- TravelPress

$4.95
SPRING 2013
VOL. 36 NO. 2
RECOMMENDED BOOKS + OPINIONS + PROFILES + NEWS + REVIEWS
Book Week Fun
Sylvia Gunnery:
writer, teacher,
eavesdropper
First-class
non-fiction
for younger
grades
30+
recommended new books
by Barbara Reid, Kim LaFave,
Vikki VanSickle, Kit Pearson
and more
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Travel Tales
for all ages
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Who Know
“MacLean has produced another wonderful novel. She is to be applauded for
respecting her readership and refusing
to shy away from difficult topics...Highly
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“[MacLean’s] writing is strong and fluid
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“The characters who people the pages
are expertly drawn: flawed, remarkable,
and redemptive...”–Sal’s Fiction Addiction
“I couldn’t put this book down, and I read it
in one night.”–Maria’s Mudpuddle
“MacLean’s books demand a lot from their readers, and Nix Minus One is no exception. Her characters are extremely authentic, and they will make the reader root for everything to turn out OK. The
story is complex and engaging, and the deep themes make this an excellent novel for study and discussion.”–Canadian Children’s Book News
Young Adult Fiction Ages 12+
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CONTENTS TH
THIIS ISSUE
booknews
7 Seen at ...
Spring 2013 Volume 36 No. 2
Author Victoria Miles, with daughters Emily (left) and Daphne, at the
launch of Mimi Power and the I-don’t-know-what (Tradewind Books)
in North Vancouver. The book was recently shortlisted for the
Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize.
Editorr Gillian O’Reilly
Copy Editor and Proofreaderr Shannon Howe Barnes
Design Perna Siegrist Design
Advertising Michael Wile
Editorial Committee Peter Carver, Brenda Halliday,
Merle Harris, Diane Kerner, Cora Lee, Carol McDougall,
Liza Morrison, Shelley Stagg Peterson, Charlotte Teeple,
Gail Winskill
Photo courtesy: Paul McGrath, North Shore News
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.
Spring 2013 (March 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
COVER: Illustration from the 2013 TD Canadian
Children’s Book Week poster by Marthe Jocelyn and
Nell Jocelyn © 2013. TD Canadian Children’s Book
Week takes place May 4 to 11, 2013. For more
information, visit www.bookweek.ca.
MEDIUM: Collage
ABOUT THE ARTISTS: Marthe Jocelyn is the
award-winning author and illustrator of over twenty
books, ranging from board books through picture
books, junior and YA fiction and non-fiction. She is
the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Vicky Metcalf
Award for Children’s Literature for her body of work.
She will be touring Vancouver Island during
TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2013. For more
information on Marthe and her work, please visit
www.marthejocelyn.com. Nell Jocelyn recently
graduated from the University of the Arts in
Philadelphia, majoring in photography. With her
mother, she has co-illustrated two picture books:
Ones and Twos and Where Do You Look?
4
Opinion: A Simple Meeting,
A Powerful Impact
14 First-Class Non-Fiction for
the Younger Grades
Parent and CCBC member Gennevive Ritchie
gives a personal look at why author, illustrator and storyteller visits are so important. In
an accompanying sidebar, Sylvia McNicoll
describes the thrills of being a Book Week
Writing Contest judge.
Lizann Flatt, Karen Patkau and Monica
Kulling discuss the challenges and pleasures
of fashioning non-fiction into engaging
picture books.
6
Twenty-eight travel tales and vacation stories
for toddler to teens.
News Roundup
Boy Soup — 2013 TD Grade One Book
Giveaway; The Stamp Collectorr named 2013
Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Honor
Book; Illustrator in Residence Program
honours Joanne Fitzgerald; New! Stratford
launch for TD Canadian Children’s Book
Week — Sunday, April 28.
7
Seen at ...
A photographic look at book events.
8
Keep Your Eye on ... Kate Jaimet
10
Sylvia Gunnery on learning,
writing, eavesdropping, teaching
The author and former teacher talks about
her work, her influences and the joy of Book
Week with Kathleen Martin.
18
21
Bookmark! Summer Travel Fun
First Lines Quiz
Have fun and challenge yourself with our
first lines quiz.
22
The Classroom Bookshelf
24 Book Bits: I Get By With a Little
Help From My Friends
Four new books for middle grades and teens
explore frienship.
26
We Recommend
Reviews of the latest in fine Canadian books
for children and teens.
40
Index of Reviews
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
1
60,000 Copies Sold
!
“RICHLY DETAILED
AND SATISFYING.”
SERIES
—Kirkus Reviews
“A MUST-PURCHASE.”
—CM Magazine
G RAN DSONS
JOU R N EYS
AUTHORS
“ EVERY READER WILL DOUBTLESS
HAVE HIS OR H ER OWN
FAVOURITE…BUT ALL WILL FIND
AN INTRIGUING PACKAGE OF
BOOKS TO SAVOUR.”
—Canadian Children’s Book News
ǀ
ǀ
ǀ
AMAZI NG SE R I ES
ǀ
TH E
SEVEN
Also available as
ǀ
ǀ
Ages 10 and up
ǀ
ǀ
Seven (the series) bundle
R EAD O N E . R EAD TH EM ALL .
YO U CH OOS E TH E O R D ER .
w w w. seventheseries .com
FROM THE EDITOR GI
GILLLLIAN O’REILLY
Board of Directors
Todd Kyle, President
Felicia Quon, Vice-President
Leigh Chalmers, Treasurer
Sheila Barry
Lisa Doucet
Sharon Jennings
Shar Levine
Charles McCarragher
Susan McLennan
Daryl Novak
Itah Sadu
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
Patrons
Marilyn Baillie
Kit Pearson
Tina Powell
Ian and Deb Wallace
Sponsors
Amazon.ca
Friesens
HarperCollins Canada
Penguin Group (Canada)
Rawlinson Moving & Storage
TD Bank Group
Funders
Canada Council for the Arts
Canadian Heritage (Canada Book Fund)
Charles Baillie
Fleck Family Foundation
Manitoba Department of Culture,
Heritage and Tourism
PEI Department of Education
and Early Childhood Development
PEI Department of Tourism and Culture
Ontario Arts Council
Ontario Arts Foundation
Toronto Public Library
Yukon Department of Education
Our Thanks
Although snow is still on the ground, the spring sun is shining in Toronto as I write.
One can’t help feeling a certain optimism with the coming of warmer weather and
spring blooms.
Spring also brings TD Canadian Children’s Book Week — a joyous celebration of books
and their capacity to enchant, intrigue, inform and entice young readers from toddlers to
teens. In this issue, we have a moving tribute to the power of Book Week and of author,
illustrator and storyteller visits and the effect they can have on a young reader. Thank you
to CCBC member Gennevive Ritchie for penning this eloquent piece.
Always thoughtful and articulate, author and teacher Sylvia Gunnery is one of the writers
touring for Book Week this May and we are delighted to profile her in this issue.
Karen Patkau, Monica Kulling and Lizann Flatt (another Book Week author) are non-fiction
picture book writers who face the special challenge of writing for very young readers.
Explore how these three authors tackle their task and create books that bring history,
technology and many aspects of math and science to life.
With this issue, the CCBC’s Holly Kent interviews Kate Jaimet in “Keep Your Eye On”
our new column of interviews with authors and illustrators who are relatively new to the
children’s book field. Some are publishing their first or second children’s book, others may
have published more but done so over a short period of time.
In our last issue, I mentioned the uncertain fate of Douglas & McIntyre which was in
bankruptcy protection at the time of writing. Since then, D&M imprint Greystone Books
(publisher of such notable books as Big City Bees and Tale of a Great White Fish) has
emerged from the debacle as a new imprint owned by Heritage Publishing and operating
under the helm of Greystone founder Rob Sanders. Douglas & McIntyre itself has been
taken over by Harbour Publishing, owned by Howard and Mary White. It is very encouraging to see both imprints in the hands of these experienced and talented people. Like the
spring sunshine, a harbinger of good things to come in 2013.
Happy reading!
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, Writing
and Publishing Section, and the Public Readings Program.
Your feedback is important!
We acknowledge the financial support of the
Government of Canada through the Department of
Canadian Heritage’s Canada Book Fund program.
EMAIL COMMENTS TO [email protected]
Like us! facebook.com/kidsbookcentre
Follow us! @kidsbookcentre
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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OPINION GE
GEN
NN
N
NEVIVE RITCHIE
A Simple Meeting,
A Powerful Impact
WHAT A BOOK WEEK VISIT CAN MEAN TO A CHILD
Ted Staunton
Philippe Béha
A few months ago, Gennevive Ritchie, Vice-President of the
Parent Council at Athlone Public School in Winnipeg, contacted the CCBC for information. She hoped her Parent Council
would fund an author visit to her children’s school during TD
Canadian Children’s Book Week 2013 and she wanted background information for her presentation at the next meeting.
About a month later, Gennevive kindly wrote to Shannon
Howe Barnes, the CCBC’s Program Coordinator who masterminds Book Week, to let her know that the parents had
decided in favour of the project and to offer her thoughts on
the importance of author visits on children. Gennevive has
kindly allowed us to reprint parts of her letter. Her eloquent
words are a moving tribute to what can be accomplished in the
simple meeting between a writer, illustrator or storyteller and
young readers.
It should be noted, too, that the efforts of dedicated parents
and parent councils play a very important role in helping to
bring kids and creators together. In the eyes of all the CCBC
board and staff, these parents are some of the book champions
who help make TD Canadian Children’s Book Week possible.
The children at Athlone School will be receiving a visit from
Wallace Edwards during Book Week.
Dear Shannon,
It’s been about a month since I first contacted you to get more
information about Wallace Edwards and Book Week for our
school Parent Council. Last week the Parent Council decided
that we should apply for a reading! Yay!... The Parent Council
4
C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
is also now open to looking into getting a Manitoba children’s
author in at another point in the year too. I’ve already done
some research into this and your website has been a wonderful resource.
When we spoke on the phone I told you that I’d send you a
written account of my experiences with visiting a storyteller
and an author/ illustrator as a child... Here it is.
As a child, my home life was very difficult and this carried over into school life as well. I was painfully shy and either bullied or ignored by the other students. On top of this
my family moved often — between Kindergarten and Grade
6, I was in about seven schools across three provinces — so
I was never able to get comfortable enough to connect with
teachers or other students. Life was all about simply surviving. In the midst of this bleak reality I have two bright spots
that stand out in my memory. At one point a storyteller came
into our elementary classroom. I don’t remember his face,
but I remember him sitting on a chair with all of us students
gathered around in a circle on the carpet. And I remember his
story. As he told the story, I could see the pictures in my mind
in vivid colour. Never before had I been able to see a story
without physical pictures. It was a new experience for me, but
its had a lasting impact. Somewhere along the line, after this
experience, I learned to see stories consistently. To this day
whenever I read, or even when someone tells me a story, I see
it all in vivid detail.
Another time an author/illustrator came to the elementary school. I remember her drawing huge pictures for us on
the blackboard. She asked us what we wanted her to draw. Of
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Every One
a Winner
JUDGING FOR THE BOOK
WEEK WRITING CONTEST
BY SYLVIA McNICOLL
Caroline Pignat
course, all of the children waved their hands wildly wanting
to each request their own ideas of the perfect picture. I was
waving my arm just like the rest of the class. And she picked
me! How amazing! No one ever picked me! I asked her to draw
a dragon. She asked us if she should make the dragon nice or
mean, and in the cacophony of shouts she didn’t hear me ask
for a nice dragon so she made it with a mean look on its face.
And boy, did she ever draw a dragon. She made it fill the entire
blackboard from top to bottom. It was almost as tall of most of
us kids.
I was disappointed about the mean look, but even that
couldn’t erase the wonderful feeling of having been chosen
by the special guest. And that disappointment itself has had
a lasting effect on the way I parent my own children, as its
made me so much more aware the sometimes the joy in even
the everyday moments is in the little details, and that the pain
or disappointment of the harder moments can be much lessened, or even turned inside out, by the little ways that I help
my children process these events. I’m sure that that author/
illustrator doesn’t remember me at all, but thirty-some years
later I still remember her with warmth... And I still have my
own shelf of picture books, and I still love the children’s section of the bookstore and library more than all the rest.
The package feels heavy in my hands as I carry it to my
easy chair. I sit, raise my feet up, pat the package and sigh.
Carefully I open the flap, slip my hand in and slide out the
stack of stories and poems. “I’ll only read one,” I tell myself. “It’s late and I really need my sleep.”
This is my seventh year as judge of the Book Week Writing Contest. I like reading young people’s work because I
get to jump inside their heads and be all kinds of versions
of my 15-year-old self again. Tonight I count 50. In the
past I’ve received a box of over 200 Grade 6 stories; the
first year judging Grade 10, I received fewer than 20. Fifty
is good number. I can read each piece right to the end
even if the opening paragraphs don’t scream winner.
The scary thing is that the initial paragraphs of the first
story do ring the prize bell. The details suck me in. This
young person can make me feel longing and regret for
choices that change our lives and take us away from everything we’ve ever known. I want to say she writes well
for her age but her story makes me want to be a better
writer. Where does she come from? Who taught this person? Who inspired her to enter? Did she experience this
herself? Okay, the age old question, where did she get
her idea?
I keep reading. The next poem grips me with its cold
winter imagery, the next places me beside the hoof and
paw prints of a prairie farm. I’m breathing quickly now.
Dystopia, depression, drug addiction, fantasy, from BC
to PEI, they’re all winners. I write sticky notes to remind
me of each one’s strong points and pile my favourites on
the top.
At midnight I stop, but return next morning. Then I
leave them for a time. Today I must make my decision.
That first story remains my winner but choosing runners
up proves so difficult, I can only do it by writing personal
notes to the other contenders. Awarding prizes is not the
primary goal, it’s encouraging the creative reaching of
Canadian kids. They keep me reading (and writing!) late
at nights. But I will sleep better because their stories act as
lullabies to my soul.
Author Sylvia McNicoll’s new book is Dying to Go Virall (Fitzhenry & Whiteside).
Gennevive Ritchie is a booklover, a former homeschooler and the Vice-President of
the Parent Council of Athlone Public School in Winnipeg.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
5
INDUSTRY
News Roundup
AWARDS, BOOK LAUNCHES, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND THE LATEST NEWS
Boy Soup — 2013 TD Grade One
Book Giveaway
This fall, Grade One children across
Canada will take home Boy Soup (La soupe
de garçons), written by Loris Lesynski,
illustrated by Michael Martchenko and
published by Annick Press. This takes
place under the TD Grade One Book
Giveaway Program, which provides some
600,000 books to Canadian children.
Lesynski’s classic title introduced
readers to her exceptional talent with
rhyme, rhythm and humour in the tale of a
germ-wracked giant with an old-fashioned
cookbook, an intrepid girl named Kate
and a bunch of active boys. Since then,
Lesynski has published a dozen books and
become a sought-after speaker for both
kids and grown-ups. While the original
book was illustrated by the author herself,
the revised edition published in 2008 combined two great talents with the addition of
illustrations by the noted Michael Martchenko. The French edition of Boy Soup was
translated by Marie-Andrée Clermont.
Since 2000, in cooperation with ministries of education, school boards, First
Nations libraries and library associations
across Canada, the CCBC has given a free
Canadian children’s book to every Grade
One student (including home schooled
kids). The book is to be taken home by
each child to keep and read with his or her
family. This far-reaching annual program
is funded by TD Bank Group which also
funds a fall tour for the author and illustrator to visit schools across the country.
Lesynski says, “I’m so happy to have
so many kids get a copy of my book that
I can’t even find the words for it! It’s an
author’s dream come true: lots and lots of
readers. And I’ll get to meet a whole bunch
of those first-graders on tour — I can’t wait!”
She adds, “I’ve recited Boy Soup probably
a thousand times by now, and I still enjoy
reading it to groups of kids, especially
when I make some parts interactive. They
like the twists and turns, and the satisfying
ending. The vigour and humour of Michael’s
illustrations made me very happy as well.”
The Book Giveaway book is meant for
6
C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
The Stamp Collector selected as
2013 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award
Honor Book
kids to take home for their own use, but
Lesynski says she has also been amazed at
how kids and teachers have used the book
in the classroom, “When I was touring
Canada and the USA a few years back,
I was blown away by the many, many spinoff projects that teachers did with Boy Soup
— nothing I could have anticipated. Soup
preference graphs and pie charts by second
graders. Inventions of truly horrible soup
recipes by third and fourth graders. And
one Grade 7 class wrote the whole Giants’
Home Medical Guide out in verse, with
many funny, grisly giant ailments and
remedies!”
She notes also that,“Teachers told me that
some kids didn’t know what a ‘recipe’ was.”
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
will be contacting school boards and ministries of education in all provinces in the
spring of this year for their Grade One enrolment numbers for the 2013-2014 school
year. Homeschooling groups and private
schools should contact the Canadian Children’s Book Centre at [email protected].
The Stamp Collectorr by Jennifer Lanthier,
illustrated by François Thisdale and published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, has been
selected as a 2013 Ezra Jack Keats New
Writer Award Honor Book.
Inspired by real-life imprisoned writers
and illustrated by the powerful artwork of
François Thisdale, The Stamp Collectorr is
Lanthier’s debut picture book.
“It’s difficult to convey just how much
this honour means to me. I come from a
long line of librarians, all of whom loved
Ezra Jack Keats. They passed on that love
to me,” says Jennifer Lanthier. “When I
heard the news I couldn’t help wishing my
mother were here to share it with me. She
put his books into the hands of so many
children over the years; she would know
what this means to me and she would have
shared my incredulity and my joy.”
Jennifer Lanthier will be touring Labrador during TD Canadian Children’s Book
Week 2013 and is the featured speaker at
the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s
Annual General Meeting on June 18, 2013.
New Illustrator in Residence Program
honours Joanne Fitzgerald
This October, the new Joanne Fitzgerald
Illustrator in Residence Program will
provide a published illustrator the opportunity to participate in a unique residency
hosted by a public library. Administered
by IBBY Canada, and funded by Joanne
Fitzgerald’s family, with additional support
from Groundwood Books, the one-month
residency will encourage and arrange
exchanges between the illustrator and the
community through workshops, public
readings and presentations, evaluation of
submitted portfolios, one-on-one and/or
group meetings with artists, presentations
to art students, participation in online
forums, and connections with the general
public, children, parents, and teachers.
The program honours Joanne Fitzgerald
(1956–2011), who illustrated many
continued on page 8
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
EVENTS
Seen at ...
At OLA Super Conference, Jennifer Lanthier (The Stamp Collector)
r greets
fans at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth.
Holly Kent
Holly Kent
A PHOTOGRAPHIC LOOK AT CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK EVENTS
At OLA Super Conference, Maria Birmingham (Weird Zone: Sports) signs
for fans at the Owlkids booth.
Holly Kent
Author Maureen Fergus launches The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten at Winnipeg’s McNally
Robinson Booksellers with the original Ms Beaudry, whose namesake appears in the book.
Above: At OLA Super Conference, Tinlids’
Maria Martella takes a breather in a busy day.
Right: The Write Stuff authors team at the
Canadian finals of the 2013 Kids’ Lit Quiz: Bill
Swan, Wesley King, KLQ founder Wayne Mills,
Michael Betcherman and Sylvia McNicoll
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
7
Keep Your Eye On ...
New! Stratford launch for TD Canadian
Children’s Book Week — Sunday, April 28
Those who live in Stratford, Ontario —
the hometown of the Stratford Festival —
can pretty well assume that some of their
neighbours are actors, singers, dancers,
directors, stage artists or other creative
people who make magic happen on
the Festival stages.
Add the imaginations of Stratford-based
children’s authors and illustrators to that
mix, and you find yourself living in a
pretty incredible community — especially
when the theme for the 2013 TD Canadian
Children’s Book Week paraphrases a quote
from Shakespeare, and the illustrators
of this year’s poster are Stratford resident
Marthe Jocelyn and her daughter Nell
Jocelyn. Talk about a perfect match!
So a Book Week launch in Stratford
seems doubly perfect! Stratford’s Judy
Tye Arts Management (owned by former
teacher-librarian and CCBC staffer Judy
Tye) has joined with Factory 163, a creative
hub for arts, culture and technology, and
Stratford Public Library to plan an
afternoon of programming for children
at Factory 163 on Sunday, April 28, 2013
from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm to kick off TD
Canadian Children’s Book Week.
Celebrations will include readings
by Marthe Jocelyn and other Canadian
authors and illustrators, and performances
or demonstrations by musicians, actors,
dancers, and visual and digital artists
of all ages. Of course, great Canadian
children’s books and recordings will be
for sale throughout the afternoon.
Check the Book Week website
(www.bookweek.ca) for updates.
Kate Jaimet
I N T ER V I E W BY H O L LY K EN T
John Major
influential Canadian children’s books,
including Plain Noodles, Emily’s House,
The Blue Hippopotamus and the Governor
General’s Literary Award winner Doctor
Kiss Says Yes.
The Toronto Public Library in Ontario
will host the inaugural Joanne Fitzgerald
Illustrator in Residence Program in 2013.
In subsequent years, in partnership with
the Canadian Urban Libraries Council,
IBBY Canada will work with libraries in
other provinces to host a residency. The
first selected illustrator will be announced
in June. For more information, visit
www.ibby-canada.org.
Tell us about your newest book. I have two new books in the Orca Sports series.
In Break Pointt ( Spring 2013), 16-year-old Connor Trent longs to become a
professional tennis player. But it’s hard to compete against the “preppy rich kids”
who dominate the tennis circuit, like Connor’s arch-rival Rex Hunter. When the
club where he works and trains is attacked by vandals, Connor embarks on a
mission to discover the culprits and save the club — all the while battling Rex for a
storied tennis trophy that might be the answer to all his problems. In Edge of Flight
(November, 2012), three friends head into the woods of Arkansas’s Ozark Mountains for a weekend of rock-climbing at the end of their last summer of high school.
Vanisha, the protagonist, repeatedly “chickens out” of a difficult climb. But when
she and her friends stumble on a patch of marijuana guarded by outlaw bikers,
Vanisha must overcome her fears to save their lives, discovering her inner stores
of strength and courage.
Tell us about the process of writing. When I get an idea for a story, the first
thing I have to do is let it “soak” in my brain for a while. I’m usually already working
on some other project, so I just let the idea soak for a few weeks or months, like
photographic paper in an old-fashioned darkroom. After a while, a picture starts
emerging and I get a clearer notion of the storyline, the arc of the plot, and the
problems I need to solve for the story to work. Once I feel that I’ve got the basic
shape of the story, I’ll usually jot down a rough chapter-by-chapter outline (it may
be a few words or a few sentences per chapter) — fully aware that the outline will
change when I start writing. I try to work straight ahead through a first draft
without going back and rewriting, just to get the story down. By the end of the
first draft, I’ll know my characters better, so the second draft is a chance to go back
and flesh them out, work on character and voice. Then there’s more polishing
(setting, atmosphere, foreshadowing, humour, wordsmithing, more character,
more voice), identifying the parts of the manuscript that don’t work and trying to
fi x them. And that’s all before my editor gets her hands on it!
How did you first get published? I had written a middle-grade comedy novel
called Dunces Anonymous, and I hadn’t been able to find a publisher for it. I was
feeling pretty discouraged, not sure whether to try writing something else or
just give up on the whole fiction thing, when my mom convinced me to go with
her to the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in BC. There was an editor from
Orca at the conference who spoke about the various series they published. After
looking at the writers’ guidelines, I decided to try writing a book for the Orca Sports
series. The editor loved my sports manuscript and, (after I’d signed the contract)
I asked if she would take a look at my middle-grade manuscript. Orca accepted
that one, too, so I published my first two novels in the same year: Slam Dunk
(Orca Sports) and Dunces Anonymous.
Tell us about someone who inspired you to write. Many people have inspired
me and continue to inspire me, but to pick just one, I’ll say Rick Mofina. I worked
with Rick when we were both newspaper reporters on Parliament Hill. Besides
being an excellent journalist, Rick drew from his days on the crime beat to write
successful thrillers. He’s a humble guy and a great inspiration.
What do like about writing for kids/teens? When I first started writing for kids,
I was working as a reporter on Parliament Hill. In that kind of writing, it’s very
important for every story to be factual, balanced and accurate. There’s no room for
creative license. Writing for kids was a way to let my imagination loose, to have fun
with my writing, to spin some tales without regard for reality. Dunces Anonymous
(which I think of as a mixture between P.G. Wodehouse and Gordon Korman) came
out of that impetus.
www.katejaimet.com
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The Nominating Committee of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is calling
ng for
nominations for two positions on the Board of Directors, terms to commence
ence in
June 2013, following the Annual General Meeting. Each director’s term
m is three
t
years, with the possibility of re-election for a maximum of two terms.
Nominations must be received by May 1, 2013.
Please send nominations to:
Charlotte Teeple, Executive Director
Canadian Children’s Book Centre
40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 217
Toronto, Ontario M4R 1B9
or email to [email protected]
Members who are nominating a candidate should have the permission of the nominee to submit his / her name
and make sure that person is a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. Please send a short biography of the nominee.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | 6:00pm
Room 200, Northern District Library
40 Orchard View Blvd. (Yonge and Eglinton)
Toronto, Ontario, M4R 1B9
Reception to follow at The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Members* and public welcome.
* Members are reminded that they may appoint a proxy to attend the Annual General Meeting
on their behalf. Any such appointment must be evidenced by a document in writing, signed by
the member and received by CCBC prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.
GUEST SPEAKER: Jennifer
Lanthier
For more information, visit www.bookcentre.ca
On October 17, 2011 the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (the “New Act”) came into effect. Corporations incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act,
such as CCBC, have three years from such date to continue under the New Act. To accomplish the continuance, corporations must have their members approve
Articles of Continuance (which set out the corporate purposes of the corporation, among other basic corporate information) and then submit the Articles to Industry Canada for certification. It is also recommended as part of this process that corporations update their operating by-laws so that they conform with the terms of
the New Act. Accordingly, CCBC is in the process of preparing Articles of Continuance and is revising its operating By-laws. It is intended that these documents
be approved by the membership at the Annual General Meeting, copies of which will be available on the CCBC website as of May 1, 2013. We encourage all
members to access the website at that time and review the documents in anticipation of the vote at the Annual General Meeting. In addition, should any members
wish to receive paper copies of the Articles and By-laws, please call or email Dawn Todd at 416 975-0010 x 224 or [email protected] to place such a request.
The Board and Management of CCBC very much look forward to taking this significant step forward with you, our membership.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
9
PROFILE SY
SYLLLVIA GUNNERY
Author Sylvia Gunnery
on learning, writing,
eavesdropping, teaching
BY KATHLEEN MARTIN
Sylvia Gunnery had to turn her writing desk away from the
ocean.
“I was getting distracted too much,” she says.
There are trees outside the window next to her desk now,
and on the day we talked, a group of ducks wandered past,
peering in at her in an inquiring way.
Above Gunnery’s desk in her home at Crescent Beach, Nova
Scotia, there is a small basketball hoop and ball. “They were
on a huge cake (fellow writer) Nancy Wilcox Richards had
as part of the launch for my book Out of Bounds at Bayview
Community School in Mahone Bay.”
The hoop hangs on a framed print from the Writers’ Trust
of Canada that is signed by Margaret Laurence, Margaret
Atwood, Pierre Berton and Graeme Gibson.
“They are the writers who did the groundwork for the rest
of us to continue on,” says Gunnery, her tone momentarily
serious. “It is a big reminder for me that they made space
for us.”
Gunnery built her writing studio after she retired from
teaching and after years of working in “a little corner of a
space.” This studio, she says, “is wonderful. And it is full of
nice things that remind me about what I care about and who
I am.”
In this space, Gunnery completed her most recent novels,
Emily for Real and Game Face. And, in this space, a stone’s
throw from the Atlantic, Gunnery is — even after publishing
15 books — working hard at continuing to develop her skills.
How has being retired changed your writing process?
“I am from a storytelling
family. We would sit around
the table until the leftover food
turned to glue because we
were talking.”
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
I taught because I loved teaching young people. Still do! I was
not a teacher to financially support my writing. But there are
lots of bonuses to being a retired teacher. The biggest bonus
is time. I loved teaching and made sure I always did the best
job I could possibly do to inspire my students to care about
reading and writing and all the other ways in which we get to
know who we are and how we fit into this world. That meant
a big commitment of time. Looking back, I have no idea how I
managed to write all those books during the 80s and 90s. The
two months of summer were a gift! Now, I come to my writing
studio in my home every day to write, to read, to research, to
revise, to connect online with other writers, and on and on...
And that’s a gift, too.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
“No matter where I am — in an airport, on a bus, in crowded
school hallways, walking on the beach, waiting in a line-up —
I’m always eavesdropping on teens, wondering why they’re
saying what they’re saying or doing what they’re doing.”
But you have lost daily access to your target audience!
Did you always plan on writing?
In the late 70s, I had a few stories published in literary magazines, so I thought I was on my way down that path. Then,
a close friend changed my direction when he said, “You’re
always telling stories about your students. Why don’t you
write teen fiction?” Two weeks later, a new student was
brought to the door of my Grade 8 classroom. Immediately I
wondered what might have brought her to our school halfway
through the school year and how might she feel about what’s
happening in her life. I’m Locker 145, Who Are You? started at
that very moment and it was published a year later (in 1984)
by Scholastic. I’ve been stealing stories from students’ lives
ever since!
As for having daily access to my target audience, like any
other writer, I watch and listen. No matter where I am — in an
airport, on a bus, in crowded school hallways, walking on the
beach, waiting in a line-up — I’m always eavesdropping on
teens, wondering why they’re saying what they’re saying or
doing what they’re doing.
Being from the north end of Halifax and reading only British
and American authors in school, the idea of becoming a
writer didn’t occur to me. I didn’t go to Banff until I was 30.
But I always wrote, even as a little kid. I am from a storytelling
family. We would sit around the table until the leftover food
turned to glue because we were talking. There was constant
storytelling. And when I was little, my older sister, Barb, would
read to me from thick hard-covered books at night. And then
we’d turn out the light and she’d say, “Okay Shrimp, tell me a
story.” I’d make up stuff to tell her — always about hope and
strength and moving on and joy.
When you first began writing, you had the good fortune
to bump into some of Canada’s greatest writers.
In 1976, I went to the Banff Centre for the five-week summer
writing session. My focus was on short fiction for adults, and
one of the session mentors was Alice Munro. Serendipity multiplied by 1,000! I’ve had so many lucky gifts in my life. Budge
Wilson, who lives less than an hour away in the summers, and
Joyce Barkhouse were two of them. I met Joyce Barkhouse
first, in Halifax. She was 30 years older than me. We lived in a
little house on Birmingham Street where my apartment was
in the basement and hers was the middle one. She could hear
my noisy parties, and she’d say to me, “I’ll just put my good ear
to the pillow.” When I had my first short fiction published in
Canadian Fiction Magazine, she said, “Sylvia, you are a real
writer.” My spine straightened up because Joyce Barkhouse
had said this. We had a wonderful friendship. We spoke
of writing so much. Writers don’t come out of a vacuum.
You come out of your experiences and the support of your
community.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
You have done a lot of writing about how to teach young
people to write. You’ve written two books on the subject
for educators. What is your advice to people — teachers
and mentors — trying to inspire new writers?
At Banff during that summer writing session, I discovered a
significant barrier to successful writing in schools — choice.
As well meaning and thoughtful teachers, we were always
trying to come up with the best writing topics to engage our
students and make them care about writing. But they were
our topics. Our choices. Unless the writing themes truly
belong to the students — not as a group, but individually —
the writing will simply be an assignment done for marks in a
course. There’s not much room for the kind of commitment
necessary to real writing. When I go to schools to do writing
workshops, teachers sometimes say that I shouldn’t expect
much because the kids just don’t like writing. Those teachers
always seem really happy when I prove them wrong. It’s not
magic — it mostly comes down to choice.
I’m interested in why we choose to write the stories that
we do. What do you think it was that drew you to Emily
for Real?
What I started with, before I even imagined Emily herself,
was the idea of family secrecy, especially the effects of secrets
on the people who don’t realize the secrets even exist. My
theory — and I had enough evidence for this in memoirs I’d
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
11
“As Emily tells her story,
she comes to see that her life will
not always make sense and that
there’ll be lots of surprises, but
she also recognizes the
support that love offers.”
Selected Titles by Sylvia Gunnery
Game Face (Sports Stories)
LORIMER, 2013
Emily For Real
PAJAMA PRESS, 2012
The Writing Circle
PEMBROKE PUBLISHERS, 2007
Personal Best (Sports Stories)
LORIMER, 2005
Out of Bounds (Sports Stories)
LORIMER, 2004
Crow’s Busy Day
CURRICULUM PLUS PUBLISHING, 2004
Who’s At The Door?
CURRICULUM PLUS PUBLISHING, 2004
Robin’s Impossible, Crazy Idea
illustrated by Jill Quinn
POTTERSFIELD PRESS, 2001
Menace and Mischief
STODDART KIDS, 1999
Crossing the Line
SCHOLASTIC CANADA, 1998
Taking Sides
SCHOLASTIC CANADA, 1991
12
C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
read or from personal stories shared with me by acquaintances — was that secrecy would eventually rot a family from
the inside out. But as Emily told her own present-tense story,
my theory about family secrecy changed. I came to see that
the family would not necessarily rot from the inside out if
they all truly loved each other and demonstrated that love.
Emily’s extended family does that. Like my own did. Our
house on Hillside Avenue in Halifax was home to Mom, Dad,
my older sister, my grandfather Gunny, and my godmother
we all called Tettie. If I fell backwards, there was always that
cushion of love there to break my fall. As Emily tells her story,
she comes to see that her life will not always make sense and
that there’ll be lots of surprises, but she also recognizes the
support that love offers.
You’ll be talking about Emily for Real as part of this year’s
TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. I have also heard
you speak passionately about Nova Scotia’s Writers’ in
the Schools program. Why do you think these kinds of
opportunities matter?
When people can see that somebody values something
enough to call it a “Week,” that’s a gigantic huge message
in itself. I think it’s important for the public — people going
to libraries, kids in schools — to hear the language around
author visits, illustrator visits, storytellers, and to realize that
it’s part of their environment too. A friend visiting me said
recently, “When I was in school, words were everywhere. But
now — words aren’t anywhere anymore.” That’s true for a lot
of people. And unless we have these celebrations and they are
not token — not “book minutes” but “book weeks” — people in
Canada can lose words. If we don’t say these things, they will
be gone. And to be one of those messengers sent out across
the land — it’s just thrilling!
Kathleen Martin is a writer living in Halifax.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
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If you love Canadian kids’ books,
go to the source:
bookcentre.ca
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
FOCUS NO
ON-FICTION
First-Class Non-Fiction
for the Younger Grades
HOW THREE AUTHORS FASHION NON-FICTION
INTO ENGAGING PICTURE BOOKS
BY CAROL-ANN HOYTE
In the past, the term “children’s non-fiction” may have conjured up images of dry and uninspired books including textbooks. Today, exceptional models of non-fiction aimed at
elementary-school aged children accomplish several tasks.
They inform readers by presenting the latest information on
topics, entertain them with engaging text (sometimes crafted
using fiction-writing techniques), encourage readers to further explore subjects of interest, and convey the enthusiasm
authors hold for their chosen topics. Here, three creators —
Lizann Flatt, Karen Patkau and Monica Kulling — offer us a
glimpse into their work of bringing various non-fiction subjects, from math and transportation to nature and people, to
life, in illustrated books for young readers in the early grades.
In describing children’s need for non-fiction texts, author
Lizann Flatt says: “Some kids find it easier to connect with
text they know is about factual things, and it’s so important
for those kids to have engaging factual reading material
available to them. It’s like a different door they can open to
help them enter the world of reading.”
Though the need for children’s non-fiction is evident,
relatively few write it compared to those writing novels and
picture books. Flatt suspects wannabe writers don’t usually
consider non-fiction as a first choice of genre in which to
specialize. A June 2013 US conference on creating children’s
non-fiction reports statistics supporting her claim: 89 out of
100 new writers set their sights on writing fiction while 84
out of 100 writers achieve first-time publication with nonfiction.
Lizann Flatt’s foray into children’s non-fiction occurred
while working at Owl and ChickaDee magazines (she served
as editor at the latter). During her stints at both publications,
she discovered non-fiction could be fascinating and learned
how to present it to youngsters in an entertaining manner.
She admits that she’d unlikely be writing in this genre now
had it not been for her experience gained at the magazines.
With her latest series, Math in Nature, Flatt introduces the
under-seven set to mathematical concepts within seasonal
settings. The books are written partly in rhyming text; Flatt
felt that this would offer kids heightened reading enjoyment.
Counting on Fall and Sorting through Spring
g are the first titles
in the series, which showcases cut-paper collage artwork
crafted by illustrator Ashley Barron. The remaining titles
slated for release are Sizing Up Winterr (Fall 2013) and Shaping
Up Summerr (Spring 2014).
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
Lizann Flatt
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Jane Molnar
Flatt faced multiple challenges in writing the four books.
Sometimes she wrestled with whether it was best to explain a
concept with one ideal, though difficult, word versus a string
of easier, though likely more familiar, words. A second challenge was creating sentences that would fit within the minimal space per page with which she had to work. A third challenge was knowing which animal or phenomena she could
pick that fit both the season and a math concept she was
trying to explain.
Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here, Flatt’s
look at transportation through the ages, made history in 2009,
becoming the first non-fiction title chosen for the TD Grade
One Book Giveaway, administered by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Though it was difficult for her to grasp
that it was being given to hundreds of thousands of kids, she
confides that this recognition was a humbling and unbelievable honour for her and the book’s illustrator, Scot Ritchie. “To
have my book standing there in the company of so many terrific fiction books that have been chosen for the program is a
once in a lifetime achievement. I feel very fortunate to have
been given that opportunity.”
To promote the book, Flatt and Ritchie toured Southern
Ontario during TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2009.
The author recalls a memorable moment from the trip: “One
child had written and illustrated his own transportation story
and read it to us in front of his class. His teacher told us that
this was a major achievement for him, and to be a small part
of that really brings home that what we do by writing and
illustrating for kids really matters.”
Flatt is looking forward to touring Saskatchewan (Saskatoon and northern area) as part of TD Canadian Children’s
Book Week 2013.
Karen Patkau has written and illustrated five works of nonfiction for children in recent years. What draws her to and
keeps her writing in this genre? “I love learning about animals
and nature, and I also love studying the colours, shapes, textures and patterns found in the natural world. Sharing these
passions with children, through the structure and format of
non-fiction picture books, is another thing I love to do.”
In discussing her books, Creatures: Yesterday and Today
and Creatures: Great and Small, the author-illustrator explains
the reasoning behind the perspective and language used in
these companion titles. She wrote in the first-person perspective to enable youngsters to view the featured animals
as fellow living things. By employing whimsical language,
she hoped to engage kids and make diversity among species
in different animal groups, a potentially dry scientific topic,
fun to read about and make them curious to discover more
about animals.
An illustrator who turned to digital art after working in
painstaking layered collage, Patkau follows several key steps
to create the illustrations for her books. She researches,
gathers, and organizes visual reference material. Next, she
determines what must be included in the artwork to help
explain the text and what can be included to visually expand
on it. She then digitally draws rough black-and-white compositions and positions the text for each illustration. Once the
drawings receive approval from the editor and designer, she
creates the final colour digital illustrations. To make sure all
is as it should be, she provides printed colour proofs to the
publisher before submitting files of the final artwork.
Karen Patkau
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
15
Monica Kulliing
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
Patkau relies on multiple varied sources for her text and
illustration research. For her Ecosystem series (Who Needs a
Swamp?, Who Needs a Jungle?,
? and Who Needs an Iceberg?),
she enjoys visiting locales depicted in the books: “Becoming
immersed in the different environments helps me write about
and illustrate them in a more authentic way.”
Patkau’s research involves, but is not limited to, reading
scientific publications, watching nature television programming, visiting museums and science centres, and looking at
images found in books and online. Visiting zoos, aquariums
and animal refuges also make up her research. Acknowledging that the existence of places that keep animals in captivity is contentious, she notes their value by paraphrasing Dr.
Jane Goodall: “They let us experience the ‘beingness’ of animals we might not otherwise know.” To ensure accuracy and
validity of her written content, Patkau makes sure to have at
least two credible sources to back up each fact she wishes to
include in her books.
When it comes to using digital media to write and illustrate
children’s non-fiction, Patkau says: “One of the biggest joys…
is the easy access to information and reference material. The
challenge is in making sure that information and images are
accurate.” The other challenges involved in creating digital
artwork are expensive software and computer equipment
plus a steep learning curve. However, she also notes, “It is
much easier to experiment and make changes, and you don’t
have to clean up and put away messy materials at the end of
the day.”
In discussing ideas for her books to come, Patkau says that,
fortunately, nature is an endless provider of topics. She lists
paleobotany and worms as future subjects she’s interested in
exploring and sharing with readers.
Monica Kulling is no stranger to biographies. She’s been
reading them since she was a kid and they still rate as her
favourite type of reading today. The author enjoys learning
about the late 1800s and early 1900s and also finds appeal in
people who are atypical, who do the unexpected. These are
what draws her to and keeps her writing biographies for young
people. In explaining what makes biographies appealing to
kids, she says: “Biographies inspire kids to believe in themselves and their dreams. They can discover the courage to
be true to who they are, even in our time, which doesn’t celebrate individualism.”
With her Great Idea series (illustrated with lively drawings
by David Parkins), Kulling introduces readers to inventors like
Elijah McCoy, Margaret Knight, George Eastman and Elisha
Otis. They are accessible to younger children via an adult
reader or to independent readers from Grade 2 and up. These
biographies succeed on two levels because they read like stories and allow readers to easily extract factual information
from their text. Kulling explains her approach to establishing
this dual functionality: “Using narrative tools to convey a life
not only keeps the writing intriguing for me but also, I hope,
makes the individual memorable. I strike a balance between
fact and fiction by striding out on the narrative foot and
organically weaving in the facts of the person’s life. I try to
keep the delivery intriguing.”
The Great Idea series has a refreshing and reflective trademark: each biography opens with a poem by Kulling. She says:
“For me, [the poems] provide another lens through which to
view the inventor’s time and invention.” The author has also
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
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written free-verse biographies of Georgia O’Keeffe, Amelia
Earhart and Emily Carr, but has yet to find a home for them.
Kulling has also written about prominent personalities for
the beginning-reader crowd. She notes that rhythm is an
essential feature of early-reader texts: “Sentences must have
music and balance so the beginning reader can catch the
flow and read on.” Short text length (500 or 800 words) and
simple sentence structure are traits of early-reader books and
challenges to writing them, too. The author adds: “You must
choose your words carefully when you write an early reader.
The process of distilling a person’s story into the early-reader
format is rigorous, and can be frustrating at times.” She adds
that her Great Idea series offers her more latitude in writing
than her early-reader biographies do and explains that:
“Because the ideal audience is in Grade 3, 4, or 5, my prose
can open up and include longer sentences, more difficult
concepts and ‘bigger’ words. I am free to explore nuance in
ways I can’t in a leveled early reader. Early readers are meant
to guide children in their first reading experiences and so an
accessible style is of utmost importance.”
Kulling has plenty of folks in mind whom she’d love to
research and introduce to young readers. Her fear is that she
may run out of time before she can cover them all. She says:
“I’m thankful that my fascination with the second half of the
19th century limits my choices.”
She is currently working on books on inventor Nikola Tesla,
cartoonist-inventor Rube Goldberg, and Mary Fields (aka
“Stagecoach Mary”), the first Black woman to work as a mail
carrier for the US Postal Service. She has already completed
Making Contact! Marconi Goes Wireless, the next title in the
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Great Idea series, which will be released in August 2013.
What advice do these accomplished creators of non-fiction
for the primary grades have to give to those who want to write
in this genre? Karen Patkau says the challenge is that: “[Their
work] must consist of factual information presented in a visually and verbally stimulating way.”
Monica Kulling states that writers who create illustrated
biographies need to keep the following points in mind: “Pick
people you admire and who fascinate or intrigue you. Write
concisely. Think about the illustrator’s job. Focus your story
so that it is not merely a ‘cradle-to-grave’ rendition.”
In offering advice to those writing non-fiction illustrated
texts, Lizann Flatt also addresses the role of the illustrator. She
recommends writers leave room for the illustrator to add their
own touches. “It’s okay to point out something that’s factually
incorrect, but understand that illustrators need some space
for creativity too.”
For more information about the featured creators and their
work, visit their respective sites at www.lizannflatt.com,
www.patkauillustration.com and www.monicakulling.com.
If you want to get your hands on more outstanding Canadian non-fiction for young people then look no further than
the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction.
Visit www.bookcentre.ca/award to learn more about the
award and its previous winners and finalists.
Carol-Ann Hoyte is an emerging children’s poet whose poems have appeared
in Australia’s The School Magazine among other publications. She is also the
creator and co-editor of And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of
Sports Poems.
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
17
BOOKMARK TR
TRA
AVEL / VACATIONS
A
“BOOKMARK!” HIGHLIGHTS BOOKS FOR A VARIET Y OF GRADE LEVELS AROUND A PARTICULAR THEME.
In time to start planning summer travel reading, CCBC Library Coordinator Meghan Howe offers an entertaining
selection of travel tales and vacation stories for readers from kindergarten to high school.
Summer
Travel Fun
PICTURE BOOKS AND EARLY
READERS FOR KINDERGARTEN
TO GRADE 3
Along a Long Road
written and illustrated by Frank Viva
(HarperCollins Publishers, 2011)
Speed off on an eventful bicycle ride along
the bold yellow road that cuts through
town, by the sea and through the country.
Viva’s striking graphic style is executed in
five joyous colours and his spare, rhythmic
language is infectious. Children will love
the cyclical nature of the book as they tag
along for the ride.
Campfire Morgan
(First Novels)
written by Ted Staunton
illustrated by Bill Slavin
(Formac Publishing, 2007)
When Morgan’s pesky classmate, Aldeen,
tricks him and his family into taking her
on their camping trip, Morgan tries to scare
her by the campfire. But Aldeen isn’t the
only one who ends up scared.
Follow That Map!
A First Book of Mapping Skills
written and illustrated by Scot Ritchie
(Kids Can Press, 2009)
Join five pals as they use maps to look
for a missing kitty and pooch in their
neighbourhood and beyond. Kids learn the
basic parts of maps and how to read them,
important mapping concepts, and how to
create a map of their own room. An index
is included. Shortlisted for the 2010 Norma
Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s
Non-Fiction.
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
Getting There
written by Marla Stewart Konrad
photos provided by World Vision Canada
(Tundra Books, 2009)
From the moment we take our first steps,
it seems we are always on the move.
Pictured here are the many and unusual
ways we get around. Whether they go on
their own two feet, by wheeled vehicle,
water craft, animal power, or by air,
children find some unorthodox and truly
imaginative way to “get there.”
Lake Monster Mix-Up
(Sam & Friends Mystery)
written by Mary Labatt
illustrated by Jo Rioux
(Kids Can Press, 2009)
Sam the dog is on vacation with Jennie
and Beth. When the girls find an old diary,
Sam is on the trail of a new mystery.
Who knows the secret of Sagawa Lake?
This second volume in the series is based
on Labatt’s The Secret of Sagawa Lake.
Once Upon a Full Moon
written and illustrated by Elizabeth Quan
(Tundra Books, 2007)
“The full moon lit the sky as we boarded
the trains.” So begins the incredible journey
of the Lee King family as they make their
way to China from Toronto. Through lyrical text and beautiful watercolours, Quan
captures her exciting journey, witnessed by
the ever-present moon.
Nana’s Quilt: Stitched in St. John’s,
Newfoundland and Labrador
written by Lori Lane and Kathy Winsor
illustrated by the children of
Mazelwood Elementary
photography by Jim Costello
(Tuckamore Books, 2005)
Allie and her grandmother spend a summer
exploring St. John’s, then make a quilt as
a lasting memory of their time together.
Children in Newfoundland produced all of
the artwork.
Pussycat, Pussycat,
Where Have You Been?
written by Dan Bar-el
illustrated by Rae Maté
(Simply Read Books, 2011)
This book expands on the classic nursery
rhyme, describing the intrepid adventures
of the Pussycat after he leaves London. Join
him as he sails down the Seine, ventures
to the far north where he sees pods of gray
whales and eventually ends up back at
home with his partner and friend.
Return to the Sea
written and illustrated by Heidi Jardine Stoddart
(Nimbus Publishing, 2007)
In this companion to East to the Sea,
readers join a family on a Martime
vacation. Explore the covered bridge of
Hartland, New Brunswick; legendary tides
of the Bay of Fundy; port of Halifax; city of
Charlottetown and more.
Too Much Stuff !
written by Robert Munsch
iIllustrated by Michael Martchenko
(Scholastic Canada, 2010)
Temina secretly packs 20 dolls for her trip.
When the flight attendant asks Temina if
she can borrow dolls for the other children
on the plane, Temina graciously hands
them over. Months later, Temina receives
surprise packages from around the world.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Where Are You, Bear?
A Canadian Alphabet Adventure
written by Frieda Wishinsky
illustrated by Sean L. Moore
(Owlkids Books, 2010)
Sophie is on a trip with her family.
Her beloved Bear is trying to catch up.
This whimsical ABC book is an excellent introduction to Canada. Readers will
also enjoy What’s Up, Bear? A Book About
Opposites, where Sophie and Bear explore
New York City.
Dangerous Crossings! Ten Daring
Treks Across Land, Sea, and Air
(True Stories from the Edge)
written by Antonia Banyard
(Annick Press, 2007)
Daring real-life treks take readers through
icy oceans, across hostile borders and into
unforgiving wilderness. Witness recordbreaking solo flights, harrowing escapes
from oppression and death-defying ocean
crossings. Maps, list of selected sources and
index included.
Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
JUNIOR NON-FICTION AND
FICTION FOR GRADES 4 TO 8
52 Days by Camel:
My Sahara Adventure
written by Lawrie Raskin and Debora Pearson
photography by Lawrie Raskin
(Annick Press, 2008)
This book takes readers on a real-life desert
trek in search of Timbuktu, complete with
camel’s milk, houses built of salt and deadly
sandstorms. Originally published in 1998.
Adventure in Istanbul
(Spy Who Wasn’t There)
written by Cora Taylor
(Coteau Books, 2005)
A Mediterranean cruise with their grandmother and friend Sam sounds like a dream
vacation for Jennifer and Maggie Arnold.
But it takes them on a wild adventure,
where nothing is what it seems. Originally
published as Vanishing Actt in 1997 by Red
Deer College Press.
Adventures on
the Ancient Silk Road
written by Priscilla Galloway with Dawn Hunter
(Annick Press, 2009)
The Silk Road’s sights, sounds and smells
come alive as you delve into the stories
of three explorers: Xuanzang, a seventhcentury Chinese Buddhist; Genghis Khan,
a Mongolian warrior; and Marco Polo, a
13th-century Italian merchant. A bibliography and an index accompany this
captivating account of three figures who
changed history.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
written by Cary Fagan
illustrated by Dušan Petricic
cš cé
(Tundra Books, 2009)
After Jacob Two-Two’s father writes a very
important novel, the family makes plans to
move to Canada. They board the SS Spring
a Leak for a journey across the ocean.
This story is based on the character created
by Mordecai Richler.
Manga Touch
(Orca Currents)
written by Jacqueline Pearce
(Orca Book Publishers, 2008)
Dana is excited about her school trip to
Japan despite being surrounded by kids
who make fun of her. Dana soon learns that
it’s difficult to fit into a foreign culture.
Pier 21: Listen to My Story
written by Christine Welldon
Nimbus Publishing, 2012
From 1928 and 1971, over a million people,
from countries like Estonia, Italy and the
Ukraine, arrived at Halifax’s Pier 21 to
begin new lives in Canada. Th is pictorial,
fact-fi lled book for young readers shares the
true stories of nine children who remember
their ocean voyages and their first experiences in Canada. A timeline, recommended
reading list and glossary are included.
Travels with my Family
written by Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel
illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
(Groundwood Books, 2006)
Family vacations are supposed to be
something you enjoy — unless your parents
have a habit of turning every outing into a
risky proposition! Readers will also want
to explore On the Road Again! More Travels
with My Familyy and Summer in the City.
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
19
BOOKMARK TR
TRA
AVEL/VACATIONS
A
Voyageur
written by Eric Walters
(Puffin Canada, 2008)
With his mom and sister, Brian takes a
canoe trip in Northern Quebec in order
to scatter his father’s ashes. Armed with
just a road map for navigation, they realize
they’re in over their heads when they
make a wrong turn into raging rapids.
Wow Canada! Exploring this Land
from Coast to Coast to Coast
written by Vivien Bowers
illustrated by Dan Hobbs and Dianne Eastman
(Maple Tree Press, 2010)
Join 12-year-old Guy, his sister Rachel
and his parents as they discover Canada.
Readers will enjoy weird bits of trivia,
postcards and emails from Guy and
Rachel to their friends, panoramic maps,
humorous sidebars, cartoon strips and
facts. Readers will also enjoy Bowers’s
Hey Canada!! (Tundra Books, 2012).
SENIOR FICTION FOR
GRADES 7 AND UP
Afrika
written by Colleen Craig
(Tundra Books, 2008)
Kim’s trip to South Africa with her mom
marks her childhood’s end and the start of
a remarkable journey. She comes to terms
with the country’s brutal and shocking
history. While her mother struggles with
her past, Kim is determined to end the
secrecy surrounding her birth.
Beige
written by Cecil Castellucci
(Candlewick Press, 2007)
Exiled from Canada to Los Angeles to
spend two weeks with her dad, aka the
Rat, Katy plans to stick her nose in a book.
She won’t raise a stink even though she has
reason to do so. Katy’s a quiet, polite girl
who smiles and is, well, beige. Or is she?
Come, Thou Tortoise
The Space Between
written by Jessica Grant
(Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2009)
written by Don Aker
(HarperTrophyCanada, 2007)
Audrey lives a quiet life with her pet tortoise, Winnifred. Despite her fear of flying,
she takes the plane to visit her comatose
dad and reluctantly leaves Winnifred with
some untrustworthy pals. Audrey’s quest
to discover who her father really was and
reunite with her pet turns out to be quite
the adventure.
Jace is spending his 18th birthday at a
Mexican resort and he’s determined to
meet a girl. Too bad his family came along.
Even worse, the sun and surf aren’t helping
any of them deal with the suicide of Jace’s
older brother.
Kamakwie: Finding Peace, Love,
and Injustice in Sierra Leone
written by Kathleen Martin
Red Deer Press, 2011
Martin spent several weeks in the tiny
village of Kamakwie in West Africa.
The experience was a revelation to the
Canadian writer — a discovery which
she has so wonderfully chronicled in this
moving and inspiring portrait of a people
willing to forgive so they can look to the
future with regained hope and dignity.
A Thousand Shades of Blue
written by Robin Stevenson
Orca Book Publishers, 2008
On the surface, Rachel’s sailing trip in
the Bahamas seems like a dream come true.
The reality is altogether different. While
trapped on a sailboat with her quarreling
parents and nerdy brother, she makes a
discovery that threatens to destroy
the fragile threads that bind her family
together.
Sea Change
(Orca Soundings)
written by Diane Tullson
(Orca Book Publishers, 2010)
Lucas has rarely seen his father since
his parents split up. When he travels to the
remote fishing lodge his father manages,
he’s left alone with Sumi, one of the lodge
workers, when a terrible accident occurs.
Lucas must brave the waters to get Sumi
the help she needs.
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
First Lines Quiz:
CHALLENGE YOURSELF!
Test your knowledge and match your wits with our challenging
First Lines quiz of Canadian children’s books. We provide 25 opening lines.
You provide the name of the book and the author. Answers can be picture
books, fiction or non-fiction.
1 Skimming over the banks of the stream, Shade heard
the beetle warming up its wings.
13 The winters of my childhood were long, long
seasons.
2 Matthew Steelgate had five cents in his pocket and a
yearning for chewing gum and licorice.
14 A stellar cruiser, blinking into real space five parsecs
from earth, in the neighbourhood of the constellation
Indus, picked up a message beamed from the fourth
planet of the F-type star Ra.
3 Bertha Shirley stood at the door of their little yellow
house, and waved goodbye to Walter as he turned on
to the road that would eventually take him to the
Bolingbroke High School.
15 We were in the middle of dinner when I said,
“Why can’t I learn to fly?”
16 I started going to law school when I was ten
years old.
4 When I was a girl I wanted to be a cowboy.
5 Jeremy gasped, his throat tight with the need to
scream, as blood splattered his face and icy water
washed over his body.
17 One dark winter’s night a ragged little beggar hobbled
along a lonely road.
18 It’s true that getting along can be difficult.
6 East of Toronto, just off Highway 48, you will find
a beautiful tree-lined campus right across the road
from the famous Miss Scrimmages’s Finishing
School for Young Ladies.
19 For the record: I did not mean to send my two half
sisters to the emergency room.
20 Abby loved her sandals. They were pink and brown
with lime green trim.
7 Really, it’s a very ordinary looking suitcase. A little
tattered around the edges, but in good condition.
, My brother Leonard got his head stuck
8 Deer
in the banastare!
9 Don’t you hate it when everyone in the room is
wearing clothes and you’re not?
21 It came in the night. “Perfect!” said Scott.
22 Now, for those of you who know anything about
blind children, you are aware that they make the very
best thieves.
23 After it happened, they were sent away.
10 I thought she was sleeping.
24 Stanley knew he wasn’t supposed to sit on the couch.
8 Alan Cumyn, Dear Sylvia
7 Karen Levine, Hana’s Suitcase
6 Gordon Korman, This Can’t Be Happening
at Macdonald Hall!
5 Anita Kerz, The Mealworm Diaries
4 Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Cowboy Dreams
3 Budge Wilson, Before Green Gables
2 Arthur Slade, Dust
1 Kenneth Oppel, Silverwing
12 I blame it all on The Hobbit. That, and my supportive
home life.
25 I’m alone in the office of Bateman’s Eternal Light
Funeral Services.
9 Richard Scrimger, The Nose from Jupiter
11 When Joseph was a baby, his grandfather made him
a wonderful blanket...
19 Susin Nielsen, Dear George Clooney,
Please Marry My Mom
18 Rebecca Bender, Giraffe and Bird
17 Aubrey Davis, Bone Button Borscht
16 Vicki Grant, Quid Pro Quo
15 Cary Fagan, The Fortress of Kasper Snit
14 Monica Hughes, The Guardian of Isis
13 Roch Carrier, The Hockey Sweater
25 Allan Stratton, Chanda’s Secrets
24 Linda Bailey, Stanley’s Party
(illustrated by Bill Slavin)
23 Kit Pearson, The Whole Truth
22 Jonathan Auxier, Peter Nimble and His
Fantastic Eyes
21 Barbara Reid, Perfect Snow
12 Susan Juby, Alice, I Think
20 Sarah Tsiang, A Flock of Shoes
(illustrated by Qin Leng)
11 Phoebe Gilman, Something from Nothing
10 Rukhsana Khan, Wanting Mor
Answers
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
21
REVIEWS ES
ESP
PECIALLY FOR TEACHERS
P
The Classroom Bookshelf
BY SANDRA O’BRIEN
In this issue, I look at an eclectic
assortment of titles that might just
appeal to those curious kids who
are willing to pick up a title that’s
not in their usual stash of books.
A book about fashion for that fashion
conscious tween or teen who’s
interested in becoming the next
Coco Chanel or Ralph Lauren,
a book for the social activist or
historian who’s keen to learn about
other cultures and their contributions
to the world at large and a book
about money for the young Warren
Buffet in your life or, perhaps,
for the kid whose allowance burns
a hole in her pocket.
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C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
Follow Your Money: Who Gets It,
Who Spends It, Where Does It Go?
written by Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka
illustrated by Kevin Sylvester
Annick Press, 2013
978-1-55451-481-6 (hc) $24.95
978-1-55451-480-9 (pb) $14.95
for Grades 4 to 7
Non-fiction | Choices | Math | Decision making | Money | Advertising
Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka have teamed up to tell the
story of money and where the money we spend actually goes. The
book provides young people with a good introduction to the way
money flows from creator to distributor to retailer to customer.
The authors help children understand the complicated web that
surrounds products like jeans, shoes and backpacks so they will
more fully understand if they are getting a good deal or being
ripped off. They explain the costs that each person in the web has
to incur and how those costs are passed on to the consumer. They
talk about where movie theatres really make their money, the cost
of playing sports and the expenses involved in owning a cell phone
or smart phone. They also explain how banks make money and
how interest adds up on a credit card that is not paid in full by
the deadline.
All in all, there is a lot of good information in this book and the
products the authors have chosen to look at are things that would
be of interest to students in the junior and intermediate grades —
pizza, movies, music, cell phones and more. A great way for teachers
to use this resource in the classroom would be to create a math
unit where students create products and then sell their goods.
Students would have to keep track of all their costs, consider what
they might pay staff to create and sell their merchandise and then
see how much profit they are left with in the end. Even something
as simple as a bake sale would help students see where the money
really goes when they actually keep track of every penny spent and
earned. Comparing the various products would also help students
see which items are more profitable to sell which could lead to a
lot of interesting and informative discussions about the content
contained in this book.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
The Arab World Thought of It:
Inventions, Innovations and Amazing Facts
(We Thought of It)
Learn to Speak Fashion: A Guide to Creating,
Showcasing & Promoting Your Style
(Learn to Speak)
written by Saima S. Hussain
Annick Press, 2013
978-1-55451-477-9 (hc) $21.95
978-1-55451-476-2 (pb) $11.95
for Grades 4 to 8
written by Laura deCarufel
illustrated by Jeff Kulak
Owlkids Books, 2012
978-1-926973-37-1 (hc) $24.95
978-1-926973-42-5 (pb) $16.95
for Grades 4 to 8
Non-fiction | Global Studies | History | Multicultural | Social Studies |
Ancient Civilizations | Technology | Medicine
Today most Arabs live in the 22 countries referred to as the
League of Arab States which are found in Northern Africa and
the Middle East. The majority of Arabs are Muslims, but there are
many Arab Christians as well as Arab Jews. Many centuries ago,
all Arabs lived in the area called the Arabian Peninsula which
was mostly covered by the desert but had some fertile areas where
crops were grown. Around the year 629 CE, groups of young Arab
men set out to conquer other parts of the world and create a larger
empire, which at its height stretched from Persia to Spain. Arabs
who lived in this empire built schools, hospitals and beautiful
palaces. They translated many Latin and Greek books into Arabic
so people could learn from them. The Arabs were the first to build
public libraries and the first free school for Arab children began
in 653 CE. Arabs also made important contributions in the areas
of astronomy, flight, medicine, weaponry and architecture, many
of which are discussed in this book. Author Saima Shakil Hussain,
who grew up in Saudi Arabia, also discusses Arabic arts and crafts,
food, religion, everyday inventions, the Arab world today and
the achievements of women in Arab society.
Filled with a wealth of information, this book is an excellent
resource for teachers and students studying the Arab world.
The book is fi lled with fascinating photographs to accompany the
passages that talk about the inventions and innovations and also
includes maps of the Arab world today and in 750 CE, a timeline
from 900 BCE to the present and a page displaying the Arabic
alphabet. Further reading and selected sources are also included
at the back of the book to guide students who wish to do further
studies about this topic. This book is a wonderful addition to the
We Thought of It series and is appropriate for students in the junior
and intermediate grades.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Non-fiction | Careers | Fashion and Design
According to author Laura deCarufel, fashion is about expressing
who you are. It’s instant communication and it’s how we form
impressions about people. In the first two chapters, deCarufel talks
about how we express ourselves through our clothes and explains
how to build a great wardrobe by understanding your own body
and budget. She then goes on to talk about the people and events
involved in the fashion business — the fashion designer, the runway
show and the fashion shoot. Next she explains the three main steps
in the business of fashion — how you brand, promote and sell your
clothes — and encourages young people to get out there and give it
a try. Finally she’s assembled toolkits for aspiring designers,
photographers, stylists, editors and even interns who are ready to
take the next step. The book is also fi lled with tips and anecdotes
from top professionals in the field and Jeff Kulak’s illustrations
add eye-catching colour and flair to the text.
In this third book in the Learn to Speak series, Laura deCarufel
has done a great job of appealing to both the fashion savvy and to
those who don’t have a clue. Having worked as a Toronto-based
fashion and style reporter, she has shared her knowledge of the field
in a fun and inspirational manner that will be of interest to kids in
the junior and intermediate grades. She has provided readers with
all sorts of tips about how to get involved in the fashion industry
from finding your own style to creating your own label. deCarufel’s
personal anecdotes about her experiences in the field add a very
sincere feel to the book and make it obvious how passionate
she is about her work.
Sandra O’Brien is a former teacher with an M.Ed. in Children’s Literature.
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
23
REVIEWS BO
BOO
OK BITS
Friendship explored
I Get By With a Little Help
From My Friends
BY LISA DOUCET
The Metro Dogs
of Moscow
written by Rachelle Delaney
Puffin Canada, 2013
978-0-14318-414-0 (pb) $ 12.99
for Grades 3 to 6
Days That End in Y
Every Never After
The Gypsy Kings
written by Vikki VanSickle
Scholastic Canada, 2013
978-1-4431-2432-4 (pb) $8.99
for Grades 6 to 9
written by Lesley Livingston
Razorbill, 2013
978-0-14318-208-5 (pb) $15.00
for Grades 7 to 11
written by Maureen Fergus
Razorbill, 2013
978-0-14318-315-0 (hc) $19.99
for Grades 8 to 12
Fiction | Friendship | Family
Fiction | Friendship | Time Travel |
Ancient Britain
Fiction | Fantasy | Friendship |
Adventure
Fiction | Friendship | Mystery
I get by with a little help from my friends. As this line from the
ever-popular Beatles song reminds us, friendship can be an integral
part of our emotional well-being. This can be especially true for
children and teens (and maybe even dogs!) In books for young
people, the importance of friendship is often celebrated and / or
recognized in very real and meaningful ways. Certainly these
four books each offer their own unique insights into the nature of
friendship and the significant role it plays in the lives of these
very different protagonists.
In The Metro Dogs of Moscow
w by Rachelle Delaney, an adventurous
Jack Russell terrier named JR begins to warm up to his new home
in Moscow when he meets a group of strays who show him the
ropes. JR is thrilled to be able to escape the boring daily routine of
his life as an Embassy dog as he sneaks out at night to spend time
with his exciting new friends. He is much less thrilled, however,
when the other Embassy dogs decide to join him on his nightly
escapades. But sinister forces are at work on the streets of Moscow
and dogs start disappearing without a trace. JR wants desperately to
24
C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S S P R I N G 2 013
help his new friends find their lost comrades. When he inadvertently
stumbles upon the answer to who’s behind the strange disappearances, the Embassy dogs come to his rescue and insist on helping
get to the bottom of things. Ultimately, the Embassy dogs and the
strays must all work together to rescue their friends and put a
stop to the villainy behind it all.
In this fun and playful tale, Delaney gives young readers —
particularly dog lovers — an entertaining mystery told entirely from
the point of view of its canine characters. In addition, JR learns an
important lesson about friendship. Fortunately for him, the Embassy
dogs demonstrate that there is more to them than he thought, and
they come to his aid even after he all but turned his back on them.
As his friends from both worlds come together, JR realizes that he
underestimated the Embassy dogs and finds himself very grateful
indeed for their friendship and support.
Clarissa Delaney is a girl who already understands the importance
Y, Vikki VanSickle’s third book
of good friends. In Days That End in Y
about Clarissa, she looks to her friends to help her with her latest
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
mission: to find her father. When Clarissa discovers that Bill Davies,
the father she has never known, is actually in town she becomes
obsessed with the idea of meeting him. While her mother is caught
up in making plans for her upcoming wedding, Clarissa writes letters to her friend Mattie at camp and tries to recruit her best friend
Benji to help her. Benji knows just how much this means to her. And
yet, he never seems to be there when she needs him these days. Not
surprisingly, this does not stop Clarissa. But when she comes face to
face with Bill, things don’t go at all as she expected.
As she processes all that she learns from this encounter, Clarissa
makes some surprising discoveries about her mother. She also makes
a number of other unexpected discoveries, including the fact that
her mother’s somewhat crazy best friend Denise is, in fact, a pretty
perfect example of what a best friend should be. And she also learns
that her own best friend is dealing with pretty serious issues of his
own. Fortunately for all of these warm and wonderful people who
make up Clarissa’s life, they will always have each other.
Once again, VanSickle gives readers a tale whose characters and
their complex relationships are engaging and utterly relatable. Clarissa has to rethink some of her ideas about the people in her life, and
she doesn’t always make the best decisions, but she faces life head-on
and she recognizes when she needs to look at things in a new way.
Surrounded as she is by the love of family and friends, Clarissa Delaney is bound to make her mark on the world! In fact, she already has.
Not unlike Clarissa in many ways, Clare Reid also has a best
friend who has proven the tremendous depth of her loyalty beyond
any shadow of a doubt. Every Never Afterr by Lesley Livingston picks
up the story of Clare and Allie and their summer of time-travelling
adventures. Believing that these adventures are now behind them,
Clare and Allie plan to spend the remainder of the summer on an
archaeological dig at Glastonbury Tor. Content to sift through the
dirt in the hopes of maybe finding a pottery shard or two, Allie is
shocked when she unearths a complete skull. Unfortunately this
discovery also sends her once again hurtling back through time and
she finds herself a prisoner in a Roman camp. But this time neither
she nor Clare know how to get her back home. While Clare and
Allie’s cousin Milo race to figure out how to retrieve her, Allie must
use her wits to stay alive. She also gets to know the legionnaire who
captured her and finally figures out who he really is.
Separated as they are by thousands of years, both girls struggle
to put together all the pieces of the puzzle in order to enable Allie to
return to the present… and to prevent an ancient Iceni high priestess
from sending her battle-crazed women warriors through time to
wreak havoc in the modern day! Although Allie has moments where
her hope wavers and nearly gives way to full-fledged panic, she never
really doubts that Clare will come through for her. As in the previous
volume, Once Every Never, Livingston gives readers a tantalizing
glimpse into the past as seen through the eyes of a couple of feisty
females who never let the reader forget that they are very much
from the here and now!
In Maureen Fergus’s latest offering, The Gypsy King,
g a would-be
chicken thief named Azriel manages to buy Persephone from her
cruel owner. Friendship is the last thing on Persephone’s mind. She
determines to accompany him only until the time is right for her to
take off in pursuit of a life of freedom. But, as she reluctantly gets to
know Azriel through the course of their travels, and time and again
he honours the promises that he makes to her even as she repeatedly
breaks her own promises, she finds it harder than she expected to
just up and leave. Then she discovers the truth about him and why
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
he had been pursuing her all along. Believing her to be at the heart
of an epic prophecy which holds the key to his people’s very survival,
Azriel and the gypsies send Persephone on a dangerous rescue
mission. Persephone decides yet again that as soon as she helps them
find and save the little gypsy boy, she will slip away and leave them
to their fate. Little does she realize that the bonds of friendship and
honour have already begun to work their way around her heart,
binding her to these people and their crazy dream in ways that she
could never have anticipated.
While this book is a complete departure from her previous
works, Fergus has created a masterful medieval tale, filled with an
astonishing array of compelling and richly-drawn characters in a
vividly-rendered world. Readers will be left in breathless anticipation
of the sequel.
Friendship. Somehow JR, Clarissa, Allie and even Persephone
manage to remind us that it can change lives and bring out the best
in all of us.
Lisa Doucet is Co-Manager of Woozles, the Halifax bookstore.
Looking
g for...
excellent
bibliographies?
First Nations books,
Black History Month titles,
s,
books on the environment
ent
and more.
Authoritative lists of
fine Canadian titles
s on a
wide variety of topics
pics are
at your fingertips when
you visit
www.bookcentre.ca/resources/
teachers_librarians_parents
and click on
resources for librarians or
resources for teachers
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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OMMENDED BOOKS
We Recommend
NEW AND NOTED BOOKS FOR TODDLERS TO TEENS
Welcome, Baby
Times Two
written and illustrated by Barbara Reid
Scholastic Canada, 2012
978-1-4431-1960-3 (hc) $9.99
for babies to Preschool
written by Sheree Plett
illustrated by Shari-Anne Vis
Fresh Wind Press, 2012
978-0-9811409-7-1 (hc) $12.00
for toddler to Preschool
Board Book | Newborns | Family
Welcome, Babyy is a celebration of the arrival of newborns and the
promises made by their families to acquaint them with all that
is wonderful in our world. This endearing board book presents a
variety of snapshots that depict enriching encounters for an infant:
storytime with a grandparent, playtimes with siblings, loving
exchanges with either mom, dad or both. Beyond the home, there is
a community to discover amidst all seasons. From the immediacy
of the backyard to the neighbourhood park, then heading further
afield, there is so much for a baby to explore.
Barbara Reid’s engaging rhymes lend themselves perfectly
being read aloud:
Welcome, baby, welcome!
All the world is new,
And all the world is waiting
To be introduced to you.
When the text is paired with Reid’s inimitable Plasticine
illustrations, the result is simply captivating. Her attention to
detail, be it the life-like expressions on the characters’ faces,
or the simple pleasures of the natural world (right down to the
ladybug hidden in the rosebushes) makes each page a visual delight.
With an aura of love and commitment to their baby, families from
a variety of cultural backgrounds are portrayed in the midst of
everyday activities.
Kudos should also be awarded to photographer Ian Crysler
for capturing the ambience and subtleties of Reid’s distinctive
artwork, as well as to Scholastic Canada for publishing such
a well-constructed board book which will withstand the often
rigorous handling of babies and toddlers as they are introduced
to the world of books and reading. Welcome, Babyy will be a most
welcome addition to the libraries of little ones and their caregivers.
Picture Book | Parent and Child | Family | Music
Times Two is an endearing narrative that features a young
raccoon being reassured by a parent about just how far love can
reach. It’s a familiar theme with a refreshing approach. Just as the
little raccoon’s eyes are riveted to the parent whose words appear
to be the focus of the book, these kinds of stories can often seem
more concerned with the adult reader than with the child listener.
However, Sheree Plett and Shari-Anne Vis handle the little
raccoon’s attention with respect, never taking the primary focus
off the young one’s anticipated response — and the response of the
wide-eyed child who will be listening as well.
Warmth and security fi ll every page. Vis’s soft watercolour
illustrations depict the parent helping the child fi ll a pack for their
flight to the moon, the two holding hands while the little raccoon
grasps a sock monkey in the other, or parent and child bundling
together in a massive beach towel. The words reassure that,
“However long that it would take to reach the highest point in space,
that’s how deep my love is dear, that’s how far my love would trace.”
There is a lyrical quality to the text and this makes sense: Sheree
Plett is a musician from British Columbia. There’s also a folksy tune
available to download on the book’s website: http://timestwobook.
wordpress.com. Warning: listen to it twice and it will be running
through your head all day.
Times Two makes for a beautiful bedtime book which would be
wonderful for cuddle-up storytime as well.
Lisa Dalrymple is a writer based in Fergus, Ontario.
Senta Ross is a former elementary teacher and teacher-librarian in Kitchener, Ontario.
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W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
g
n
i
pr
Where Do You Look?
written and illustrated by
Marthe Jocelyn and Nell Jocelyn
Tundra Books, 2013
978-1-7704-9376-6 (hc) $17.99
for toddlers to Preschool
S
Picture Book | Homonyms | Wordplay
Where do you look for a cap? On a tube of toothpaste?
Or on your head?
So begins a light-hearted, yet educational, romp through the
concept of homonyms, which are words of identical spelling and
pronounciation but different in meaning. A button can be on a
shirt... or on a telephone. Is a letter in a mailbox... or on a page?
Nine words are featured, each one introduced by the question
“Where do you look for a...?”
Children will be intrigued by the beguiling wordplay, and
equally engaged by the exuberant collage illustrations created by
Marthe Jocelyn and Nell Jocelyn. Each page is fi lled with everyday
items depicted in a most inventive manner. One can practically feel
the variety of textures emanating from the vibrant fabrics in the
artwork. This publication culminates with an illustration which
cleverly highlights every homonym cited in the text.
Where do you look for a delightful picture book that will
captivate young readers? Within Where Do You Look?!
into
nto
to
books!
oks!
$
$14.95
Baaby Talk
Carol
ol McDougall
Mc
and Shanda
LaRamee-Jones
ones
Be a Wilderness Detective
Peggy Ko
Kochanoff
What’s Going On
at the Time Tonight?
Gerald Mercer, illustrated
by Holly DeWolf
$8 95
$8.95
Buried Secrets at Louisbourg
urg
JoAnn Yhard
$119.95
$12.95
Senta Ross
If You Hold a Seed
written and illustrated by Elly MacKay
Running Press Kids, 2013
978-0-7624-4721-3 (hc) $19.95
for Preschool and up
The Remarkable
Flight of Marnie
McPhee
Picture Book | Life Cycle of Trees | Paper Theatre
If you hold a seed,
And make a wish,
And plant it in the ground...
Something magical can happen.
With great care, a young boy sows a seed and then, in the
days, months and years which follow, watches it intently as it
slowly flourishes from a sapling into a full-grown tree. As the many
seasons rise and fall, the child also evolves from a boy to a man —
a man who, at the story’s end, shows a seed to a young boy sitting
beside him on the towering branch of the same tree which he had
planted those many years ago. Will the growing cycle repeat itself?
Using minimal text, MacKay conveys the wonder that unfolds
from the simple act of planting a seed along with a dream. Each
requires support, conviction and patience in order to thrive.
However, it is MacKay’s exquisite papercraft illustrations which
bring her text to life. Paper dolls, scenery and backgrounds created
from Yupo paper and inks were placed in a miniature theatre and
then photographed with special lighting, resulting in a unique
3D effect. Each panorama has a luminous and intimate feeling,
inviting the reader to explore the variety of natural landscapes.
This is a book which, on numerous levels, encourages contemplation, a respect for nature and the realization of one’s dreams.
by Daniel Karasik
“Marnie’s ‘flight’ deserves
to touch down in as many
schools as possible.”
—James Wegg Review
Meet Marnie McPhee. Convinced
she is not like the rest of her boring family, nine-year-old Marnie
decides it’s time to leave Earth
and take her place among the
stars. But as she builds her spaceship, she realizes that maybe
Earth isn’t so bad after all, even
if it is filled with regular human
families. The Remarkable Flight
of Marnie McPhee is a charming
story of the infinite reaches of the
imagination and the pleasure of
dreaming.
playwrightscanada.com
Senta Ross
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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OMMENDED BOOKS
What the Snakes Wrote
written by Hazel Hutchins
illustrated by Tina Holdcroft
Annick Press, 2013
978-1-55451-472-4 (pb) $9.95
for Kindergarten to Grade 2
Picture Book | Animal Habitats | Snakes | Humour
When the farmer begins to fi ll in a mysterious hole on his property,
it’s Rufus, the dog, who notices the snakes on the farm behaving in
an odd way. The snakes are out in the open, not hidden in the grass,
and their bodies are curled and twisted into strange shapes — but
the shapes seem somewhat familiar. (Youngsters who can recognize
D, O and G will find them familiar too.) Rufus, realizing things are
not normal, decides that the snakes want to be seen and that he’d
better get the farmer and show him what’s going on. By the time the
farmer and Rufus get back to the yard though, the words the snakes
have been forming are all out of shape and the farmer doesn’t see
the message. He heads back to the field but Rufus decides this is
just too important to ignore and steals the farmer’s shovel. When
the farmer and Rufus return to the yard yet again, the snakes have
spelled out “Save our home” and the farmer heads indoors
to research what it is he needs to do. Instead of fi lling in the hole,
the farmer puts a fence around it, and saves the hibernaculum,
the snakes’ winter home.
Hutchins has written a tale about snakes that not only
encourages children to respect animal habitats, but that is also
lighthearted and fun. Children will love the antics Rufus and the
snakes get up to in order to save the snakes’ home. Holdcroft’s
illustrations are the perfect match for this story; they are comical
and colourful and will instantly draw children into the book. The
final spread of the book contains factual information about snakes
that will educate and fascinate young scientists and ophiologists
alike and gives preschool and primary teachers one more reason
to include this delightful and informative picture book on their
classroom library shelves.
Sandra O’Brien is a former teacher with an M.Ed. in Children’s Literature.
Really and Truly
written by Émilie Rivard
illustrated by Anne-Claire Delisle
translated by Sarah Quinn
Owlkids Books, 2012
978-1-926973-40-1 (hc) $15.95
978-1-926973-50-0 (ebook) $9.95
for Preschool and up
Picture Book | Intergenerational Relationships | Storytelling | Memory Loss
Charlie’s grandpa used to tell inventive stories of the pirate in his
attic, the witch in his shed and the gnome in his basement who
climbed out each time it rained. “Really and truly, Charlie,” he
would say. Grandpa doesn’t remember the pirate now. Some days
he doesn’t even remember Charlie. But each visiting day, Charlie
steps up to the role of storyteller, dreaming up tales in his attempts
to get Grandpa to talk, to eat, or to smile, if only for a moment.
Really and Trulyy is a meaningful book for very young children.
It doesn’t shy away from the subject of Grandpa’s dementia, but
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depicts it with sensitivity and respect as “an awful disease [that] has
eaten up his memory.” Charlie’s first-person narration is honest and
direct and the fact that the book opens with Charlie’s recollection
of Grandpa telling him stories “when [he] was little,” helps to sets
the stage for the importance of memories in family relationships.
Delisle illustrates the relationship between fact and fantasy
with fanciful line drawings set against a more realistic back-drop.
Yet, sometimes this boundary, like memory, becomes blurry
or undefined. Leaves from the African hunter’s tale appear on
Grandpa’s coffee mug and there is a drawing of a pirate ship in the
fabric of Charlie’s quilt.
A 2013 Blue Spruce Award nominee for the Ontario Library
Association’s Forest of Reading, Really and Trulyy is a testament
to the power of stories, love and the bond between child and
grandparent.
Lisa Dalrymple
Toads on Toast
written by Linda Bailey
illustrated by Colin Jack
Kids Can Press, 2012
978-1-55453-662-7 (hc) $18.95
for Kindergarten to Grade 2
Picture Books | Animals | Trickster Tale
Bored with eating large boiled toads each night, Fox investigates
other cooking methods and discovers that tender youngg toads are
recommended. He purchases several cookbooks and catches a large
number of toadlets for his dinner. He is searching for the perfect
recipe when Mamma Toad shows up to protect her brood.
Bailey has written several picture books, including the Stanley
series, and this book is just as wacky. The story is largely told in
the conversation between Fox and Mamma and progresses quickly
to a heart-warming conclusion. The writing is crisp and the story
moves from somewhat frightening to a gratifying trickster tale
with a twist. If the term toads-on-toast seems somehow familiar,
it is because this story is an original take on toad-in-the-hole, the
yummy breakfast dish.
There is also plenty of room for the illustrations to tell their
own part of the story. Jack has digitally rendered the illustrations,
which are remarkably layered and elaborate. The details are often
amusing such as the cookbook titles in the store: Tuscan Toads and
Toads for a Healthy Heart. The toadlets are also individuals, not
surprising since Jack is also a character designer in the animation
industry.
Between the fast-paced writing and the engaging illustrations of
the toadlets behaving badly, this is an appealing story with a recipe
for a favourite breakfast.
Willow Moonbeam is a math professor and librarian.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Gubby Builds a Boat
written by Gary Kent
illustrated by Kim LaFave
Harbour Publishing, 2012
978-1-55017-51-2 (hc) $19.95
for Kindergarten and up
Graphic Novel | Boats | Boatbuilding |
British Columbia | Japanese-Canadians
Gubby and his nephew Cam made their first appearance in Fishing
with Gubbyy which was shortlisted for the Governor General’s
Literary Award (Children’s Illustration). In this sequel, the BC
salmon fisherman realizes that he needs a new boat after the
Flounderr springs a leak. He and Cam and his cat Puss head off from
Gibsons to Steveston to see Minoru, the best boatbuilder he knows.
Readers go along for the ride as Gubby and Minoru — and their
families — embark on the careful and painstaking task of building
a new boat, a wooden gillnetter, through the winter season. There
is the selection of the timber for the keel, the slow steaming and
assemblage of the ribs and the planks, the multitude of small
details like caulking seams and sanding and the installation of
the new diesel engine. In between, there are Halloween festivities,
Christmas tasks and even a surprise birthday party.
The story lovingly recreates the boatbuilding community, but
also provides lots of technical fun for the many little engineers
who love to read about construction projects and enjoy discovering
what a net drum is for and why nail holes need to be puttied.
Kent has talked in the past about the influence of British artist
and author Raymond Briggs and you can see his influence as well
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
as that of Tintin creator Hergé in the charming, simple and yet
very informative drawings of Kim LaFave. The limited palette of
black, white and sepia — with touches of red, blue and gold — give
a timeless look to the story. Readers will also get a kick out of
the bird’s eye view of Steveston on the endpapers.
Gillian O’Reilly, editor of Canadian Children’s Book News, read many construction-themed
books to her sons when they were small.
Ava and the Little Folk
written by Neil Christopher and Alan Neal
illustrated by Jonathan Wright
Inhabit Media, 2012
978-1-92709-502-7 (hc) $13.95
for Grades 3 to 5
Picture Book | Traditional Tales |
Inuit Culture | Difference
Ava, an Inuit orphan, is unwelcomed and unwanted by his
community. He finds solace daydreaming of acceptance and the
possibility of one day being asked to take part in a traditional hunt.
While seeking refuge at the abandoned site of his Thule ancestors,
Ava encounters the Inugarulligaarjuit, or Little Folk. These magical
dwarves, as commonly depicted in Inuit folktales, are keenly
aware of Ava’s situation and graciously welcome him into their
community. When Ava at last receives an invitation to join their
hunt, he struggles to look past their size, unaware that “the most
magical things come in tiny packages.”
With the aid of four unique and lighthearted inhabitants of
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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the Arctic region, Ava experiences traditional ways of
Inugarulligaarjuit life, what it means to be a part of a community,
and more importantly, a family. All the while, Ava struggles
with his own understanding of the world in order to comprehend
the Inugarulligaarjuit perspective, where size is not perceived as
an obstacle.
Author Neil Christopher takes a traditional story with
indigenous community roots and makes it a universal tale,
addressing issues of abandonment, the desire to belong and the
difficulty of understanding other people’s perspectives of the world
around us.
Jonathan Wright’s exquisite watercolours illustrate the unique
and extraordinary world of the Little Folk. The fine attention to
Inuit culture and heritage can effortlessly be enjoyed by children
and adults alike.
Jennifer Walters is a MLIS student at the University of Toronto’s iSchool and was
recently an intern at the CCBC.
Jason’s Why
written by Beth Goobie
Red Deer Press, 2012
978-0-88995-484-7 (pb) $8.95
for Grades 4 to 6
Fiction | Anger | Security | Group Homes
Sometimes nine-year-old Jason gets angry, so angry that the big
bubble of mad and the screams inside just want to burst and when
they do, he yells and kicks and fights, he runs away, he steals things.
His mother tells him that’s he’s bad and out of control and she can’t
cope with him anymore — and arranges for Jason to be moved to a
group home. But Jason doesn’t understand why. No one asked him
why he gets mad and now that he’s here, he’s confused and scared —
afraid that he’ll never go home again. But very slowly, Jason begins
to see the group home as a safe space — a place where no one yells at
him, where he’s well-fed, where people don’t just act but talk to him
first, and where he begins to think about why he’s so angry inside.
Jason’s Whyy is an exceptionally brave little novel that packs a big
punch. Goobie has painted a remarkable picture of nine-year-old
Jason, a child who deeply struggles with his anger issues, but who is
also not to blame for being angry. She sometimes hints at causes —
possible sexual abuse, his mother’s own anger issues and his father’s
physically abusive behaviour. But most interesting is Goobie’s
portraits of the patient and caring adults in the group home, as
well as the school principal, Mr. Warner, who both talk and listen
to Jason and create a safe space for Jason to confront that bubble of
mad inside him. And not just caring adults but children, like Joe, a
fellow resident, who have begun the long, slow journey to healing.
Hearing Jason’s story allows us as readers to see how troubled he
is by his own emotional issues and Goobie lets us see Jason’s loss
of control, his fears or, alternatively, the great joys he feels. Jason’s
Whyy is a valuable classroom resource that would be an excellent
starting point for discussion about issues like bullying, mental
health, tolerance and empathy.
Jeffrey Canton teaches in the Children’s Studies Program at York University.
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The Awesome, Almost 100%
True Adventures of Matt & Craz
written by Alan Silberberg
Aladdin (Simon & Schuster), 2013
978-1-4169-9432-9 (hc) $19.99
for Grades 4 to 7
Fiction | Humour | Family Relationships | Cartooning
Life isn’t easy for geeky kids at Kilgore Junior High, as best buddies
Matthew Yorfle and Lawrence Crazinski, aka Matt and Craz, are all
too well-aware. But that doesn’t stop this dynamic cartooning duo
from giving it the old junior high try. The school newspaper editor
sends every one of their absolutely brilliant and hilarious strips
directly into the shredder, but Matt and Craz are determined to get
their comics out into the world. With a little help from the mysterious Boyd T. Boone, they become owners of a “magical” pen that
brings their cartoons to life. They can now draw themselves enough
cash to indulge in awesome snackfests, literally send their boring
English to teacher to Treasure Island, get cool pets and even change
their everyday lives. Matt brings his recently separated parents back
together while Craz changes the make-up of his family. But, like
all good things, a magical pen isn’t easy to control and when it falls
into the hands of a fellow cartoonist, disaster looms on the horizon
unless Matt and Craz can save the day. P.S. They do.
Matt and Craz are nice kids with real problems. Matt’s family
has fallen apart and his fractured relationship with his once really
awesome big brother is a serious issue that deserves better
treatment than it gets. The chaos of Craz’s household is actually
what makes it interesting and, when he erases that family through
cartooning, he realizes its value. It’s great that Silberberg adds those
issues into the mix but they get lost in this big sprawling novel
that reads like a very competent imitation of Dav Pilkey’s Captain
Underpants series upgraded for an older reader with less emphasis
on a comic book format and a lot more text. There’s a lot of
unrealized potential here but nevertheless, The Amazing Almost
100% True Adventures of Matt & Crazz is certainly funny and
charming and fans of Pilkey will also enjoy Silberberg’s offering.
Jeffrey Canton
Hockey Girl
written by Natalie Hyde
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012
978-1-55455-251-1 (pb) $9.95
for Grades 5 to 8
Fiction | Equality and Fairness | Competition | Hockey
Tara plays on a championship softball team, but her parents only
have time for her brothers’ hockey games. So it goes in the small
town of Cartwright, where boys’ hockey seems to matter more than
almost anything else.
So when the jocks from the local hockey team taunt Tara and
her best friend Rachel, saying that the girls could never play a
“real sport” like hockey, it hits a nerve.
Not only does hot-headed Rachel insist on starting up a girls’
hockey team to prove them wrong, she takes it one step further,
betting that her team will not only excel at the game, but that they
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
From the creator of
Our Rights
How Kids are Changing the World
Our Earth
Shannen Koostachin spoke up for
the rights of aboriginal children.
Ndale Nyengela is a former child
soldier who wants to make music,
not war. Our Rights is a collection
of true stories of children around
the world who are standing up
for their rights.
Our Rights: How kids are
changing the World
Ages 6-10
ISBN 978-1-926920-95-5
$18.95
written and illustrated by
Janet Wilson
will finish higher in their league standings than the boys do in
their Triple A league. The challenge is on — and whoever loses the
bet has to cheerlead for the winning team next year — in spandex
and pompoms, no less.
Setbacks loom large for the girls. When they lose their coach,
they find a rock-solid female coach (who happens to be a nun) to
step in. But when they find they are about to lose their ice time to
the boys’ leagues, the real fight begins.
Author Natalie Hyde knows how to write a rollicking good scene,
whether it involves the playful banter between adversaries at the
local donut shop, or the nail-biting action on the ice. This is a tale
not only of girl power, but of what can happen when a community
bands together for change.
Readers with an interest in hockey will enjoy this somewhat
predictable but satisfying story, inspired by an actual women’s
hockey team from the 1930s know as the Preston Rivulettes.
Darby Macnab works in the library at The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
www.secondstorypress.ca
One Year in Coal Harbour
written by Polly Horvath
Groundwood Books, 2012
978-1-55498-188-5 (pb) $14.95
for Grades 5 to 8
Fiction / Small Towns / Loneliness / Friendship /
Loss / Humour / Recipes
In this sequel to the Newbery Honor Book Everything on a Waffle,
Primrose Squarp’s wish to have a best friend appears to be
answered when the quiet, hulking Ked shows up at her former
foster parents’ trailer. Primrose “adopts” him, introducing him
to her favourite activities (cooking and collecting recipes), but is
flummoxed when Ked’s obligation to an unstable father prevents
him from making Coal Harbour his permanent home. Primrose,
whose parents were once lost at sea, is no stranger to loneliness and
loss and vows to protect Ked with the same unflappable determination she shows in matchmaking her Uncle Jack and Miss Bowzer.
When things go wrong — Ked leaves abruptly, an old beau of Miss
Bowzer’s appears and a nearby forest gets clear-cut — Primrose’s
anger and hurt lead her to consider the limits of people’s ability to
protect what they love.
One Year in Coal Harbourr takes off quickly, with quirky dialogue
and Primrose’s humorous musings on human behaviour. That
Primrose sounds more like a witty, university-educated 20-year-old
than a bright 12-year-old (gifted teacher and adult friends
notwithstanding) is not too problematic since realism is secondary
to balancing humour with the hard realities of abandonment, death
and pain. At first, the humour is distancing, but by the end the
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reader feels the fragility of living things.
Preteens who like funny, intelligent novels with an emotional
centre will enjoy this sequel, learning words like “sangfroid,”
“inured” and “ululation.” They might also appreciate the recipes,
often unusual, at the end of each chapter.
Falling Kingdoms
Aliki Tryphonopoulos is a children’s librarian currently living in Kamsack, Saskatchewan.
Fiction | Fantasy | War | Coming of Age
And Nothing But the Truth
written by Kit Pearson
HarperCollins Publishers, 2012
978-1-55468-854-8 (hc) $19.99
for Grades 6 to 10
Fiction | 1930s British Columbia |
Coming of Age | Challenging Convention | Secrets |
Artists | Teen Pregnancy
In this sequel to the award-winning The Whole Truth, stubborn
and passionate Polly Brown, now nearly 13, finds that being true to
her calling as an artist and loyal to her family come at a steep price.
While she hates the oppressive rules, condescending adults and
snobby roommate at St. Winifred, the boarding school in Victoria
where her beloved grandmother has sent her, she realizes that it
offers her a singular chance to develop her art. Being compared
unfavourably to her older sister Maud, a star alumnus of the school,
infuriates Polly until her spirited sister divulges a secret — a secret
that, if discovered, would incur not only the condemnation of their
mid-1930s society but of members of their own family.
Capable of standing alone, this coming-of-age sequel continues
the themes of family loyalty and secrets found in the original.
Strong, forward-thinking female characters (including Canadian
artist Emily Carr), who challenge convention despite consequence,
generally live happy and fulfi lling lives. They offer Polly role models
and readers a view of the social expectations of women at the time.
Attention to historical etiquette and norms and Polly’s awareness
of the prejudices held both by society and the people she loves are
particularly well done.
The slow, realistic pace of the novel builds into a pressure cooker
of choices Polly must make by the end. Suitable for a novel study
or pleasure reading, this book will find a readership in adolescent
females who have the patience to let Polly’s rich world unfold.
written by Morgan Rhodes
Razorbill, 2012
978-1-59514-584-0 (hb) $20.00
for Grades 7 to 9
On the island of Mytica, the three kingdoms of Limeros, Paelsia
and Auranos have co-existed somewhat peacefully for centuries in
cultures steeped with myths of powerful goddesses and mysterious
watchers. When the princess of Auranos is involved in a Paelsian
wine deal gone horribly wrong, it becomes an international
incident that fuels old grudges between the kingdoms. Taking
advantage of the growing unrest to achieve darker ambitions of
blood lust and power, the king of Limeros offers to partner with
Paelsia in a war against Auranos. As the three kingdoms clash, four
teens on the cusp of adulthood must decide their own fates.
An instant classic for recreational readers and lovers of the fantasy genre, Falling Kingdoms is a richly woven tapestry of fictional
reality and folklore. Written by Morgan Rhodes (aka paranormal
author Michelle Rowen), this complicated tale of parent/child and
sibling relationships, issues of grief, greed, love and history — as
well the ability to determine one’s own future — is relatable, despite
some fantastical elements.
With a heft y cast featuring two male and two female
protagonists, the character list found at the beginning of the book
is both useful and necessary. Although books containing many
characters can end up one-dimensional, Rhodes achieves
complexity and believability. From the first sentence, “She’d never
killed before tonight,” interest and attention is held captive as the
reader is thrown into the action.
The first in a series, Falling Kingdoms is a successful balance
between intrigue and reader satisfaction, showcasing kingdom
leaders of tomorrow and the weight of their decisions.
Amy Mathers is a member of the Ontario Library Association and specializes in
bibliotherapy and dystopian fiction.
Aliki Tryphonopoulos
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W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
New Adventures from Ronsdale Press
Hannah & the Salish Sea
z Carol Anne
Shaw
In the second book in the “Hannah” series, poachers
have moved into Cowichan Bay forcing Hannah and
her friends into a desperate struggle to save the lives
of the endangered animals.
978-1-55380-233-4 쐍 272 pp 쐍 $11.95
Cursed by the Sea God
z Patrick Bowman
The second volume in the series retelling the Odyssey,
as seen through the eyes of Alexi, a Trojan boy who
has been made the slave of Odysseus. Volume I:
Red Maple nominee.
978-1-55380-186-3 쐍 208 pp 쐍 $11.95
Ronsdale Press
New This Spring
From Creative Book Publishing
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W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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OMMENDED BOOKS
War Brothers
Power Play
written by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance
illustrated by Daniel Lafrance
Annick Press , 2013
978-1-55451-489-2 (hc) $27.95
978-1-55451-488-5 (pb) $18.95
for Grades 7 and up
written by Eric Walters
HarperCollins Canada, 2013
978-1-44340-761-8 (pb) $14.99
for Grades 7 and up
Graphic Novel | Child Soldiers | Uganda | Resilience | Hope
Fourteen-year-old Jacob Kitino loves playing soccer and is a whiz
at math — the best at multiplying of all the boys at George Jones
Seminary for Boys in Gulu, Uganda. Then members of Joseph
Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attack the school, abduct
the boys and press them into service as child soldiers and slaves.
Being part of the LRA is brutal and dehumanizing and the boys are
forced to witness the senselessly violent acts committed by the child
soldiers of the LRA where the choices are black and white: kill or
be killed; if you don’t kill, you don’t eat; obey orders or die.
Jacob is convinced that his father and the other parents will
save them and there are rumours that the parents are trying to
make a deal with Kony to get the children back. When news come
that the Ugandan government has ended all negotiations between
the parents and the LRA, Jacob and his friends know that they
must either become killing machines like the other child soldiers
or escape. But is escaping the LRA the end of their trauma?
Lafrance has done an outstanding job translating McKay’s
powerful 2008 novel into graphica. His illustrations beautifully
convey the sense of helplessness and alienation that Jacob and
his friends feel as they are thrust into the devastating violence of
the LRA. Lafrance’s images never shy away from the violence but
neither is this a gory blood-and-guts treatment of McKay’s sensitive
text. Lafrance is also able to enhance, through gentle touches, the
bond of friendship that exists between Jacob and his closest friends
as well as their new allies, Oteka and Hannah. By using black
backgrounds for the portions of the novel about the LRA, Lafrance
interestingly and effectively conveys a sense of the different worlds
that the book takes us into. This visually helps to create a sense of
being trapped and unable to escape this dark and menacing world.
McKay’s novel forces readers to face the trauma that comes with
rescue as well as the horrors of the child soldier’s world. Lafrance’s
treatment also emphasizes the hope that the novel ends with.
The book starts with Jacob writing a letter to his reader and his
hand-writing conveys the full horror of his experience, but the
letter that ends the novel, a typed letter, suggests that Jacob is
dealing with the trauma of this experience and is moving forward
with his life. This is a must for the classroom!
Jeffrey Canton
Fiction | Hockey | Sexual Abuse
Hockey is Cody’s life. All he thinks about is making it to the Junior
A level, which might give him a shot at a NHL. He doesn’t have
much else going for him — school’s a bust, his dad’s an alcoholic
and Cody has some anger issues that make him pretty much an
outsider anywhere but on the ice. Then along comes Coach
Connors who promises Cody a place on the Junior A Watertown
Warriors. Coach is a really good guy — supportive, understanding,
generous — but there’s a catch. Coach has decided to take Cody
under his wing as a “special friend,” one of many young men that
Coach has selected over the years to take into his bed. Now that’s
he been chosen, Cody is trapped because he knows Coach has the
power to make his career or to destroy him. There doesn’t seem any
way out, other than just trying to get through the next four years
on the Warriors or taking his own life. But does Cody have
another option?
Walters’ latest novel is certainly a very timely one. What Walters
does best in Power Playy is take readers into Cody’s inner world as
Coach Connors begins to take over his life — there’s such a clear
sense of Cody’s suffocating realization that he can do nothing to
get out of this situation, that he’s helpless and voiceless and alone.
Connors is a masterful gameplayer, using Cody’s flaws against him
and trapping him like a fly in a spider’s web. Walters has focused
his story on the psychological damage that this abusive relationship causes Cody and keeps the details of the sexual abuse to a
minimum. And he’s provided some alternative role models for
Cody like Terry Fisher, one of the owners of the Warriors, and Mr.
Paisley, the school principal.
Where Power Playy does falter, however, is with its ending. Once
Cody does tell his story, he is back on the ice after having missed
only three games and, while he’s in therapy, his focus there seems
to be his old anger issues. The abuse is a thing of the past — Cody
is ready to move on, fueled by the desire to show Connors that the
abuse won’t destroy his future! Connors has even confessed and
Cody doesn’t have to go through a prolonged trial either. Walters
might be trying to be kind to his young readers by having them see
Cody as strong and ready to face the world, but this fast-forward
ending undermines the power of this novel — not the kind of power
play we might have hoped for on the ice or in the pages of this book.
Power Playy includes a valuable afterword by Sheldon Kennedy,
one of the NHL players sexually abused by coach Graham James,
talking about his own experience, his current work with Respect
Group and resources for kids.
Jeffrey Canton
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Dualed
written by Elsie Chapman
Random House of Canada, 2013
978-0-30793-154-2 (hc) $19.99
978-0-30797-536-2 (ebook) $10.99
for Grades 8 to 12
Fiction | Fantasy
In Kersh, every person has a twin somewhere else in the city,
an “Alt” they must kill when their assignment arrives at any time
between the ages of 10 and 20. West’s whole family has died
through this system and through Peripheral Kills. When the last
member of her family is killed, West has only her friend Chord left.
Becoming a striker — an assassin assigned to kill other people’s
Alts — seems like her safest route to security and training. But when
it’s time for her to hunt down her own Alt, West is no longer sure
she can.
After a rather clunky beginning heavy on the backstory,
d sets itself straight on a taut,
character- and world-building, Dualed
tension-fi lled path; quiet moments are rare and the few — but very
effective — twists keep the pace ratcheted up. We spend most of
the time along with West, and her ruminations over her kills and
several flashbacks to family memories make her a reasonably
sympathetic protagonist. Some of the secondary characters are
forgettable (Baer and Dire, for instance), but others are surprisingly
authentic, including West’s Alt, although the romance will likely
surprise no one.
Serious logical flaws in the world-building are evident. For
example, the premise states the Alts were created to ensure only
the best survive, given Kersh’s limited resources; but having two of
each child would surely only double the usage of resources. It soon
becomes clear, though, that this isn’t a dystopian novel — the protagonist isn’t questioning the world she lives in, or even the system
— which makes the flawed world-building gradually easier to
ignore. And the heart-pounding ending wraps up each plot strand
neatly with enough emotional resonance to leave readers satisfied.
Yahong Chi is an Ottawa-based book reviewer and blogger.
Nix Minus One
written by Jill MacLean
Pajama Press, 2013
978-1-927485-24-8 (hc) $21.95
978-1-927485-25-5 (pb) $14.95
for Grades 8 and up
Fiction | Courage | Siblings | Newfoundland
At 15, Nix Humbolt is taller and leaner than in his “Fatty Humbolt”
days, but he still keeps a low profi le at school. He finds refuge in his
father’s workshop where he builds intricate boxes and tables — and
avoids arguments with his older sister Roxy. When Roxy starts
dating Bryan Sykes, Nix knows he’s bad news — but what can he
do? The only battles he ever fights are on his Xbox — until the day
he finds the nerve to fight for Swiff Dunphy’s neglected dog. When
things start to spin out of control, this dog might just be the one
who saves him.
Award-winning author Jill MacLean uses verse to tell an
emotionally resonant story of an extremely introverted teenager.
Nix still thinks of himself as the bullied fat boy, and he struggles
to find his voice. He’s fiercely loyal and intelligent, and has a
strong sense of justice, but when it comes to acting on it, he feels
helpless. The one area where he can do something is to take care
of the neglected and abused dog, whom he calls Twig.
While never explicitly stated, MacLean draws a subtle and
effective connection between Roxy and Twig in Nix’s mind. The
more out of control Roxy becomes, the more desperate Nix is to
save Twig. Just when he thinks he’s failed at that, too, it’s Roxy
who surprisingly gives him the strength he needs to fight for what
matters to him. Nix Minus One is also a story about transformation,
and MacLean skilfully parallels Twig’s transformation with Nix’s.
As Twig transforms from a skittish, unhappy animal to a happy,
healthy dog, Nix gradually is able to come out of his shell and
emerge as a stronger, more confident boy.
MacLean’s books demand a lot from their readers, and Nix
Minus One is no exception. Her characters are extremely authentic,
and they will make the reader root for everything to turn out OK.
The story is complex and engaging, and the deep themes make
this an excellent novel for study and discussion.
Rachel Seigel is Selection Manager at S&B Books — a division of Whitehots.
How to Tend a Grave
written by Jocelyn Shipley
Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2012
978-1-926531-19-9 (pb) $14.95
for Grades 8 and up
Fiction | Grief | Friendship
It can come out of nowhere and in an instant: the cold, hard shock
that turns your life upside down and ensures that nothing can ever
be the same. For Liam, it is the arrival on his doorstep of two cops
bearing terrible news: his mother is dead. And now he must leave
the only life he knows, trading the comfortable, busy anonymity
of Toronto for the more intimate streets of Dunlane. Once there,
he finds that many people remember his mother — and more than
a few suspect her secret: that the former homecoming queen
was a sex worker.
It doesn’t take long for him to attract the attention of local gang
Youth 4 Crime — or of his beautiful, enigmatic classmate Harmony,
who wanders the local cemetery seeking out the graves of dead
infants, recording their names. She too is in the grip of a deep
and shattering grief, as we learn when the narrative shifts to her
perspective, giving us long diary-letters to a child who would have
been named Rue, if only she had lived.
How to Tend a Grave is appropriately titled; this story is, for
both protagonists, a literal as well as philosophical exercise in
“grave dressing”— that is, of the psychological process of sorting
out one’s feelings about an event or relationship and letting go. And
while Shipley makes a rocky choice or two in her delivery, it is still
a poignant effort: healing is a difficult, painfully vulnerable process,
and our heroes’ missteps reflect how difficult it can really be to let
oneself be helped by another — even if that other is someone you
might come to love. A solid, engaging read, with a satisfying note
of hope for our protagonists, as well as for readers going through
a difficult time.
Lynette Terrill is a librarian and freelance writer.
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OMMENDED BOOKS
The Chaos
written by Nalo Hopkinson
Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), 2012
978-1-4169-5488-0 (hc) $18.99
for Grades 8 and up
Fiction | Fantasy | Dystopian Worlds | Mixed Race
Scotch is a smart, sharp-witted and prickly teenage girl. She
loves dancing and making out with boys. Like many adolescents,
Scotch feels like she doesn’t belong. As someone of mixed race,
she feels she is neither one culture nor another. Another source of
her discomfort is more unusual: she can see odd creatures where
no one else does, and there is a mysterious substance beginning
to cover her body. When the strange things she sees begin to be
noticeable to others too, her world turns bizarre. Scotch is
challenged to examine her own motivations, relationships, and
agency while trying to find order in bewildering chaos.
What starts out as authentic-voiced realism — tackling familiar
young adult fiction tropes like sexuality, prejudice and bullying
— becomes an unpredictable wild ride. Hopkinson draws from
folklore from the Caribbean to Russia to create a fantasy world that
turns the Toronto landscape into a carnivalesque realization of
its inhabitants’ hopes and fears. While nothing gets too horrific,
the strangeness increases with each turn of the page, ranging
from silly to scary to weird.
The Chaos could provoke much discussion, such as unpacking
folklore references and symbols, or drawing connections between
inner worlds and fantastic manifestations, or more overt themes
of race, culture and identity. I wonder at the outcome Hopkinson
chooses for Scotch, but this too could be a point of discussion
with readers.
Scotch’s voice is true and endearing, tough subjects are addressed
frankly and compassionately, and the whole is unexpected,
engaging and definitely entertaining.
Shannon Babcock is a consultant with the Action Plan on Reading in School with the
Quebec Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport.
Breakaway
written by Maureen Ulrich
Coteau Books, 2012
978-1-55050-512-2 (pb) $12.95
for Grades 9 and up
Fiction | Choices | Responsibility | Teamwork |
Hockey | Saskatchewan
Jessie MacIntyre is entering her last year of high school in Estevan
and her last year of playing with her AAA team. She knows she
wants to play hockey at university but there are countless unsolved
questions in her life — who the new coach will be, why her parents
are letting her little sister run wild, how to manage her friendships
with girls who’ve been cut from the team and more.
Unlike many of her peers, Jessie doesn’t drink (because of a
humiliating incident in Grade 10) and she strives to do what is
right. There’s always a little voice in her head to remind her; it’s no
wonder a teammate calls her Captain Anal.
She is carrying a torch for Mark, now playing hockey in Calgary.
She is trying to convince herself that she likes “safe” Evan, who
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adores her, who doesn’t believe in sex before marriage and who
is off to university on a basketball scholarship. The little voice is
telling her to forget Mark and to be honest with Evan, but she can’t
do either. And then there is her classmate Liam, football player and
rodeo competitor.
Jessie is a wonderfully engaging protagonist — a teen who wants
to do the right thing by her friends and her family, but also a tough
athlete with the desire to win. Ulrich immerses us in the life of
competitive sports — the blunt but friendly banter, the barbs from
jealous teammates, the dreams of playing for the national team,
the discipline on ice of even some of the nastiest girls off ice — and
the laughs among girls of diverse ages and backgrounds. An added
pleasure is the rich sense of place that will intrigue both prairie
readers and those unfamiliar with this part of the country.
It isn’t necessary to know anything about hockey — or to have
read the previous books in the Jessie Mac trilogy (Power Playy and
Face Off
ff ) — to thoroughly enjoy Breakaway, but readers new to
the series will definitely want to go back to discover more about
Jessie’s life.
Gillian O’Reilly
Old Man
written by David A. Poulsen
Dundurn Press, 2013
978-1-45970-547-0 (pb) $12.99
for Grades 9 and up
Fiction | Fathers and Sons | Vietnam | Vietnam War
Nate Huff man’s father deserted his family at the age of 52 when
Nate was five. Nate is now 16 and his father has turned up to take
him on a trip. Nate has other plans for the summer but his mother
wants him to go and says his father will explain why. The explanation is a one-word answer about six hours into the first day of
their road trip through the Canadian prairies en route to the
Minneapolis airport: “Saigon.”
A Canadian who enlisted in the US Army because it seemed like
something to do after an injury sidelined a possible career in baseball, Larry Huff man is a man of few words, but Nate pieces together
that his old man (he never calls him “Dad”) served in Vietnam.
In the week or so they spend in Saigon and in various parts of the
countryside, Nate learns more about what his father went through
and how it shaped him — and more about himself as well.
Many surprises await both Nate and the reader; Poulsen
crafts a story that has lots of twists and turns but which remains
completely authentic. Nate’s voice, sometimes blunt, always honest,
starts strong and continues through the story, keeping the reader
completely engaged with his thoughts and his discoveries.
Through Nate’s eyes, Poulsen also gives us the constantly frenetic
pace of modern Saigon and contrasting rural landscape — lush
jungle, peasant farmers, horseback riding — and the ghosts of
history everywhere. One can easily imagine this book as a movie.
Poulsen’s former publisher was Key Porter Books and, like other
authors, his books were caught up in the bankruptcy of that
company. It’s great to see him with a new publisher and fine new
book. Gripping, revealing, funny and sad, Old Man will be
welcomed by Poulsen fans everywhere.
Gillian O’Reilly
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Counting Back From Nine
written by Valerie Sherrard
Fitzhenry & Whitesitde, 2013
978-1-55455-245-0 (pb) $9.95
for Grades 9 and up
Fiction | Secrets | Grief | Family | Relationships
Laren Oliver knows the rules, but her attraction to a friend’s
ex-boyfriend is strong. She tells herself that if they can keep it a
secret, no one will get hurt — but Laren isn’t the only one with
something to hide. Thus begins a year-long journey through
secrets, lies, exposures and betrayals. Laren must somehow find a
way to reconcile who she is with what she’s done. And when tragedy
strikes, she finds herself struggling with a discovery so shocking
it rocks the very foundation of her world.
Award-winning author Valerie Sherrard uses verse to tell a story
of secrets and revelations, and one teen’s year of self-discovery.
Laren thinks she knows what she’s doing when she pursues a
relationship with Scott, her best friend’s ex-boyfriend. She knows
it’s wrong, but she naively believes that secrets can remain secret
without consequences. When her secret is discovered, it negatively
affects all of her relationships, and she ends up being ostracised by
her peers.
When her father dies, Laren discovers that he harboured
secrets of his own, and the revelation of these secrets effectively
parallels her own situation. Aside from the grief of losing her father,
there is shock, anger and judgement, but also understanding, as
Laren comes to terms with what both her father and she have done.
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
The language is stark but poetic, and the free verse format
perfectly suits the story. Sherrard’s characters are written with
compassion, and a keen understanding of how teenagers think and
feel. Laren’s voice feels authentic and emotionally true, and readers
will empathize with her feelings of isolation and grief. Her growing
awareness of who she is and how she fits with her family, friends
and the world is central to the novel, and through her memories
of her father, she learns and accepts a great number of truths
about herself.
Counting Back from Nine is poignant and emotionally resonant,
and teens will be wholly engaged from the first page to the last.
Rachel Seigel
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
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OMMENDED BOOKS
Allegra
written by Shelley Hrdlitschka
Orca Book Publishers, 2013
978-1-45980-197-4 (pb) $12.95
for Grades 9 and up
Fiction | Relationships |
Teacher-Student Relationships | Music
Allegra hopes that spending her senior year at a performing arts
high school will change her life and make her a better dancer. But
high school is still high school, and home isn’t much better. Forced
to take a class in music theory, Allegra takes refuge in writing
music with her young teacher, who nurtures and appreciates her
talent. But when her feelings for him become more intense and he
seems to reciprocate, Allegra sets in motion a chain of events that
threatens to destroy everything — and everyone — she loves.
Hrdlitschka is known for having her pulse on hot-button issues
for teens, and her latest novel, which examines a teacher-student
attraction, is no exception.
Allegra is studying dance, in part, for the freedom she feels
when she dances. The drama and politics of high school are of little
interest to her, and having friends is low priority. She is a girl who
allows her passion to consume her, and her peers don’t understand
her intensity.
Allegra’s theory teacher not only recognizes her talent for composing, but nurtures it, and Hrdlitschka does an excellent job of
illustrating the subtle, gradual and easily understandable shift in
their relationship. Like Allegra, he gets so caught up in the creation
of something that he stops thinking of her as a student, and treats
her more as an equal. There is no evil intent here, nor does anything
happen that will make readers squirm. Allegra’s growing attraction to her teacher is born of a combination of feeling that someone
shares her passion, and her difficulties getting along with kids her
own age. Allegra’s vulnerability and need to connect with somebody make her a sympathetic character, whom readers will like.
Allegra is a story of transformation. It is not about whether or
not she is truly in love, or whether the teacher reciprocates. There
are consequences for her actions, but the experience helps her to
discover who she is and what she wants, and to better understand
what true and meaningful relationships are.
Rachel Siegel
will hear the story of Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman who fought for
democracy in the corrupt military regime of Burma / Myanmar, as
well as Helen Suzman, a South African Member of Parliament who
joined forces with Nelson Mandela to fight apartheid. Scandiffio’s
final chapter addresses the 2011 uprising in Egypt, demonstrating
how political protest and public revolt continue to be a reality in
places around the world today.
Each profi le is accompanied by photographs, captions and
full-page coloured sidebars explaining events mentioned within the
story. By blending storytelling with non-fiction elements, Scandiffio
helps readers to relate to these figures as real people, giving life to
what may otherwise seem like a distant historical event.
The ease of readability makes these difficult topics accessible to
students in junior and intermediate grades. While the stories do
not gloss over the realities of war and conflict, Scandiffio is careful
to discuss events without too much graphic detail. Since the seven
profi les span a variety of topics and timeframes, teachers may
find this book to be a useful tool for group tasks in Social Studies,
or as a model for students on combining narrative writing with
non-fiction research.
Amanda Cannon is a teacher-librarian in Markham, Ontario.
NEW EDITIONS
Tomson Highway’s Caribou Songg (originally published in 2001
with illustrations by Brian Deines) is being re-issued by Fift h
House Publishing. The new edition features illustrations by John
Rombough, a Chipewyan Dene artist living in the Northwest
Territories. This is Rombough’s first picture book.
Five books in Roy MacGregor’s Screech Owls series are back with
new covers and minor updates, along with a new Screech Owls
adventure, Face-Off at the Alamo (Tundra Books).
People Who Said No:
Courage Against Oppression
written by Laura Scandiffio
Annick Press, 2012
978-1-55451-383-3 (hc) $24.95
978-1-55451-382-6 (pb) $14.95
for Grades 5 to 9
Non-fiction | History | Biography | Ethics | Human Rights | Values
People Who Said No is a compilation of seven profi les of
“rule-breakers”: people who defied laws or governments in order
to fight against oppression and corruption. While author Laura
Scandiffio does include more popular historical topics such as
Hitler’s Germany and Rosa Parks’ famous bus ride, she also highlights some lesser known yet equally courageous heroes. Readers
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LOOKING
FOR .... AWARDS
NEWS AND
HISTORY?
Who won what
and when did they win it?
Get the most up-to-date
e awards news,
as well as the most
authoritative and comprehensive
prehensive
list of Canadian children’s
en’s book
awards (including discontinued
ontinued
awards programs).
For more information, visit
www.bookcentre.ca/award
IN OUR
NEXT ISSUE ...
Black Canadian stories
Meet the dynamic voices
oices
telling new stories for
young readers.
Plus
A profile of author and illustrator
Georgia Graham, food books for
young readers and reviews
iews of
over 30 new titles.
For more information, visit
www.bookcentre.ca
W W W. B O O K C E N T R E . C A
Drop
p in
for a look
CCBC Collections Across the Country
Drop in for a look at the titles in the Centre’s library
collections at the national office in Toronto or at one of
the four regional locations. Phone ahead for hours
and availability.
In Toronto
Canadian Children’s Book Centre
40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 217
Toronto ON M4R 1B9
416 975-0010 x222
Contact: Meghan Howe
[email protected]
In Vancouver
Education Library
University of British Columbia
Faculty of Education (Scarfe Building)
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4
604 822-0940
Contact: Christopher Ball
[email protected]
In Edmonton
Herbert T. Coutts Education Library
Education South
University of Alberta
Edmonton AB T6G 2G5
780 942-1429
Contact: Dr. Merrill Distad
[email protected]
In Winnipeg
Elizabeth Dafoe Library
University of Manitoba
25 Chancellors Circle
Winnipeg MB R3T 2N2
204 474-9977
Contact: Donna Masson
[email protected]
In Halifax
Mount Saint Vincent University Library
166 Bedford Highway
Halifax NS B3M 2J6
902 457-6108
Contact: Terrence Paris
[email protected]
S P R I N G 2 013 C A N A D I A N C H I L D R E N ’ S B O O K N E W S
39
Kim La Fave
REVIEWS IN T
TH
HIS ISSUE
from Gubby Builds a Boat, page 29
22
26
THE CLASSROOM BOOKSHELF
WE RECOMMEND
The Arab World Thought of It :
Inventions, Innovations and Amazing Facts
(We Thought of It)
Saima S. Hussain
Allegra
Shelley Hrdlitschka
Old Man
David A. Poulsen
And Nothing But the Truth
Kit Pearson
One Year in Coal Harbour
Polly Horvath
Ava and the Little Folk
Neil Christopher, Alan Neal, Jonathan Wright
People Who Said No:
Courage Against Oppression
Laura Scandiffio
Follow Your Money: Who Gets It,
Who Spends It, Where Does It Go?
Michael Hlinka, Kevin Sylvester
Learn to Speak Fashion: A Guide to Creating,
Showcasing and Promoting Your Style
(Learn to Speak)
Laura deCarufel, Jeff Kulak
24
BOOK BITS
Days That End in Y
Vikki VanSickle
Every Never After
Lesley Livingston
The Gypsy Kings
Maureen Fergus
The Metro Dogs of Moscow
Rachelle Delaney
The Awesome, Almost 100%
True Adventures of Matt & Craz
Alan Silberberg
Breakaway
Maureen Ulrich
The Chaos
Nalo Hopkinson
Counting Back From Nine
Valerie Sherrard
Dualed
Elsie Chapman
Falling Kingdoms
Morgan Rhodes
Gubby Builds a Boat
Gary Kent, Kim LaFave
Hockey Girl
Natalie Hyde
How to Tend a Grave
Jocelyn Shipley
Power Play
Eric Walters
Really and Truly
Émilie Rivard, Anne-Claire Delisle,
Sarah Quinn (trans.)
Times Two
Sheree Plett, Shari-Anne Vis
Toads on Toast
Linda Bailey, Colin Jack
War Brothers
Sharon E. McKay, Daniel Lafrance
Welcome, Baby
Barbara Reid
What the Snakes Wrote
Hazel Hutchins, Tina Holdcroft
Where Do You Look?
Marthe Jocelyn, Nell Jocelyn
If You Hold a Seed
Elly MacKay
Jason’s Why
Beth Goobie
Reviews from
Canadian Children’s Book News
Nix Minus One
Jill MacLean
are indexed in the Children’s Literature
Comprehensive Database, Gale Online
Databases and EBSCO Publishing.
Visit www.bookcentre.ca
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The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Suite 217, 40 Orchard View Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario M4R 1B9