• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 6

An inuksuk, a powerful symbol of the Arctic, is a stone structure that acts as a messenger. Part of the Wow Canada! series, Make Your Own Inuksuk shows readers how to build their very own inuksuk. This full-color book provides an engaging overview of inuksuit — what they are, why they were important in the past, and how they can bring significance to our own lives today. Step-by-step instructions show you how to find and prepare suitable stone, stack and balance rock, and choose the perfect spot for your inuksuk. Stunning photographs and full-color illustrations show how simple it is to create these beautiful structures at home. For families and teachers looking for meaningful and interactive projects with their children, or for gardeners and nature lovers of all ages, Make Your Own Inuksuk is an ideal way to bring beauty and personal expression into our lives.

Mary Wallace is an award-winning artist and art therapist who spent almost twenty years teaching arts and crafts at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts. Her previous title The Inuksuk Book won the 2000 UNESCO International Youth Library White Raven Award, the 1999 National Outdoor Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association’s Silver Birch Award, the Norma Fleck Award for Non-Fiction, and the Atlantic Library Association’s Hackmatack Book Award. She lives in St. Thomas, Ontario.

Mary Wallace's profile page

...sensitive to issues of cultural appropriation, Wallace includes many direct quotations from Inuit elders...and her dedication acknowledges those for whom the craft was a whole way of life.

Quill & Quire

...a beautiful how-to book that describes the orign, purpose and meaning of these stone figures in traditional Inuit life.

The Muskokan

...teach your children about...First Nations tradition and allow them to try their hand at inukshuk building by following the instructions in this one-of-a-kind guidebook.

City Parent

Once in a while, a very special book that quietly communicates a sense of wonder, beauty and spiritual connectedness comes along. This is such a book.

School Library Journal

Author Mary Wallace, in consultation with Inuit elders and other experts, gives a fascinating introduction in words, photographs and paintings to the many forms of the inuksuk structure and its unique place in Inuit life and culture.

CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials

Wallace takes care to instil a sense of respect for this traditional Inuit form...ideas expressed will arouse emotion in a group discussion and stimulate imagination in art class…

Resource Links

..directions for construction...are clear and easy-to-follow…

Brandon Sun

Make Your Own Inuksuk

With the approach of the 2010 Winter Olympics and its stylized inuksuk emblem, these stone sculptures are becoming more recognizable. The inuksuk is central to the Nunavut flag and is a symbol of the Canadian Arctic. Traditionally they were built by the Inuit to act as a messenger. Some have stood for thousands of years. The author reminds us that each inuksuk has a meaning that the builder gives it. The book is clearly laid out to show the reader step-bystep instructions on how to build an inuksuk, where to get stones, and preparation of the site and the stones. There is background history in the kinds of messages given by inuksuit. Quotes from many Inuit Elders are interspersed throughout the chapters.

Mary Wallace’s previous book, The Inuksuk Book, won a number of awards.