation before travelling from Missouri to Illinois.  

The book that came with the Ookpik toy is The Adventures of Ookpik, written by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Harry Devlin.  The copyright date is 1968.  

In this story, a little furry creature hatches from an egg way up in the icy North.  He was all by himself, so he decided to start walking so he could discover who he is.  When asked by a caribou what his name is, the little furry creature says the first word that pops into his head – Ookpik!  Ookpik meets many different animals on his adventure, but doesn’t seem to fit in with any of them.  Finally, Ookpik finds himself outside an igloo.  It was the home of an Eskimo boy.  It turns out that the boy longed for a pet to play with.  Ookpik has at last found his calling – he is a friend to the lonely Eskimo boy!

So thank you, Amy, for this very special gift.  I smile whenever I see Ookpik sitting on my shelf.