The Salt Princess (Everlasting Tales #2)

Retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

Translated by Humera Syed

Harper (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-332471-8

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2025 

 

Folktales tell us a lot about a culture and people, yet many have commonalities across cultures and people. The Salt Princess, a story which Anoosha Syed humbly presents as a retelling, but illustrated by her, is one such folktale from Pakistan, told with a unique flair with the message that true happiness comes from being one's self.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

In the Kingdom of Zammartud, the king had four daughters. Though her older sisters were "as lovely and bright" as their father hoped of his daughters, Amal was less so. Princess Amal loved pranks and making her sisters laugh. But, when her father asked his daughters how they loved him, her sisters compared their love for him to sweets like sugar, honey and sherbet. However, he is not pleased with Princess Amal's answer: "I love you like salt."

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

In a rage at comparing him to something as common as salt, the king banishes Princess Amal. She knows she had misspoken but now she is alone in the woods.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

She is rescued by Prince Arsalan who hears her story and takes her to his kingdom. He appreciates her spirit and humour and, after a year had passed, he asks her to marry him. But that proposal reminds Amal of the absence of her family and the riff with her father. Being the clever woman she is, Amal devises a plan.

 

Prince Arsalan invites the king to a banquet where he is treated to countless sweet treats. Soon enough he realizes he would appreciate something other than desserts but even those dishes are lacking in flavour. It is only when a cloaked Amal gives him a humble farmer's dish of spinach seasoned with salt that his palate is satisfied. With that, Amal reveals herself and explains her love for him is as pure and valuable as the salt in that dish.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

The tale in The Salt Princess will seem familiar with other stories in which a child is banished by a father who does not appreciate their self-expression. That parent has to come to realize the virtue and originality of being an individual and to look beyond the obvious. In her retelling, Anoosha Syed, a Pakistani Canadian artist, gives life to a tale she'd heard as a child and blankets it in the colour and culture of her heritage.

 

The story is told in words but also through the glow of Anoosha Syed's artwork. The illustrations begin bright and colourful, playful like Amal's mischievous pranks and spirited nature. But, as her story progresses, taking her into a forest, beautiful as it is, it becomes dark and foreboding. Then when she meets the prince, the artwork becomes comforting in tones of pinks and turquoise. And throughout the story, the artwork is rich in details in both the lushness of the shapes and vibrancy of its colours.

 

As with all folktales which entertain while teaching, The Salt Princess reminds us that perceptions of others may be misconstrued and inappropriately compel us to fit in by being untrue to ourselves. Thankfully, Princess Amal is a clever woman and true to herself and finds a way to prove to her father that her love for him is just as true, even if different.

2025 Stephen Leacock Student Humourous Short Story Competition

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) was a well-known Canadian writer and humourist as well as academic whose impact on Canadian culture and society has been recognized with countless awards, including being recognized as a National Historic Person of Canada. For me, his book Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town makes him as quintessential a writer of CanLit as Lucy Maud Montgomery, Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. 

 

In 1947, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour was established, and the student writing award in 1977. 

The 2025 competition is now open, closing on April 15, 2025, and I encourage parents and teachers to invite Ontario teens (ages 14-19) to submit their humourous short stories or personal essays to this competition. The prizes are very generous and this contest gives young writers an opportunity to get their work out there and maybe meet a Canadian author of note. (See prizes below.)

 

Details follow. Full details can be found at https://leacock.ca/studentaward.php and inquiries can be made to Christy den Haan-Veltman, Registrar - Student Awards, at studentawards@leacock.ca.

 

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WHO MAY ENTER?

The contest is open to Ontario students (public, separate, private, home school, university or college) who are of ages 14 to 19.

 

 

WHAT TO SUBMIT?

The contest is looking for:

• an original humourous short story or humourous personal essay;
• maximum word count of 1500 words;
• a titled work; and
• formatted to include page numbers and the title on every page.

Depending on how you submit, whether online or by mail, the formatting will be different, so page attention to the requirements as posted on https://leacock.ca/studentaward.php.

 

HOW TO ENTER?

There is a $5 entry fee.

 

Submit your writing by the deadline of Tuesday, April 15, 2025 through the following link  https://leacock.ca/essayform.php or via mail (so make sure it's postmarked before the April 15th deadline).

 

(All this information are posted on the Leacock Award website at https://leacock.ca/studentaward.php)

HOW WILL SUBMISSIONS BE JUDGED?

Entries will be judged blind. (Entries are opened on arrival in Orillia by a disinterested party who removes the cover page and assigns a number to the entry. The number is placed in a register, along with the student’s name and school, and the numbered entry is then passed to the committee of judges who are all published authors, many of whom have been nominated or have won the Leacock Award. The register is not returned to the committee until the judging is complete.)

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?

First Prize: $1500

Second Prize: $750

Third Prize: $750 

Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 15, 2025.

 

Winners will read their works at the "Meet the Authors Night" in Orillia on Friday, June 20, 2025 and receive their awards. (Note: All three student winners will receive two tickets, one for themselves, plus one for their guest, though additional tickets may be purchased.) 

The first place winner will also be invited (two tickets) for the Gala Dinner on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at which the winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour will be announced.

 

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Time to get your funny on and start writing.

 

Good luck to all young writers!

 

No Huddles for Heloise

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Illustrated by Udayana Lugo

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3910-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

March 2025 

I like Heloise. Heloise knows what she likes and doesn't like. She likes sledding and fish popsicles, sharing rocks with friends, and her own space. 

From No Huddles for Heloise, written by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Udayana Lugo

What she doesn't like, other than the leopard seals that no penguins like, are crowds and hullabaloo and those huddles that penguins do for warmth and protection. Those huddles that are just too close.

Huddles give Heloise the heebie-jeebies.

The jim-jams.

The willies.

And the collywobbles.

From No Huddles for Heloise, written by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Udayana Lugo

But how can she say no to the other penguins and not hurt their feelings? Typically, she has a number of excuses from taking her fish for a walk or polishing her rock collection. Heloise is perfectly happy on her own, enjoying her things, her space, and her own thoughts. 

From No Huddles for Heloise, written by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Udayana Lugo

But then the other penguins stop asking her to join them in huddles and Heloise begins to question her own wants and needs, and seeks companions elsewhere. Unfortunately, her travels are disappointing and even dangerous on her own and she returns home to find that her friends have found a way to accommodate her need for personal space while offering her the protection that huddles provide.

It's lovely to read a story about an introverted character who doesn't feel compelled to fit in with the extroverts or have the extroverts demand that their way of socializing and gregarious behaviour is preferable and, worse, the norm. I'm so glad Deborah Kerbel, an accomplished writer of picture books, middle grade and YA, demonstrates an acceptance of the introverted Heloise rather than sympathy for her nature. (The sympathy should be towards the attitude she experiences from those who are not introverted.) Instead, Deborah Kerbel validates the fullness of Heloise's life without the partying and closeness demanded or even just requested by her penguin peers. Heloise is a happy penguin, accepting of her nature and choices. She's never rude but she is true to her herself. Too bad that she feels like she doesn't belong because belonging does not mean being the same as others.

From No Huddles for Heloise, written by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Udayana Lugo

I love the positive messages that Deborah Kerbel gives us in No Huddles for Heloise, and BC's Udayana Lugo gives us the whimsy of that message in Heloise and her friends. From their accessories, like pom-pom hats, scarves, and bandanas, to props like a rock polisher or a whale stuffed animal, Udayana Lugo demonstrates the differences among the penguins are the norm and Heloise's introversion is just another manifestation of wonderful diversity. She created her art primarily using gouache and coloured pencils, which gives a bright and rich portrayal of the penguins and the landscape in which they live and play.

 

I'm with Heloise–except for the fish popsicles–that quiet and solitary activities offer comfort in ways that many extroverts will never understand. While we all must engage with others for safety, for work, or for other needs, it's lovely to see Heloise be accepted and even accommodated for her needs, not chastised for being different.

What's in the Cookie Tin?

Written by Yolanda T. Marshall

Illustrated by Golnoush Moini

Chalkboard Publishing

978-1-77105-884-1

36 pp.

Ages 3-8

2024 

 

Who doesn't have an assortment of cookie tins kicking around the house? Whether they were the packaging in which biscuits were purchased or tins specifically purchased to store cookies, most people have at least a couple. But what is inside a cookie tin cannot be discerned until that lid is removed. And when a tin displays an assortment of tasty treats, what would most children anticipate? 

From What's in the Cookie Tin?, written by Yolanda T. Marshall, illustrated by Golnoush Moini

Olivia and Benjamin head over to their grandparents' home, looking forward to their grandfather's wacky pranks and the hugs they get from Grandma. But they are especially keen to go through their father's childhood toys in the guest bedroom. That is, until Benjamin spots a blue and gold cookie tin on a shelf. Their struggle to open the tin–those tins can be a struggle for little hands–is interrupted by lunch.

From What's in the Cookie Tin?, written by Yolanda T. Marshall, illustrated by Golnoush Moini

Surprisingly, they revisit that cookie tin when Grandma goes to mend a tear in Olivia's dress. But why would Grandma want cookies to repair a torn dress? The surprise is on Grandma, though, much to the delight of the children because Grandpa had another trick up his sleeve.

From What's in the Cookie Tin?, written by Yolanda T. Marshall, illustrated by Golnoush Moini

Yolanda T. Marshall speaks to so many with this playful and yet innocent story of a cookie tin. That cookie tin, with which many who have ever enjoyed butter cookies from a tin will be familiar, brings joy and laughter through a little fun, a lot of tastiness, and a family-load of affection.  And Yolanda T. Marshall, who also wrote the recently reviewed Hot Cross Buns for Everyone!, not only tells a charming intergenerational story, but she also gives us a story of a black family. Though the number of stories with persons of colour are ever increasing, it's lovely to read a story that would allow black children to see themselves and their families as typical and sweet and lighthearted, as every child should.

 

Golnoush Moini, an illustrator and 2D animator from Vancouver, keeps that playfulness in her prominent colours and well-defined shapes. It's also refreshing how dark-skinned Golnoush Moini makes her characters, not trying to appease non-BIPOC who narrow-mindedly expect families of lighter skin. From the grandparents to the grandkids, the characters in What's in the Cookie Tin? are convincing real in appearance and activities.

This cookie tin is busy, getting opened by grandparents, children and parents, and swapped between cookie vessel and sewing kit. And yet it's a bigger story. Yolanda T. Marshall includes "Cookie Tin Memories" at the conclusion of her story in which educators share their own fond remembrances of cookie tins that held everything from buttons to craft supplies to loose change and even baked goods. (Butter cookies were often housed in these blue tins and Yolanda T. Marshall includes a recipe for them too.) But no one knows what's in the cookie tin until that lid is pried off and the secrets within revealed and share. So, what's in your family's cookie tins?

Funny Pages Festival: 2025 (Halifax Public Library)

 

If you're fortunate enough to live in Halifax and environs, then be prepared to listen and read and laugh with some of Canada's funniest writers and illustrators of books for young people. Touted as "Canada's only festival celebrating books that crack kids up!", Funny Pages, the brain child of funny writer Vicki Grant, returns to Halifax Public Library this April. Two days of events for preschoolers to young people in Grade 6 are scheduled. Full details can be found at the Funny Pages website but here is some basic info about dates and times and scheduled presenters (with information about some of their books).

 

Time and Dates:

 

Little Funny Pages

For Preschoolers to Grade 3:    

Thursday, April 24, 2025
10 AM to 2 PM
Halifax Central Library

For Grades 3-6:     

Friday April 25, 2025

9:30 AM to 2:30PM

Halifax Central Library

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Scheduled Presenters:

 

 

Paul Gilligan

King of the Mole People

Rise of the Slugs

Pluto Rocket: New in Town

Pluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a Lid

Anna Humphrey

Megabat

Megabat is a Fraidybat

Bee & Flea and the Puddle Problem

Bee & Flea and the Compost Caper

Fluffle Bunnies: Buns Gone Bad

Fluffle Bunnies: Big City Buns

 

 

 

Andy Tolson

How to Kidnap a Mermaid

How to Rescue a Unicorn (coming in 2025)

How to Wrestle an Octopus (coming in 2026)

 

Mitali Banerjee Ruths

Archie Celebrates Diwali

The Party Diaries: Awesome Orange Birthday

The Party Diaries: Starry Henna Night

The Party Diaries: Lucky Mermaid Sleepover

The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe

The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah

 

 

 

Leslie Gentile

Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer

Elvis, Me and the Postcard Winter 

 

 

 

Michelle Robinson

How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth

She Rex

Lobster's Vacation

Do Not Mess with the Mermaids

 

 

 

Yolanda T. Marshall 

Big Birthday Wishes

Hot Cross Buns for Everyone! 

What's in the Cookie Tin?

C is for Carnival

 

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It's time to take humour seriously and let the professional share their funny pages with young readers. Head to the Funny Pages website for details and contact info.

Ins and Outs

Imagined by Elizabeth Withey

Illustrated by Salini Perera 

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3835-2

32 pp.

Ages 3-5

March 2025 

 

You'll notice that, instead of indicating Elizabeth Withey as the author above with the words "Written by," I've repeated the words "Imagined by" as they appear on the front cover of Ins and Outs. This is because Ins and Outs is primarily a concept book that reinforces the idea of positioning i.e., being in and out. The text is limited to two words: "in" and "out." But Elizabeth Withey, a Calgary author, journalist and visual artist, doesn't need more words. She has envisioned fabulous pairings of circumstances that many children will recognize to easily pick up on the concepts of in and out.

From Ins and Outs, imagined by Elizabeth Withey, illustrated by Salini Perera

The first combination of in and out involves a child snug in bed, in the house, while outside the bedroom window a cat prowls in the dark and a luna moth takes flight. From a school yard to cycling on the street, playing in a garden or with a playground parachute, a diverse group of children show things that happen outside and inside, and in and out of a wide variety of places and things.

From Ins and Outs, imagined by Elizabeth Withey, illustrated by Salini Perera

Elizabeth Withey gives young children many opportunities to grasp the concept of "in" and "out" from both obvious and not-so-obvious scenarios. The "inside" and "outside" are the obvious like the children who are standing outside the school or the cat that exits the bedroom to head outside. But Elizabeth Withey has also imagined cold breath going in and condensed exhalation going out, and a nail in the road that will soon be "in" a bike tire and allow air out. The use of a hearing aid to allow sound in and the use of sign language to allow words out is a one of the most thought-provoking of circumstances. As such, the learning of the concept of in and out becomes an interactive read with every double-page spread offering chances to find more and more examples than the most obvious.

From Ins and Outs, imagined by Elizabeth Withey, illustrated by Salini Perera

Because the text is so sparse, the illustrations must provide much of the basis for the learning of the concept, and artist Salini Perera's digital illustrations provide that basis handsomely. She ensures that the big idea of "in" or "out" is evident but then provides little details that enhance the messaging about the concept. With art lively both in content and form, Salini Perera, whose illustrations were reviewed in Beautiful You, Beautiful Me, helps children see the ins and outs of our world.

From Ins and Outs, imagined by Elizabeth Withey, illustrated by Salini Perera

It's different to read a concept book that isn't a board book, especially one that focuses on such a basic concept. But I guess all concepts are basic until you understand them.  Still, Elizabeth Withey and Salini Perera have imagined a refreshing way to teach the idea of position and get children to think even more deeply about how it can be demonstrated in the most unusual of activities.

The One and Only Question

Written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles

Illustrated by Ken Daley

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-965-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2025 

 

Most children starting at a new school worry a bit, or a lot. They know what they've experienced previously, good or bad, and project in onto the next school, worrying that it could be worse or at least not as good as the last school. The worry and anticipation can be heartbreaking. But if that worry is wrapped up in remembered racism, it can be multiplied and overwhelm, and that first day might be envisioned as the worst day ever. Zeke does just this.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles, illustrated by Ken Daley

For Zeke, his great worry is that he will be called the "N-word" as he'd heard at his old school. And getting ready for that first day seems to herald the worst day possible. He can't wear his favourite shirt. He can't find his hair pick. The cat doesn't want him to leave. And it's raining.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles, illustrated by Ken Daley

When he finally gets on the bus, it's stuffy and smelly. And, although one boy stares at him, no one speaks to Zeke. Once in his class, a hot portable, his teacher demands all the students' attention and has no patience for Zeke's nervousness. Every moment, he anticipates hearing the N-word, "But nothing happens...yet."

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles,  illustrated by Ken Daley

After lunch, the kids run around the track. When he's approached by one boy, Zeke waits for that horrific word, even balling up his hands into fists. But Jay only tells Zeke that he's really fast for a nine-year-old. And on the bus ride back, there's a new driver, a man of colour, who greets the boy and asks about his first day, and Zeke gets an invitation from Jay to join him playing basketball. With that, Zeke's outlook flips, hopeful that...

Tomorrow could be even better.

He just knows it.

Stories like this are heartbreaking, knowing that young children of colour hear racial slurs levelled against them at school where they should feel safe. For Zeke to anticipate the worst is more than disappointing. It's tragic. And it's even more so because it's based on the experience of Norma Charles' and Andrea Charles' grandson and son. The text of The One and Only Question conveys with such poignancy Zeke's apprehension for a horrible day, even at a new school where everything should feel fresh. Instead of expecting goodness, new friends, and positive beginnings, his viewpoint and mood are fearful, and cannot help but cloud every interaction he has, from riding the school bus or eating his lunch, to playing outside. He anticipates "the worst day ever" and understandably sees everything through that lens. But Norma Charles and Andrea Charles also give Zeke the opportunity to pull back that fatalism and see a positive interaction when someone reaches out to him and then when others do the same. He's not rooted in the belief that things will only be horrible. He sees around his fears and looks at these interactions from a different perspective and sees what he likes. That's both courageous and strong.

 

I don't know if Ken Daley's African-Caribbean roots helped him connect with the child in Norma Charles's and Andrea Charles's story, but he shows us a boy whose worry is deep and his experiences with racism palpable. Ken Daley, who also illustrated I Am Cherished and Granny's Kitchen, gives us a boy whose body language expresses his anger, his despair, his fear, and finally his relief and even joy. The art keeps the colours around Zeke bright and bold, like the strength that is within the boy, though around him it might be raining or dull or worrisome.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles,  illustrated by Ken Daley

I'm very pleased that no one ever used the N-word in The One and Only Question, though I'm not naive enough to think it's not a common slur heard by Black children and adults. (Norma Charles and Andrea Charles include ideas for students, caregivers, and teachers on how to handle racism and bullying.) But Zeke demonstrates how past trauma with that smear can impact all future dealings. Thankfully some new people in his life demonstrated that he doesn't have to worry about hearing it from them, and he can begin to enjoy the positives that can come from new beginnings.