It's a Feudal, Feudal World: A Different Medieval History

by Stephen Shapiro

Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

Annick Press

978-1-55451-552-3

44 pp.

Ages 9-12

August, 2013

Children love reading about the Middle Ages, a.k.a. medieval times, convinced it's all about knights and castles and the black plague in Great Britain. But their rather limited view of this historical time restricts their understanding of the extent to which developments then in exploration, trade, religion and other socio-cultural foundations were the basis for everything that came afterwards.  It's a Feudal, Feudal World takes steps to amend this by addressing all nature of the medieval times world-wide but uniquely in the form of infographics, thereby drawing all readers in.

Infographics are visual representations of factual information and include graphs, timelines, tables, maps, scaled diagrams and a variety of informational images which author Stephen Shapiro  ensures includes content that goes beyond the typical in It's a Feudal, Feudal World.  Topics included are the occupations of women (see image above from pg. 26); temporal and spatial distributions of the major religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism); the Crusades; the means and purposes of travel; the why's, what's and how's of trade; social hierarchies and occupations; general demographics; spread of knowledge; and the reasons for the onset and conclusion of the Middle Ages. 

By using images to portray the data, visual learners and others are more likely to recall and become engaged with the information.  Moreover, by presenting and organizing the information with

an assortment of visually inviting, colourful, bold images rife with humour (see image at left from pg. 32), illustrator Ross Kinnaird ensures the info is remembered. Using quirky caricatures of serfs, women, religious figures, machinery, landscapes and more, the general appeal of It's a Feudal, Feudal World guarantees it's use as a tool for research and a satisfying read for the young with historical queries about Medieval Times.

Oh My Goth!: Goth Portraits by Evan Munday (Toronto)

Did I mention that October Schwartz, 

of Dead Kid Detective Agency (ECW, 2011) and Dial "M" for Morna (ECW, 2013), 

is goth?

  

Did I mention that author Evan Munday is also an illustrator? 

Did you realize that it's October and Halloween is just around the corner? 

Of course you did. 

So did the good people at Type Books (who brought us the amazing video The Joy of Books).  They've invited Evan Munday, author of The Dead Kid Detective Agency and Dial "M" for Morna, to draw quick goth portraits of customers this weekend. 

This photo of the window display at Type Books was retrieved from Evan Munday's blog, I don't like Mundays

So, if you're feeling a little goth or not, 

visit Type Books

at

883 Queen Street West

Toronto, ON

this weekend

Saturday, October 26, 2013   12 - 5 p.m.

or Sunday, October 27, 2013   12 - 4 p.m.

Drop by and meet Evan Munday, 

pick up a Dead Kid Detective Agency book or two

and

get your goth on!

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Dial "M" for Morna: The Dead Kid Detective Agency, Book 2

by Evan Munday
ECW Press
978-1-77041-073-2
296 pp.
Ages 8-13
October, 2013

Dial "M" for Morna and for middle-grade, murder, mystery and for Munday, author Evan Munday, whose first book The Dead Kid Detective Agency (ECW Press, 2011) was shortlisted for the Silver Birch award and Sunburst Award for Young Adult Speculative Fiction.  In this sequel, Evan Munday has October Schwartz starting to make good on her promise to help solve the mysteries of the deaths of her five dead accomplices: Morna MacIsaac, Cyril Cooper,  Tabetha Scott, Kirby LaFlamme, and Derek Running Water.  First up: Morna, who died when she was thirteen years old in 1914 while living with her family at the Crooked Arms boarding house in their town of Sticksville.

With the help of the new history teacher and museum volunteer, Ms. Fenstermacher, October locates the old Crooked Arms and learns the identities and backgrounds of its former residents.  Amongst the MacIsaac's neighbours were an alleged traitor, an inventor, a suffragette, and a doctor, and, with input from a woman who speaks to October through a disconnected old-fashioned phone, the living teen delves into Morna's demise.

Meanwhile, in October's living world, her friends Yumi and Stacey earn a slot deejaying on the school radio station. While they know that Devin McGriff, member of the Phantom Moustache band and boyfriend of queen bee Ashlie Salmons, is enraged for losing out to them, a spate of hostilities couched in racist remarks catches Yumi, Stacey and October by surprise.

Luckily, October is able to breach both worlds to help solve Morna's death and the attacks staged against Yumi.  And, with a couple of surprise connections and revelations, Evan Munday left me (and undoubtedly all other readers) longing to learn more about Mr. Santuzzi and Fairfax Crisparkle and anticipating Book 3 in the series.

Past or present, there are a lot of nasty people around making others' lives miserable, willing to murder for their own needs, and directed by fears, arrogance and greed (and maybe even magic here). But with the Dead Kid Detective Agency (i.e., October and her deceased cohorts), wrongs are righted, the guilty are identified and justice is anticipated.  Evan Munday will draw you in so subtly that you'll be snagged before you realize it.  However, never think that you are just a reader, the vesicle into which words are poured from the page, when reading Dial "M" for Morna.  Evan Munday breaks down the fifth wall, speaking directly to his audience of young readers, enlightening them, reassuring them, humouring them, apologizing, and even hinting at plot developments.

You can expect the same kind of madcap exploits featured in book one – our plucky heroine with a penchant for black eyeliner and her five most deadest BFFs uncovering dark secrets that will rock the quiet town of Sticksville to its secretly rotten core and doing so in the zaniest possible manner. (pg. 11)

Watch for font changes to help determine whether the narrator is October or a third person (a.k.a. Evan Munday). And be prepared to enjoy Evan Munday's dry wit which he doles out generously in his subplots, his action scenes, and the voices and foibles of his characters.  While answers to the big questions i.e., "How did Morna die?" and "Who is harrassing Yumi?" are inevitable, don't expect all plot lines to find closure.  The beginnings of new mysteries, ready to be solved by The Dead Kid Detective Agency, are embedded, leaving clues sure to bear fruitful storylines. 

2013 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards: Winners announced

Tonight, the Canadian Children's Book Centre and TD Bank Group presented the 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AWARDS at the Carlu in Toronto. A spectacular reception preceded the awards ceremony at which six awards were presented. (Le Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse will be presented next week  in Montreal.)
 

Hosted by CBC's Shelagh Rogers, the program began with addresses by Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair of TD Bank Group and Todd Kyle, President of the Canadian Children's Book Centre and an announcement of the TD Grade One Book Giveaway.

Boy Soup
by Loris Lesynski
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press

Annually, TD sponsors a Canadian picture book giveaway for all children in Grade One in Canada.  This year the selection that will be distributed to fortunate children in Canada will be Boy Soup by author Loris Lesynski and illustrator Michael Martchenko. 

Then the following book award winners were announced:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

• $30,000 Award
• Sponsored by TD Bank Group 
• Presented by Tim Hockey, President and CEO of TD Canada Trust

Winner

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath

Groundwood Books
Ages 9-13

     Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award   

• $20,000 Award
• Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie
• Presented by Marilyn Baillie

Winner

 

Mr. Zinger’s Hat
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Tundra Books
Ages 4-8

Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

• $10,000 Award
• Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation
• Presented by Quinn Fleck and David Fleck

 

 

Winner

Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
Ages 11+

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People

• $5,000 Award
• Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund
• Presented by  Todd Kylie

Winner

 

The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
Ages 12+

John Spray Mystery Award

• $5,000 Award 
• Sponsored by John Spray, President, Mantis Investigation Agency
• Presented by John Spray

Winner

The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
Ages 12+

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

• $5,000 Award  
• Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada
• Presented by Adrienne Hughes

Winner

 

Seraphina

Written by Rachel Hartman

Doubleday Canada

Ages 14+

***********************

New this year:

The TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award 

was presented by fan Annaka Leib from Qu'appelle, Saskatchewan to 

Winner

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath

Groundwood Books
Ages 9-13

Congratulations to these winners and all the finalists for having their youngCanLit recognized as the exceptional reads that they are.

The celebration began with hors-d'oeuvres, drink, chatting, introductions, and ended with champagne, desserts, and congratulations, all to the accompaniment of magical company.  Amongst the hundreds of guests I spoke to, recognized, or remembered were the following authors and/or illustrators: Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Elizabeth Stewart, Rachel Hartman, Monica Kulling, Bill Swan, Jennifer Lanthier, Dušan Petričić, Stephanie McLellan, Tara Anderson, Gillian Chan, Loris Lesynski, Michael Martchenko, Rebecca Bender, Richard Scrimger, Kevin Sylvester, Natalie Hyde, Shane Peacock, Ken Setterington, Catherine Rondina, Mahtab Narsimhan, Hugh Brewster, Nancy Hartry,  Rona Arato, Jocelyn Shipley, Evan Munday, Nancy Runstedler, Vikki VanSickle, Deborah Kerbel, and Barbara Reid.  And it was delightful to meet and chat with so many Canadians passionate about youngCanLit, including publishers, publicists, editors, book sellers, teachers, librarians, literacy specialists and children's lit advocates.  The TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards Celebration is an event I always enjoy, with its richness of words, conversation, appreciation, camaraderie, and encouragement.  

Thanks to the TD Bank Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre for hosting such a wonderful Canadian event.

Barnabas Bigfoot, The Bone Eater: Book Launch (Edmonton)

Join

Marty Chan

author of

Barnabas Bigfoot: A Close Shave (Thistledown Press, 2011)

Barnabas Bigfoot: A Hairy Tangle (Thistledown Press, 2012)

for the launch of

the newest book starring B.C.'s teen sasquatch

Barnabas Bigfoot: The Bone Eater

Thistledown Press

978-1927068434

112 pp.

Ages 7-11

September 2013

at

Audrey's Books

10702 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB


on

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (MDT)

Never Let You Go: Book Launch (Toronto)

Join

author and illustrator 
Patricia Storms 

for

the book launch

of

Never Let You Go

Scholastic Canada
978-1443119894
32 pp.
Ages 0-5
October, 2013

Sunday October 27, 2013

2:30-5:00 p.m.

at

Redfish Bluefish Creative Café

73 Harbord Street

Toronto, ON

Check out Patricia Storms' website to see the numerous books she's illustrated and those she's authored and illustrated.

Home Ice Advantage

by Tom Earle
HarperCollins Canada
978-1-44340-904-9
224 pp.
Ages 8-13
September 2013

Shame, embarrassment and fear often keep us from exposing our psychological baggage and, in Tom Earle’s newest middle-grade Home Ice Advantage, it’s evident that those in the limelight are especially keen to shun its unveiling. Jake Dumont, 12, may be an outstanding centre for the North York Penguins of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, but the physical and emotional abuse he endures from his father and the vague support he gets from his fearful mother has him giving it all up one night and running away. With very limited funds and supplies, Jake heads to downtown Toronto and finds shelter in the abandoned Maple Leaf Gardens, closed in February of 1999.

But the Gardens already has a resident, an older homeless man named Scooter. Over daily meals at a local soup kitchen, an occasional donut at Tim Horton’s, and regular readings of The Toronto Star, Jake and Scooter share just enough about themselves to realize the complexity of their situations. There is no predictable outcome here when the two find the means to help each other live beyond just surviving.

While details of hockey games and plays, courtesy of teacher Tom Earle’s extensive experiences as a Triple A, college and pro hockey player, provide the background for Home Ice Advantage, it’s the vulnerabilities of the players, too often seen as athletic heroes, that give the story its layering. Underneath the brilliance of game-winning goals, historical blocks and memorable wins (sure to interest young hockey fans) are boys and men with apprehensions, desires and pride. But even deeper they have the instinct to survive. Jake and Scooter may seem to be all about the hockey but Tom Earle’s solid storytelling demonstrates that, when it all comes down to it, their heroics are off the ice, finding the means to prevail when everything is working against them.

(This review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2013, November). [Review of the book Home Ice Advantage, by Tom Earle]. Quill & Quire, 79 (9): 36.

The Opposite of Geek

by Ria Voros

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-0484-5

224 pp.

Ages 11+

September, 2013

Don't let the pink on the book cover fool you: The Opposite of Geek is not chick lit. It's not light and comedic and romantic.  Yes, there are some light moments and some humourous t-shirts and a first love for our protagonist, sixteen-year-old Gretchen, but The Opposite of Geek is more about cliques and friendship and grief and poetry and the toils of being human and being a teen.

Three things you'll learn very quickly about Gretchen Meyers are: 1) her best friend is the brilliant Nemiah Hershey; 2) she's failing chemistry (which is disastrous considering her parents expect her to go into medicine); and 3) she loves reading and writing haiku and poetry (a passion she shares with Ms Long, a guidance counsellor at school).  When Nemiah joins the swim team and its clique, and Gretchen gets seventeen-year-old James Tarden to tutor her in chemistry, her world begins to fracture and reconfigure itself.  

James, who suffers from an embarrassing skin condition and is regularly victimized by a couple of jocks, wears his heart on his t-shirts (e.g., Geeks Rule the World) and has deep philosophical discussions with Gretchen about being a geek.

This is the problem with the social community of high school.  No one understands the value of geekdom.  How come what I love makes me a geek, but what Henry Gladstone (basketball star) loves makes him a stud? (pg. 42)

He takes her to his uncle's deli where she meets James' cousin Dean (18), and the three start hanging out together, giving Gretchen the sense of togetherness she's lost with Nemiah. Unbeknownst to James, Gretchen and Dean start dating.  But after a night of bowling and brawling, Gretchen and Dean go off to be alone and James is in a car accident, and everything becomes broken again, reconfiguring itself into a new social structure.

Gretchen's coming-of-age story is very much linked to her friendships and her ability to recognize what she really wants, and Ria Voros reflects this in the form of The Opposite of Geek's text. Initially, in prose with the occasional haiku by Gretchen or her favourite poets Bashō, Issa and Buson, Gretchen's life seems dense and stilted with infrequent breaths of lightness.  But as James and Dean become part of her life and she joins The Foodies group (cooking club) at school, Gretchen's voice is more expressive and thoughtful, emulated by the richness of the free verse text and poetry she shares with others.  

While the ending of The Opposite of Geek is not a happily-ever-after, it is fulfilling.  Gretchen begins to accept and advocate for herself, and find the courage to see the superficiality of others and reject their attitudes as anything other than meaningless. 

I'll have to break it to them that I am not,
maybe never was, whatever normal means–
there was a geek inside me all the time. (pg. 169)

As she did in Nobody's Dog (Scholastic, 2012), which is a 2014 nominee for the Silver Birch Fiction award, Ria Voros has presented a survivor's story without the heroics or refined sugar of happy endings.  In The Opposite of Geek, the heroes are the geeks, like it or not.

The Vancouver Writers Fest 2013 (Vancouver)

As it has for the past 25 years, the Vancouver Writers Fest will revisit Granville Island for six days in October to share books, readings, thoughts, perspectives and self.  This year from October 22 to 27, the Vancouver Writers Festival will host over 100 Canadian and international authors of adult, children's and young adult books.  For more details, check out their website at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/

Below I've listed most of the children's and young adult authors scheduled to appear during the upcoming festival:

• Dan Bar-el, author of Dream Boats, That One Spooky Night, Things are Looking Grimm, Jill
• Rachelle Delaney, author of The Metro Dogs of Moscow, The Ship of Lost Souls, and The Lost Souls of Island X
• Rhéa Dufresne, l'auteure de Arachnéa
• Frank B. Edwards, author of Bug, A Dog Called Dad, Frogger and a biography of Robert Munsch
• Deborah Ellis, author of fiction and non-fiction, including Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids, My Name is Parvana, The Heaven Shop, and The Breadwinner
• Cary Fagan, children's fiction author of Oy Feh So?, Mr. Zinger's Hat, The Boy in the Box and The Fortress of Kaspar Snit 
• Julie Flett, author of Wild Berries/Pakwa Che Menisu, Owls See Clearly at Night/Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: A Michif Alphabet/L'Alfabet Di Michif
• Tomson Highway, author of Caribou Song, and numerous adult books
• Shar Levine, non-fiction author of Scary Science: 25 Creepy Experiments, Snowy Science, and Hockey Science: 25 Winning Experiments
• Elizabeth MacLeod, children's non-fiction author of A History of Just About Everything, Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History's Mysteries, Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns and Everything But the Kitchen Sink
• Ashley Spires, author and illustrator of Larf, Small Saul, Binky the Space Cat and Binky Under Pressure
• Kathy Stinson, author of The Man With the Violin, Highway of Heroes, and What Happened to Ivy
• Meg Tilly, children's author of A Taste of Heaven and Porcupine  
• Teresa Toten, YA author of The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B, The Taming, and Me and the Blondes 
• Eric Walters, picture book and middle-grade fiction author of My Name is Blessing, The Matatu, Camp X, and Between Heaven and Earth 
• Frieda Wishinsky, picture book and non-fiction author of A History of Just About Everything, Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn't Know about Food, Give Maggie a Chance, Canadian Flyer Adventures series, and Where Are You Bear?

Just So Stories (Volume I)

Written by Rudyard Kipling

Illustrated by Ian Wallace

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-212-7

64 pp.

Ages 5+

September 2013

It would be absurd to review Rudyard Kipling's famous Just So Stories For Little Children, first published in 1902.  A hundred years of reading easily secure these stories in the realm of classics.  But having Ian Wallace put his artistic genius to work in this new interpretation of Kipling's work is worthy of note.

Ian Wallace, who has authored a number of books and illustrated over twenty picture books including The Sleeping Porch (Groundwood, 2008), Chin Chiang and the Dragon's Dance (Groundwood, 1990), and The Mummer's Song (Groundwood, 2009), allows each of the six Just So Stories here to stand alone with respect to their illustrations, while still providing a filament of similar artistry in them.  The soft textures and colours of the jungle or the ocean or the desert all suggest the dream-like lyricism of Kipling's words. No illustrations are so bold in colour or outline that they overwhelm the stories.  Ian Wallace astutely illustrates to enhance and complement the stories, never to overtake them. 

While I have neither the expertise nor direct knowledge of Ian Wallace's techniques, I consumed his thorough "Illustrator's Notes" appended to the stories.  Here he discusses his work with watercolour, pencil crayon, pastel pencil and chalk in different combinations.  The melding of media under Ian Wallace's careful eye and hand affect the alarm of the crocodile pulling at the elephant's nose (in The Elephant's Child);  the dry, sandy desert in How the Camel Got His Hump; or the Mariner's ruckus inside the Whale in How the Whale Got His Throat.  The illustrations are detailed and comprehensive, as well as evocative and whimsical, exactly as Rudyard Kipling wrote his stories.  Ian Wallace has done great justice to Kipling's Just So Stories and created an exquisite edition that will be cherished as a classic in itself.

Just So Stories, Volume II is scheduled for release in April, 2014.

2014 Forest of Reading® nominees announced

Young readers, their teachers, school-librarians, public librarians, authors, illustrators, and publishers have waited anxiously for this day–the day that the Ontario Library Association announces the nominees for the 2014 Forest of Reading® programs.  Now extending beyond Ontario, even more readers are enjoying new Canadian literature as part of the Forest of Reading® programs.

These readers' choice award programs invite teachers and librarians (school and public), as well as parents of home-schoolers, to sign up for these programs through the Ontario Library Association.  Once you've registered for the programs and purchase the books, young readers will be on their way to voting for their favourites in April.  

With over one hundred nominated titles, I have presented the nominees in multiple posts.  See the lists below for nominees for the different programs.

Blue Spruce and Silver Birch Nominees

Red Maple, White Pine and Golden Oak Nominees

Le Prix Tamarac and Le Prix Peuplier Nominees

Cursed by the Sea God: Odyssey of a Slave, Book II

by Patrick Bowman
Ronsdale Press
978-1-55380-186-3
204 pp.
Post Hypnotic Press (audiobook)
978-1-927401-63-7
Ages 10+
March, 2013


Trojan teen Alexi from Patrick Bowman's first book in his Odyssey of a Slave series, Torn from Troy (reviewed here on December 8, 2011), continues to serve the Greek commander Lopex (Odysseus) aboard the Greek ship, Pelagios. After the Greeks took Troy and escaped the Cyclops, their wish is to head home to Ithaca after years away.  Cursed by the Sea God follows them in their homeward travels, making stops to replenish supplies, to broker trades, and to make repairs as needed.  But, courtesy of Patrick Bowman's imaginative plotting and complex understanding of Greek mythology, their journey is neither direct nor easy, inviting the reader to accompany the motley crew from one adventure through some peril to another exploit.  There is little respite for the reader or Alexi as the Pelagios sails for Ithaca.

This instalment begins with the crew arriving on the island of Aeolia whose king keeps his people in order with threats of "polishings".  Sadly, the king has not been advised about the fatal nature of "polishing" by the winds.  To thank them for their candor, the king provides Lopex with a securely tied bag containing some energetic entity that would help them on their voyage.  For three days, Lopex holds tight to the neck of that bag, never sleeping.  But when the ships are only a day and a half away from home, Lopex falls asleep.  Though Alexi tries to rouse him and secure the bag closed himself, the Greek brute Ury grabs it and releases the wind within, allowing hurricane forces to push the ship almost back to the very island from which they'd come.  Lopex, seeing Alexi struggling to shut the bag that Ury had opened, accuses the boy of this traitorous act and deems him Ury's slave now, without the protection he'd enjoyed earlier.

Now with a still greater distance to travel home, the crews of Lopex's ships resume their journey, stopping at an island of ship-wreckers who serve a cannibalistic queen and then one inhabited by a sorceress, Circe, who both tricks and aids the Greeks.  Without revealing too much more (though a reading of Homer's Odyssey should provide more details), the crew of the Pelagios must delve into the hidden realm of Hades, home of the dead; attempt to resist the haunting songs of sirens;  avoid a six-headed monster; and endure starvation on the island of Helios.

Their travels are encumbered by so many obstacles that it's hard to believe that there would be opportunity for Alexi to continue to be victimized by Ury but, as one of Lopex's secondary leaders, the Greek bully finds the means to humiliate Alexi and plot his murder, believing Alexi knows something about the killing of Ury's brother at Troy.  But, Cursed by the Sea God is as much about trust and friendship as the voyages, with Alexi often wondering about others' motivations and needs.

Many middle-grade readers are currently enamoured with a series involving a boy named Percy who learns he is a demigod, but I believe that Patrick Bowman's Odyssey of a Slave series far surpasses it in the authenticity of dialogue and embedded perspective of the characters.  Never does the text seem contrived or hollow, nor do the characters demonstrate the traits of anything but victors, slaves, warriors, and strangers with whom Alexi has encounters.  Using time-slips to bridge across time periods demands that readers suspend disbelief but setting the story in an ancient civilization, as Patrick Bowman does in Cursed by the Sea God, as well as in Torn from Troy, and writing so evocatively and with complexity, there is no need for this suspension of disbelief.  I began to consider the possibility that there really were sea monsters, witches, and animated beef parts in Ancient Greece and that their gods and mythology were all based in reality.  That's an astounding accomplishment for a writer.  Moreover, without leaving readers hanging tortuously in anticipation of the next volume, Patrick Bowman agreeably encourages his readers to return to learn more of Alexi's story.  After the drama and the relentless adventures in Cursed by the Sea God, it may be difficult to wait for Book III, but wait I will, determined to know how Alexi's story gets resolved.

youngCanLit for Foodies: Book List

I know that kids love cookbooks and recipe books.  As soon as one cookbook is returned to the school library, perhaps with a chocolate or butter stain, there's a student waiting to take it out. Let's face it: most of us enjoy food.  So, add the pleasure of consumption with experimentation (cooking is a lot like mixing and measuring in a science lab), bonding with your cooking mentor, and reading a book, and you have a terrific sensory experience.

The following books have food or cooking and baking as a integral part of their stories, often providing recipes for readers to try, and teaching about the chemistry and mechanics of growing, preparing and consuming food.  Enjoy this list of youngCanLit for Foodies! 

PICTURE BOOKS

Boy Soup
by Loris Lesynski
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2008

Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog
by Tim Beiser
Illustrated by Rachel Berman
Tundra
24 pp.
Ages 2-6
2009

Community Soup
by Alma Fullerton
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2013
Recipe included

The Fragrant Garden
by Day's Lee
Illustrated by Josée Bellemare
Napoleon Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
2005

The French Fry King
by Rogé
Tundra
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2012
Recipes included

The King's Taster
by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
HarperCollins
32 pp.
Ages 4-9
2009

Mile High Apple Pie
by Laura Langston
Illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner
The Bodley Head/Random House Canada
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2004
Recipe included

Miss Wondergem's Dreadfully Dreadful Pie
by Valerie Sherrard
Illustrated by Wendy J. Whittingham
Tuckamore Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2011

Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity
by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Esperança Melo

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

2013

Mr. Emerson's Cook
by Judith Byron Schachner
Penguin
32 pp.
Ages 7-9
2001

My Mom Loves Me More Than Sushi
by Filomena Gomes
Illustrated by Ashley Spires
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-7
2006

Poetry and Potatoes: A Tale of Friendship, Travels and Recipes
by Troon Harrison
Illustrated by Sue Hellard
Chrysalis Children's Books
32 pp.
2003

Roses Sing on New Snow: A Delicious Tale
by Paul Yee
Illustrated by Harvey Chan
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
1991

Toads on Toast
by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Colin Jack
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2012

Treasure for Lunch
by Shenaaz Nanji
Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4 - 8
2000

Wild Berries
by Julie Flett
Translated by Earl N. Cook
(English and Cree)
Simply Read Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2013

Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year
by Nan Forler
Art by Peter Etril Snyder
Tundra
40 pp.
Ages 8-11
2011
Recipes included





FICTION

The Case of the Missing Deed
by Ellen Schwartz
Tundra Books
189 pp.
Ages 8-12
2011

Everything on a Waffle
by Polly Horvath
Groundwood Books
179 pp.
Ages 8-13
2001
Recipes included

Jolted: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival
by Arthur Slade
HarperCollins
224 pp.
Ages 11-14
2008

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders
by Kevin Sylvester
Key Porter
300 pp.
Ages 10-14
2010

Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction
by Kevin Sylvester
Simon & Schuster Canada/Harper Collins Canada
317 pp.
Ages 11-14
2010

Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse

by Kevin Sylvester

Simon & Schuster Books for Young People

291 pp.

Ages 8-14

2012

Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure

by Kevin Sylvester

Simon & Schuster

352 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

One Year in Coal Harbour
by Polly Horvath
Groundwood
216 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
208 pp.
Ages 9+
2010 
Recipe included

Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
234 pp.
Ages 9+
2012
Recipe included

Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels
by Hélène Boudreau
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
240 pp.
Ages 9+
2013
Recipe included

YOUNG ADULT

Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery
by Susan Juby
HarperCollins
339 pp.
Ages 13-15
2008

More Than Bread
by Nora Rock
Smith, Bonappétit & Son
205 pp.
Ages 12+
2008

The Opposite of Geek
by Ria Voros
Scholastic Canada
224 pp.
Ages 12+
2013
Recipe included

Recipe for Disaster
by Maureen Fergus
Kids Can Press
256 pp.
Ages 11-14
2009

Way to Go
by Tom Ryan
Orca Book Publishers
224 pp.
Ages 12+
2012

Whatever
by Ann Walsh
Ronsdale Press
200 pp.
Ages 12+
September 2013
Recipes included

Wicked Sweet

by Mar'ce Merrell

Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan imprint)

330 pp.

Ages 14-18

2012

Windfall
by Sara Cassidy
Orca Book Publishers
117 pp.
Ages 10-13
2011










NON-FICTION

The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook
by Kate Macdonald
Illustrated by Barbara Di Lella
Oxford
48 pp.
Ages 8-14
1985, 2003
Recipes included

Burp!: The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Eating
by Diane Swanson
Illustrated by Rose Cowles
Kids Can Press
40 pp.
Ages 10-14
2001

Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn’t Know About Food
by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod
Illustrated by Travis King
Scholastic Canada
112 pp.
Ages 9-12
2008

Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook
Retold by Jane Yolen
Recipes by Heidi E.Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Philippe Béha
Tradewind Books
197 pp.
Ages 5-10
2006
Recipes included

Food Fight: A Graphic Guide Adventure
by Liam O’Donnell
Illustrated by Mike Deas
Orca Book Publishers
64 pp.
Ages 11-15
2010

The Good Garden: How One Family Went From Hunger to Having Enough
by Katie Smith Milway
Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
2010

How Monkeys Make Chocolate: Foods and Medicines from the Rainforests
by Adrian Forsyth
Owlkids Books
48 pp.
Ages 9-13
1995

Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook
Retold by Jane Yolen
Recipes by Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Illustrated by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin
Tradewind Books
199 pp.
Ages 7-10
2013
Recipes included

The Kids Can Press Jumbo Cookbook
by Judi Gillies and Jennifer Glossop
Illustrated by Louise Phillips
Kids Can Press
256 pp.
Ages 9-13
2000
Recipes included

Native North American Food and Recipes
by Kathryn Smithyman and Bobbie Kalman
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 9-11
2006
Recipes included

Pioneer Recipes
by Bobbie Kalman and Lynda Hale
Illustrated by Barbara Bedell
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 8-11
2000
Recipes included

Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City
by Hadley Dyer
Annick Press
83 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

Up We Grow! A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm
by Deborah Hodge
Photographs by Brian Harris
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-8
2010

Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City
by Deborah Hodge
Photographed by Brian Harris
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-8
2011

Who Wants Pizza? The Kids’ Guide to the History, Science & Culture of Food
by Jan Thornhill
Maple Tree Press
64 pp.
Ages 9-13
2010

The Wilderness Cookbook: A Guide to Good Food on the Trail
by Bonnie McTaggart and Jill Bryant
Illustrated by Chum McLeod
Second Story Press
168 pp.
Ages 8+
1999
Recipes included

The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods
by Claire Eamer
Illustrated by Sa Boothroyd
Annick Press
121 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

Bon appétit!