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When Allashua announces to her parents that she is going to go fishing on the sea ice, they tell her that the Qallupilliut come up from their homes at the bottom of the sea and take children who go out onto the sea ice without their parents.  They tell her to go ice fishing on the lake instead, and she promises to do just that.  But as soon as she is out of sight of her house Allashua goes instead to the sea ice where she calls the Qallupilliut nasty names because, never having seen them, she does not believe they exist.
When the Qallupilliut appear behind her, and ask her if she has seen the child who has called them nasty names and yelled that they could never catch her, she lies and says that she has no idea who the child might be.  But the Qallupilliut
catch her, and drag her down into the sea, where they try to bind her to them with their song,
Human child, human child,
Ours to have, ours to hold,
Forget your mother, forget your brother,
Ours to hold under the ice
Desperate to escape them, Allashua promises the Qallupilliut to bring her brothers and sisters to the sea ice.  In return, they agree to let her go.  Cold and exhausted, she returns home, and tells her parents of her trip onto the sea ice, her encounter with the Qallupilliut, and her promise.
“Ah, ah, promise is a promise,” her parents remind her.  But could there be a way to honour the promise and yet safe Allashua’s siblings?
Written by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak, A Promise is a Promise bears all the hallmarks of Munsch’s engaging storytelling style and introduced to Canadian children Kusugak’s wonderful tales of Inuit life.  It is beautifully illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka.  A Canadian classic!
FernFolio Editor