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Angela's Glacier
Award-winning author Jordan Scott’s luminously-illustrated love story of a girl growing up in the shadow of a glacier that’s always there to listen.
Angela listened to the glacier; the glacier listened to Angela.
As soon as she’s born, Angela’s father introduces her to her glacier. He carries her on his back up the icy expanse as the wind makes music of the snow and the water underneath. Over time, Angela gets big enough to walk beside him, and then, to go alone. She tells her glacier everything, and it answers.
But then, life gets busy. Angela’s days fill up with school, homework, violin and soccer and friends. Until one day, Angela’s heart doesn’t sound right anymore. Luckily, Angela’s dad is there to remind her what she needs: a visit to her ancient icy friend.
From the Schneider Family and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author of I Talk Like a River, Angela’s Glacier is a moving story about growing up without losing yourself, loving nature, and allowing it to love you in return. Diana Sudyka’s breathtaking artwork pulls the reader into a world of warm hugs from shining blue-green ice— and from Dad, too.
An afterword from the real Angela highlights the tragic threat climate change poses to our planet's frozen marvels.
Angela listened to the glacier; the glacier listened to Angela.
As soon as she’s born, Angela’s father introduces her to her glacier. He carries her on his back up the icy expanse as the wind makes music of the snow and the water underneath. Over time, Angela gets big enough to walk beside him, and then, to go alone. She tells her glacier everything, and it answers.
But then, life gets busy. Angela’s days fill up with school, homework, violin and soccer and friends. Until one day, Angela’s heart doesn’t sound right anymore. Luckily, Angela’s dad is there to remind her what she needs: a visit to her ancient icy friend.
From the Schneider Family and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author of I Talk Like a River, Angela’s Glacier is a moving story about growing up without losing yourself, loving nature, and allowing it to love you in return. Diana Sudyka’s breathtaking artwork pulls the reader into a world of warm hugs from shining blue-green ice— and from Dad, too.
An afterword from the real Angela highlights the tragic threat climate change poses to our planet's frozen marvels.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 2, 2024
159 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Scott
8 books4 followersJordan Scott is an internationally acclaimed poet and children’s author.
Scott is also the author of four books of poetry: Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects.
Scott was the 2015/16 Ellen and Warren Tallman Writer-in-Residence at Simon Fraser University and has read from his work throughout North America and Europe. In 2018 Scott was the recipient of the Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize, given to a mid-career poet in recognition of a remarkable body of work, and in anticipation of future contributions to Canadian poetry.
Scott lives on Vancouver Island and teaches at the UBC School of Creative Writing.
Scott is also the author of four books of poetry: Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects.
Scott was the 2015/16 Ellen and Warren Tallman Writer-in-Residence at Simon Fraser University and has read from his work throughout North America and Europe. In 2018 Scott was the recipient of the Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize, given to a mid-career poet in recognition of a remarkable body of work, and in anticipation of future contributions to Canadian poetry.
Scott lives on Vancouver Island and teaches at the UBC School of Creative Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
February 11, 2024
What an amazing story!
Angela's dad introduces Angela to her very own glacier as soon as she is born. He brings her to the glacier time & time again, introducing her to the sound of the glacier, how to speak the glacier's name, until she, herself, can do it on her own. She went there to feel & listen. But times got busy & she ended up going less & less until she realized her heart sounded strange. Back she went to the glacier to reunite...to stop, feel & listen.
A gorgeous story about the importance of losing yourself in nature, feeling love & peace & comfort.
Beautiful illustrations, as well!
Angela's dad introduces Angela to her very own glacier as soon as she is born. He brings her to the glacier time & time again, introducing her to the sound of the glacier, how to speak the glacier's name, until she, herself, can do it on her own. She went there to feel & listen. But times got busy & she ended up going less & less until she realized her heart sounded strange. Back she went to the glacier to reunite...to stop, feel & listen.
A gorgeous story about the importance of losing yourself in nature, feeling love & peace & comfort.
Beautiful illustrations, as well!
January 4, 2024
Glorious . . . cannot wait to read this one aloud to my classes.
February 4, 2024
Wow, wow, wow these are stunning illustrations. I am a big fan of Diana Sudyka's super saturated water colors -- they provide a great contrast her more transparent water colors and, of course, her expert use of white space. Looking beyond the spectacular, wintery blue illustrations, this is a spiritual call to action. By calling attention to the majesty of Snæfellsjökull, and exploring Angela's connection to it, Jordan Scott shows its significance. An author's note explores the frightening future of this majestic glacier due to climate change.
December 31, 2023
Lovely story with beautiful illustrations!
March 7, 2024
I am a nature lover as I grew up surrounded with its beauty, but somehow the text of the story was not enjoyable to me. The three stars are for the illustrations which are totally captivating with the swirling effect and range of blue hues.
I didn’t recognize the illustrator’s name, however upon reading her list of titles there are seven that I have either read or marked to read. I like her nature illustrations.
I didn’t recognize the illustrator’s name, however upon reading her list of titles there are seven that I have either read or marked to read. I like her nature illustrations.
March 2, 2024
Read it. Beautiful swirly blue and green watercolor illustrations. The end notes about glaciers’ noises was informative and a bit depressing. Angela loves her glacier and needs its sounds to feel whole.
January 29, 2024
About a girl and the glacier that she listens to near Reykjavik, Iceland. About the connection we have to nature and the importance of listening, especially when life gets busy and loud. Makes me want to travel to Iceland.
January 28, 2024
The lyrical narrative of ANGELA'S GLACIER, is written by Jordan Scott but, in this case, illustrated by Diana Sudyka. This story, too, depicts an isolated experience, and also involves a massive geographic/geologic land mass. In Iceland. With an unfamiliar language playing a critical role in the storytelling. Add this: the premise is unusual, to say the least. Any one of these could have doomed it to limited audiences or weak interests.
And yet, my reading left me feeling that I lived this story with Angela from the first word and gorgeous spread to the last. I'm certain many readers (of many ages) will finish their first reads with a deep longing to walk in Angela's footsteps and follow her example. Picture books rarely succeed at stories that span long periods of time, unless they involve a chronologic biography, but this one does. It was also useful that the page facing the title page provided a reader-friendly translation and practice text for the name of the mountain: SNAEFELLSJOKULL: Snow Mountain's Glacier.
Once that four syllable word becomes familiar, the narrative opens at the foggy/shadowy base of the massive mountain. A new father warmly wraps and embraces his newborn daughter, Angela, lifting her to see and sense the heart of the distant mountain just as the fog lifts. Page by page, year by year, father and daughter travel across the lava fields, lichen beds, among the snow foxes, to the blue heart of the glacier. As Angela grows, she walks alone onto glacier, repeating her father's rhythmic chanting, each syllable matching each stride, taking her closer to a place of secrets and wonder. She presses her hands, her cheek, her heart against the ice of the glacier, feeling and hearing the life within it-- rushing rivers, cracking shifts, and melting tunnels "breathing" its story to her. When the cold sends her home, she resumes daily life-- school, violin, friends, and soccer, carrying the glacier's story in her own heart. With age and added time demands, Angela feels a loss in her heart, one that can only be filled by spending time with the glacier. Again, she connects and confirms her love, making a promise-- "I will listen, I will listen, I will listen."
In the author note Scott reveals, as with earlier works, his capacity to draw on personal experiences to inspire this account. In this case, it was his meeting with the real-life Angela in Canada. Angela began listening to nature as a child, and she offers an extended essay in back pages to recount her adult trip to this Icelandic location, describing the physical and emotional connection she has with Iceland's SNAEFELLSJOKULL in more detail. Based on current climate patterns, this particular glacier may survive only a fee more decades, likely less than than two decades.Given that tragic reality, this story is an even more valuable gift to readers, and to the glacier itself.
Perhaps the connection readers will experience when reading such a very specific story, so distant from their own lives, comes from a more familiar experience. Many of us have our own particular nature-place, one that speaks to us, in the moment and in memory. This book is both a call to vicarious caring and a link to whatever our own lived experiences in nature may have provided through a similar sense of belonging and validation. At the risk of repeating myself, DO NOT MISS IT!
And yet, my reading left me feeling that I lived this story with Angela from the first word and gorgeous spread to the last. I'm certain many readers (of many ages) will finish their first reads with a deep longing to walk in Angela's footsteps and follow her example. Picture books rarely succeed at stories that span long periods of time, unless they involve a chronologic biography, but this one does. It was also useful that the page facing the title page provided a reader-friendly translation and practice text for the name of the mountain: SNAEFELLSJOKULL: Snow Mountain's Glacier.
Once that four syllable word becomes familiar, the narrative opens at the foggy/shadowy base of the massive mountain. A new father warmly wraps and embraces his newborn daughter, Angela, lifting her to see and sense the heart of the distant mountain just as the fog lifts. Page by page, year by year, father and daughter travel across the lava fields, lichen beds, among the snow foxes, to the blue heart of the glacier. As Angela grows, she walks alone onto glacier, repeating her father's rhythmic chanting, each syllable matching each stride, taking her closer to a place of secrets and wonder. She presses her hands, her cheek, her heart against the ice of the glacier, feeling and hearing the life within it-- rushing rivers, cracking shifts, and melting tunnels "breathing" its story to her. When the cold sends her home, she resumes daily life-- school, violin, friends, and soccer, carrying the glacier's story in her own heart. With age and added time demands, Angela feels a loss in her heart, one that can only be filled by spending time with the glacier. Again, she connects and confirms her love, making a promise-- "I will listen, I will listen, I will listen."
In the author note Scott reveals, as with earlier works, his capacity to draw on personal experiences to inspire this account. In this case, it was his meeting with the real-life Angela in Canada. Angela began listening to nature as a child, and she offers an extended essay in back pages to recount her adult trip to this Icelandic location, describing the physical and emotional connection she has with Iceland's SNAEFELLSJOKULL in more detail. Based on current climate patterns, this particular glacier may survive only a fee more decades, likely less than than two decades.Given that tragic reality, this story is an even more valuable gift to readers, and to the glacier itself.
Perhaps the connection readers will experience when reading such a very specific story, so distant from their own lives, comes from a more familiar experience. Many of us have our own particular nature-place, one that speaks to us, in the moment and in memory. This book is both a call to vicarious caring and a link to whatever our own lived experiences in nature may have provided through a similar sense of belonging and validation. At the risk of repeating myself, DO NOT MISS IT!
March 13, 2024
Ever since she was a baby, Angela has been connected to the nearby glacier. In fact, her father took her to it when she was born, and then hiked up the massive fields around it with her on his back. She learned to listen to the glacier, and it also seemed to listen to her. But as she grew older, she became distant from her old friend as she became preoccupied with other activities. She decided she had to return and reconnect when something seemed wrong. And to her delight, the glacier was right there, where it had been all along, waiting for her. Lyrical language floats across the pages of this picture book in the same way that the immersive artwork, created with gouache watercolor and then digitally enhanced, does with its flowing swaths of blue, green, white, and gray that move across the pages. Youngsters may delight in the knowledge that a glacier can be a friend and provide comfort and connection while reminding someone what matters. This oddly compelling story would make a good read aloud choice, but be sure to practice saying the glacier's name ahead of time. A pronunciation guide in the front will be helpful in doing so. Some youngsters might enjoy sharing about their own connections to places or aspects of nature.
January 25, 2024
Brief summary: Angela's father carries his baby daughter on his back while he climbs up ,Snæfellsjökull( translated as snow mountain glacier), a national park in Iceland made up of the glacier and black volcanic lava. They see the plants and wildlife in the area. They listen to the glacier.
As the young girl gets older, she continues to go up the glacier, finally able to hike by herself. When Angela becomes very busy and feels overwhelmed, she finds listening to the glacier calming.
Comments: The afterword tells young readers that the book is inspired by the author's friend, Angela Rawlings.
I learned that glaciers can have different sounds made by the wind, snow falling on it, water going through a moulin /mo͞oˈlen/(a tunnel inside carved by meltwater), and dripping water.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
As the young girl gets older, she continues to go up the glacier, finally able to hike by herself. When Angela becomes very busy and feels overwhelmed, she finds listening to the glacier calming.
Comments: The afterword tells young readers that the book is inspired by the author's friend, Angela Rawlings.
I learned that glaciers can have different sounds made by the wind, snow falling on it, water going through a moulin /mo͞oˈlen/(a tunnel inside carved by meltwater), and dripping water.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
September 30, 2024
This story makes much more sense after reading the Afterword, which describes the Icelandic landscape and the art of glacier whispering; and Angela’s note, which decodes the odd hiking sequences. The illustrations also seem to miss the mark when depicting the immensity of a glacier on a human scale, though the color palette does manage to evoke the unique hues of the Icelandic landscape. May we all learn how to listen with our whole body. As Angela reminds us, “It is so important that we practice listening to ourselves, to each other, and to the ecosystems and their inhabitants who sustain us. It is especially important to consider how we listen in this time of climate crisis and biodiversity loss.”
March 7, 2024
This book is about a girl living in Iceland and her special relationship to a glacier. Her father took her to the Glacier all the time and as a child, she would go on her own. She learned how to listen to the Glacier and she would share all her feelings with the glacier.
The artwork here is lovely with lots of blues and greens to paint the glacier. It's a quiet lovely story.
This girl knows how to quiet listen on her own. I think people who can do that have strong inner character and lead interesting and varied lives.
There is an afterward from the author saying this is based on a friend who taught him to listen to birds. So fascinating.
The artwork here is lovely with lots of blues and greens to paint the glacier. It's a quiet lovely story.
This girl knows how to quiet listen on her own. I think people who can do that have strong inner character and lead interesting and varied lives.
There is an afterward from the author saying this is based on a friend who taught him to listen to birds. So fascinating.
September 24, 2024
The illustrations are stunning in this book following a girl, Angela, growing up in Iceland. I loved the messages about connecting with nature, taking time to slow down and really listen. The author's note, as well as the note from the real Angela who inspired the book, add a great deal to the overall experience. Snaefellsjokull, the glacier depicted, is expected to become extinct in the next 15-20 years due to global warming. This picture book is such a testament to the importance of the glacier and the impact its loss will have.
July 12, 2025
Beautiful story of a girl, her father, and the Snaefellsjokull glacier in Iceland. The girl first visits as a baby, then as a young girl. As a teen(ish), she gets so busy and realizes her heart sounds strange. The cure is to visit the glacier, and she promises she will always visit and always listen. Author's note explains the inspiration for the book and a statement from she-who-inspired about glaciers and their significance.
March 14, 2024
3.5/5 stars. This is a quiet book whose point may be missed if not listened to carefully. It’s ironic as this is also the message of the book. The authors’ notes at the end really tied everything together, about slowing down and listening to our bodies but also to the living natural world around us.
April 18, 2024
A young girl and her father climb the glacier near their home. They love the cold and winter air. She listens to the glacier and enjoys the walks across it with her father. And when she grows up she visits it again when she is feeling lost and unsettled. The glacier gives her peace and she vows to come back and visit again.
April 19, 2024
I wonder what a glacier does sound like. Does Angela hear anything when she listens to her glacier. How much longer will her glacier be around, do you think?
The note from Angela at the end explains listening and the expected life of the glacier (15-20 years). I wish that more information was part of the story.
Lovely illustrations (saturated watercolors). Touching story of a dad and daughter. I loved learning how to say the glacier’s name. And how saying it created the rhythm of walking.
The note from Angela at the end explains listening and the expected life of the glacier (15-20 years). I wish that more information was part of the story.
Lovely illustrations (saturated watercolors). Touching story of a dad and daughter. I loved learning how to say the glacier’s name. And how saying it created the rhythm of walking.
September 12, 2024
One of many recent picture books that encourages the reader to slow down and listen to the world around them, but this one comes with a unique setting: the real-life Snaefellsjokull, a glacier in Iceland. Absolutely gorgeous watercolor illustrations.
Good to share with an older group as an exercise in pausing to listen. Follow up by actually practicing outside!
Good to share with an older group as an exercise in pausing to listen. Follow up by actually practicing outside!
December 6, 2024
It's not as linear as I thought it would be but I get the point-- celebrating communion with nature, Angela grew up hiking to, listening on, and enjoying the company of the glacier and even as she grew up, she knew she could return to that glacier for comfort.
Sweet exploration with her and her father and then her as she grows.
Sweet exploration with her and her father and then her as she grows.
April 27, 2025
Such lovely illustrations. Inspired by author’s friend, a baby girl is brought up next to a glacier, taught to respect and revere and listen to it. When her life gets busy with school, etc she feels she’s missing something and promises to always listen and not neglect her glacier. Interesting author note.
March 5, 2024
I love this story, how its told, and the mindfulness and connectedness that it encourages. This would even be a great read for an upper elementary or middle school class as their lives get busier. A beautiful reminder to ground ourselves.
March 16, 2024
Such a darling book about a girl and her glacier. I really enjoyed this story. I liked how the story was about grounding in a sense and no matter how chaotic life gets you have to find that balance. Also, the illustrations are so cute and the colours were so calming.
April 15, 2024
Beautiful story and lovely reminder that when life gets too busy, to stop and take a moment to listen to your heart and remember what might be missing.
“Angela got really close to that coldest of cold and whispered her promise into that old ice: I will always visit. I will always listen.”
“Angela got really close to that coldest of cold and whispered her promise into that old ice: I will always visit. I will always listen.”
May 22, 2024
Beautifully written, exquisitely illustrated. The story of a girl's relationship with nature and its importance... until other things, less consequential, get in the way. Fortunately, nature and this glacier in particular are forgiving. We are richer when nature is our community.
June 28, 2024
Beautiful art, lyrical prose. The scenes of Angela communing with the glacier are moving, especially since the end notes tell us that sadly, climate change will eradicate this glacier within the next 20 years.
September 5, 2024
This is a beautiful book about a glacier in Iceland and the relationship between humans and nature. After reading this book, I am interested in visiting this glacier but I do not know if I will get able to visit it before it disappears due to global warming.
February 3, 2024
a young girl feels connected to a glacier all her life and finds peace in visiting it. elementary and up
February 7, 2024
Normally I don't mark picture books for my reading goal, but I especially loved the art in this book so it had to have a place on my 2024 list!
February 21, 2024
Beautiful picture book about a girl's loving bond with nature as she grows up.
March 1, 2024
Nice theme of rediscovering as an adult something your parent found joy in and tried to share with you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews