Can you make a children’s book about a treaty signed 250 years ago? Well, yes indeed. Author Janet McNaughton and illustrator Cindy Colosimo created Caubvik’s Summer.

The treaty between the British and the Labrador Inuit provides the background, but the summer events of a little girl called Caubvik tell the story.

“I started looking at the historical records,” McNaughton told CBC. “ It was well documented so it would be possible to tell the story from the perspective of a small Inuit girl.”

Illustrator Colosimo, a native of Thunder Bay, said that children seem to be responding well to the book. “It was no easy task making sure the drawings captured the look and feel of Inuit culture of more than two centuries ago.

“Drawing the faces, they are actually portraits of southern Labrador Inuit people who went to England and had their portrait done.

“I had to be meticulous. These are my neighbours."

Cindy Colosimo has illustrated several delightful books based on the history and legends of Labrador including Anguti’s Amulet, The Polar Bear in the Rock and The Man who Married a Beaver.