CanLit for LittleCanadians

April 09, 2021

Kimmy & Mike

Written by Dave Paddon

Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917398

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

March 2021

I'm sure siblings Kimmy and Mike have had some pretty extraordinary adventures on the sea but even I find it hard to believe how a simple fishing outing could become a round-the-world trip of danger and folly. But that's a tall tale for you. See what you believe in this narrative poem and tall tale from Newfoundland and Labrador's Dave Paddon.

It has often been said, and I can't disagree,
That there's no one as tough as our folk of the sea.
But two of the toughest, if the rights was known,
Were Kimmy and Mike, who lived in Belloram.

So begins the tale of Kimmy and Mike who go fishing on order from Mom to "Get something for the pot!" Unfortunately, their best fishing spot lands them only a few sculpins and kelp so they scull around the Gulf and the Straits and elsewhere before deciding they need to cross the pond i.e., the Atlantic Ocean.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Not only do they cross the ocean, they pass through two hurricanes, declaring the 90-knot winds and 60-foot waves to be "a bit of a lop", and catch a small submarine and a squid with 60-foot arms and a 30-foot head. But, throwing both back, they head southward towards the Cape of Good Hope where they encounter a 100-mile iceberg which they cleave with an axe, before Kimmy fights off some pirates single-handedly.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Then there's the merman named Saul and a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii before their mother finds them. Having taken out their father's old punt, she's been doing her own fishing and intends to continue on, sending the twins home.

She said, "Get on home out of it, through the Panama Canal,
And make your father his tea–you know he's not well.
I'm just going to dart 'round Cape Horn while it's light
And stop into Rio for bingo tonight."

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

The twins eventually make it back home, after a stop at the Galapagos and tunnelling beneath the Panama Canal, while their mother, having won a jackpot in Rio and salting and drying her plentiful catch, returns the next morning.

Readers will finish the rhyming story of Kimmy & Mike with a smile upon their faces, envisioning the twins' exploits and the extent of their travel. (This would be a fun geography lesson, especially when coupled with math to determine the probability of this all happening in one day.) It could even become a ballad if set to music, with its rousing story, melodic nature of ups and downs, highs and lows, and big moments. Add a fiddle, an accordion and maybe an ugly stick and you got a kitchen party going. With this tall tale of fisherfolk, Dave Paddon takes us to Newfoundland and Labrador, to the people who have stories to tell, who use a language of their own (I had to look up several of the words like crousty, stage and sooky in the "Glossary" provided) and try to outdo each other with their tongue-in-cheek stories.

With Lily Snowden-Fine's gorgeous gouache artwork to complement Dave Paddon's story, though, Kimmy & Mike goes beyond just a folk tale. It may have the whimsy that is often associated with folk art but there is a refinement in Lily Snowden-Fine's lines and shapes that make each illustration a work of art, stark but refined, colourful and resonating with the spirit of the Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the tradition of the recitations, which Dave Paddon discusses in his "Afterward," Kimmy and Mike's fishing adventure would win any kitchen storytelling contest, for its rhyme, plot and artwork. I only wonder what Kimmy and Mike, and their mother, will get up to next time because, you know, there will be another story to tell.

April 08, 2021

Double Book Launch: The Life and Deaths of Frankie D. & Like a Duck (Online)

Here's an event to celebrate!

It's a

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH

for

The Life and Deaths of Frankie D.

Written by Colleen Nelson
Dundurn

978-1-459747586

256 pp.

Ages 12+

April 2021

and

Like a Duck

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Scholastic Canada

978-1-443175760

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

March 2021

Thursday, April 15, 2021

7 PM (CT) / 8 PM (EDT)

Zoom

(use the QR code to register or the link here)

Join authors Colleen Nelson and Deborah Kerbel

as they discuss and read from their new books.

And, there are promised surPRIZES.

April 07, 2021

"How Do You Find Home?" Writing Contest

Orca Book Publishers

with author Jen Sookfong Lee

author of Finding Home:

The Journey of Immigrants and Refugees

Written by Jen Sookfong Lee

Illustrated by Drew Shannon

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459818996

120 pp.

Ages 9-12

March 2021

are holding a writing contest for young writers

to address the question

How Do You Find Home?

Here's what young writers need to know:

What to write?

Write about 500-700 words about what "home" means to you, where your family is from or where your home is today. It must be an original piece of work and "written solely by the entrant."

Who can submit?

Young people of ages 8-13 at the time of entry.

How to submit?

At the contest page of publisher Orca Book Publishers, complete the form and either cut-and-paste your writing here or attach as a MS Word file.

Prizes

Author Jen Sookfong Lee will select three winning entries. Each winner will receive an Orca Prize Pack (free books!) and a $200 gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice.

Dates

Deadline is May 16, 2021. Winners will be announced May 31, 2021.

Details

Everything you need to know about contest and the submission form can be found at https://www.orcabook.com/Finding-Home-Writing-Contest.aspx

Good luck to all young writers!

✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍

April 06, 2021

Road Allowance Era (A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 4)

Written by Katherena Vermette

Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson

Colour by Donovan Yaciuk

HighWater Press

978-1-55379-930-6

48 pp.

Ages 10-14

April 2021

In the aftermath of the Northwest Resistance, the focus of the third book in Katherena Vermette's A Girl Called Echo graphic novel series, the accidental time traveller Echo returns to 1855 to join her ancestors and other Métis and witness the execution of Louis Riel and the sustained persecution and discrimination of her people.