Sea Snooze

Written by Sarabeth Holden

Illustrated by Emma Pedersen

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-442-4

28 pp.

Ages 3-5

July 2024

 

While a mother reads a bedtime story to her children perched in their bed, their imaginations are invited to soar.

From Sea Snooze, written by Sarabeth Holden, illustrated by Emma Pedersen

All aboard our little boat!

We'll sail all night. Let's see where we float!

In their dream boat, they travel far and wide, over mountains and icy seas, where the stars shine bright and guide their way. They see gulls and guillemots, minke whales and belugas, and seals.  As the animals play and feed, the children sail across the waves.

Minkes in the sound exhale from their spouts,

spraying drops of sparkling water all about.

From Sea Snooze, written by Sarabeth Holden, illustrated by Emma Pedersen

These are but their dreams, spurred on by their mother's reading and their own lives in an Arctic environment. In fact, their bedroom provides all the setting elements, from the animals in a mobile near the bed, to a wallpaper border of water and starry sky, and stuffed bears and narwhal. (If readers look closely, they'll see the patches on the balloon tethered to their boat match those of the well-loved stuffed narwhal toy on the bed.) Their dreams come from their lives: the bed is their boat, its blankets their sails, and their experiences, from snacking on seaweed and fish to watching the wildlife of their Arctic home, give texture to their dreams.

Soon the morning will come,

the sunshine glittering gold,

with all the wonders that

the new day holds.

What a lovely rhyming text to send your own young ones into their nightly respite! They may not know of an Arctic home with an ocean rich with wildlife both in the water and above it, but they'll appreciate taking a boat to a wondrous place with familiar elements from their own lives. Author Sarabeth Holden, who also wrote Please Don't Change My Diaper! and Benny the Bananasaurus Rex, both of which were also illustrated by Emma Pedersen, may currently live in Toronto but her experiences living in Nunavut and being a mother feed her stories. Sea Snooze speaks to parents putting little ones to bed and to those same little ones visiting dreamland via their own experiences. A co-founder of the Toronto Inuit Association, Sarabeth Holden embeds this story in modern Inuit life whose homes could be anywhere in Canada. But, by emphasizing the landscape that only those of the far north would understand and the inclusion of an occasional Inuktitut word, Sarabeth Holden helps us see that the dreams of these children are unique to their home, and all the richer for their familiarity with it. Yet, with her energetic rhyming that has us travelling with the children on their dream boat, Sarabeth Holden is singing a lullaby for children to rest, imagine, and enjoy their lives in a different way.

From Sea Snooze, written by Sarabeth Holden, illustrated by Emma Pedersen

Emma Pedersen keeps the playful in the soothing tranquility of children heading to sleep and into their dreams. From their colourful pajamas and bedding to their assortment of toys and art, these kids have wonderful energy to feed those dreams. And though their dreamworld is mostly one of dark turquoises and blues, not unlike the Arctic Ocean and a night sky, Emma Pedersen infuses those scapes with warmth in the playfulness of the animals and the whimsy in their faces and in the clouds. 

 

You might want to read Sea Snooze to your own little ones, perhaps before bedtime, so that they might be encouraged to use their imaginations to discover their own sleep journeys. Their beds may be different, their toys unlike those in Sea Snooze, and the animals they have seen a far cry from the narwhal and the minke whale, but hopefully they'll have their own foundation for dreams to bring joy and contentment and, of course, sleep.

Faker

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic

978-1-338826753

224 pp.

Ages 8-12

July 2024

 

As Dad always says, the intersection of too much money and too little know-how is the sweet spot of our family business. (pg. 2)

That family business is conning rich people out of their money and Trey and Arianna's father is a master. The con always changes, just like their names and locations, but the kids, Trey who is now 12 and Arianna who is 10, have always been part of the operation. It's often Trey who makes the connections with worthy marks when he is sent to exclusive boarding schools, but Arianna is desperate to prove her worth too. Although Dad and the kids are a strong unit–Mom left when they were very young–Trey is always sorry when they must do a "Houdini" and disappear. He likes having friends and being part of something other than a family scam.

After returning from their latest Caribbean holiday after a necessary Houdini, Dad takes them to Boxelder, Tennessee where they become Davis Kirkwood II (Dad who is known as Junior), Trey is Davis Kirkwood III (get it? - Trey for three), and Arianna is Aryana Kirkwood (same first name, different spelling). They have a house in the exclusive The Pointe neighbourhood and the kids will be going to regular school. Before Dad has even devised a scam, Trey is making a connection with Logan Romano, a neighbourhood kid whose parents are art dealers. Never to be outdone, Arianna brings home Micah Zabrachian whose parents own the largest home around. Finally, Dad comes up with a scam that may be the Big Kahuna: an amazing electric vehicle that can go 1000 miles on a single charge. He calls it El Capitan and gets a guy he knows–Dad knows a guy for everything–to create El Capitan from parts of a Tesla and other cars. It may not do what he's telling everyone it can, but it's gorgeous and attention-grabbing and people want in on the investment.

Meanwhile, Trey is fitting in nicely at Boxelder Middle School and has even joined YAAP, the Youth Alliance for Albion Pond, an environmental group headed by Kaylee Novak who lives in the less-affluent community of Albion. He's a little smitten with Kaylee, whose father is Trey's social studies teacher, so he's happy to help support the remediation of Albion Pond.

But then things go awry when Dad has incidentally selected the location of Albion Pond as the future home of El Capitan's first, and fictional, factory. Trey may know the company isn't real, but Kaylee certainly doesn't and YAAP's fight suddenly moves in a different direction.

How does Trey support "the family business" and still have a cohort of friends, albeit one that will be abandoned when Dad calls the next Houdini? And what of Arianna whose petulance at not being considered a full partner is becoming exasperating? And then there's the emails from I.C. All that suggest the scam has been discovered. 

What a story! Trey is an average kid who wants to have friends and be liked, play sports and be appreciated by his family. He's often torn by the ethics of what his Dad does but he's not exactly in a position to challenge it. The cons are what feed them and provide for them. But Trey is starting to question things more, mostly courtesy of Mr. Novak's lessons on ethics and Trey liking Kaylee, but he knows no other life than that of the scam. Gordon Korman, the master of middle-grade novels with heart and humour, never makes us judge Trey's family though. The reader knows theft by con artists is wrong, but Faker is less about the criminality and more about the ethics of balancing family and what's right and wrong. Gordon Korman makes us empathize with Trey's dilemma–personally I found his younger sister more of a problem than the con–recognizing the familiar need to fit in. Trey may not realize he's becoming popular in his own right but he's a nice guy and fitting in might just become a problem for a kid who's not supposed to make real connections with people, only fake ones.

Faker is a fabulously real story of a middle-grade kid caught between a rock and a hard place who finds out that things aren't always as they appear. His dad may be responsible for much of the deception but, when you're loyal to a person whose vocation is to rip-off people, it's hard to know what's right or wrong. Fortunately, even at age 12, Trey finds a way to see past the fakery and come out from that uncomfortable position and ascend to a place of decency.

Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale?

Written by Caroline Woodward

Illustrated by Claire Victoria Watson

Pownal Street Press

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

June 2024

 

With humour and rhyme, Caroline Woodward, who wrote the text for beautifully illustrated picture books  A West Coast Summer (2018) and Singing Away the Dark (2017), again takes us to her beloved West Coast to really take in all the sensory experiences that life there offers. We will hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and learn and wonder at the unique ecosystem that is the ocean and its coast from those who live and enjoy it.

Have you ever heard a whale exhale

and SLAP the water with its tail?

Breathing in after breathing out,

heaving WHOOSH with a mighty spout!

Our visit to the West Coast has us listening to a whale as it breaches, breathing and tail slapping and spouting. Its behaviours may be typical but to any observer they are captivating and revealing. Such are the actions of the seals who spy-hop to see what's going on–one with a monocle suggests they are paying close attention–or of the oystercatcher, a shore bird, who can pry open molluscs.

From Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale? by Caroline Woodward, illus. by Claire Victoria Watson

And what of the smelly sea lions and the squawking seagulls, eagles and dolphins? All have their place and ways of living that intrigue and reveal life on and near the ocean. But Caroline Woodward also includes humans who are invited to think about what it means to be these animals and the ocean and what living on it and near it is truly like.

From Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale? by Caroline Woodward, illus. by Claire Victoria Watson

By phrasing her text as a series of questions, Caroline Woodward invites the reader to think about the ocean, its animals and their behaviours, including those of humans on the water, at a campfire or something else. Questions like "Have you ever felt the freezing north wind blow...?" or "Have you ever wondered why eagles love to fly..?" encourage young readers to look and smell and feel a little deeper about the coast and its inhabitants and not take for granted that which makes the West Coast their home.

From Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale? by Caroline Woodward, illus. by Claire Victoria Watson

Like Caroline Woodward, illustrator Claire Victoria Watson is a creator in British Columbia. Her visual art blends a variety of media including pen and ink, watercolours, and acrylic, with some digital design. Though the media she uses are plentiful, there is still a simplicity to her art that helps the readers focus on the smells–wavy lines emanating from the sea lions make this clear–or the sounds or the visuals of the scenes depicted. And though she follows Caroline Woodward's text to bring life to Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale?, Claire Victoria Watson also adds her touches of humour. There are the cormorants with the clothespins on their noses, the gray whales fine dining on herring roe, and a cowboy-hatted octopus square dancing or at least trying to. The message about the ocean and the diversity of its animals is never lost but it is told playfully as well as naturally.

From Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale? by Caroline Woodward, illus. by Claire Victoria Watson

Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale? may not cover every animal that lives in the ocean or near it, but it does cover an important message of appreciating our natural world so that we might protect it and all its inhabitants.

 🐋🦭🌊

 

Picture Book Giveaway 📫📘

 

Because I was fortunate to receive two copies of this lovely picture book,  I would love to share one with a reader of CanLit for LittleCanadians. (Only Canadian addresses are eligible to apply. Sorry.)

 

Leave a comment about the ocean (whether you've visited one or not) for me on X (formerly known as Twitter) by tagging me @HelenKubiw or on Bluesky at @hkubiw.bsky.social and using the hashtag #HaveYouEverHeardAWhaleExhale. I'll log all comments until Friday, July 26th, 2024 at 12 noon (EST) and then do a random draw. If you are selected, I will DM you to let you know and get details about where to send the book.

 

Good luck everyone! 

 

 🐋🦭🌊

Bunny Loves Beans

Written by Jane Whittingham

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-301-8

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

April 2024

 

Concept books tend to be simple because they are trying to push learning of a new concept like the alphabet or numbers. But Jane Whittingham has taken concept books to a new level with Bunny Loves Beans, giving our young children a book about colours, foods, and animals. And it's all told with loads of bold and colourful photographs. Bunny Loves Beans, in Pajama Press's trademark padded hardcover with rounded corners and extra-heavy paper, will be a pleasure to read over and over and over again as those little ones learn new concepts and become encouraged to read for themselves.

From Bunny Loves Beans by Jane Whittingham

 In a series of double-page spreads of photographs of animals and children with foods, Jane Whittingham, whose earlier picture books include Wild One, Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up and A Good Day For Ducks, introduces a colour, always in bold font, and an animal, also in bold font, before connecting to the child, with the emphasis on the word "me." The pattern to the text, as well as the emphasis on only colours, the animal and the child will allow the young reader to pick up on the concepts being introduced so that they may ultimately connect words they hear with words they see. It's very clever and multilayered without the confusion that can arise with melding too many concepts together. Moreover, by using sensory words with which children will be familiar, like sweet, crunchy, squishy and drippy, the concept learning becomes even better embedded.

From Bunny Loves Beans by Jane Whittingham

The colours taught are orange, gold, white, black, pink, yellow, blue, red, and green, and the animals associated with the foods of those colours are the groundhog, bee, monkey, fox, puppy, parakeet, chipmunk, pony, and bunny. With an overlying message of healthy food being colourful and good for everyone, Jane Whittingham's Bunny Loves Beans teaches a lot.

Healthy colors,

vibrant colors,

Yummy in my tummy colors– 

Colors for the animals,

And colors for me!

From Bunny Loves Beans by Jane Whittingham

Bunny Loves Beans is a great introduction to colours and foods and to show children that they are connected to other animals who also partake in those healthy foods. Better yet, even if the child can't read yet, the learning can be reinforced independently by using the endpapers which depict various colours with foods, some in addition to those in the main text, to help them make those same connections. Bunny Love Beans will teach the concepts but also encourage little ones to start reading by making connections with words, colours, foods, and animals, and always relate it back to them. If they didn't like beans or carrots before, they might just want to eat them now.

The Space Between Here and Now

Written by Sarah Suk

Quill Tree Books

978-0063255135

320 pp.

Ages 13-17

October 2023

I know I'm a little late to review Sarah Suk's second young adult book (she wrote Made in Korea in 2021) but I just recently heard of this novel from the Red Maple panel of the Forest Kid Committee who recommended it for their summer reading list. (Each year that I help out with this committee, I learn of new Canadian titles for young readers. These young people are amazing readers!) After checking out their recommendation, I was intrigued by the blurb about The Space Between Here and Now and was not disappointed.

 

Aimee Roh is a typical 17-year-old Korean Canadian living in Vancouver, BC with Appa, her father. She's thinking about university, she hangs with her friends, she has a passion for photography, and she and her father have a close but respectful relationship. She's typical in every way except that she has a rare condition called Sensory Time Warp Syndrome a.k.a. STWS. Those with STWS have different triggers for memories that can transport them back to the time of the memory. When triggered by smells, Aimee disappears, travels back to a memory usually for just few minutes. Some people grow out of the condition, but Aimee is finding that she's experiencing more frequent episodes and wonders if it is because of the stresses of being a senior and anticipating the next phase of her life. What doesn't help is that it is impossible to talk to her father about it or get the supports she needs to help her cope.

 

After a particularly lengthy disappearance in which she is taken to a long-forgotten memory of a family outing to Kitsilano Beach, before her mother abandoned the family when Aimee was 6, Aimee is confused. Her memory doesn't match what she remembers and she begins to wonder whether her mother perhaps had STWS. Taking matters in hand, and with the encouragement and help of best friend Nikita, Aimee embarks on a spring break trip to Korea, hopeful of finding out some answers about her mother and family that her father doesn't seem to want to share with her.

 

With Nikita researching online for clues, and Aimee reconnecting with her Aunt Gomo and childhood friend Junho, the search for Aimee's mom begins. With some new insights into her STWS and into her relationship with her father, Aimee finds herself gaining clarity and even confidence where there was once only confusion.

Teen angst is not unusual but the angst that comes from a chronic condition that unexpectedly disappears you from your life, even if temporarily, is beyond typical. It has left Aimee in a precarious position, in a space between then and now, unclear as to her memories of her past and her understanding of her present. Sarah Suk, a Vancouver author, gives Aimee a story that might appear tenuous, never knowing when she might disappear or where she will end up or even if there is a possibility of ending up in a time loop. But Aimee's story is not anxiety-driven; it is driven by a need to know. Young adults will appreciate that push to become self-actualized, to understand oneself. Aimee's life is many layered, between her issues of abandonment by her mother, being disaffected with her father, and struggling not to stand out because of her STWS. While today's teens may not have a memory-driven time-travel condition, they have their own issues that challenge them in their drive for understanding and satisfaction. They can learn from Aimee who faces peer pressures and family pressures and uncertainty and is still able to resolve things well enough for herself. She may not get the answers she was specifically looking for, but she gets what she needs and learns things that will help her, as well as others. 

Though the fantastical nature of Aimee's STWS elevates The Space Between Here and Now from the drama of teen angst to the realm of science fiction,  Sarah Suk gives a story that is both enlightening about one Korean-Canadian family as well as familiar. For that reason, I urge young people to read The Space Between Here and Now for some insight into their own lives and relationships with others, particularly parents, to see how reconciliation may be reached with patience, effort and, most definitely, compassion.

Seeking Draven

Written by Michael F. Stewart

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-738-1

204 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2024

 

The cover of Michael F. Stewart's latest novel, and his first in free verse, is subtle and deceivingly simple. It's not unlike the fungi that ten-year-old Teagan loves to study and draw. But, like the mushrooms and other fungi, what you see is just a fraction of what is there, most hidden and complex. Seeking Draven is a story of such depth of feeling and craft, masquerading as a short novel about a little girl who likes mushrooms and playing with her phone.

 

Teagan's 18-year-old brother Draven has always been there to support her: to find her when she gets lost in the woods, to defend her to their dad, to play basketball bump with her, and more. But when their dad accuses Draven of theft in front of his friends, Draven takes off and everything changes.

But when the smoke clears Dad falls silent,

Draven leaves us in his exhaust and everyone else goes

Home. (pg. 13)

Devastated by Draven's absence and Dad's reluctance to tell her anything or to search for her brother, Teagan decides to look for him herself. It's almost impossible–though she breaks into Draven's bedroom to look for clues–until her dad gives her his old cell phone, hoping that it will make her less sad and quiet. (He doesn't realize that she's angry.) Now with a cell phone, which she calls Tab, Teagan goes on the hunt for Draven and tries to reconnect.

 

But that cell phone becomes something more for Teagan as she tries to find Draven, looking for him on social media. Now she sees herself through others' comments and she feels the pressure to share, and to be liked, and even laugh at others' misfortunes. She's taking selfies and listening to the comments. Like the zombie fungus which will alter the behaviour of ants which ingest it, Teagan's cell phone is taking over her life. As her father recognizes her addiction to it, Teagan has a revelation about Draven, piecing together clues from his computer searches and expensive stuff she found in his room, and suspects a gambling addiction.

Addictions make us lie.

     They make us falsify.

     If addiction made Draven a thief

     What is it doing to me? (pg. 108)

So begins a new leg of Teagan's search for Draven, and a mission for understanding.

Michael F. Stewart has given us some compelling young adult novels, from his Assured Destruction tech trilogy or Counting Wolves and Heart Sister in which characters deal with mental health issues but, with Seeking Draven, he steps into a whole new genre of writing. The power of the writing is still there but, in its novel in verse form, Michael F. Stewart gives a story of addictions, both gambling and tech, a weightiness to which they are entitled. These are significant issues of chronic mental health, stealing relationships and lives from those afflicted. If they are fortunate enough to acknowledge their addictions, and accept help, and seek treatment, they may be able to break that dependence. The issue is important, and Michael F. Stewart treats it as such but, by juxtaposing Teagan's obsession with her cell and Draven's gambling, and enveloping it all in their close brother-sister relationship, he also manifests it as a family issue. Teagan's insight into what both she and her brother are experiencing is profound, especially for a ten-year-old child. But, if it shows us anything, there is no age limit on compassion and a willingness to help.

I've always been a huge fan of novels in verse and know that those who endeavour to write in this form are challenged with choices that limit text to words and phrases that have impact. Michael F. Stewart has just demonstrated his proficiency with this form, distilling important ideas into fewer words and phrasing that has intensity. 

If anyone's a thief, it's Dad,

Stealing

Hope. (pg. 16)

I wish I could tell you how Teagan's story and that of Draven resolve but that will be the story you will need to read for yourselves. Fortunately, good or bad, Michael F. Stewart has the skill and heart to tell their stories from multiple perspectives and with sensitivity to their difficulties and to tell them with an eloquence of verse that makes us understand and empathize.

See You Later, Alligator!

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9885-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

July 2024

 

A lot of kids have anxiety about school. It's being away from home, it's being without the comfort of family, it's a day of unknowns, and it's a day of other's expectations that need to be met. Flora is not necessarily fearful of school but it sure is nice to be with her family and dog, and leaving that to enter a school of strangers isn't very easy.

From See You Later, Alligator!, written by Lana Button, illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Flora's moms drop her off at school, getting Flora to get past the gate and into the school yard becomes a monumental feat. It would seem that, though Flora thinks going to school is easy-peasy, she continues to be drawn back to them and her dog for one last hug, or one more kiss, or another goodbye wave. With each rhyming phrase for goodbye–who knew there were so many?–Flora continues to be distracted from joining her classmates in the school yard.

From See You Later, Alligator!, written by Lana Button, illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry

Some may think that Flora is anxious about school but I suspect it has more to do with wanting to be close to her family than not being at school. She's not crying or complaining about an upset stomach or misbehaving; she just obviously loves her family. It may be a "See you later, Alligator!" and a "Take care, Polar Bear!" and even a "See you soon, Raccoon!" plus extra hugs and kisses and elbow bumps and more before she enters the school, but she does, and is happy to be among her classmates.

 

If you have a little one starting school for the first time, or a young child returning to school after summer holidays, there may be some hesitancy but a reading of Lana Button's See You Later, Alligator! will reassure them that many children feel some unease at leaving the comfort of home for the classroom. In addition to writing a wonderful collection of picture books (e.g., What If Bunny's Not a Bully?, My Teacher's Not Here! and Raj's Rule (For the Bathroom at School)), Lana Button is an early child educator and knows young children and their fears, worries, expectations, and more. As such, she has always aimed her books for their needs, and See You Later, Alligator! is just another stellar example of understanding and addressing how children perceive and react with regards to school and how to best address their needs.

From See You Later, Alligator!, written by Lana Button, illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry

Noémie Gionet Landry, an illustrator (and doctor!) from New Brunswick, is a new name for me but she is no newcomer to children's book illustration. Her digital artwork has an ease and brightness to it, seeing young children with their animal backpacks, colourful clothing, and diversity in everything about them. Noémie Gionet Landry makes sure that every child will recognize themselves somewhere in See You Later, Alligator! and will find the familiar in its setting and story. She brings the visual to Lana Button's story, ensuring children will appreciate it at a personal level.

Summer vacations may have just started for many children but September (or August or whenever) is around the corner and See You later, Alligator! will be just as important as pencil crayons and a new backpack to starting the year off right. Help your young children see that going to school can be easy-peasy once they get in the door.