Savour the Summer with

Home , Ashley Little, Friesens, Jennifer Lanthier, Joanne Fitzgerald, Jon Klassen, Kids Can Press

$4.95 SUMMER 2013 VOL. 36 NO. 3

RECOMMENDED BOOKS + OPINIONS + PROFILES + NEWS + REVIEWS Savour the Summer with ... 30+ Writers of colour recommended new books by in conversation Richard Van Camp, Caroline Adderson, The two faces Meg Tilly, Jon Klassen of Georgia Graham and more Beyond Quinoa! Books about food

7125274 86123 Fall 2013

The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette October 15th | 978-1-927485-33-0 (HC) $19.95 Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That by Victoria Allenby and illustrated by Tara Anderson September 1st | 978-1-927485-52-1 (HC) $19.95 Tweezle into Everything by Stephanie McLellan and illustrated by Dean Griffi ths th

August 15 | 978-1-927485-47-7 (HC) $17.95 n o Cat Champions: Caring for our Feline Friends by Rob Laidlaw October 15th | 978-1-927485-31-6 (HC) / 978-1-927485-54-5 (PB) $19.95 (HC) / $14.95 (PB) Graffi ti Knight by Karen Bass August 15th | 978-1-927485-53-8 (PB) $14.95 [email protected] facebook.com/pajamapress @pajamapress1 pinterest.com/pajamapress CONTENTS THISI ISSUE booknews Summer 2013 Volume 36 No. 3 7 Seen at ... The envelope, please! At the Forest of Reading celebrations Editorr Gillian O’Reilly on May 15, 2013, the Red Maple Award nominees, both Fiction Copy Editor and Proofreaderr Shannon Howe Barnes and Non-Fiction, wait for the announcement of the winners Design Perna Siegrist Design and honour books. Advertising Michael Wile This informative magazine published quarterly by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is available by yearly subscription. Single subscription — $24.95 plus sales tax (includes 2 issues of Best Books for Kids & Teens) Contact the CCBC for bulk subscriptions and for US or overseas subscription rates. Summer 2013 (July 2013) Canadian Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement 40010217 Published by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre ISSN 1705 – 7809 For change of address, subscriptions, or return of undeliverable copies, contact: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre 40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 217 Toronto, ON M4R 1B9 Tel 416.975.0010 Fax 416.975.8970 Email [email protected] Website www.bookcentre.ca Review copies, catalogues and press releases should be sent to the Editor at: [email protected] or to Gillian O’Reilly c/o the above address. For advertising information, contact: Michael Wile at [email protected] or 416.531.1483 Photo courtesy: Paul McGrath, North Shore News readings.org

4 Opinion: Choosing an illustrator — 18 Bookmark! Beyond Quinoa the challenge of matching artist to text Books on food in honour of the UN Annick Press Art Director Sheryl Shapiro International Year of Quinoa. looks at the complex task of picking the right artist for the right book. 22 The Classroom Bookshelf High interest ﬁ ction for reluctant readers. 6 News Roundup TD Book Week 2014; Barbara Reid named 24 Book Bits: Seeing the Light to Order of Canada; Eric Walters talks book, Four new picture books help readers to hope and blessings; Kids Can, Groundwood, “see the light” literally and metaphorically. Woozles celebrate important anniversaries; Spreading the Words in NWT and NS; 26 We Recommend COVER: Illustration from Mr. King’s Things, Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator-in-Residence: written and illustrated by Geneviève Côté, Reviews of the latest in ﬁ ne Canadian books Martha Newbigging; Jennifer Lanthier’s published by Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto. for children and teens. Text and Illustrations © 2012 Geneviève Côté. speech at CCBC AGM. Used with permission. For more information, 40 Index of Reviews visit www.kidscanpress.ca. 7 Seen at ... MEDIUM: Multi-media A photographic look at book events. ABOUT THE Illustrator: Geneviève Côté studied Art and Graphic Design at Concordia University in 8 Keep Your Eye On ... Ashley Little Montreal. She has illustrated many books for children and she also enjoys writing her own stories. 10 The Two Faces of Georgia Graham Her editorial art has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and other The illustrator with two very different styles such publications. Côté’s books have received three talks about her work, her inspiration and her nominations for the Governor General’s Literary research. Award for Illustration, one of which went on to win, and she has also won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver 12 Writers of Colour in Conversation Award. Tololwa Mollel, Nicole Mortillaro, Dirk McLean, Sean L. Moore and Zetta Elliott explore their paths to publication and their audiences.

SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 1

FROM THE EDITOR GILLL IAN O’REILLY

Board of Directors Todd Kyle, President Felicia Quon, Vice-President Leigh Chalmers, Treasurer Pat Daley Lisa Doucet Sharon Jennings Naomi Levine Shar Levine Charles McCarragher Lynne Missen Daryl Novak Roland Stringer Staff Charlotte Teeple Executive Director Shannon Howe Barnes Program Coordinator Meghan Howe Library Coordinator Holly Kent Sales and Marketing Manager Dawn Todd General Manager I have long said that, in their capacity for storytelling in pictures, children’s book illustrators are the natural heirs of the great artists of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. (This theory was in no way diminished by a recent show of early Renaissance Patrons art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where the saints’ eyes all looked remarkably like the eyes Marilyn Baillie of Jon Klassen’s bears.) You can explore illustration and storytelling in three of the articles Kit Pearson in this issue: art director Sheryl Shapiro’s thoughts on matching illustrator and text, Tina Powell Ian and Deb Wallace our profi le of noted and multi-faceted artist Georgia Graham and our Book Bits column which looks at new picture books, illustrated by award-winning artists. Sponsors Our feature article is a roundtable with fi ve authors of colour — fi ve voices that are Amazon.ca Friesens articulate, passionate, thoughtful, vibrant and engaging — as they discuss their work, HarperCollins Canada the publishing world and the audiences they write and illustrate for. Penguin Group (Canada) Rawlinson Moving & Storage Recently, Arthur Ellis Award-winner Lou Allin, who writes for Orca Book Publishers’ TD Bank Group high-interest/low-vocabulary Rapid Reads series for adults, described her creative process Funders as: “I write the story in my usual fashion, then hit the Hemingway key.” Her tongue-in- Canada Council for the Arts cheek comment rightly suggests that the art of creating these exciting and accessible reads Canadian Heritage (Canada Book Fund) requires considerable skill. Whether hi-lo books are written for teens or adults, the results Charles Baillie are a wonderful way to hook reluctant or struggling readers of any age. In The Classroom Fleck Family Foundation Bookshelf, Sandra O’Brien looks at four hi-lo books that will appeal to teens in the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism classroom. PEI Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Happy reading. PEI Department of Tourism and Culture Ontario Arts Council Ontario Arts Foundation Toronto Public Library Yukon Department of Education

Our Thanks The work of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is made possible through the generous support of our members, volunteers, sponsors, funders and the continuing assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, Writing and Publishing Section, and the Public Readings Program.

Your feedback is important! EMAIL COMMENTS TO [email protected] We acknowledge the ﬁ nancial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Book Fund program. Like us! facebook.com/kidsbookcentre

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 3 OPINION SHERERYL SHAPIRO Choosing an illustrator THE CHALLENGE OF MATCHING ARTIST TO TEXT

Spring is here and so is the list of new books I’ll be designing I look for creativity when browsing illustrator samples. I am for the next season. Working in the children’s book industry encouraged to go look at more art from an illustrator when means that every book I work on will need some sort of art. their sample manages to tell a little story, showing me some- Some will have archival photography, some will need maps, thing more than just technical merit. It isn’t easy. If the illus- some only small vignettes on lots of pages, and some full- trator has already had a book printed, that becomes a portfolio colour glorious illustrations. piece. That’s how artists who draw great dogs get picked for Choosing an illustrator for a book is like casting for a movie. another dog book or artists who paint great cities get chosen You feel more conﬁ dent if you’ve seen something they’ve to do another book that needs architecture. acted in before. You often prefer to use a comedy actor for a Talking about looking for more artist samples, websites are comedy and a dramatic actor for a drama. You also want that critical. The website tells the art director a great deal about the person to bring his or her own personality to the role, to pro- artist. The more variety that is shown, the more likely it is that vide something fresh and insightful. one of the subjects or styles may be right. I’m not suggesting I don’t do that many picture books each year so opportu- illustrators not hone their own style but, if they are equally nities of the full glorious kind are somewhat limited. I quite good at a number of things, that is useful information to the frequently turn to an illustrator I’ve used before if their style art director. It is a small point, but websites that load slowly or of art will suit a manuscript. If they have proved that, in ad- are confusing are bad news because some of us harried view- dition to being technically talented, they also think creatively, ers give up more quickly than we should and move onto the are willing to work on a concept or piece of art until they get it next possibility on our list. right and meet their deadlines, then those things lighten my Illustrating a book can be fun, but it is also demanding responsibility. work. Just like a movie, there needs to be pacing, dramatic So what do I consider technically talented? To some extent moments, close ups, distance shots from other angles. Good it depends on the style of illustration I’m looking for. If the illustrators often look for opportunities to add more story to style relies strongly on realistic representation, then the art- the story. They interpret the words but also add another layer. ists needs to be able to draw accurately, especially children, The parent is reading the book, but the child is reading the and especially kids’ facial expressions. I need to be able to see art. There may be times when, to get a book right, sketches that they can carry a likeness from the ﬁ rst page to the last. need to be redone many times. It is wonderful to work with Lots of other styles are possible and desirable too. I look for an illustrator who sees this as an opportunity to grow (and composition, colour knowledge and polish. Finding the ideal does so with enthusiasm), and it is painful to collaborate with “marriage” for a manuscript and an artist is one of the most someone who is not open to change or unable to leave his or exciting parts of my job. her comfort zone.

Dušan Petriciccš cé is a superb interpreter of a story (and Martha Newbigging takes research Qin Leng was fairly new to book illustration adding more story to story). This sample is from our seriously but her lively art brings the when we started working together but she new book The Man with the Violin. historical characters to life. Ballplayers learned quickly. She has an amazing ability and Bonesetters is part of a series and to draw engaging energetic kids. This page she has illustrated them all. is from Dogs Don’t Eat Jam.

4 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Vlasta van Kampen has beautiful painterly skills, great design and an ability to bring animals to life for little kids. In The Bears We Know each bear is a real character with personality.

Speaking of repeat work, artists who don’t meet deadlines like. It is hard to describe this style. I tend to prefer art that is have to be brilliant and top of their fi eld to warrant consider- good as art and could, if necessary, be used for many diff er- ation for another project. In publishing, as in all other walks ent kinds of projects and not just children’s illustration. I don’t of life, meeting a deadline is something that is crucial to the want the art to be predictable. I don’t want the books I work on business and artists who don’t do that are not appreciated. to be predictable. For example, I recently used a cartoonist to I said earlier that I often use an established artist, but that illustrate a book of medieval history. doesn’t mean I never use someone new to the business. Art- The Internet has made the world a very intimate place and ists who have been illustrating for many years can slip into I now regularly receive art submissions from artists all over a rut and their work can become predictable and mundane. the world. I have worked with illustrators from Argentina and New artists have a freshness and enthusiasm that is very ap- New Zealand as easily as someone from Quebec or British pealing. Inexperience means they often have lots to learn Columbia. Sometimes a book is complicated and you really about the process but at the end of the season that fi rst book need to sit down at a boardroom table and plot out the pagi- becomes an important portfolio piece. nation, but otherwise digital sketches do the trick. I like using As an art director, I encourage all illustrators to use their local artists and I prefer using Canadian artists and usually do talent and imagination to bring something unique to the unless I can’t fi nd the right match. project. I’m very interested in the ideas they add to the book. All these comments, of course, are just one point of view. I fi nd it exciting to see their interpretation and see my role Diff erent art directors may work very diff erently. I’ve included more as guide than a dictator. some examples of books I’ve worked on and a brief comment I’m occasionally asked if I prefer one style to another and about each one. This is just a small sample of the fabulous il- if a particular medium is important. Because I’m matching a lustrators I’ve had the good fortune to work with. I hope that style to a book it depends on the vision of the book, but pretty sharing what goes on in my head will help illustrators, both much all media are possible, including collage and modeling seasoned and novice, to follow their dreams and help readers clay. Most illustrators I work with today work digitally, but not to understand what goes on in the creation of a picture book. all. I prefer artwork to be digital. The challenge in working I believe working in this fi eld, creating books for children, is a digitally is that each artist has to make their art stand out. For privilege. Each book is a new and exciting opportunity. a while a lot of the art being produced had that “digital” look Sheryl Shapiro is the Art Director for Annick Press and the author which quickly became boring. We do occasionally have art (with Simon Shapiro) of Better Togetherr, illustrated by Dušan Petricic.cš cé scanned, but it is becoming rare. www.annickpress.com A lot of the samples I receive for consideration are of art that looks like what people think art for children should look

Old MacDonald Had Her Farm is a wild John Mantha has a terriﬁ c portfolio Ross Kinnaird has a wonderful sense of and wacky book thanks to Tina Holdcroft. and is a very experienced realistic humour. It’s a Feudal, Feudal Worldd has a lot Tina understood the project immediately and artist. His art was perfect for the of infographics and his hilarious art and witty her art and JonArno Lawson’s text are a rough notebook style of The Siege. comments make the book about medieval perfect marriage. This book uses a more traditional history a lot of fun to read. historical style, but with a twist.

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 5 INDUSTRY News Roundup AWARDS, BOOK LAUNCHES, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND THE LATEST NEWS

TD Canadian Children’s Book Week Spreading the Words anniversary editions of six of its picture will take place from May 3 to 10, 2014. One thousand copies of Richard Van books, including its fi rst picture book In honour of the centenary of the begin- Camp’s newest baby book Little You, il- A Salmon for Simon. As well, the company ning of WWI, the Book Week theme will lustrated by Julie Flett, will be distributed will be releasing a 35th anniversary and focus on peace, war and remembrance to babies across the Northwest Territories fi lm tie-in edition of Kevin Major’s and books that explore these topics. by the NWT Literacy Council. Th e same Hold Fast. Th e list of touring authors will be was done for Van Camp’s previous two Th irty-fi ft h birthday congratulations announced in August along with further baby books, Welcome Song for Babyy and also go to Woozles, the Halifax bookseller details regarding the 2014 tours. Visit Nighty-Night. that is now the oldest children’s bookstore www.bookweek.ca for more information. Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, students are still in operation in Canada. Th e store was reading about Rick Hansen’s 43,000-kilo- founded by Liz and Brian Crocker and the metre world tour in a new book, Roll On: late Ann Connor Brimer. Managed for 31 Rick Hansen Wheels Around the World, years by Trudy Carey and, more recently, written by Ainslie Manson and illustrated under the helm of Manager Suzy MacLean by Ron Lightburn. A copy of the book has and Co-Manager Lisa Doucet, Woozles been given to every Primary to Grade 8 has championed and supported children’s school in the province — 360 in total. books and the Canadian children’s book industry while nurturing a dedicated Kids Can, Groundwood, Woozles following of customers. Th e store will celebrate important anniversaries be holding its birthday celebrations in Congratulations to Kids Can Press which October. For more information, visit is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. www.woozles.com. Barbara Reid named to the Started in 1973 by a small collective of Surviving and thriving in any business is Order of Canada people who wanted to publish socially a challenge and particularly so in the book Congratulations to Barbara Reid, award- conscious, high quality books for children, business. Hats off to these fi ne companies winning children’s author and illustrator, the company has grown enormously in on reaching these signifi cant milestones who has been appointed as a member of four decades and is now owned by Corus and for the contributions they have made the Order of Canada. Th e announcement Entertainment. It still strives to keep to to the Canadian children’s book scene over was made in Ottawa on June 28, 2013. Reid its original mandate. From Ian Wallace the decades. was chosen for her contributions as a chil- and Angela Wood’s classic Th e Sandwich dren’s book illustrator and author, widely through the enormously popular Franklin Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator-in-Residence: known for her creative use of the medium series and many wonderful non-fi ction Martha Newbigging of Plasticine. titles that work easily and successfully with IBBY Canada has announced that the fi rst Th ere are approximately 20 children’s curriculum needs to award-winning books Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator-in-Residence authors and illustrators who are members today, Kids Can has matched sophisticated will be Martha Newbigging, noted illustrator or offi cers of the Order of Canada, as well presentation and lively material through- of many works of non-fi ction for children. as a number of authors for adults who have out the decades Th e program provides published also written children’s books. Th irty-fi ft h birthday congratulations go illustrators the opportunity to participate to publisher Groundwood Books. Founded in a unique residency hosted by a public Eric Walters talks book, hope in 1978 by Patsy Aldana, Groundwood library, administered by IBBY Canada, and blessings quickly established a reputation for and funded by the family of the late Joanne Recently posted on YouTube, Eric Walters’ powerful voices and storytelling and high Fitzgerald and Groundwood Books. inspiring TED Talk at Mohawk College quality illustration. Aldana stepped down Th e program honours Joanne Fitzgerald off ers a view of both the author’s progress as publisher at the beginning of 2013 and (1956–2011), who illustrated many as a writer, his new book His Name is Sheila Barry (formerly of Kids Can Press) infl uential Canadian children’s books, Blessingg and about his ongoing project assumed the role. Some of Groundwood’s including Plain Noodles, Emily’s House, Creation of Hope, working with and sup- staff , including longtime art director Th e Blue Hippopotamus and Governor porting an orphanage and the surrounding Michael Solomon and fi ction editor General’s Literary Award-winner community in Kikima, Kenya. Shelley Tanaka, have been with the Doctor Kiss Says Yes. Visit www.youtube.com and search company for decades. In honour of the “Eric Walters + His Name is Blessing.” occasion, Groundwood is releasing 35th continued on page 8

6 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA EVENTS Seen at ... A PHOTOGRAPHIC LOOK AT CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK EVENTS g g readings.or Forest of Reading: Red Maple Fiction Award-winner Wesley King (The Vindico) thanks his readers. readings.or Forest of Reading: Author and illustrator Kevin Sylvester (Neil Flambe series) signs for fans. y g Gillian O’Reill readings.or At the exhibit for Rachel Berman’s exquisite art Forest of Reading: At the Silver Birch Express Awards. Standing are winners Brit Trogen and Kari for Miss Mousie’s Blind Date, the artist shares Trogen (Margaret and the Moth Tree) and Honour Book author Janice Weaver (Harry Houdini: The a moment with author Tim Beiser. Legend of the World’s Greatest Escape Artist, written with Chris Lane). Mike Deas (Dalen and Golen) was the other Honour Book author. k Heather Hughes-Lec Author James Leck enjoys the launch of The Further Adventures of Jack Lime, hosted by Kathy Kacer (We Are Their Voice: Young People Respond to the Holocaust) meets middle grade fans Woozles Bookstore in Halifax. on a visit to Sardinia, Italy.

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 7 Keep Your Eye On ... Ashley Little Th e Toronto Public Library in Ontario INTERVIEW BY HOLLY KENT will host the inaugural Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator-in-Residence Program. In subsequent years, in partnership with the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC), IBBY Canada will work with libraries in other provinces to host a residency.

Jennifer Lanthier on Writers, Stories and Prisoners Tell us about your newest book, which is your fi rst book for YA readers. Award-winning author Jennifer Lanthier The New Normal (Orca Book Publishers, 2013) is narrated by 16-year-old Tamar gave a powerful, amusing and thoughtful Robinson. Tamar has recently lost her twin sisters in a car crash and now she speech at the CCBC Annual General is losing her hair. The novel is set in Calgary. Meeting on June 18, 2013 in Toronto. Th e author of Th e Stamp Collectorr spoke about Tell us about the process of writing / illustrating. This novel was expanded the imprisoned writers around the world from a short story I wrote in 2006 called Dr. Lung. Dr. Lungg was about a girl who inspired her book and about the act getting acupuncture as a way to reverse hair loss and, during the treatment, of writing itself. Writing, she said, can be she realizes she is in love with her best friend. Dr. Lung won the 2008 Okanagan terrifying and hard, but is also necessary Short Story Contest and several readers suggested that it sounded like the fi rst both for the writer and for those who read chapter of a novel. So after I fi nished my fi rst novel, Prick: Confessions of a or hear the stories writers tell. Tattoo Artist, I was looking around for something else to write. I remembered Lanthier recently received the Ezra Jack that I already had a fi rst chapter for a novel, so I continued writing chapters in Keats Honour Award for Emerging Picture the same vein as Dr. Lungg, and that eventually became The New Normal. Book Writer and she spoke about how How did you fi rst get published? My fi rst publication came early — Grade One. important that kind of encouragement is. My teacher sent a piece I wrote about being an only child to a children’s She also shared stories from her Labrador magazine, and it was published in the next issue. She never told me she had tour for TD Canadian Children’s Book sent it, then one morning I found the magazine on my desk and she said look Week with her daughter Nicola Rogers- at page 13 and there was my story. I liked seeing my name in print. Lanthier, an aspiring fi lmmaker, whose short and heartwarming Book Week video What do like about writing for kids / teens? I remember it being sort of tough was enjoyed by all. Summing up her Book to fi nd the kinds of books I liked to read when I was young. I didn’t want to read Week experience, Lanthier said, “We got to romance or horror or fantasy or anything sappy or cheesy. I liked reality based travel across a part of the country I never fi ction with fl awed yet endearing characters. So that’s the kind of thing I like dreamed I’d see, sharing stories with chil- to write. I think that my book is an alternative to a lot of what is out there right dren and teachers and librarians, talking now for teens, and I’m glad I can off er that. When teens tell me that they really about writers in prison, about freedom of enjoyed the book or found it refreshing, I know I’m doing a good job. expression, about the power of our stories www.ashleylittle.com and the importance of sharing our voices with the world.” Th e complete text of the speech can be found at www.jenniferlanthier.com. (Click on News and Events.)

Corrections In our feature on illustrated non-fi ction for younger readers in our Spring 2013 issue, David Parkins was identifi ed as the illustrator for Monica Kulling’s Great Idea series. In fact, Bill Slavin illustrated the fi rst two books in the series, David Parkins illustrated the third and fourth book and the forthcoming Marconi Goes Wireless is illustrated by Richard Rudnicki. In the Bookmark! list in our Spring 2013 issue, Kathleen Martin’s non-fi ction book Kamakwie was identifi ed as fi ction.

8 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Jamie Buisman Photography 5TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

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Visit our website www.tellingtales.org for all the details as they unfold PROFILE GEORORGIA GRAHAM

The Two Faces of Georgia Graham

BY GILLIAN O’REILLY t Penny Mofﬁ t Penny Mofﬁ

Georgia Graham exclaims “I wanted to work for MAD Mag- of horizontal lines across the page (cows, barbed wire fences, azine when I was a teenager!” when told that one observer classroom blackboards or alpine river valleys). Sometimes, it saw echoes of the iconic publication in her illustrations for is the perspective lines that pull the viewer into a picture — the Nana series. rows of hay bales reaching toward the foothills or fl oorboards The off beat, exaggerated faces and wacky, intensely and furniture of a narrow cottage room drawing the reader coloured drawings seen in the Nana books and The Lime toward a small window onto the lake. Green Secret are certainly reminiscent of MAD Magazine. And they are defi nitely cousins to Graham’s big-headed fi g- From Miss Pickerell and Pop Art to a Career ures in the Wanda books. But these illustrations represent Growing up, Graham says, she was probably dyslexic but only one side of the Alberta artist and author. The other is a didn’t know it. Libraries were terrifying places. Then she rich and realistic style used in books such as The Saturday caught the reading bug when she discovered the Miss Pick- Appaloosa, The Strongest Man This Side of Cremona and erell books (her favourite was Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Where Wild Horses Run — full of breathtaking views of Counter). mountain valleys or the broad sweep of the prairie and the She studied Visual Communications (advertising art) at powerful muscles of wild horses and the liveliness of farm Alberta College of Art. “Illustration was a small part of the animals. course, but it was what I loved,” she recalls. She has been drawing almost every year of her life and expresses real joy Who is the real Georgia Graham? in being an artist: “I draw because I have to.” She felt that Her wackier, cartoony style is “the real me” Graham says, way even when she had “a phone book-sized pile of rejection and it appears in all the books she has published with Tundra letters.” Books in the last decade. However, she adopted the realistic With 13 books in print and another on the way, Graham style after a long dry spell of trying to get published. When she feels lucky to have been able to make a living as an artist — saw the manuscript by Carol Vaage for Bibi and the Bull in the through a combination of her illustrating, her painting (in early 1990s, she knew that a realistic style was what the book acrylics) for the art gallery market and her many school visits deserved. A similarly realistic style worked very successfully to thousands of kids each year. She and her husband live on a for other books she has published with Red Deer Press in the tree farm near Lacombe, Alberta. last 20 years, whether authored by her or by others. Yet, although her illustration styles appear quite diff erent, How she works there are many similarities as well. The medium is always Graham works in a studio attached to the garage. “It’s quite the same: pastel crayons and pastel pencils. She draws on big but I like to be crammed into a little corner to illustrate.” By sanded paper, which “grabs” the pastels, and she says she contrast, “I work all over when I paint.” goes through one electric pencil sharpener per illustration. Whether she is working on her own text or someone else’s, What she likes about this medium is that the illustrations she says, “I want to be illustrating a book a year.” Because she reproduce well in book form and it’s good for working on the doesn’t write a book a year, she enjoys being able to illustrate small pieces of art. other stories. “I do like doing both, but at school visits, I fi nd it She has been drawing in this medium ever since her easier to talk about my own books.” mother bought her a set when she was in Grade 5. “When I The style of illustration she uses depends on what the story was a child, I had a box of twelve pastels. Now I have twelve calls for: “The story comes fi rst. The story is what matters drawers of pastels.” On school visits, she shows her audiences most.” When she got the fi rst manuscript for Wanda and the how she used pastels in her childhood “They were horrible Wild Hairr, she says that the character “demanded a cartoony but enthusiastic drawings.” [look]. I just pulled her out of my head.” Besides the medium, however, there are other, more subtle, However, she adds, “Her house is a real house in Lacombe. similarities between the two seemingly diff erent styles — In the Grade 4 class [in Wanda and the Freckles], those are rich colour, illustrations that fi ll the page with additional spot the boys who made fun of me in Grade 4. In The Lime Green drawings within the text and lines. Lines crisscross all her Secret, the brides and bridesmaids are drawn from memory illustrations like prairie grid roads. Sometimes it is the stretch of a wedding I was at in 1970.”

10 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Her work on Where Wild Horses Run was, by contrast, an understanding of the animals and changed her approach to exhilarating immersion into research. Her publisher had the book. “A lot of that book had to do with the experience [of asked her to do a book on the topic so, a few years ago, Graham seeing them] and how diff erent wild horses are from domestic and her husband made the 14-hour drive to Williams Lake, BC, ones. The story I wrote is about what they do — struggle for in early May to photograph the landscape. She didn’t expect survival on a daily basis.” to see wild horses, but thought she could use domesticated Graham’s most recent book, Nana’s Summer Surprise, by horses as models. Heather Hartt-Sussman, is full of cottage scenes, Day-Glo Then, as they drove up, a group of wild horses suddenly coloured picnics and off beat characters. Currently, she is appeared. “The male was rippling and muscled and stomping back to her realistic style as she works on a book about bears, and snorting. You could see his ribs and all the battles wounds. tentatively titled Little Cub’s Home, scheduled for 2014. But He was magniﬁ cent.” whatever style she chooses, she says, “I hope to always be an Graham and her husband camped by the lake and woke illustrator, I hope never to retire.” to wild horses going by. Throughout the week, they saw www.georgiagraham.com four diff erent bands and had the opportunity to watch the pecking order among the females. That week deepened her

Selected Titles by Georgia Graham

Nana’s Summer Surprise Wanda and the Frogs written by Heather Hartt-Sussman written by Barbara Azore TUNDRA BOOKS, 2013 TUNDRA BOOKS, 2007 Here Comes Hortense Wanda and the Wild Hair written by Heather Hartt-Sussman written by Barbara Azore TUNDRA BOOKS, 2012 TUNDRA BOOKS, 2004 Where Wild Horses Run A Team Like No Other RED DEER PRESS, 2011 RED DEER PRESS, 2004 Nana’s Getting Married The Saturday Appaloosa written by Heather Hartt-Sussman written by Thelma Sharpe TUNDRA BOOKS, 2010 RED DEER PRESS, 2001 Wanda’s Freckles The Strongest Man This Side of Cremona written by Barbara Azore RED DEER COLLEGE PRESS, 1998 TUNDRA BOOKS, 2009 Tiger’s New Cowboy Boots The Lime Green Secret written by Irene Morck TUNDRA BOOKS, 2009 RED DEER COLLEGE PRESS, 1996

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 11 FOCUS WRRITTERS OF COLOUR Writers of Colour in Conversation FIVE AUTHORS DISCUSS THEIR WORK, THEIR PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE AND THEIR AUDIENCES BY GILLIAN O’REILLY

It’s important for children and teens to know that there are I didn’t have favourite illustrators just like I didn’t have writers and illustrators who are like them — even more so if favourite authors. I didn’t associate books being made by those readers are from a minority. Meeting a black Canadian authors just as I didn’t associate the sparse illustrations in the writer or a writer of mixed race can be an inspiring and ener- books with artists making them. No authors or illustrators gizing discovery for those readers — as shown by the experi- certainly showed up in the schools I attended. We just imag- ences of the writers interviewed here. It is also important for ined books sprang fully formed into our midst. I had a vague readers to know that there is a real diversity of stories being idea that the books we read were written by long-dead white created by writers and illustrators of colour — from science people before they got translated into Swahili and, as I came fi ction and fantasy to sports books and poetic memoirs, from to discover much later, other African or non-European lan- traditional tales to biographies of modern heroes, from stories guages. It was a shock much later when I discovered books, set in Ghana, the United States or Hungary to stories set in both the text and the illustrations, were made by live people Nova Scotia and southern Ontario. The authors and illustrator and that people with my skin colour or my nationality could interviewed here represent some of those stories. also make books. Edmonton author, dramatist and storyteller Tololwa Mollel’s 17th book, From the Lands of the Night, is being published this Dirk McLean: Like Tololwa, I too grew up on Treasure Island, fall. Canadian professor Zetta Elliott teaches in Manhattan and Robinson Crusoe and the [mixed race] author Alexandre has published extensively on black representation in literature, Dumas. They were all very dead. As a child in Trinidad and as well as penning three books for young readers. Toronto- Tobago, I read the poetry and prose of English authors. From based author, playwright and actor Dirk McLean has published 13, in high school in Toronto, I read Canadian, US (including picture books, fi ction and non-fi ction. Vancouver-based Sean James Baldwin), English, Welsh and Irish authors. Favourites: L. Moore is an illustrator and animator as well as an author; his Beatrix Potter (no relation to Harry), C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, work can frequently be seen in Chirp and chickaDEEE maga- T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas. Margaret Atwood was the fi rst zines. Toronto-based Nicole Mortillaro identifi es herself as live author [whom] I saw read. I did not encounter black Cana- being mixed race and is the author of non-fi ction books on dian or Caribbean authors until I was an adult. science, weather and trailblazers. She is also the senior web coordinator covering weather, science and the environment Zetta Elliott: I recently presented at an African women for Global News. writers conference in Accra, Ghana and saw many heads nodding as I talked about the problematic novels I consumed as a child. People of colour who grew up in (former) British What did you read when you were growing up? colonies consumed many of the same books, all of which are Who were your favourite writers and / or illustrators? embedded with imperialist, racist, sexist and classist mes- sages. As a child growing up in Toronto in the 1970s, I loved Tololwa Mollel: Growing up in Tanzania, I read mostly Swa- to read fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis and E. Nesbit; I also read hili translation of classics like Treasure Island, Arabian Nights, everything I could by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Looking Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and books by Henry Rider Haggard, and back at those books today, I’m appalled that the adults in my the like. Later on I read classics from English literature like The life kept those books in the classroom and on the shelf. The Mill on the Floss, Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe. Much later only “mirror” I found in children’s literature was provided by on in secondary school, I was introduced to books by Alex- Brooklyn author / illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. andre Dumas, and American thrillers and detective books, as well as Western novels. Basically, however, I read whatever I Nicole Mortillaro: That’s a diffi cult question. I went through could lay my hands on in the meagre library of donated books so many diff erent phases! From a young age, I loved discov- in my middle school and later in the musty library of my sec- ering writers. When I was 14, I went through a Russian phase, ondary school and in second hand bookstores with books I then later a Stephen King phase, a classics phase... I would could aff ord. grab whatever I could get my hands on.

12 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA

l w

oll

D i r k M cL ean

I think really, though, my lasting love will always be sci- When did you decide to be a writer and how did you ence fi ction. I think that is a genre that doesn’t get the respect come to write your fi rst book? it deserves. People forget that H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne were all science fi ction DMcL: I decided to become a playwright after a fi rst-year Cre- writers... brilliant science fi ction writers. There are fantastic ative Writing course at York University where I wrote poetry science fi ction writers out there today, like Robert J. Sawyer, the entire year — to parallel my emerging acting career. I wrote who have great vision and imagination. And with science fi c- my fi rst children’s book after a meeting with Groundwood tion, the universe is yours. As a kid, to me, that was what cap- Books founding publisher, Patsy Aldana, during which she tured me and held me hostage while I read under the covers. mused that she had always wanted to publish a book about a (But my favourite book as a young child, I must add, was child coming to Canada and experiencing snow for the fi rst Bridge to Terabithia. Still tugs at my heart!) time. BIG CUE! I gave her a two-page outline two weeks later, resulting in Steel Drums & Ice Skates. Sean L. Moore: Admittedly, I didn’t read as much as I should have when I was a child. I was very much a visual person for NM: I always knew I wanted to write. And I didn’t care what I about as long as I can remember. I was much more interested wrote about. I was even happy to write essays in school — sad, in creating characters and bringing them to life. My biggest I know. I remember when I was in Grade 5, my teacher, Mrs. dilemma was whether I was going to do it through animation, Hackett, told me that I would grow up to be a writer. It was the claymation or puppetry. But once I discovered how important nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. it was for my characters, particularly in animation, I became As for my fi rst book, I’ve always been interested in non-fi c- much more interested in story. tion, with a real love of science. I love weather and I wanted But, from the visual side of things, there were images that to teach kids about what they see around them every day... to stuck with me. I was a big fan of Maurice Sendak and Where help them make sense of what they see. So that’s how the idea The Wild Things Are. Ezra Jack Keats’ images were always, and for my fi rst book, Sun and Storms: Canadian Summer Weatherr, to this day still are, inspiring. Looking back now it may have came about. had more to do with his painting black children in so many of his stories. Pet Show! and The Snowy Dayy are timeless. Dr. ZE: My high school English teacher, Nancy Vichert, took Seuss books, though it may seem cliché, were also favourites me aside at the end of Grade 11 and told me I had a future as of mine. I found that I enjoyed getting lost in imagery and a writer. I was stunned — it never occurred to me that you illustration more so than the words. could simply decide to become a writer; I thought I needed someone else’s permission. I went home and began writing

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 13 TM: I think I decided that being a writer was a viable dream

back in 1982. [My] interest had been germinating since toward

the end of my secondary school days when we listened to

a talk by a Kenyan author, and when I saw my ﬁ rst African

play about African history and issues, performed by black

Tanzanian actors. The possibility that even I, a black African

person, could create a story or a play based on black African

issues, occurred to me after the talk and seeing the play, and

lived with me.

But it wasn’t until 1982 that my interest in writing matured

and gained focus. I wrote quite a few unpublished books

before I published my ﬁ rst book, The Orphan Boyy, in North Z e America in 1990. I did have a chapter book published in Swa- t hili in 1987, but it was a woeful product and I’ve tried hard to ta E forget I wrote it, let alone allowed it to be published. ll iott Tell us about your most recent book and how you have honed your craft over the years.

ZE: I recently fi nished The Deep, a YA novel and companion book to Ship of Souls (2012). The latter features three unlikely friends (Dmitri, Nyla and Hakeem) who fi nd a magical bird and help it to free the souls of enslaved Africans buried centuries ago in lower Manhattan. All my books for young readers are set in the city; it’s important to me that black children know there’s magic everywhere and not only in a castle in England. I think one improves as a writer by reading and writing constantly; it probably helps that I also teach black literature my fi rst novel that summer. It was awful and I never fi nished at the college level. I’m a poet and playwright and I think that it, but I held onto the confi dence that comes from knowing experience has helped me to focus on dialogue and dramatic someone you admire believes in you. action. A few years back I discovered a picture book story I’d written for a high school creative writing class and was dis- TM: My most recent book, From Lands of the Night, is sched- mayed to see all the characters were white. It wasn’t until I uled to be released in the fall of 2013. It’s a story of a dying baby, spent a summer with my father in Brooklyn that I began to whose parents try everything to save it. When everything immerse myself in black-authored books and then I began to fails they appeal, at the advice of a healer, to the ancestors in write stories with black characters. I didn’t have a published a traditional ritualistic ceremony that attracts many guests, book until 2008 and that was a result of winning the 2005 some of them mysterious and from lands of the night. honour award in Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Contest. I had I’ve honed my craft by learning humbly from each story to leave Canada to become a published author and doubt I I’ve written. There is no greater coach in writing than a new would be an award-winning author today had I not migrated story. It’s one thing to have an idea in your head. It’s another to the US. to transfer the story idea onto paper where you can see it in either all its glory or its banality. I also let time be a tutor in SM: I don’t know that I made a conscious decision to become the process, working on draft after draft of story, and taking a a writer. What I really wanted more than anything was an vacation from the story between drafts, just to let things per- outlet for my character designs other than animation or TV. colate on the back burner for when I go back to the story. My fi rst real crack at writing was, ironically enough, for a TV series pitch. Though it was raw, I really enjoyed the challenge DMcL: After three picture books (fi ction and non-fi ction) of making everything mesh (both pictures and words). That’s I plunged into my fi rst YA novel, Not Out. It’s about a boy when I decided to try writing a picture book. who, having lost both parents and gone to live with an aunt, Originally stemming from my admiration of Dr. Seuss and experiences grief, healing and the control of his emotions by my love of hip-hop, I decided to tell my fi rst story in rhyme. A learning to play cricket. I have honed my craft over the years short stanza about a fear / quirk of mine as a child turned into by balancing my reading of fi ction and non-fi ction, constant my fi rst book, Always Run Up The Stairs. learning, note-taking to explore ideas and keeping an excite- ment and drive to tell stories. Although the Internet exists, I am a strong advocate and user of Toronto Public Library and the support of its knowledgeable librarians.

14 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA NM: My most recent book, Willie O’Ree: The Story of the First Zetta, you have published with a traditional Black Player in the NHL, is about how Willie O’Ree persevered publisher and also self-published. What led you on and succeeded in doing what he loved most: playing profes- the self-publishing road? sional hockey. O’Ree didn’t play long in the NHL, but he did it. And that was the important message to me. I think that book ZE: REJECTION! Like most self-published authors, I only will always mean a lot to me. I found him very inspiring. turned to print-on-demand technology after years of rejec- As for honing my craft, I think time and experience has tion by traditional presses (in Canada and the US). When my been invaluable. As well, working as an editor helped me fi rst picture book, Bird, won numerous awards, I was sure learn more about the process and see it from a diff erent doors would open — but they didn’t. I began to investigate the perspective. US children’s publishing industry and learned that less than 2% of the books published for children annually are written by SM: My latest book is titled What’s Up Bear? This is the sequel black authors (the rate is even lower in Canada). Then I knew to my fi rst picture book, Where Are You Bear? which was a the problem was institutional. cross-Canada ABC adventure with a little girl named Sophie I never had an agent or editor tell me I couldn’t write; on the and her best friend, a stuff ed bear named “Bear.” The second contrary, most raved about my writing but insisted there was book takes Sophie and Bear to New York where they learn “no market” for my kind of books (despite the fact that people about opposites. of colour are quickly becoming the majority in many North [This] is the second time that I have only done the illustra- American cities). Many editors claim that they’re desperate to tions, rather than the entire book. This experience has really fi nd talented black writers but when you ask them what they allowed me to focus on my designs and, though I have much are doing to fi nd such authors, there’s silence. My research to improve on, I feel like I am becoming a better illustrator for shows that in the 21st century, only three black authors pub- it. I’ve always been a huge advocate of “drawing for yourself.” lish a book for children each year in Canada — out of 500 If I’m not drawing for myself in my free time, I feel like I’m English-language books. I think you’re going to see more falling behind, I’m not getting any better and I’m probably not writers turning to self-publishing as they realize the odds are enjoying what I’m doing. That also holds true for writing. At stacked against them. this point in my career, I consider myself an illustrator that writes, not quite a writer in the least. I have a lot of work to do TM: Back when I started to publish (in the early 1990s) and to get where the rest of you are. when there seemed to be more money and the publishing industry was running less scared then it is now, I found that Even the seagulls are tired of rain, drizzle and fog...

Yaffle’s Journey Also from Creative Book Publishing Nancy Keating THE BIRCHY MAID Illustrated by Laurel Keating 978-1-77103-0-076 ROBIN MCGRATH 7.5 x 9.25 / 32 pp / $12.95 Illustrated by Rochelle Baker Yaffle the seagull is fed up with the 978-177103-0-083 rain, drizzle, and fog in his home 8 x 11 / 32 pp province of Newfoundland. He $19.95 Colour Illustrations dreams about flying down south to Hard Cover the sunshine.Yaffle’s Journey is the hilarious tale of the sea-gull who wants the best of both worlds and BURIED TRUTHS his ambitious plan to achieve it! ALICE WALSH 978-1-77103-0-106 5 x 7 / 175 pp $11.95

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WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 15

ti ll aro

S e a n L . M oore

publishers took more risks publishing “multicultural” mate- performance — something halfway between theatre and sto- rial. Then that changed. I found it harder and harder to be rytelling and story presentation. I hope eventually to have published, even with the track record I had established. I do enough story performance scripts to form a collection or two have a book coming out in the fall of 2013 from a traditional [and yes,] I would absolutely consider self-publishing. publisher, but it has been a long time coming and has proved So my answer to the perceived and real (as indicated by the to be a diffi cult book in terms of fi nding the right and avail- gloomy picture that Zetta reveals) under-representation of able illustrator for it and in other ways. That I’m celebrating its black writers / writers of colour in the traditional publishing impending release as if it were my fi rst book should tell you industry in North America, is to go beyond solely relying on how hard the times have become for writers seeking publica- books as the outlet for my creative and artistic expression into tion of new work, particularly writers of picture book stories the area of story performance, and to seriously think about and, I suspect, probably writers of colour. and act on the self-publishing avenue as a viable option. At some point, I began to feel that, yes, publishers would love to have multicultural books, but perhaps not too many. I hope I’m not being too harsh. But often I’ve felt, with my Nicole, you have written about trailblazers — the fi rst African stories, like the fl avour of the month, lately like the black NHL player, the fi rst diabetic NHL player, champion fl avour of the decade. [Self-publishing] has crossed my mind, women hockey players. What attracts you to these stories? as I suspect it has crossed the minds of many, many writers, particularly with the advent of the numerous non-traditional NM: I’ve always been drawn to people who overcame hard- publishing avenues, and more and more potential avenues ship or who just paid no attention to those who told them that the technological and Internet future promises. that something was “impossible.” I admire that kind of The reason why I’ve held back from self-publishing is strength, and I certainly want to show examples of that to my because this is a little problematic when it comes to picture daughter. book publication. I do feel I still need to rely on the resources of For the fi rst diabetic NHL player, it was because my daughter a traditional publisher (the art department, the book designer, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was four. It was the editor) to pull off a successful picture book. I do have a such a shock, but then when I got over that initial shock, I real- number of plays that I am thinking of having published as a ized that I wanted to teach her that absolutely nothing should collection. I absolutely will explore the self-publishing route stand in her way of achieving her goals. And Bobby Clarke, as BUT I’ll try to hire an editor and possibly a book designer to controversial as he was, was a perfect example. The man was make sure I don’t put out a product that a few years down the playing what many thought of as the toughest and roughest road I would be embarrassed by when I put it side by side with sport out there at a time when the technology for monitoring stuff I’ve published with a traditional publisher. his diabetes was nowhere near where it is today. So that was The diffi culty I’ve experienced in publishing picture book the fi rst book where I thought, “Hmm. I really enjoy fi nding stories has motivated me to edge back into what I call story these strong people and learning about them.”

16 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Sean, it’s important for children to see themselves refl ected have expressed comments to me about my books, they tend in what they are reading — and seeing illustrations where to go beyond enjoying the stories to enjoying the writing children look like them is one important way to do that. behind them. I always forget that sometimes young readers Have you ever encountered any diffi culty in making sure enjoy stories for the language in them, for the form of writing that black Canadian kids see themselves refl ected in your used in bringing them forth. books? NM: I think kids have enjoyed my books because they’re sur- SM: I agree that it’s extremely important for children to see prised to learn things about people or the sport they love. themselves refl ected in, not only literature, but all areas — Most kids I meet react with a kind of “Wow!” factor and ask me whether its books, movies, ads, etc. — but I also believe that about the people I’ve written about or about the science I’ve it’s equally, if not more, important for children to see others written about. I love telling them that they don’t have to listen (i.e., race, religion, etc.) in all of those areas as well. to people who put them down or try to stop them from doing I fi rst became conscious of this while designing characters what they love. And I love opening their minds. for an animated show for the fi rst time. Growing up in a true As for black Canadian children, I don’t know. Being of melting pot like Toronto, it came naturally to me to design mixed race, I’ve never really identifi ed with being black. Sure, characters of diff erent race. But whenever the designs would I’m a minority, but I am in many ways: I’m a woman, I’m of come back from the colour department, the characters would mixed race... always be coloured to depict Caucasian adults and children. I think it’s important to represent what exists in the world. From that point on I made a note for the colour department on And in my case, my stories are about those who overcame every design I turned in. Thus ensuring that all of the char- obstacles — black, white, Asian, diabetic or a woman. That’s acters on screen were not only designed by me, but would what it’s about to me. also refl ect me in a much deeper way. That was the fi rst time I felt a real responsibility to use the opportunity I was given to make a diff erence. Thank you to all of you. That same approach is now carried through to my illustrations for books. It’s funny — now, in both literature and animation, I have editors and directors requesting Cauca- For more information, visit: sian characters to be re-designed as black or Latino. Clearly www.zettaelliott.com someone got in the ears of the higher ups. www.openbooktoronto.com/news/ ten_questions_with_dirk_mclean How do the children and teen readers you meet respond www.seanlmoore.com to your books? And how do black Canadian children www.tololwamollel.com and teens respond? www.nicolemortillaro.ca DMcL: My readers / audience always ask bold and daring questions, demanding the utmost honest response. A common question, for all of my fi ction books, is whether the story is based on my personal experience. Black Canadian children More Black Canadian Authors and Illustrators are thrilled to see a live, black author who can inspire them André Alexis Carol-Ann Hoyte to write or simply appreciate the written word. The Q&A is Adwoa Badoe Bushra Junaid an important part of my visits to schools and libraries — not Eva Campbell Richardo Keens-Douglas limited to three questions, but a healthy exchange with the George Elliott Clarke K’naan children. Afua Cooper Martin Mordecai Rita Cox Gail Nyoka ZE: I visit dozens of schools every year here in the US and Christopher Paul Curtis Bryan Prince always receive a very warm welcome from students and Dionne Brand Rosemary Sadlier teachers alike. I’ve only presented at two schools in the Bonnie Farmer Itah Sadu Greater Toronto Area but found the students were just as Cheryl Foggo Olive Senior excited to meet me. I never met an author of any race when Fil Fraser Adrienne Shadd I was growing up in Toronto and know when I walk into a Shauntay Grant Stephen Taylor classroom that I embody possibility. Kids of colour look at me Dalton Higgins Jodie Nyasha Warner and know — sometimes for the fi rst time — that they too can Nalo Hopkinson Gloria Ann Wesley become a professor, a poet, a playwright, a novelist. Readers may also wish to explore the TM: I’ve discovered, to my gratifi cation, that children fi nd my Black History Month booklist on the CCBC’s website: stories interesting. Gratifi ed and rewarded because I spend www.bookcentre.ca/library. an awful lot of time crafting them. What usually surprises me is that, with some of the young readers I’ve encountered who

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 17 BOOKMARK FOODOD

“ BOOKMARK!” HIGHLIGHTS BOOKS FOR A VARIETY OF GRADE LEVELS AROUND A PARTICULAR THEME. The United Nations has designated 2013 as the International Year of Quinoa. While the increasingly popular grain has yet to appear in more than a handful of children’s books, there is a feast of great food and culinary pleasures to be found in this list of Canadian books for kids and teens, compiled by CCBC Library Coordinator Meghan Howe.

Eats written by Marthe Jocelyn Beyond Quinoa! illustrated by Tom Slaughter (Tundra Books, 2007) In this introduction to the food chain, Food Fun Jocelyn’s simple concept of matching creatures with their favourite food comes alive through the sparkling colours PICTURE BOOKS AND EARLY Cinnamon Baby and masterful cut shapes of Slaughter’s READERS FOR KINDERGARTEN written by Nicola Winstanley illustrations. TO GRADE 3 illustrated by Janice Nadeau (Kids Can Press, 2011) The French Fry King The Bannock Book written and illustrated by Rogé Miriam, a wonderful baker, and Sebastian written and illustrated by Linda Ducharme translated by Alison Morgan have a baby who seems perfect in every (Pemmican Publications, 2007) (Tundra Books, 2012) way until she starts crying from sun-up to When a young Michif girl helps make sundown. Nothing will console her. Finally, Th is is a clever tale about dreaming big bannock for her family, she learns how to Miriam has an idea and discovers that the and fi nding love — and about a charming modify the recipe so that her grandfather, scent she loves so much as a baker is the sausage dog named Roger. Roger dreams who has diabetes, can eat it. Recipes for scent that delights her baby. of being crowned French Fry King, but he traditional and healthier versions of discovers this does not bring him true bannock included. Claire and the Bakery Thief happiness and begins his search again. written and illustrated by Janice Poon Th is title is available in French as Le roi Boy Soup (Kids Can Press, 2008) de la patate. written by Loris Lesynski Claire’s just moved to the country and loves illustrated by Michael Martchenko The Good Garden: exploring the outdoors. Th e organic bakery (Annick Press, 2008) How One Family Went from her parents run is a success, but they keep Hunger to Having Enough In this playful poetic caper, a giant decides fi ghting. When her mom disappears with written by Katie Smith Milway that the only remedy for his head cold is a the artifi cial-fl avouring salesman, Claire illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault bowlful of boy soup! Originally published and her friend, Jet, set out to solve the mys- (Kids Can Press, 2010) in 1996 by Annick Press as Boy Soup or tery. Includes three recipes. When Giant Caught Coldd with illustrations María Luz’s family are poor Honduran by Loris Lesynski. Don’t Eat That! farmers, growing barely enough to eat. (Easy-to-Read Spooky Tales) A new teacher comes to town and shows Bradley McGogg, written by Veronika Martenova Charles María techniques for improving her garden the Very Fine Frog illustrated by David Parkins and growing cash crops for the market. written by Tim Beiser (Tundra Books, 2008) As other villagers see María Luz’s ‘good illustrated by Rachel Berman garden,’ they, too, make changes to better Th ree friends tell each other a spooky tale (Tundra Books, 2009) their lives. that warns against eating a particular food. Bradley McGogg usually feasts on yummy Th e featured folktales are “Th e Fig Tree” I Eat a Rainbow bugs. Finding his pantry bare one day, he from Australia, “Uncle Wolf” from Italy (My World) consults with his neighbours, hoping they and “Th e Storm” from Eastern Europe. written by Bobbie Kalman will share some of their favourite meals. But Features black-and-white illustrations. (Crabtree Publishing, 2010) he soon fi nds that not all animals share the same tastes. Frog enthusiasts will also like Eating fruits and vegetables every day in Freddie’s Problem by Resa Ostrove (Peanut as many colours of the rainbow as possible Butter Press, 2009). helps us get all the important vitamins and other nutrients we need to stay healthy. Vibrant photographs accompany simple text.

18 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA The King’s Taster JUNIOR FICTION AND NON- written by Kenneth Oppel FICTION FOR GRADES 4 TO 8 illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher (HarperCollins Publishers, 2009) One Year in Coal Harbour Th e new young king is a picky eater and written by Polly Horvath doesn’t like any of the food prepared for (Groundwood Books, 2012) him. Th e royal chef takes his dog, Max, Primrose Squarp, the wise and curious who is also the king’s taster, on numerous heroine of the Newbery Honor Book international journeys to fi nd a dish that Everything on a Waffl e, is facing another the king will like. adventure-fi lled year in Coal Harbour. Even though her parents, once lost at sea, Monster Lunch are home, there are a slew of problems and (Orca Echoes) mysteries to keep Primrose busy. Recipes written by Pat Skene are included! illustrated by Graham Ross (Orca Book Publishers, 2008) Fairy Tale Feasts: Dine with Frankenstein, attend a burgoo A Literary Cookbook and a birthday party, meet a grumpy tales retold by Jane Yolen garden dude and slurp hot zoop. Rhyming recipes by Heidi E.Y. Stemple poems are paired with an interview illustrated by Philippe Béha with the main character or a serving of (Tradewind Books, 2006) fascinating food facts. Black-and-white art Celebrating the powerful ties between appears in this collection craft ed around stories and food, this mother-daughter a most clever premise. writing team serves up 20 tales and 25 recipes. Th e stories originate from Euro- Mile-High Apple Pie pean, African-American, Ashkenazi Jewish, written by Laura Langston Arabic, Turkish and Chinese cultures. illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner Lively artwork rounds out this literary feast. (The Bodley Head/Random House, 2004) Readers will also want o check out Jewish In this heartwarming family story, Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook. Grandma remembers lots of things — like how to make apple pie. But some days, Food Fight she can’t recall her granddaughter’s name. (A Graphic Guide Adventure) Book includes a recipe for apple pie. written by Liam O’Donnell illustrated by Mike Deas Up We Grow! A Year in the Life (Orca Book Publishers, 2010) of a Small, Local Farm While Devin and Nadia spend their written by Deborah Hodge vacation at a university camp for little kids, photography by Brian Harris their mother works on an agricultural (Kids Can Press, 2010) research project. When the project is Heartwarming photographs invite chil- vandalized, Devin, Nadia and their friend dren into the world of a small cooperative Simon stumble upon shady characters, a farm over four seasons. From fruits and corporate conspiracy and a plan to geneti- vegetables to livestock and useful bees, this cally modify the nation’s food supply. informative book explains to children the importance of small local farms. Young Neil Flambé and readers will also enjoy Hodge’s Watch Me the Crusader’s Curse Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing (The Neil Flambé Capers) Food in the City. written by Kevin Sylvester (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012) Neil Flambé, the extraordinarily talented teen chef and sleuth, fi nds himself in a battle to save his reputation. Could the root of his problems be a dark curse that has plagued Flambé chefs for centuries? Readers will want to check out other books

SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 19 BOOKMARK FOODOD

in the Neil Flambé series, including the The World in Your Lunch Box: latest, Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure. The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods Recipe for Disaster written by Claire Eamer written by Maureen Fergus illustrated by Sa Boothroyd (Kids Can Press, 2009) (Annick Press, 2012) Francie dreams about being famous and A week’s worth of lunches provides the having a baking show. But the new girl, starting point from which to delve into Darlene, thinks her interest in baking is the rich history and astonishing science odd, acts like Francie’s friend Holly is of the foods kids love. Eamer looks into her best friend, and somehow steals the stories about sandwiches, mac and cheese, attention of Francie’s crush. Unable to hot dogs, pizza, peanut-butter-and-banana stay focused, Francie’s sweet dreams are wraps and so much more. Colourful starting to slip away. illustrations and lots of jokes will keep kids turning the pages. Reducing Your Footprint: Farming, Cooking, and Eating SENIOR FICTION AND NON- for a Healthy Planet FICTION FOR GRADES 7 AND UP (Energy Revolution) written by Ellen Rodger Greener Grass: The Famine Years (Crabtree Publishing, 2010) written by Caroline Pignat (Red Deer Press, 2008) Th is book teaches children that what they eat and how they eat is important to the Kit’s family struggles as the Great Famine environment. How to adjust your diet to eat enters its second year. Landlords raise rents locally and responsibly is explained. Other and tumble cottages, leaving thousands topics, such as green cooking, fair-trade homeless and overcome with hunger and food and alternative eating, are discussed. disease. When her family is slated for eviction, Kit will do anything she can to What’s for Lunch? How Schoolchil- help them. dren Eat Around the World written by Andrea Curtis Stuffed illustrated by Sophie Casson (Orca Soundings) photos by Yvonne Duivenvoorden written by Eric Walters (Red Deer Press, 2012) (Orca Book Publishers, 2006) Th is book shows the incredible variety Ian starts a boycott against a fast-food found in school meals around the world, multinational. Can he convince the whole from Japan to Kenya, Afghanistan to school to do the right thing? An easy-to- Canada and Peru to the United States. read book by the popular author. Filled with colour photos and sidebars, this book illustrates how children are taking Way to Go charge through growing gardens, learning written by Tom Ryan how to cook and speaking out about their (Orca Book Publishers, 2012) right to healthy food. Danny thinks he is the only 17-year-old in Cape Breton who doesn’t have his life Who Wants Pizza? fi gured out. A summer restaurant job helps The Kids’ Guide to the History, him fi nd his calling as a chef and gives Science and Culture of Food him assistance and role models for a bigger written by Jan Thornhill problem: how to deal with his sexuality. (Maple Tree Press, 2010) Covering topics ranging from digestion to etiquette in diff erent cultures, from animal domestication to food preservation and the variety of foods eaten around the world, this book shows how important food really is. Filled with fascinating facts and trivia, this book will have young readers gobbling up the information.

20 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013 IN KITCHENER SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 IN TORONTO, HALIFAX, SASKATOON, AND LETHBRIDGE REVIEWS ESPEP CIALLY FOR TEACHERS The Classroom Bookshelf I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends BY SANDRA O’BRIEN

One Cycle Teen fi ction written for students who are reading below grade level (Podium Sports Academy) is becoming more and more available to classroom teachers and written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson librarians. Th emes have been chosen to interest and attract the teen Lorimer, 2013 audience but the books contain vocabulary that is more appropriate 978-1-45940-184-6 (hc) $16.95 to their reading level (usually somewhere between a Grade 3 and 4). 978-1-45940-183-9 (pb) $9.95 Th ey also have shorter sentences and chapters so as not to over- 978-1-45940-185-3 (ebook) $7.95 whelm reluctant or struggling readers. Even the covers of the books for Grades 8 and up are designed to appeal to teenagers — as they look like other books their peers would be reading. Th e Podium Sports Academy, Orca Fiction | Choices | Lacrosse | Steroids Sports and Orca Soundings series are three such choices available to students in intermediate and high school grades and a selection from each series will be discussed in this column. Vegas Tryout Lorna Schultz Nicholson is the author of the Podium Sports (Podium Sports Academy) Academy series, of which there are currently four books in publica- written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson tion. Each book is about a specifi c student who attends a school Lorimer, 2012 for top athletes in Western Canada and the sport that student is 978-1-45940-071-9 (hc) $16.95 involved in. Characters from one story are carried into the others 978-1-45940-070-2 (pb) $9.95 so, for those students who enjoy reading series with familiar faces, 978-1-45940-072-6 (ebook) $7.95 this series meets the bill. for Grades 8 and up In One Cycle, Nathan is a lacrosse player who desperately wants Fiction | Choices | Eating Disorders | to be granted a scholarship to a college in the United States. Nathan Synchronized Swimming decides he needs to bulk up in order to be noticed and goes behind his parents’ and coach’s backs to obtain illegal steroids. When one of his teammates is busted for selling drugs, Nathan decides to Edge of Flight come clean to his coach and his parents before his illicit drug use (Orca Sports) is discovered. Th e story reveals the mental, physical and emotional written by Kate Jaimet side eff ects of steroid use, as well as dealing with other issues of Orca Book Publishers, 2012 growing up. 978-1-45980-160-8 (pb) $9.95 In Vegas Tryout, Carrie is a synchronized swimmer who wants for Grades 7 and up a spot in a Vegas synchronized swimming show. Her coach tells her she must lose ten pounds by the next weigh-in as she is the shortest Fiction | Courage | Decision-making | Climbing and heaviest girl on the team. Embarrassed and frustrated by being publically humiliated, Carrie goes to extreme measures to lose the weight she needs to, ignoring her coach’s healthy diet plan. When things get out of hand, Carrie’s friends, family and coach plan an intervention to get Carrie back on a healthy diet and back to a Dead Run healthy weight. Carrie also deals with issues surrounding her father (Orca Soundings) and a new brother in this story. written by Sean Rodman What I liked about this series is that the teens are not only Orca Book Publishers, 2012 facing the pressures of their sport, but they are also dealing with 978-1-45980-244-5 (pb) $9.95 boyfriend / girlfriend issues, parental pressure, sexuality and various for Grades 7 and up other issues familiar to young people. Th e characters in the stories Fiction | Choices | Adventure | Cycling are not only involved in a variety of sports, but they also represent the various nationalities that we see in Canada. Th e books provide teens with the opportunity to talk about what might be happening in their own lives and to see how the characters in each story deal with the issues. Th e other two books in the series are Rookie, about

22 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA a male hockey player and the abuse he suff ers at the hands of his teammates and Forward Pass, about a female soccer player who Newe from is sexually abused by her coach. All of the books are written at a 3.0 reading level and are appropriate for students in the interme- NimbusN diate and high school grades. Th ere are numerous titles in both the Orca Sports and Orca Soundings series written by various Canadian authors. Th e Orca Sports series is obviously for students who enjoy reading short $19.95 high-interest novels with a sports theme and, according to the publisher, are written for students aged 10 and up, while the Orca Soundings series contain contemporary themes for teens reading below grade level. Although these books are written for students $11.95 struggling with reading, I can also see students who are interested in sports and the many themes that are covered in these series ders ea non picking up these books out of curiosity about the topic or for a MacKMac inn EvangEvangeline ford eau Young & Patsy Read What’s Going on at the Time Hélène Boudreau & P Gerald Mercer & Holl D quick read. cer & Holly DeWolfTonight?ght? BuBuried Secrets at Louisbourg Edge of Flightt (Orca Sports) is a story about a young woman who uisbourg Jo AAnnA YhYhard d has to make the climb of her life to save one of her friends who has nessneess DetectiveDe been badly injured. Vanisha, new to Fayetteville, Arkansas, has Be a Wilderness Peggy Kochanoff become friends with Rusty and Jeb and they have taught her how to rock-climb. While out near Mount Judea on their last climb before $12.95 Vanisha leaves for college, the threesome run into some bikers who are growing marijuana in the mountains. When Jeb gets shot, Vanisha must fi nally conquer Edge of Flight, the toughest rock- $14.95 climbing route she has ever faced. Frightened and alone, Vanisha must make it into town and get help for Jeb, encountering unexpected diffi culties along the way and fi nding a friend in the waitress at the local restaurant. Filling the pages with action and suspense, Jaimet keeps readers glued until the fi nal daring rescue is made. A glossary of climbing terms is also included at the back of this book to help students understand some of the more technical terms the author uses. In Dead Run (Orca Soundings), Sam is a teenage boy who loves Kids’ Stuff bicycle racing but gets kicked off the team he’s a part of because he won’t ride by their rules. He fi nds out about a coach named Viktor, a former Olympic medalist, and searches him out. Viktor is willing to coach Sam but insists that Sam work for his bicycle courier company in return. Training with Robin, another courier, Sam discovers that the work is dangerous and there is little time to waste. • Posters As Sam gets to know Robin, they develop feelings for one another • Displays and when Sam is eventually assigned the “dead run”, delivering • Furniture Library and Reading Promotions 2013 Call to request your untraceable packages for an unknown client, he fi nds himself • Book Trucks FREE copy today! • Puppets running from the police and discovers that he has put Robin in eading Promotional items For more Library and R Library Supplies, heck out our (pgs. 385-519) or make sure to c ng Catalogue Furniture and Shelvi danger. Fortunately for Sam and Robin, Viktor decides to do • Bookmarks visit us online at www.carrmclean.ca! the right thing and Sam and Robin get their lives back on track. • Shelving Rodman writes a fast paced story that grips the reader’s attention • And More! and deals with the issue of how far a person will go to see their dreams come true. Th e publication of these short high-interest books fi lls an important niche in school and classroom libraries. Th ey give students reading below grade level, reluctant or ESL readers the confi dence to take on a novel and not be overwhelmed. Th ey also provide these students with books that cover topics of interest to them and that deal with contemporary issues that can be discussed in class and with their peers. Bravo to the authors and publishers of these books — every kid deserves the right to read a good book regardless of Call: sFax: sShop Online: www.carrmclean.ca their reading abilities.

Sandra O’Brien is a former teacher with an M.Ed. in Children’s Literature.

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 23 REVIEWS BOOK BITS SEEING THE LIGHT BY SENTA ROSS

The Dark In the Tree House When I Was Eight how to written by Lemony Snicket written by Andrew Larsen written by Christy Jordan-Fenton written and illustrated by illustrated by Jon Klassen illustrated by Dušan Petriciccš cé and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton Julie Morstad HarperCollins Publishers, 2013 Kids Can Press, 2013 illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard Simply Read Books, 2013 978-1-44341-794-5 (hc) $19.99 978-1-55453-635-1 (hc) $18.95 Annick Press, 2013 978-1-897476-57-4 (hc) $18.95 for Kindergarten to Grade 3 for Kindergarten to Grade 3 978-1-55451-490-8 (pb) $9.95 for Preschool and up for Grades 2 to 5 Picture Book | Darkness | Picture Book | Siblings | Neighbours Picture Book | Imagination Overcoming Fear Picture Book | Inuit History | Residential Schools | Courage

Th ere are moments in everyone’s life which bring forth change. a chest of drawers nobody ever opened.” Th e conversation Laszlo “Change” can be generated by an unfamiliar environment, the and the fear-object have is almost natural, even humorous, in its passage of time, living with the unknown, gaining new knowledge strangeness. leading to deeper understanding... transitioning from darkness to Appropriately, there is a lot of darkness in Canadian artist Jon light. Th ese four exceptional picture books touch on variations of Klassen’s marvelous gouache and digital illustrations. Th e shaft s enlightenment... towards “seeing the light.” of light caused by the sun and the boy’s fl ashlight fall on a stark Laszlo is afraid of an entity known as “the dark.” Th e young interior devoid of decor and colour. Th e house itself has its own boy co-exists with this presence in a large, aging house. During the character, given the strong lines, architectural details and variety day, the dark lurks inside a closet or behind the shower curtain. of perspectives portrayed by the artist. “Less is more” is defi nitely Primarily, though, it resides in a distant corner of the basement at play here in that Laszlo’s appearance and facial expression where it waits until nighttime to spread itself throughout the remain the same throughout the story. How intriguing to note that building, only to retreat to the cellar again come daylight. Laszlo the illustrations come full circle! Th e opening pages show Laszlo greets the dark every morning while standing at the top of the playing with his toys while looking towards the window at the basement stairs, hoping that if he visits the entity on its turf, it will sinking sun, likely with trepidation. Th e concluding spread shows not reciprocate. Yet one night it does! Accompanied by a fl ashlight, precisely the same setting, only now the young lad is giving his rapt Laszlo is beckoned downstairs where the dark presents him with a attention to his toys. Can one detect a slight smile on his face? gift , resulting in the child not being frightened of it ever again. A move into a house with a backyard is the beginning of an American author Lemony Snicket has composed a quirky, exciting adventure for two brothers. With the help of their father, yet charming, story about overcoming one’s fear. Laszlo could be they build a tree house — a wonderful hideaway where the siblings any child (or adult, for that matter). By imbuing the dark with a can freely read comics, play cards and survey their neighbourhood personality, but not a terrrifying one, Snicket makes a surprising all summer long. But there is a shift in their relationship the relationship emerge between them: “All day long the dark would following summer. Preferring the companionship of his friends, wait in the distant corner, far from the squeaks and rattles of the the elder son rarely spends time with the young boy and never visits washing machine, pressed up against some old, damp boxes and the tree house. “So now I’m the king of the castle. I can do whatever

24 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA I want up here,” the boy comments, albeit with a dejected look to young children. By employing a fi rst-person narration, readers on his face. A city blackout changes everything. Th e stars become are drawn nearer to the determined protagonist who strives to be visible, the neighbours uncharacteristically cluster on the street as brave as her literary heroine, Alice in Wonderland — a book she with candles, fl ashlights and melting ice cream, and the brother would very much like to read by herself. rejoins the boy in the tree house where they read comics using a Gabrielle Grimard’s evocative watercolour, gouache and oil fl ashlight, just like old times. Even aft er the power is restored, they illustrations contrast the far-reaching beauty of the north with the remain together far into the night, playing cards and watching the bleak environs of the outsiders’ school. By using diverse perspec- twinkling lights of their neighbourhood. tives, Grimard leads the reader ever closer into the students’ Telling the story from the viewpoint of the younger son, oppressive way of life. Andrew Larsen has written a bitter-sweet tale about the changing One can’t help but celebrate Margaret’s victory when she relationship between two siblings who are growing up and apart triumphantly demonstrates to the tyrannical nun that she has — until an unexpected event reunites them, if perhaps only for learned how to read. “Th ere was no stopping me... I was Olemaun, one evening. Th e spare text is insightful, and the conversations conqueror of evil, reader of books. I was a girl who traveled to a and inner thoughts fl ow naturally: “My brother and I spent most strange and faraway land to stand against a tyrant, like Alice. And of the summer in the tree house. It was the best summer ever. We like Alice, I was brave, clever, and as unyielding as the strong stone had comics. We had cards...Th is summer has been very diff erent, that sharpens an ulu. I fi nally knew this, like I knew many things, though. Very diff erent. My brother doesn’t spend any time in the because now I could read.” tree house. He hardly spends any time with me. He’s too busy When one thinks of a “how to” book, one envisions a factual with his friends. He says I’m too little to hang out with them. compilation of numbered instructions which must be followed in He doesn’t even let me in his room anymore.” order to realize the objective. Julie Morstad’s how to is nothing It is clear that Dušan Petričić is very familiar with the person- like that. Alternatively, her approach is remarkably creative and alities and interests of boys. Th rough his energetic and detailed refreshing. Rather than providing directions, each highlighted artwork, rendered in pen and ink and coloured in Photoshop, one topic is accompanied by one illustration. In this case the saying is invited to enter the clandestine environs of a beloved tree house, “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings true. complete with comics, cards, sketches, snacks, fl ashlights and What do you think of when you read “how to wash your socks”? binoculars. Th rough the younger boy’s eyes, we observe the Do you picture detergent and a washing machine, or perhaps a sink goings-on in the neighbourhood from a variety of perspectives. fi lled with suds? Morstad depicts children paddling in a clear pool From day to night, light to dark, both inside and outside the tree of water — with their socks on. How about “how to watch where house, Petričić’s illustrations form an enriching partnership with you’re going”? Do you envision stopping at an intersection, looking Larsen’s text. Th us, a poignant story is created which reminds us both left and right? Th e accompanying illustration is of a young girl that childhood, though short-lived, is to be savoured and treasured. examining her shadow. “[H]ow to wash your face”? Tilt your head Although Olemaun, an eight-year-old Inuit girl, knows many towards the sky on a rainy day. things, there is nothing she really desires more than to be able to Morstad’s ink, gouache and pencil illustrations are captivating read. To learn, she must travel to an outsiders’ school far away from in their simplicity. Each page is a visual delight, portraying her northern village. Olemaun’s father, knowing what happens children from a variety of cultural backgrounds carrying out their within this school’s walls, is reluctant to enrol her. Eventually particular “how to” with joy, wonder and contemplation. In fact, Olemaun’s wish is granted, but she receives a rude awakening the design of this entire publication is to be lauded, as it is incred- upon arrival. She is renamed Margaret, her braids are cut and ibly beautiful. Filled with whimsical surprises, how to inspires a her traditional Inuit clothing is replaced with uncomfortable and creative approach to transitioning the usual into the exceptional. impractical attire. Rather than being introduced to the magic of Delving between the covers of these four enriching picture books books, Margaret and her native classmates are assigned unending will encourage readers of all ages to look at their world in a diff erent mundane chores. To make matters worse, Margaret is cruelly light and to ponder their place in it. singled out by one nun who continuously berates her with Senta Ross is a former elementary teacher and teacher-librarian in Kitchener, Ontario. contempt. Refusing to lose sight of her dream of becoming literate, the courageous child quietly, slowly, but tenaciously, learns how to read on her own. Co-authors Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton have adapted their memoir Fatty Legs, a moving account of the daunting experiences Margaret underwent as a native student in a residential school, into an unforgettable picture book accessible

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 25 REVIEWS RECOCOMMENDED BOOKS We Recommend NEW AND NOTED BOOKS FOR TODDLERS TO TEENS

Little You with a loving family than to sleep in underwater limbo. written by Richard Van Camp It is probably no accident, then, that the book’s barcode is found illustrated by Julie Flett on the cover that would encourage the reader to begin with the Orca Book Publishers, 2013 space-to-Earth trip and end with the Earth-to-space one. Oddly, 978-1-4598-0248-3 (hc) $9.95 both stories claim the trip is one way. for babies to Preschool Th e language is mostly sentence fragments — simple observations and directions — with rhythm, repetition, occasional Board Book | Babies and Parents | Nature | First Nations | Métis rhyming (“Th e moon is a balloon”) and opposites (“And high Little you / little wonder above”, “And far below”). A few picture and language elements Little wish / gentle thunder work better when reading in one direction than the other, but there You are mighty / you are small is a pleasing symmetry to both story directions. You are ours / aft er all Viva’s artwork is a bit like Miró for children, with hand-drawn lines and circles, two-dimensionality and a favouring of black and Little You is a celebratory homage to newborn children and the primary colours. He references his celebrated fi rst children’s book, joy they bring to their families. In a sensitive three-verse poetic Along a Long Road, by including a little cyclist and the circuitous text, author and storyteller Richard Van Camp evokes the love yellow path. and commitment parents have for their off spring. Th e writing is While three to six-year-olds will enjoy tracing their fi ngers meditative in nature: “You are life / and breath adored / You are through Viva’s busy, “upside-downside” universe, parents may us / and so much more.” prefer to store it with their art books. Julie Flett’s unique pencil, watercolour and gouache collage illustrations are an exquisite partnering with the text. A mother, Aliki Tryphonopoulos is a children’s librarian currently living in Kamsack, Saskatchewan. father and child are depicted through the seasons as the infant is introduced to the marvels of the natural environment. Be it on the beach, under trees, in a canoe, inside the house, or within the arms Mr. King’s Things of one or both of his / her parents, this baby is receiving a wonderful written and illustrated by Geneviève Côté welcome to the world as well as an understanding of his / her place Kids Can Press, 2012 in it. Th e colourful patterns on the parents’ and child’s clothing 978-1-55453-700-6 (hc) $18.95 add visual interest in the artwork, which is otherwise striking in for Preschool to Grade 2 its simplicity. Picture Book | Environment | Recycling | Ingenuity Th is beautiful board book will particularly resonate with parents, grandparents and caregivers of newborns as they begin their life’s Meet Mr. King, a shopaholic cat who is not environmentally- journey together. friendly. When any of his numerous possessions become the slightest bit worn, they are simply tossed into a nearby pond and Senta Ross is a former elementary teacher and teacher-librarian in Kitchener, Ontario. replaced with newer versions. One day while fi shing on this pond, Mr. King’s complacence is severely shaken. Feeling a huge tug on his line, he hauls in the most frightening object he has ever seen. A Long Way Away: “HELP! A MONSTER!!”, he screams as he rows to shore in a panic A Two-Way Story and takes cover. Hearing Mr. King’s frantic cries, his friends rush written by Frank Viva to the shore, only to discover a myriad of abandoned, yet still HarperCollins Publishers, 2013 useful, objects. When the feline realizes that the terrifying monster 978-1-44342-240-6 (hc) $19.99 is nothing more than a collection of his castoff s, he transforms his for Preschool to Kindergarten once disposed-of articles into ingenious new products, much to the Picture Book | Aliens | Travel | Adventure | Belonging | Outer Space | delight of his comrades. We know that the adage “Reduce, Reuse, Underwater Recycle” will be adhered to by the former spendthrift in a most clever and creative manner. Collectable for its graphics alone, this playful picture book by Without being pedantic, Geneviève Côté conveys an environ- New Yorkerr cover artist Frank Viva has the charm, vibrancy and mental message about consumerism and recycling which can easily idiosyncrasy of style one associates with Bob Staake’s or Hervé be understood by young children. Th e protagonist’s journey from Tullet’s books. Viva’s two-way story follows a friendly, squid-like “Mr. King likes new things. LOTS of new things” to “Mr. King likes alien either from his home in outer space to an underwater hiber- to turn OLD things into NEW” is enlightening and entertaining. nation on Earth or vice versa. Although the story works both ways, Th e variety of word fonts, sizes and placements on the pages not it is emotionally more satisfying for the little alien to fi nd a home

26 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA only encourage expressive reading, but also add visual interest. enraptured and leaves with a better understanding of his role as What is it about Côté’s multi-media illustrations that consistently a dog-trainer while whispering a name in his puppy’s ear! captivates her audience? Is it her spirited and uninhibited style? With a mandate to promote awareness of Northern culture, Could one be attracted by the cheerful, bright colours? Might it the publisher has produced a story with gentle simplicity that only be because her characters have loads of personality, even though serves to emphasize its quiet wisdom. Laced with Inuit termi- they’re sketched in a deceptively childlike and simple manner? nology, Ataatasiaq’s stories are based on the recollections of a Th is illustrator’s artwork never fails to engage! society elder, recollections that refl ect pride in heritage and a true Mr. King’s Th ings should be reused (reread), recycled and aff ection for the wonderful dogs portrayed. Th e rendition is that appreciated by young readers many times over. of an oral storytelling culture and refl ects the manner in which

Senta Ross traditional wisdom is passed through generations. Values relating to the role of women, moral behaviour and the harsh reality of their environment are all subtly conveyed via Ataatasiaq’s stories. Kamik: An Inuit Puppy Story Th e expressive illustrations impart added charm, each character adapted from the memories of Donald Uluadluak full of individuality and emotion. Vibrant interludes of bright illustrated by Qin Leng colour against an appropriately wintery Arctic background provide Inhabit Media, 2012 a detailed feast for the eyes. 978-1-927095-11-9 (pb) $10.95 Kamik is not only a great read for a group or individual, but a for Kindergarten to Grade 3 good teaching resource about a specifi c aspect of Inuit culture. A must read for all dog-lovers. Picture Book | Inuit Traditions and Culture | Aileen Wortley is a retired children’s librarian in Toronto. Dogs | Working Dogs While visiting his grandfather, Jake, a Nunavut boy, ponders aloud over his puppy’s exuberant disregard for his commands. Kamik never obeys him! Th is prompts grandfather, “Ataatasiaq,” to relate a series of heart-warming stories about sled dogs he has known. He speaks lovingly of their training, naming traditions and the occasions when they helped him and even saved his life. Jake listens

Three new books from Annick’s best-loved authors and illustrators

CRAZY ABOUT BASKETBALL! THE MAN WITH THE VIOLIN KENTA AND THE BIG WAVE by Loris Lesynski by Kathy Stinson written and illustrated by Ruth Ohi illustrated by Gerry Rasmussen illustrated by Dušan Petricvic` Everything that Kenta’s family Forty energetic, funny poems capture Try as he might, Dylan can’t get his and neighbours own is swept the joys, thrills, and challenges of mom to listen to the man playing the away by the devastating basketball. beautiful music in the subway station. tsunami, including Kenta’s most Ages 8–10 | 32 pages Ages 5–8 | 36 pages prized possession, his soccer ball. 978-1-55451-565-3 jacketed hc 978-1-55451-544-0 pb / 978-1-55451-541-7 hc Ages 4–7 | 32 pages 978-1-55451-576-9 pb / 978-1-55451-577-6 hc

| annick press | www.annickpress.com | available from your favourite bookstore

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 27 REVIEWS RECOCOMMENDED BOOKS

Jasper John Dooley: Left Behind (Jasper John Dooley, Book 2) written by Caroline Adderson illustrated by Ben Clanton Kids Can Press, 2013 978-1-55453-579-8 (hc) $16.95 for Grades 1 to 4

Fiction | Humour | Abandonment | Missing Someone | Fear of Babysitters Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales written by Veronika Martenova Charles Pththth is the sound air makes leaving a beach ball and how Jasper illustrated by David Parkins John Dooley feels when he learns his beloved Nan, his Wednesday- Tundra Books, 2013 evening Go Fish partner, is abandoning him for an Alaskan cruise. all books (pb) $7.99 Jasper survives the week, just barely, with the help of 34 Band-Aids, for Grades 1 to 3 an ambitious construction project with his friend Ori, and — is it possible? — his substitute Wednesday-evening babysitter. Folk Tales | Multicultural | Easy-to-Read Adderson’s early chapter book series is leagues beyond the It’s Not About the Diamonds! industry standard, which usually incorporates three teachable 978-1-77049-328-5 concepts for young readers, one-dimensional characters and circular storytelling. Her writing explores, with gentle humour, It’s Not About the Beanstalk! the emotional landscape and relationships of a sensitive boy whose 978-1-77049-327-8 unique poetic perspective remains within the realm of the believ- It’s Not About the Tiny Girl! able for a six- to eight-year-old. Th e result is a touching, funny 978-1-77049-329-2 story, pleasurable for child and adult alike, that can be shared in a classroom or at home. Some of the images, like Jasper curled up and It’s Not About the Straw! creeping along as a lonely iceberg aft er a classroom game of What 978-1-77049-326-1 Am I? ends, linger with the reader. It’s Not About the Ball! Clanton’s cute, expressive pencil drawings of big-headed, small- 978-1-77049-330-8 bodied Jasper in his ubiquitous striped shirt and patched shorts reinforce the warmth, humour and child’s perspective of the story. In her latest additions to the excellent Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales Th e attractive, doodle-art cover and superior writing justify the series, Veronika Martenova Charles brings us more folk tales from cost of the hardcover edition. around the world. Th ese include versions of Th e Frog Prince, Rum- If Adderson and Clanton maintain the excellence of the series — pelstiltskin, Th umbelina, Jack and the Beanstalk and Diamonds and and publishers, booksellers and librarians make sure to get them Toads — versions from Germany, Bali, Kenya, Chile, Norway, Japan into children’s hands — the Jasper John Dooley series could become and more places across the globe. As with her previous books, a modern Canadian classic. she frames the tales with the story of Jake, Lily and Ben — three Aliki Tryphonopoulos ordinary kids who relate the folk tales in the course of their daily routines of school, play and home life. In format, the books are instantly accessible to emerging readers, Brovko’s Amazing Journey off ering carefully selected vocabulary and lively illustrations. In written by Larry Warwaruk content, they will intrigue and entice those same readers, fi ring Coteau Books for Kids, 2013 their imaginations and expanding their worlds as they discover 978-1-55050-554-2 (pb) $8.95 how the same story can be found in so many parts of the globe and for Grades 2 to 6 in so many variations. Bravo to Charles and Parkins for these new contributions to a Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure | Dogs | Loyalty | fi ne series. Ukrainian Immigration to Canada, 1900

Gillian O’Reilly is the editor of Canadian Children’s Book News. When the Bayda family leave their village in the Ukraine in search of a better life homesteading in Canada, they impress upon heartbroken son Andrei the impracticality of bringing his beloved sheepdog, Brovko. Th e canine, however, has other ideas. With the help of a starets, or holy hermit, loyal Brovko embarks on an arduous, eventful journey to reunite with Andrei in Canada. In exchange for his help, the starets sends Brovko on a quest: once Brovko reaches the Baydas in the new world, he must convince them to return a magic cup to the Ukraine—no small task for a dog who cannot talk! Companion to Andrei and the Snow Walkerr (2002), this novel takes place concurrently, with Brovko’s story including familiar

28 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA characters and the magic cup from the original. Th ere is some awk- Miracle Dogs ward dialogue where Warwaruk relies on sympathetic characters to written by Glenda Goertzen interpret not only what Brovko wants to communicate to them, but Hazeldell Productions, 2012 to voice Brovko’s part of the conversation for the reader’s benefi t. 978-0-98792-320-2 (pb) $11.95 Nevertheless, the narrative provides a good introduction to Ukrai- for Grades 2 to 6 nian culture in the fatherland and on the Canadian prairie home- Fiction | Dogs stead circa 1900 (the year is not mentioned in Brovko’s Amazing Journey). It makes an interesting comparison between Ukrainian Miracle Dogs by Glenda Goertzen is a captivating and Métis cultures in Canada and conveys that local beliefs should romp and the third book about the famous dogs of Silvertree. In the be respected and, at times, given precedence over ones from the fi rst book, Prairie Dogs, readers were introduced to a motley crew of homeland. runaways and castoff s who managed to brave prairie wildlife and a With its likeable, indomitable protagonist and treatment of an rival gang known as the Bull Dogs. It proved popular with seven- to important part of Canada’s funding history, this novel makes fi ne ten-year-olds, and Goertzen’s fans demanded another adventure classroom or leisure reading for seven-to ten-year-olds. with Pierre, Dare, Mouse, and Mew (City Dogs).

Aliki Tryphonopoulos In the latest book, Pierre, Dare and their puppies have settled in with their beloved rescuer, Mr. Abram. Th e puppies, however, are causing trouble and Pierre’s solution is to make their pups useful The Cats of Tanglewood Forest as service dogs. Working for a living does not appeal to the pups so written by Charles de Lint they run away and get into trouble with a gang of a diff erent sort — illustrated by Charles Vess the Tribe — made up of feral cats! Excellent descriptions of location Little, Brown, 2013 stimulate the young readers’ imaginations and add to the illustra- 978-0-316-05357-0 (hc) $19.95 tive sketches accompanying the text. Adventure, mystery and plot for Grades 2 to 6 twists keep readers glued to the page in an eff ort to discover how Pierre’s latest quest is resolved. New personalities and relationships Fiction | Illustrated | Fairy Tale | Fantasy | make us wonder if there might be yet another adventure? Native Legend | Folklore | Sacriﬁ ce Goertzen masterfully leads her young readers to discover more. Tanglewood Forest is a magical place fi lled with fairies, talking Information about working dogs is enjoyably incorporated into the animals and trees that eat breakfast. Aft er Lillian Kindred chases story and readers can explore further questions, in a classroom set- a deer deep into the forest, she falls asleep at the base of an old oak ting or on their own, about the many kinds of working dogs and the tree and is fatally bitten by a snake. Unwilling to let the kind girl jobs they do. A must have for all elementary school library shelves. who always remembers to feed them die, the cats of Tanglewood Ellen Donogh is the librarian at Luxton School and Queenston School in Winnipeg. Forest decide to save her life by transforming her into a kitten. Th us begins an enchanted journey that will challenge Lillian to decide how much she is willing to give up in order to return to the Real Mermaids life she loves. Don’t Need High Heels With lyrical prose and detailed, lush illustrations, readers are written by Hélène Boudreau instantly drawn in by Lillian’s loveable character. When she is Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2013 bitten by the snake a mere fi ft een pages into the story, the shock 978-1-40226-458-0 (pb) $7.99 is guaranteed to rend the reader’s heartstrings. Colourful animal for Grades 4 to 8 characters such as T.H. (Truthful and Handsome) Reynolds and Fiction | Fantasy | Mermaids | High School | Humour Old Mother Possum help Lillian learn a moral lesson about the consequences of one’s actions. Lillian proves to be a spirited her- All Jade Baxter wants is to worry about normal teenage things — oine, up to the challenge of making things right again aft er making like asking her new boyfriend to the girl’s choice dance and getting an ill-considered decision — even though it means sacrifi ce on her into the same Grade 9 homeroom as her friends — but ever since end. Th is book contains serious elements but is eased with mystical she discovered that she is a land-dwelling mermaid, drama has solutions and is suitable for group and individual reading. been more of the piscine than human variety. Stunningly illustrated with over 75 ink drawings, Th e Cats of In this third book of the series, the despotic Mermish Council is Tanglewood Forestt is a booklover’s dream. Charles de Lint, Charles calling all land “mers” back to the sea, including Jade’s newly freed Vess and Little, Brown and Company have created a master- mother and boyfriend. Complicating matters, Jade and her friends piece that should be a permanent part of any children’s literature must help Serena — a mer still discovering her land legs — pass as collection. a foreign student at their high school, a task that quickly runs them

Amy Mathers is a member of the CCBC and specializes in bibliotherapy. afoul of their snooty, vindictive classmate, Lainey Chamberlain. Can Jade put everything to rights in time for the school dance? And where will she fi nd a suitable dress? Boudreau’s latest Real Mermaids novel develops plotlines and characters introduced in the earlier books Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings and Real Mermaids Don’t Hold Th eir Breath, so it should be read in order. Her narrator is refreshingly diff erent from

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 29 REVIEWS RECOCOMMENDED BOOKS

other mermaids in the canon: plus-sized, aquaphobic and self-dep- Shadow Girl recating, but also resourceful, empowered, loyal and funny. Orches- written by Patricia Morrison trating an underwater coup does not preclude Jade from stopping Tundra Books, 2013 at the donut shop and handing in a pressing homework assignment. 978-177049-290-5 (pb) $12.99 While some of the plot twists are foreseeable, tween readers will feel 978-1-77049-368-1 (ebook) $9.99 at home in the familiar universe where a teen’s brain and willpower for Grades 4 and up are required to save well-meaning but ultimately incapable adults, Fiction | Family | Orphans and Foster Homes | human and mer alike. Th is attractively covered book makes enter- Physical and Emotional Abuse | Self-Esteem taining, fast-paced reading for female tweens.

Aliki Tryphonopoulos First-time novelist Patricia Morrison uses her 14 years working for British Columbia’s Ministry of Children and Families to craft a very dark novel. It is Christmas 1963. Eleven-year-old Jules, A Taste of Heaven malnourished and oft en left alone by her alcoholic father, is seeking written by Meg Tilly solace under a pile of blankets and the warmth of her imagination. Pufﬁ n Canada, 2013 In a truly Dickensian moment, when her father brings home food 978-0-14318-249-8 (pb) $12.99 and Jules is so hungry that she asks for a second helping, he over- for Grades 3 to 5 reacts and goes on a binge. Attracted by the warmth of the holiday season, Jules oft en hangs Fiction | Friendships | Secrets | Celebrity out at the local mall where she sparks the attention of the sales Ten-year-old Madison Stokes leads an average lady, Mrs. Adamson, who calls children’s services. Jules is sent to life with her two normal parents and her pesky little sister. When live with a foster family. However, the foster family, the Chapmans, Alyssa Hawkins moves to town, everything changes. Madison have their own diffi cult rules, and their daughters treat Jules badly, takes her under her wing, and the two girls quickly become best causing issues in and out of the home. friends. But there are some things that Alyssa won’t share. She Morrison’s style is of an observer, as if Jules is a composite of a never talks about her family, and she seems extremely reluctant to few case studies. Th is sometimes works to amplify Jules’s feeling have Madison to her home. When Madison accidentally fi nds out that she has lost her identity, as if she’s fallen into the shadows of Alyssa’s secret, she would love to tell it. But is it worth risking losing the system, becoming more of a number and less of a real girl. And her best friend? while the secondary characters are an amalgamation of the kind of In her new novel, actress Meg Tilly returns to middle grade people you fi nd in the foster system — abusing foster family, mean fi ction. Madison’s family is perfectly ordinary. Her mother works, school teacher, neglectful father, overworked caseworker — for her father is searching for a job and her sister is a typical little kid. educators who are looking for a book describing the experience Madison enjoys a close relationship with her family, and she’s a of a foster child, this fi ctional account is excellent for classroom sweet and likeable character. discussion. When she fi rst moves to Rosedale, Alyssa is perceived as being Melanie Fishbane is a freelance writer with over 16 years experience in snotty and aloof but, upon deeper examination, readers realize that children’s literature. she is intensely lonely. While most of Madison’s classmates take an immediate dislike to her, Madison ignores their taunting to become Alyssa’s friend. Each girl has her own stresses that keep them from Record Breaker completely trusting each other, and it nearly ruins their friend- written by Robin Stevenson ship. Alyssa is so used to being “liked” for her celebrity mom, she Orca Book Publishers, 2013 can’t fully trust Madison. Madison struggles fi rst with the fact that 978-1-55469-959-9 (pb) $9.95 Alyssa is keeping a secret and then with the fact that she must keep for Grades 4 to 6 it herself. Rejection, doubt and hurt feelings are part of childhood Fiction | 1960s | SIDS | Friendship | Grief | Family | and part of friendship, and Tilly successfully captures all of these Depression things with her characters. Sweet and engaging, this novel and its characters will appeal When Jack’s mother is still inconsolable nearly a year aft er to any girls looking for a contemporary story about growing up, the SIDS death of his baby sister Annie, Jack decides setting a friendship and family. Guinness World Record might cheer her up. Enlisting the help of his friend/cousin Allan, he makes several hilarious attempts to Rachel Seigel is Sales & Selection Strategist at Edu Reference Publishers in Toronto. break a record with discouraging results. A new friendship with a spunky girl named Kate gives Jack a safe place to talk about his mother, and also helps him come up with a plan that just might make her smile again. Set against the politically charged backdrop of 1963, the tale of Jack and his family skillfully contrasts the perspectives of children and adults during a time when frightening events are happening on the global stage. Record Breakerr has appeal for both juvenile and adult readers as two stories are intertwined: one family’s personal

30 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA experience with loss and grief, as well as the Canadian reaction Not A Chance to John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the atmosphere of being written by Michelle Mulder America’s neighbour during the Cold War. Orca Book Publishers, 2013 As such, this book is a good springboard to facilitate discus- 978-1-45980-216-2 (pb) $9.95 sion between generations about what life was like during that time for Grades 5 to 8 period. Fiction | Life Choices | Dominican Republic Stevenson has captured the innocence of childhood in the face of serious issues while maintaining an enjoyable sense of humour. Every summer Dian travels to the Dominican Jack’s struggle to come to terms with his feelings of helplessness Republic where her socially and environmentally conscious parents over his mother’s depression is not only powerful, but his childlike run a medical clinic in the village of Cucubano. Dian, now 13, is understanding, creative solutions and enduring love for his mother again in Cucubano despite her campaign to stay in Canada this will touch any reader. year. Her only consolation is her friend Aracely who, Dian hopes,

Amy Mathers will soon come to Canada to study medicine. When Aracely excit- edly tells Dian that she is engaged to be married the following year, Dian is horrifi ed and their friendship is damaged. The Further Adventures of Jack Lime Dian’s parents refuse to intervene in the marriage plans and written by James Leck she withdraws to one thing she can fi x, bicycles. Dian is an avid Kids Can Press, 2013 bike mechanic, but in Cucubano there are no bikes except two old 978-1-55453-740-2 (hc) $18.95 for Grades 5 to 9

Fiction | Detectives | High School Tough-talking, inwardly vulnerable Jack is back Lookingg for ... — still suff ering from injuries received during his last detective cases in Adventures of Jack Lime. Despite wanting to stick a “Closed for Business” sign on his forehead to ward off further excellent private investigation cases (no fees charged, only favours), he’s back to solve three more mysteries. Tracking down a footballer who is booklists? fi xing games, fi nding a missing art project and a stolen comic are just everyday occurrences for him as fellow students seek his services. But Jack must beware as the “grift ers and goons” in his high school are tired of him ruining their plans and are out to get him! First Nations books, Despite frequent defeats and threats of expulsion, Jack tena- Black History Month titles,s, ciously perseveres against all odds. With his gift for smart repartee and cynical dialogue, his keen eye for a clue, a partiality for root books on the environmentent beer and an inconvenient habit of falling asleep at crucial moments, you can’t help liking this determined, sometimes bumbling sleuth. and more. Part misunderstood teenager and part hard-bitten detective, he is a real character and he leaves one wanting to know more about him. A somewhat mysterious female accomplice, a caring granny and a Authoritative lists of miscellaneous cast of over-the top, quirky, supporting characters (many with absurd names) add to the humour and enjoyment. ﬁ ne Canadian titless on a Told in three short, easy to read mysteries, this book has a tongue-in-cheek quality that makes the reader feels he’s in on the wide variety of topicspics are joke. It’s an entertaining page-turner that uses vibrant, picturesque at your ﬁ ngertips when language and the surprising twist at the end leaves one eagerly awaiting the next volume in the series. you visit Aileen Wortley www.bookcentre.ca/resources/ teachers_librarians_parents and click on resources for librarians or resources for teachers

WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 31 REVIEWS RECOCOMMENDED BOOKS

clunkers kept for emergencies. She is allowed to work on them Storm the Fortress and it is the bikes that draw her closer to Nerick, a Haitian boy who (I Am Canada) wants to learn about bike mechanics. Her friendship with Nerick written by Maxine Trottier causes ripples amongst some villagers who hold racist views Scholastic Canada, 2013 concerning Haitians. 978-1-4431-0007-6 (hc) $14.99 Th ere is an authenticity to Dian, caught in a web of moral 978-1-4431-2453-9 (ebook) $14.99 dilemmas and attempting to navigate between the rigid cultural for Grades 4 to 7 dictates of the village and the equally rigid viewpoints of her Fiction | Canadian History | War parents. Th ere are no “right” answers, no easy solutions regarding Aracely and Nerick. Readers will empathize with Dian as she “Without honour, life is meaningless Jenkins. Remember that.” struggles to fi nd her own voice and her own path towards social William Jenkins is not sure he believes Mr. Cook’s words, but they justice. “I am trying to help people, but I’m not raging at the world come to defi ne him by the end of this swashbuckling adventure. and refusing to enjoy life.”” Dian claims a diff erent course than her Storm the Fortress is the latest addition to Scholastic’s I Am Canada parents and her actions may encourage readers to make change series, adventure stories which off er a boy’s-eye view of important in the world themselves. historical periods or events in Canadian history. Th ese terrifi c With Not a Chance, Mulder has delivered a provocative book books give young readers a more personal account of history and which will challenge young readers at home or in the classroom, include maps, photos, timeline, and historic notes. giving vivid insight into complex cultural challenges we all must Th is story is told by William Jenkins, 15 years old and living in face in a global world. Halifax in the year 1759. Fate and circumstance lead William to

Tracey Schindler is a teacher who currently works at the Ajax Public Library. enlist to serve aboard the warship HMS Pembroke. When the Royal Navy sails down the St. Lawrence to lay siege to Quebec, William learns the harsh realities of a sailor’s life as he faces the death of The Way Home shipmates, French fi re ships, scalping, and fi nally capture. He also written by Becky Citra fi nds the loyalty of his mess-mates, friendship which transcends Second Story Press, 2013 French-British lines and the true meaning of honour. 978-1-927583-01-2 (pb) $8.95 Young readers will thrill at the dangers William faces — the for Grades 2 to 5 book vividly depicts both the siege of Quebec and the precarious life of a sailor. From climbing the rigging, holystoning the decks to Fiction | Foster Children | Ponies fi ring the cannons and sounding the river, William’s experiences Th e Way Home by Becky Citra, author of Missing, are richly drawn. A tremendous resource for the classroom, this Aft er the Fire and Never To Be Told, tells the story of a girl and a book and others in the series could easily be used to bring Cana- pony both unwanted and unloved — until they fi nd each other. dian history to life in a much richer way than any textbook! Tory is a problem child who has spent most of her nine years Tracey Schindler bouncing from foster home to foster home. Now on a horse ranch with a foster family who have agreed to take her for the summer, she grows to love Lucky, the gentle pony she is allowed to ride. The Path of Names When the ranch must be evacuated due to encroaching forest written by Ari Goelman fi res, the pony is terrifi ed and won’t get on the trailer. Despite Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic Canada, 2013 Tory’s protests he is left in a corral with water and the gate open. 978-0-545-47430-6 (hc) $18.99 Abandoned, Lucky leaves the farm and heads out into unknown for Grades 5 to 9 dangers. Tory never gives up on fi nding the pony despite her own Fiction | Mystery | Ghosts | Summer Camp mounting troubles. Everything changes when Lucky is found at Rainbow Ranch. Th ere Tory meets a boy who needs the pony even Dahlia Sherman is reluctantly on her way to more than she does and, selfl essly, decides Lucky should stay with Camp Arava, the Jewish summer camp that her older brother Tom him. Her act of kindness leads to a chance for a real home not just has been attending for years. Her parents have convinced her to try for Lucky, but for Tory too. it and, in exchange, they will let her attend the magic camp that she Citra sets a nice pace for the story with a simple style of telling. really wants to attend later in the summer. So now she is preparing Th e alternating point of view between Tory and Lucky is engaging to suff er through three weeks of this camp. Th en she sees two little and readers will want to read “just one more chapter” to see what ghost girls disappear through the wall of her cabin and they keep happens next. Both pony and girl are resilient and while there are trying to communicate with her. She also suddenly fi nds herself unhappy moments, Citra never lets the story sink into despair. able to understand Hebrew and having vivid dreams about a man Th e Way Home is a story of survival and the importance of never who lived many years ago. Dahlia is unsure about how these things giving up hope. Citra tackles the issue of foster care with both might all be connected but she feels compelled to try to help the candor and care and young readers will be gratifi ed when Tory two little ghost girls. Before she knows it, she is utterly immersed in fi nds a real home where she will be both loved and wanted. an unusual mystery… and discovering the joys of Camp Arava in

Tracey Schindler the process. First and foremost, this is a satisfying summer camp story that captures a strong sense of what a signifi cant role camp plays in the

32 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA lives of many young people who return year aft er year. Th e author Hannah and the Salish Sea expertly evokes the unique atmosphere and portrays the deep written by Carol Anne Shaw friendships that oft en develop. Th e story also works as an intriguing Ronsdale Press, 2013 mystery, albeit one that is rooted in elements of Jewish mysticism 978-1-55380-233-4 (pb) $11.95 and folklore. Readers who are unfamiliar with some of the concepts 978-1-55380-234-1 (ebook) $11.95 (kabbala, the Names of God, Gematria) may be a little perplexed 978-1-55380-235-8 (PDF) $11.95 initially, but will still ultimately appreciate the unfolding of the for Grades 5 and up mystery as Dahlia pieces together all the fragments of information Fiction | Environment | Crime | First Nations | West Coast that she has accumulated.

Lisa Doucet is Co-Manager of Woozles in Halifax. Jack is back, and he’s as mischievous as ever! Jack is the trickster raven and Hannah’s companion in Hannah and the Spindle Whorl, the fi rst novel in Shaw’s west coast trilogy. In Hannah and the Salish Summer Days, Starry Nights Sea, Jack is still giving Hannah presents, or, to be more precise, written by Vikki VanSickle gift ing her with clues to a horrifi c mystery. When Jack gives her a Scholastic Canada, 2013 severed eagle’s foot, the 14-year-old lass knows there are poachers 978-1-4431-1991-7 (pb) $8.99 that must be found. for Grades 5 to 9 She’s not alone in her dangerous mission. Her long-time friend and now beau, Max, joins her and so does Izzy, a newcomer at Fiction | Family | 1960s | Summer Cowichan Bay. Izzy has been “exiled” by her mother from the bad It’s 1962 and Reenie Starr believes that her life is infl uences at home. She arrives with a large chip on her shoulder, pretty close to perfect. Unlike her mother and older brother, who and is trying to reconcile her First Nations and Scottish roots. almost seem to resent the constraints imposed by life in a small By the time she meets Hannah, she is also devoting energy to town like Orillia, Reenie loves everything about her home. Sandy protecting two half-orphaned eaglets. Th e two young women soon Shores is a rustic summer resort that has been in her family for fi nd that they have a lot in common, perhaps, eerily, something that generations. Every year, she longs for the time when the tourists stretches into the distant past. return and Sandy Shores truly comes alive. And she wants more From birds to boys to boats, there’s a lot going on in this novel of than anything to prove to her father that she should some day run 269 pages, and more than one villain to catch by kayak. Th is plump Sandy Shores. But, almost from the very beginning, this summer read will be enjoyed by a broad group of readers: west coasters, promises to be diff erent. When Gwendolyn Cates comes to work at nature fans and those interested in First Nations issues past and the resort as a dance instructor, Reenie thinks she’s found a friend present. Readers who haven’t read the fi rst Hannah book can easily and mentor. Th en she stumbles upon a way to both surprise Gwen understand what is happening in the second story, and may be and impress her father with her business savvy. Determined to interested in completing Shaw’s third book in the series. make the most of the opportunity she forges ahead, never dreaming lian goodall reviews and writes in Whitehorse, Yukon. of the repercussions that her well-intended scheming might have. Th is book is a beautiful ode to summer and small towns and cherished dreams. It evokes a sense of nostalgia and yearning, of Cursed by the Sea God being on the brink of adulthood but fi nding out all at once that (Odyssey of a Slave: Book II) you’re just not there yet, and that’s OK. Reenie Starr is earnest written by Patrick Bowman and devoted to Sandy Shores, and her gradual realization that the Ronsdale Press, 2013 various people in her life have secrets and sorrows and hopes and 978-1-55380-186-3 (pb) $11.95 dreams of their own is poignant and fi nely wrought. It is a story of for Grades 6 to 9 growth and discovery, one that perfectly refl ects that in-between Fiction | Ancient Greece | Adventure time of tryng to leave childhood behind only to fi nd that adulthood might just be more than you had bargained for. VanSickle has Th e young Trojan Alexi, a slave of the Greek general Odysseus, created another authentic and unforgettable protagonist who will continues to travel with his captors in the second volume of win the hearts of readers just as surely as Clarissa Delaney (from Bowman’s retelling of Th e Odyssey. Th is leg of the trip includes her previous books) has. a visit to the creepy King Aeolus and his court controlled by the

Lisa Doucet winds, a narrow escape from horrifi c man-eating creatures, months with the enchantress Circe, a trip to Hades to consult the seer Tiresias and a terrifying trip between Scylla and Charybdis that nearly fi nishes off the crew. As the tale ends, it looks as if Odys- seus, Aliki and the few remaining crew have escaped the lush island where some of Odysseus’s men slaughtered a few of the island’s cattle in contravention of their general’s orders. But Bowman suggests that this story is not fi nished and the consequences will be felt in the third book of the trilogy. As with the fi rst book in this series( Torn from Troy), Bowman off ers fast-paced adventure, humour, lots of gory details and an

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accurate and imaginative refashioning of Homer’s story. Th is book Catla and the Vikings feels like a bridge between the fi rst book and the final one, but written by Mary Elizabeth Nelson readers will look forward to the third book to fi nd out what will Orca Book Pubishers, 2012 happen to Aliki and whether he will fi nd the sister he now believes 978-1-45980-057-1 (pb) $9.95 is alive. And those who know that Odysseus arrived home in Ithaca for Grades 7 and up alone will be intrigued to see how Bowman wraps up the story for Fiction | Medieval Britain | Courage | Coming of Age both his young protagonist and the general.

Gillian O’Reilly Can a 13-year-old girl do anything helpful when her entire village is captured by invading Vikings? Catla seems to think so and heads for the nearest village to seek support. Th e year An Infidel in Paradise is 1066, and the “Nord-devils,” as she calls them, need slaves to row written by S.J. Laidlaw their ships. While Catla is out walking, they land and kidnap her Tundra Books, 2013 kin and neighbours. 978-1-77049-304-9 (hc) $21.99 Th e reader fi nds out a lot about life in days of yore, however, 978-1-77049-305-6 (ebook) $11.99 retired teacher-librarian Mary Elizabeth Nelson hasn’t sacrifi ced for Grades 6 to 10 topics of perpetual interest to those over 12 years of age. Romance spices up the story, and Catla is joined in her mission by handsome Fiction | New Situations | Cultural Acceptance Sven. Th e problem is that her parents desire another match. At the S.J. Laidlaw’s years of living in Africa and working with third- time her village of Covehithe was raided, Catla had been off trying culture children (kids whose parents are diplomats and who live to convince herself that she should follow parents’ wishes and abroad) is the inspiration for her fi rst novel, An Infi del in Paradise. marry their choice — a smelly, older merchant. Catla presents as a When her father has an aff air with the housekeeper and aban- teen today, trying to fl oat her own boat and navigate the waters of dons the family, 16-year-old Emma is forced to leave her friends parental authority. and happy life in the Philippines to live in a diplomatic compound Catla has interesting female models — her warrior mother in Islamabad, Pakistan. Emma is generally miserable. She’s furious and her friend who “loves a good fi ght.” However, while the char- at her father for his betrayal, angry at her mother for always being acterization is strong, the action is a little weak. Th e reader never too busy working at the embassy and annoyed that her older doubts for a moment that these women and their helpers will use brother, Vince, is more interested in his new friends than talking brains, then brawn, and succeed against the dim-witted marauders. with her. She also resents taking over as the second parent to her Th is book will suit those readers who love interesting stories set in younger sister, Mandy. the past, and who might like a pleasant, sometimes brisk, walk on When her bitterness gets the better of her, Emma antagonizes the heath. the school stud, Mustapha, and his popular and pretty girlfriend, lian goodall Aisha, by insulting their country and gets a reputation for being intolerant. When Emma is paired with Mustapha for a drama class assignment, she hopes to use the opportunity to apologize — but The Darkest Corner of the World everything just gets more complicated. written by Urve Tamberg While the strength of the novel is in Laidlaw’s descriptions, Dancing Cat Books/Cormorant Books the pacing and plot is disjointed, making this more about the 978-1-77086-214-2 (pb) $14.95 experience of someone living in Pakistan, than having an overall for Grades 7 and up narrative arc. However, there are many opportunities for class- Fiction | World War II | Estonia | Moral Choices room discussion, including the diff erences between a school here and abroad, cliques, cultural acceptance, bullying, feeling like an What do you do when caught between two outsider, and the dangers of living in a country torn apart by war. oppressors? Urve Tamberg’s fresh perspective explores the

Melanie Fishbane challenge of choice in terrible circumstances. It is 1941 and teenage Madli’s father has gone missing for speaking out against the Soviet occupation of Estonia. She and her brothers take refuge for the summer in the countryside with their grandparents, but they cannot escape the confl ict, nor ignore the hope off ered by the impending invasion of the Nazi German soldiers. Family and friends are all aff ected by the possibility of deliverance in any form. Tension is not only political, but romantic as well. Madli is forced to choose in many areas of her life; in order to survive, even aff ection is infl uenced by self-preservation. Initially Madli embodies the adolescent contradiction of mature reason at odds with emotional immaturity, but the hardships she faces force her to take courageous action and to grow in unfore- seeable ways. Letters to her absent father punctuate chapters, and provide an outlet for exploration of philosophical questions.

34 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Sometimes all options are diffi cult. Tamberg expertly illustrates The Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley this, and provides rich opportunities for discussion of personal and written by Jan Andrews political choice, compromise, loyalty, nationhood, ends vs. means, Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013 and of extreme circumstances creating possibilities that would be 978-1-926531-68-7 (pb) $14.95 unthinkable otherwise. for Grades 8 and up As the narrative gains momentum and intrigue heightens, there Fiction | Foster Children | Art are many gasp-inducing moments — one episode with a soldier is arguably more suspenseful than the teeth-clenching climax. Th is Seasoned storyteller Jan Andrews gives readers novel is a gripping look at a moment in history, featuring a heroine an insightful look into a young man’s process of self-discovery to relate to and root for. in Th e Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley. Since his alcoholic father

Shannon Babcock is a consultant with the Action Plan on Reading in Schools with the abandoned him when he was a child, Kyle has been bounced from Quebec Ministère de l’Education, du Loisir et du Sport. one foster home to another, never trusting that he would be any- where for long. In a kind of silent personal protest, aft er leaving his previous foster home of “Mr. and Mrs. Household Products Land,” Harry Flammable Kyle chooses not to talk. When it becomes apparent that newbie written by Frank O’Keeffe foster parents, Scott and Jill, are creating a positive and nurturing Dundurn Press, 2013 environment, Kyle thinks that maybe this could be home — until 978-1-45970-454-1 (pb) $12.99 his father contacts social services. 978-1-45970-456-5 (ebook) $8.99 Kyle’s silent exterior is counterbalanced with a very active for Grades 7 and up multiple-voiced internal monologue, as if there is an angel (which he calls “Th e Scientist”) on one shoulder and a devil (characterized Fiction | Humour as his father) on the other, vying for control. Kyle’s quietness gives Ever since a disastrous attempt at driving a bike him the stillness he needs to hear his truth and follow it, in the through a burning refrigerator box in second grade, fi res seem to process discovering that he has deep compassion for animals, and a pop up wherever Harry Flanagan goes, earning him the nickname talent for art. of “Harry Flammable.” When Harry’s dream work placement with With his well-placed sarcasm and keen observations, Kyle is Pocket Money Pictures is given to another student, and Harry is an authentic teen character that we immediately identify with. forced to take a position with Chef Antonio at the restaurant in the Andrews’ fi ne use of rhythm and tone mimic the three confl icting Ritz, Harry thinks his opportunity to be “discovered” is ruined — voices in Kyle’s head, giving the novel an easy fl ow — as if each but maybe, just maybe, there might be a way to get into the movie chapter had its own movement of musical triplets. Andrews also of his dreams. keeps so present with Kyle that we really feel what he’s going Harry is a rather hapless character, and has a knack for being in through and hope that he has fi nally found a place to call home. the wrong place at the wrong time. Th erefore, when he gets a work Melanie Fishbane placement in a fancy hotel’s restaurant kitchen, it’s no surprise that trouble follows him there too. Th e story is completely outlandish and, while readers might How I Lost You guess that Harry will eventually fi nd a way to get onto that movie written by Janet Gurtler set, they will be entertained by his frequent mishaps and stumbles Sourcebooks Fire, 2013 along the way. 978-1-4022-7794-8 (pb) $11.99 Despite his trouble-fi nding tendencies, Harry is a likeable for Grades 8 and up character with an authentic teenage voice. Th e plot moves quickly and is action-fi lled, and there are several laugh-out-loud moments, Fiction | Friendship including Harry’s response to repeated demands by adults to cut his Grace and Kya are two very diff erent girls. But hair, and the drunken actor he nearly sets on fi re. they are true best friends forever, secure in the knowledge that In a YA fi eld that is crowded with dystopias, disaster and death, they will always be there for each other, no matter what. Kya needs Harry Flammable stands out as a completely unique and funny Grace. Grace is the only one who knows the terrible secret from novel that will appeal to both avid and reluctant male readers. Kya’s past, the horrifi c event that continues to aff ect her life and her Rachel Seigel sense of who she is. Grace longs to help Kya recover, to see herself the way that Grace sees her. But how long can she go on covering for Kya and making excuses for her? As both girls try to fi nd their way through the trials of adolescence, Grace becomes painfully aware of many truths about Kya and their friendship. She discovers that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you simply can’t fi x things for someone else; sometimes you need to put your own needs fi rst; and sometimes the only thing left is to learn to let go. Janet Gurtler has craft ed a compelling look at teen friendship in all its painful glory. She beautifully portrays the bond between these two girls, the intensity and complexity of that relationship in

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all its various nuances. Th e story’s secondary characters are equally Creeps engaging and multi-dimensional, most noteably Grace’s parents. written by Darren Hynes Th eir familial relationships are heartwarming and hopeful, par- Razorbill Canada, 2013 ticularly in contrast to Kya’s dysfunctional family situation. Grace 978-0-14-318714-1 (pb) $15.99 is a relatable character whose selfl ess devotion to her best friend for Grades 9 and up blinds her to so many things. Fortunately there are enough people Fiction | Bullies | Friendship looking out for her to help her fi nd her way.

Lisa Doucet For Wayne Pumphrey, high school is a misery that stretches endlessly before him. Pete “the Meat” and his posse have had it in for him since Pete and his family fi rst arrived in Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust Canning. Th eir merciless bullying and relentless humiliations make written by Leanne Lieberman each day a new nightmare for Wayne. But things start to look up Orca Book Publishers, 2013 when Marjorie Pope stands up for him one day and the two lonely 978-1-45980-109-7 (pb) $12.95 outcasts begin to form a tentative friendship. Th en Marjorie gets for Grades 9 and up the lead role in the school play and Wayne is asked to be assistant director. Despite Pete’s increasing harassment, Wayne now has Fiction | Identity | Choices these few bright spots in his life. But when the violence escalates out Lauren doesn’t want to be Jewish anymore. of control, the results are devastating, tragic and unexpected. With a noted Holocaust historian for a father, and a mother who Hynes has created an unfl inchingly realistic portrait of a doesn’t get why she doesn’t want to go to Jewish Youth Camps small-town high school and the viciousness that seems to be an and Holocaust memorials, she’s had enough of Judaism. But when almost standard part of the high school experience for so many Lauren sees a group of boys (including one she likes) playing Nazi youth today. Wayne’s vulnerability and resignation are palpable on war games, she’s faced with a terrible choice: betray her friends or every page, and the letters that he writes to the various people in betray her heritage. his life (letters that he never intends to send) are earnest, wistful In her new YA novel, author Leanne Lieberman, known for her and poignant expressions of his yearning for things to be diff erent. focus on Jewish issues, deft ly explores a teenager’s struggle with Th e author also manages to capture an authentic sense of the com- her religious identity. Aft er a lifetime of having her religion forced munity and its people, enabling readers to see with heartbreaking upon her, Lauren has secretly denounced her Judaism and is trying clarity how the private suff erings of so many separate individuals to focus on school, boys, and friends. could ultimately — almost inexorably — lead to the grievous Th e teenage years are oft en when people start to question their events that unfold. religious identity, and Lauren’s narrative is refl ective of her confl ict. Creeps is an oft entimes raw account of teen angst, of both Her Jewish identity seems to follow her everywhere, and she is apathy and anguish, and a disturbing refl ection on the terrible desperate for some distance from it, and from her parents who reality of bullying. are constantly pushing her and her brother into Jewish activities. Lisa Doucet Th is confl ict morphs into a thoughtfully portrayed moral dilemma when she witnesses the boys playing Nazi war games. Does she say nothing for the sake of demonstrating her supposed indiff erence to What Makes a Baby her religion (and protecting her friends) or does she speak up and written by Cory Silverberg acknowledge how much it does actually matter to her? illustrated by Fiona Smyth Major issues such as the perpetration of hate, loss, grief and the Triangle Square Books for Young Readers, 2013 quest for identity are handled with sensitivity and humour in this 978-1-60980-485-5 (hc) $16.95 novel, and readers will be left with lots to consider and discuss. for Preschool to Grade 2

Rachel Seigel Non-ﬁ ction | Sex Education | Families What Makes a Babyy off ers an amazing space to ask one of the key questions of childhood — where did I come from? What makes this book both an interesting and valuable resource is that Silverberg frames his telling in a narrative that is as much story as it is a factual recounting of the “basics of how all human beings are born.” He’s careful to provide young readers with the nitty-gritty details about eggs and sperms in thoughtfully nuanced language that is funny and playful, and he never talks down to the child reader, but he oft en off ers those facts in a sweetly lyrical and gentle fashion. His sperm and egg, for example, swirl together in a marvelous dance sharing the stories that each has inside them and “When their dance is done they are not two things anymore. Th ey danced around and shared so much that they became one brand new thing.”

36 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Like his child readers, Silverberg’s text is fi lled with questions Games of Survival: Traditional Inuit that he carefully weaves into the narrative to provide a comfort- Games for Elementary Students able place for interaction between children and adults. His inten- written by Johnny Issaluk tion to make this a book for “every kind of Family and every kind photographs by Ed Maruyama of Kid” is beautifully achieved through a telling that doesn’t talk Inhabit Media, 2012 about gender specifi cs but notes that there are physical diff erences 978-1927095-21-8 (pb) $12.95 between bodies and leaves it up to adult readers to particularize the for Grades 1 and up experience for the child or children they are sharing this book with. Non-ﬁ ction | Inuit Culture | Sports As playful and informative as Silverberg’s text is, it is Smyth’s delightful illustrations that make this book so unique. Bright and Inhabit Media’s mandate is to promote and preserve the culture cartoony, Smyth’s images not only mirror the lively narrative but of Northern Canada. With that goal, this title, the fi rst of a series, truly provides a sense of something that the text does not — chil- provides an introduction to traditional Inuit games. Th ese evolved dren’s familial, ethnic and culture backgrounds. While her people hundreds of years ago as a way of developing necessary fi tness are blue and green and hot pink, they also off er subtle portraits of levels for survival in a harsh climate. Th e origins and purpose of children and adults from an array of diff erent racial backgrounds. each game are described, accompanied by instructions illustrated Th e brief introduction notes that his book is a starting place — with vibrant photographs of children demonstrating the exercises. it’s not a book, Silverberg wryly tells us, that provides information Th ere are three categories of games. Agility games provided about “sexual intercourse, donor insemination, fertility treatments, fl exibility to avoid injury when pursuing prey over long distances, surrogacy or adoption.” He also gently tells those grown-up readers strength games allowed hunters to maintain their grip on har- that this discussion isn’t always easy, off ers a link to reader’s guide pooned animals and endurance games provided stamina, enabling for parents and invites them to send him their questions. them to travel for days oft en carrying their catch. Th ese games are Th is book is a great addition to resources for parents about now part of the International Northern Games and Arctic Winter where babies come from because Silverberg is very aware that that Games in which the author is an accomplished competitor. discussion needs to be situated in a more intimate space than the Th e book is written in an easy conversational style and the pages of a book, but he’s provided an excellent safe place to start layout, with its striking photographs, is clear and attractive. that discussion. With such enticing names as knuckle hop, two foot high kick and

Jeffrey Canton teaches in the Children’s Studies Program at York University. musk-ox push, children will be eager to practise these moves. While the exercises require little equipment or space and most

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seem safe, it would be wise to ensure adult guidance initially as whom survived the experience of being branded by the pink cautions provided in the instructions are not always consistent. triangle, the symbol used by the Nazis to identify gay men who Th e signifi cance of these games and their historical context is a were imprisoned in the Concentration Camps, as well as the fascinating and lesser-known aspect of Inuit society. Th is title is an symbol adopted by the Gay Liberation movement in the 1970s. intriguing and worthwhile addition to school and public libraries Th ere is less information about how the anti-homosexual focus of and a great tool for the classroom. Nazi Germany directly aff ected lesbian lives with regards to the

Aileen Wortley camps, but Setterington provides some good secondary source material in his thorough bibliography. Setterington begins with a glimpse of the more liberal space Native Americans: A Visual Exploration which existed in Germany during the fi rst two decades of the 20th (The Big Picture) century and then, chapter by chapter, follows how, with the rise of written by S.N. Paleja Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, gays and lesbians — both those Annick Press, 2013 who openly self-identifi ed as gay and lesbian, as well as those people 978-1-55451-485-4 (hc) $19.95 we might today describe as bisexual or exploring — were targeted 978-1-55451-484-7 (pb) $12.95 for extermination in the Nazi conquest of Europe between 1928 for Grades 3 to 6 and 1945. Historical photographs aid in telling this painful story and Setterington neatly balances personal accounts with key events Non-ﬁ ction | Native Peoples | Global Studies | History | of the era and major Nazi fi gures. But it is in his rendering of the Immigration | Canadian Content stories of the young gay men who were the Nazis’ victims that this Native Americans: A Visual Exploration is an entertaining and book is most powerful. informative snapshot of the history and culture of the Native What is particularly valuable is that Setterington not only off ers Peoples of the US and Canada. As part of Annick Press’s Th e Big us poignant portraits of how the lives of these men were utterly Picture series, the focus is indeed on the big picture, but oft en uses transformed during the Nazi era but follows up, where possible, examples of specifi c native groups to illustrate the overarching on what happened to them aft er the end of the Second World War. themes. Th is works better for some sections than others (the “What Th e book also nicely provides readers with the story of both the do they believe?” section is particularly over-generalized). Th e book gradual recognition of the Nazis’ treatment of homosexuals and the covers generalities that apply across the US and Canada, and when place of that recognition in GBLTQ history. Most importantly, he it does not, it skews American. It includes information on nine- cautions readers to remember that while the rights of some GBLTQ teenth century confl ict with the US government and the Trail of people are protected here in the West, there are many places in the Tears, but makes no mention of the Canadian treaty system. world where being openly homosexual is still life-threatening. Th at said, the infographics are fun and varied, though some of Jeffrey Canton the pages have too much small print. Th e colour scheme and layout are very nice. Th e highlight of the book is the “What can you make with a bison?” diagram. Reading Canada: Teaching Canadian Th is is certainly not a comprehensive work and would not serve Fiction in Secondary Schools well as an introduction to the topic, but as with most infographics, written by Wendy Donawa and Leah C. Fowler it would complement other, less visual, sources. Th e index is quite Oxford University Press Canada, 2013 good, and the selected bibliography is fairly evenly split between 978-0-19544-615-9 (pb) $65.95 electronic and print resources. for professional reference Laura Shtern is the Assistant Head Librarian at the Moose Jaw Public Library. Intended for secondary teachers, Reading Canada is a survey extraordinaire of Canadian young adult and cross-over literature. Th e authors have succeeded in their ambitious aims to Branded by the Pink Triangle introduce a wide range of contemporary literature of exceptional written by Ken Setterington literary quality, and to bridge theory and practice through Second Story Press, 2013 pedagogical essays that delve into literary and pedagogical issues 978-1-926920-96-2 (pb) $15.95 and themes. Additionally, the authors propose research-based for Grades 6 and up teaching approaches that address objectives of English curricula Non-ﬁ ction | Prejudice | The Holocaust | across Canada. Homosexuality | World War II Th is book celebrates literature andd digital texts by introducing contemporary realistic fi ction, historical fi ction and specula- Branded by the Pink Triangle is the fi rst book for young people tive fi ction, together with visual texts, such as graphic novels and that chronicles the tragic experiences of gay men and lesbians in picture books, and online texts, such as e-books, online maga- Nazi Germany and provides an excellent introduction to the zines, and authors’ websites. Similarly, the teaching approaches are subject both in terms of expanding discussions of the Holocaust both print-based (e.g., close reading of literature by highlighting and GBLTQ history. rhetorical devices or ideas that stand out to the reader or by writing Using an impressive variety of secondary sources including comments in the margins) and digitally-oriented (e.g., using Prezi scholarly works, personal memoirs, literary works and fi lms, or Animoto to present interpretations of literature, or using FanFic- Setterington chronicles the lives of a number of gay men, some of tion to develop alternative texts based on the original literature).

38 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS SUMMER 2013 WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA Th e realistic and historical fi ction chapters are notable for their critical and in-depth exploration of social and cultural themes in young adult literature, and for their attempt to be as inclusive as Drop in possible in representing the breadth of Canada’s cultural mosaic in young adult fi ction. for a look Case studies, unique features of this survey text, are curriculum frameworks for examining particular themes and issues in selected literature. Helpful background information, complemented by a CCBC Collections Across the Country glossary of literary and theoretical terms and with footnotes, Drop in for a look at the titles in the Centre’s library supports teachers in following the curriculum frameworks. collections at the national ofﬁ ce in Toronto or at one of Additional appendices include lists of Governor General Literary the four regional locations. Phone ahead for hours Award-winning literature in French and English, cross-over books, and availability. provincially developed curriculum resources, and anti-bullying resources.

Dr. Shelley Stagg Peterson is an Associate Professor with the Department of Curriculum, In Toronto Teaching, and Learning at OISE and is the recipient of the Arbuthnot Award for Excel- Canadian Children’s Book Centre lence in Teaching Children’s Literature from the International Reading Association. 40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 217 Toronto ON M4R 1B9 416 975-0010 x222 Contact: Meghan Howe [email protected] In Vancouver Education Library IN OUR University of British Columbia Faculty of Education (Scarfe Building) NEXT ISSUE ... 2125 Main Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 604 822-0940 Canadian Books Contact: Jo-Anne Naslund in Canadian Classrooms [email protected] In Edmonton Teachers’ guides, book Herbert T. Coutts Education Library trailers, Skype visits, Education South University of Alberta how one class discoveredred Edmonton AB T6G 2G5 780 942-1429 Dayal Kaur Khalsa Contact: Dr. Merrill Distad and more [email protected] In Winnipeg Elizabeth Dafoe Library Plus University of Manitoba A proﬁ le of author Sigmundigmund 25 Chancellors Circle Winnipeg MB R3T 2N2 Brouwer, a look at booksooks 204 474-9977 on human rights andd reviews Contact: Donna Masson of over 30 new titles. [email protected] In Halifax Mount Saint Vincent University Library 166 Bedford Highway Halifax NS B3M 2J6 902 457-6108 For more information, visit Contact: Terrence Paris www.bookcentre.ca [email protected]

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