Aqvautat: The Race, a retelling of the late Mike Andrew’s oral story about a little vole who gets into some big trouble, is set to be published this spring! Aqvautat is Igiugig Village Council’s second of four to five bilingual children’s books slated for publication, aiming to inspire our community in the art of storytelling, illustrating, and learning the publishing process. Our awesome illustrator, Ann Luthy, has nearly completed the foundation paintings for Aqvautat (see photo of an early sketch) and is preparing the illustrations for publication. Additionally, we are so thankful to have secured the services of Sassa Peterson for the editing of the Yup’ik text and English translations. If all our plans work out (fingers crossed), Ann will be coming to Igiugig for a Summer Art Institute to instruct and collaborate with interested community members on illustrations for Mike’s other stories. The dates for the Summer Art Institute are tentatively set for July 19-August 13. The Igiugig Children’s Book Project and Summer Art Institute are made possible by a grant from BIA.