Louis Undercover

Written by Fanny Britt

Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-859-4

160 pp.

Ages 9-14

October 2017

From the acclaimed partnership of Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault that brought us the award-winning Jane, the Fox and Me (Groundwood, 2013), which was also translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou, comes a second graphic novel of emotional sensitivity, this time in a complex familial context.

The title may suggest a children's game of spying but Louis is more discreet observer and listener.  He watches important people in his life and sees what they do and hears what they say.  These observations form the fabric of his interactions with them, bringing out his sensitivities, fears and compassion. And he has much to observe, as he and his little brother Truffle bounce between their city apartment where they live with their mother and their country house where their alcoholic father still lives.

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

Louis sees the ups and downs of his father's alcoholism: the manic periods of song and big plans and the depressive times of tears and melancholy, especially when the boys leave.  At home, he sees the joy in his mother when they return but also her sarcasm and loneliness.  Louis has his own secret burdens which he only shares with his good friend Boris.  Louis is in love with Billie.

She’s a spectacled siren, a rainstorm,
A chocolate fountain, a silent queen. (pg. 50)

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

He is overwhelmed by his affection for Billie but he is immobilized into inaction.  

I had no idea that love is like a rock shattering your heart, as painful as it is life-giving, and that even as it makes you want to bolt, it keeps you glued to the spot. (pg. 58)

Though he makes plans to speak with her, just to say a few words to the gutsy girl who stands up to injustice and reads voraciously, he can't do it, even with the summer holidays imminent and a gift of dice for her in his pocket.  

From Louise Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

But two weeks of the summer at their father's becomes a turning point for the family.  Their father has stopped drinking and seems to be his old positive self, as reflected in the splashes of yellow, hitherto reserved for Billie.  Though their mom is seen as mired in the sadness of the turquoise and the browns of regular life, when Truffle is injured and sent to hospital, she rushes to his side and stays with them at their old house.  She makes breakfast and laughs with their father and sleeps in his bedroom.  They're back to their "normal" family and a trip to New York City holds the promise of a complete reunion.  But, sadly and realistically, the yellows give way to the family's blues of the past.  Returning to school in the fall, Louis can take this experience as a life lesson that love can end badly or he can see the hope that it can conquer the worst.

Fanny Britt has given us a story about a family dealing with an alcoholic parent and creates a story of understanding.  Louis sees what has happened to his family and is disheartened by it.  He recognizes the signs of his father's drinking and the impact on his mother and their family.  He is wary of love and how it can go horribly wrong.  (Note Louis' watching of his sober father playing with the happy Truffle in the illustration above.) Even his mother, ever immersed in the sadness of needing to be separated from her husband, holds out hope for recovery and reconciliation.  How Louis will adapt that understanding to his own crush on Billie, desperate to speak with her but reluctant and apprehensive about the outcome, is an ending that must be read and seen to be fully appreciated.  

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

Isabelle Arsenault does emotional storytelling in illustration. She doesn't just draw pictures to go with the story; she builds the story with surreal elements that create depth and carry the nuance of Louis' family's circumstances.  The use of yellow and turquoise, with the browns and greys, subtly convey the emotion of each situation.  The yellow is positive and hopeful and cheery, as when Louis watches Billie or his family is happy and Dad is sober.  Turquoise permeates those illustrations of lives living with heartbreak.  Real life is brown and grey because it's sobering and no-nonsense.  

There is much sadness in Louis Undercover.  Turquoise and browns and greys are the overwhelming colours.  But be assured that there is yellow in Louis' life and Fanny Britt resolves his story with a subtle explosion of positivity matched by Isabelle Arsenault exquisite artwork.

Those Who Run in the Sky

Written by Aviaq Johnston

Illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-121-8

200 pp.

Ages 10+

April 2017

The young hunter knew that the sky above danced in joy with northern lights.  Since it was rare at this time of year, it meant that this day was going to go well, and that the spirits were on the side of the living, allowing them to carry on with their lives. (pg. 1)

Piturniq, or Pitu as he is often called, is the young hunter, a boy of sixteen who is becoming known as the Great Hunter.  This is his coming-of-age story.

From Those Who Run in the Sky 

by Aviaq Johnston 

illus. by Toma Feizo Gas

As a young man, Piturniq is already acknowledged as a good hunter, helping to provide for his mother, brothers and sister as well as sharing with the family of Saima to whom he wishes to become betrothed. But he senses a disquiet in himself and others towards him, particularly from his mother.  He grapples with his pride, jealousy, annoyance and anger, and the meaning of his nightly dreams of a fox and an old man on an island.  Though he wishes he might be as great as his father, Piturniq is surprised when Tagaaq, the camp leader and son of a shaman mother, suggests Pitu might be the village's next leader.  In fact, Tagaaq tells Pitu that the spirits have whispered to him and told him that Pitu is to become a shaman, though there is much darkness in his future.

Tagaaq takes Pitu under his wing, teaching him through his stories, including those of his shaman mother and a great shaman who disappeared from the world after the deaths of his beautiful wife and children.  Though both Pitu and Saima are eager to wed, the boy is instructed to wait until he completes his lessons.  But all must wait after a winter hunting trip leaves Pitu alone in the harsh environment and entering the spirit world.  Here Pitu struggles to survive, seeking shelter and food, and then combating supernatural demons, wolves, qallupilluq and more.  But it is also here where Pitu meets the fox, Tiri, who is Pitu's tuurngaq (a shaman's spirit guide), and the old man, an angry and brittle shaman named Taktuq, who will help the boy grow into the shaman he is destined to become.

From Those Who Run in the Sky 

by Aviaq Johnston 

illus. by Toma Feizo Gas

Though Those Who Run in the Sky is Piturniq's journey of becoming a man with the courage and faith to serve his family and his community, as well as attend to the spirit world, it is also a story of an Inuit lifestyle of long ago.  The details provided by Aviaq Johnston, a young Nunavut writer, deal with hunting practices, family and adoption, summer and winter camps, relationships with other communities, and the creatures of the supernatural world, and they become the rich fabric of Piturniq's story.  The traditions of this Inuit culture wrap Pitu' story in a reality that needs to be shared with all youth, Indigenous and otherwise.  It's a glimpse into a time that might once have been shared through the storytelling tradition.  Thankfully Those Who Run in the Sky, which refers to the spirits chasing after a walrus head and thus producing the northern lights, can now share the stories in a text for all to read.

The black and white illustrations by Ottawa animator and digital artist Toma Feizo Gas that dot the text of Those Who Run in the Sky deepen the surreal nature of Pitu's journey, adding to the story without taking over.  With text as lavish in historical and emotive detail as is provided by Aviaq Johnston, Those Who Run in the Sky did not need more.

With the publication of Those Who Run in the Sky, which was recently nominated for the 2017 Governor General's Award for Young People's Literature (Text), the northern lights must be dancing with joy.

The Gnawer of Rocks

Written by Louise Flaherty

Illustrated by Jim Nelson

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-165-2

60 pp.

Ages 9-14

October 2017

Author Louise Flaherty prefaces the telling of her story with its origins, the storytelling tradition of an Inuk storyteller Levi Iqalugjuaq who would visit their school in the 1970s.  This legend was one of many he told the students.

From The Gnawer of Rocks 

by Louise Flaherty 

illus. by Jim Nelson

As an Inuit camp prepares to pack up for the trek to its winter grounds, two girls, with babies in their care, go off for a walk, to soothe the children.  As they walk, they find beautiful smooth stones, and even lovelier ones as they continue, until they are lead to the mouth of a cave strewn with bones.  Drawn to the shinier stones within, the girls and their charges become trapped when the cave slams behind them.  Forced to enter further, they are horrified to discover a cache of human heads and bones which they suspect are those of missing children. One of the heads warns them that they are in the dwelling of Mangittatuarjuk and to escape by digging through the gravel walls but the warning comes too late as the hideous creature crawls out of the shadows.

From The Gnawer of Rocks 

by Louise Flaherty 

illus. by Jim Nelson

The old woman with extraordinarily long arms blocks their way but one of the girls taunts her to show them her strength, challenging her to bite down on a stone. Whilst Mangittatuarjuk attempts to gnaw at the rock, the other girl uses a bone to dig through the wall, ultimately allowing the girls to escape.  Returning to camp with their news, the hunters set out to kill the creature to ensure the safety of all their children.  Mangittatuarjuk is called forth from her cave, the men claiming they have come to honour her.  Tending to her feet, one of the hunters ties a rope around one so that their dogs could drag her from the cave entrance and across the sharp rocks to kill her.  Only after hours does the creature die of her injuries, at which time the hunters cut up her body so that her spirit could not return to life.

Louise Flaherty honours the storytelling tradition of her parents, grandparents and ancestors with this telling of Mangittatuarjuk, The Gnawer of Rocks.  This legend, like all, is rife with cautions to children who might stray too far, as well as honouring those who rise to the challenge of protecting children.  Inuit legends abound with scary creatures like Mangittatuarjuk and are told in such a way that one might never question their veracity.  Somewhere someone knows whose ancestor was one of the hunters or the girls, and it is just repeat tellings of the story that makes it sound more incredible.  American artist Jim Nelson's shadow-rich graphics convey the cold of that Arctic landscape and the gloom and blackness of the creature's cave and force.  Coupled with the graphic novel format, the illustrations support the grisly story's premise while advancing the story at a brisk pace.

True or not, The Gnawer of Rocks is splendid storytelling, horrific in its content but wise in its consul.

From The Gnawer of Rocks 

by Louise Flaherty 

illus. by Jim Nelson

2017 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards: Winners announced

Tuesday night, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the winners of the 2017 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards. On November 8, 2017, the French language winners were announced.  I've posted the names of all winners here.

Congratulations to all!

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group

Winner

The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk

Written and illustrated by Jan Thornhill

Groundwood Books

Reviewed here

Fan Choice Award/Choix du public littérature jeunesse

Winner

The Skeleton Tree

Written by Iain Lawrence

Tundra Books

Le Prix TD de littérature pour l'enfance et la jeunesse canadienne

($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group

Winner

Même pas vrai

Écrit par Larry Tremblay

Illustré par Guillaume Perreault

Éditionas de la Bagnole

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award 

($20,000) Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie

Winner

The Snow Knows

Written by Jennifer McGrath

Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon

Nimbus Publishing

Reviewed here

Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

($10,000) Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation

Winner

Canada Year by Year

Written by Elizabeth MacLeod

Illustrated by Sydney Smith

Kids Can Press

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 

($5,000) Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund

Winner

Mark of the Plague (Blackthorn Key, Book 2)

Written by Kevin Sands

Aladdin

John Spray Mystery Award

($5,000) Sponsored by John Spray of Mantis Investigation Agency

Winner

Shooter

Written by Caroline Pignat

Razorbill Canada

Reviewed here

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

($5,000) Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books

Winner

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Written by E. K. Johnston

Dutton Books

Reviewed here

Prix Harry Black de l'album jeunesse

($5,000) Sponsored by Mary Macchiusi

Winner

Au-delà de la forêt

Écrit par Nadine Robert

Illustré par Gérard DuBois

Comme des géants

The Christmas Wind: Book launch (Toronto, ON)

Last week I reviewed this very special picture book 

which I believe will be heralded as a Christmas favourite

like The Polar Express and The Night Before Christmas 

Now I'm pleased to announce its book launch.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Join 

author Stephanie Simpson McLellan

for the launch of

The Christmas Wind

Written by Stephanie Simpson McLellan

Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-534-9

32 pp.

All ages

November 2017

Reviewed here

on

Sunday, December 3, 2017

at

1 p.m.

at

Ella Minnow Children's Bookstore

991 Kingston Road

Toronto, ON

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

This event will include:

• an interactive reading

• crafts for kids

• treats

• book signing

and

• Christmas Wind loot bags.

I can't think of a better way to start the holiday season 

than by attending this launch with your children or without.

Just be sure to RSVP at

www.The ChristmasWind.com

When the Moon Comes

Written by Paul Harbridge

Illustrated by Matt James

Tundra Books

978-1-101-91777-0

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2017

In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive. – Stephen Leacock

With Stephen Leacock's words prefacing the book, readers can anticipate a book of cold and ice which only hockey can warm to life.  This is our Canada.

Separate illustrations from When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

The children in When the Moon Comes anticipate the coming winter, but it's all about the hockey.  November may still find ducks on the beaver flood in the woods but December finally brings the cold snap that causes it to freeze.  They're already envisioning being on the ice but Arthur suggests they must wait for the moon. When the snow finally comes, dumping it on town and country alike, and the lunar cycle progresses until the full moon, the children make their way after school to the place of dreams and action.

From When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

Their long trek is rewarded with a fire that warms their skates and their anticipation as they take turns clearing the "magic ice."

It is dark, dark now, and the face of the sky is freckled with stars.  But on the far side of the flood, the sky is brighter behind the trees. The moon is rising.
     When the moon comes, we glide out onto the ice we have claimed.  It is marvelous ice, as good as any we have known.

From When the Moon Comes 

by Paul Harbridge

 illus. by Matt James

In several wordless pages of Matt James' extraordinary art, the children skate and play and are stars in their own arena.  It is only when the puck disappears into the snow that Arthur, the voice of reason, suggests it is time to end the game.  The game may be set aside but the magic at the fire, drinking tea and toasty sandwiches, is just a new play before heading home.

Our wet pants freeze solid in the cold, and we walk clanking like knights in armor, lances over our shoulders, hoods like helmets around our faces. 

The story ends with the children warm and slumbering at home while the moon with its promise of more hockey accompanies their sleep.

Paul Harbridge's story of late night hockey on a frozen beaver flood is as magical as the ice.  His words of anticipation and emotion are subtle but reverent, packed with feeling.  Like the world hidden beneath the snow and ice, there is a story of expectation from the past and of the future that underlies what is at its core a tale of shinny.  Artist Matt James, whose work I've admired in Northwest Passage (Groundwood, 2013), The Stone Thrower (Groundwood, 2016) and From There to Here (Groundwood, 2014), enriches Paul Harbridge's text with acrylic and India ink illustrations that convey the awe and appreciation of the children for their landscape and their activity.  There may be darkness and frigid temperatures but there is warmth and camaderie and action.  With many strokes of pen and paint, Paul Harbridge and Matt James take all readers to a place of inhospitable iciness and hospitable hockey that can only be witnessed and fully appreciated When the Moon Comes.

Spirited Away: Fairy Stories of Old Newfoundland

Written by Tom Dawe

Illustrated by Veselina Tomova

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides Inc.

978-1-927917-13-8

60 pp.

Ages 9+

October 2017

If the cover of Spirited Away leaves you with a feeling of dark and foreboding forces at play, then artist Veselina Tomova has done her job admirably because the stories that Tom Dawe recounts from family members and others about the nefarious fairies of old Newfoundland are truly spooky and frightening, if they are to be believed.  Tom Dawe and those who tell and listen believe, and so do I.

From Spirited Away 

by Tom Dawe

 illus. by Veselina Tomova

Nine stories, addended with a glossary and notes about each story's derivation, recall stories of children, a war bride, a visiting nurse, grandmothers and more as they were touched by fairies or were witness to such encounters.  In the first story In a Place Like This, a girl recalls an abandoned house near a pool where her grandfather gathered eels.  She'd heard the warnings of it being a place of spirits and evil fairies and the tales of a man in green dancing upon the house's door ledge.  But her story relates to evil done to the baby sister she watched over as her family cut hay in the adjacent fields.  Only the baby and a green butterfly know how her arm was broken as she lay on a blanket.

Paddy the Hermit, called the Music Man, often told scary stories but they became reality when walking home he is encircled by a group of little fairies who put a spell on him to play his harmonica until he collapses.

From Spirited Away 

by Tom Dawe

 illus. by Veselina Tomova

In several stories, people seek shelter inside at night when fairies seek to harm them outside.  In The Marsh, floating lights, said to portend death, follow two young men on their return from a dance.  Only shelter in a church all night with the light hoovering outside kept the men safe. Where Water Ran the Other Way tells of trapper Solomon finds refuge in a small cabin when caught at dusk.  Though feeling compelled to open the door to those calling him, he wills himself not to listen or look out the windows at the strange goings-on.

There's the story of The Fairy Funeral, Bones and Fallen Angels (from which the cover illustration is derived)  but the other two most compelling stories for me were Spirited Away and The Changeling.  In Spirited Away, a grandmother disappears from a family outing of blueberry-picking.  She recalls being lured deep into the forest by drumming and hours later being found but without memory of her extraordinary walk including the crossing of major rivers. The Changeling is perhaps the most disturbing.  It is the story of a visiting nurse called in the night to the home where less than two months earlier little Gracie was born.  Fearing the only child of John and Sally was ill, she discovers a mother declaring that there was something in the crib but not her child.

Finally, I found the courage to approach the crib. I pulled back the sheet.  And then, God protect us all! I'll never forget the sight. (pg. 46)

It's a chilling story of fairies taking babies and leaving something in its place but it's the certainty of what that nurse saw that was the most compelling.

I know what I saw.  And I know what happened.  John and Sally lost their only child. And that night in an outport years ago, I witnessed an evil transformation.  Something ugly and strange was left in the cot where Gracie was supposed to be. (pg. 49)

Tom Dawe tells some disturbing stories in Spirited Away, enhancing the atmosphere with the flavour of Newfoundland and coastal Labrador.  From the music to blueberry picking and the vocabulary much unknown to me (you may not need to look up duckish, emper, fetch, livyers and herts but I did), these are the stories of the people of Newfoundland.  Veselina Tomova's woodcut illustrations, in dark tones and snatches of light, reflect the very settings in which the fairies appear.  These are not your Disney fairies.  These are frightening, and Tom Dawe ensures that we know that they are real.

From Spirited Away 

by Tom Dawe 

illus. by Veselina Tomova

Mine!: Rescheduled Book Launch (Waterloo, ON)

Yeah!  This event has now been rescheduled.  
See details below.

•••••••••••••••••
Join 

 fiction and non-fiction author

Natalie Hyde

for the launch of her new middle-grade novel

MINE!

Written by Natalie Hyde

Scholastic Canada

978-1-44314-660-9

240 pp.

Ages 9-12

September 2017

on

Saturday, November 25, 2017

at

1-3 p.m.

at

Earth Sciences Museum

University of Waterloo

(Map at https://uwaterloo.ca/map/pdf/map_bw.pdf 

shows the Earth Sciences Building 

and parking lots, 

including free parking in X Lot or $5 parking in Q)

Three will be:

• a book reading

• Q & A

• book signing

• light refreshments

• gold panning (!)

• Mine Tunnel tour

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Like her previous middle grade fiction Saving Armpit (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2011) and I Owe You One (Orca, 2011), Natalie Hyde is putting her humour to work!  And this time it's about a gold claim in the Yukon and saving a family's reputation.


If it weren't for bad luck, Chris Dearing would have no luck at all. 

Chris Dearing comes from a long line of losers. Bad luck has plagued the Dearing family for generations. Now his dad's about to lose everything, and Chris's only hope lies in the wild rivers of the Yukon. What is up there other than moose snot and mosquitos the size of bats? Gold! Specifically, a gold claim Chris’s grandfather was swindled out of years ago. 

With the help of a tough-talking biker and an ex-con muffin baker, Chris is in a race against time to claim the long-forgotten family fortune. Will he strike out like the rest of his family, or will he strike gold and finally get a chance to rewrite Dearing history?

The stakes are high and the hi-jinx even higher in this laugh-out-loud novel from acclaimed author Natalie Hyde!

 (Retrieved from Scholastic Canada website at http://www.scholastic.ca/books/view/mine)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Details about this event
(including a lovely picture of Natalie Hyde panning for gold!)
 are available at

 https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/events/mine

(though the date has yet to be updated
so just know that the launch is really on November 25, 2017)

The Man Who Knew Everything: The Strange Life of Athanasius Kircher

Written by Marilee Peters

Illustrated by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Annick Press

978-1-55451-974-3

60 pp.

Ages 9-12

October 2017

Athanasius Kircher, born in 1602 Germany, dreamed of being someone extraordinary, perhaps a scientist or an author or a scholar.  The insatiably curious child who was prone to reckless behaviour to indulge that inquisitiveness would be proud to know that people regarded him as "The Man Who Knew Everything."

Asking questions about all he encountered, Athanasius Kircher chose to become a Jesuit at age 16 so that he might travel away from his village and experience everything the world might hold.  But with the onset of the religious war known as the Thirty Years' War, Kircher found himself evading the conflict by heading to the safety of the Roman Catholicism-based Rome where he became a professor of mathematics.  However, Kircher never limited his drive for knowledge to that field and pursued interests in everything.  From machines that transmitted sound to the secrets harboured within the earth, Kircher's pursuit of knowledge placed him in countless precarious positions.  It may have been the time of the Scientific Revolution when questions about the age of the earth and foundations of life were being asked but it was also the time of the Inquisition when the Church went after those whom they felt threatened their belief system.  Kircher persisted, embarking on dangerous explorations into the heart of a volcano, collaborating with scientists and priests around the world to formulate his ideas about the earth's development and publishing The Underground World, a compendium of his theories.  To share his ideas and display the many exotic oddities he discovered and was gifted, Kircher established a showcase for them, the Kircherian Museum in Rome.

From The Man Who Knew Everything

by Marilee Peters 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Marilee Peters ensures that young readers understand that this strange man, with his innovative and bizarre ideas, was imaginative, brilliant and ahead of his times in many ways.  He didn't always get things right, like the use of rocks to extract snake venom or a mammoth bone identified as that of ancient supersized humans, but his original thinking, definitely outside the box, allowed for new ideas to come to the forefront and be considered for future study.  He was a pioneer of the scientific method and probably originated the concept of promoting science by linking it with the wonder of its magic.  (The lobster statue "vomiting" water would be a prime example.) It's not surprising that the word "kircherize" was generated to mean the making of connections between unrelated things.

From The Man Who Knew Everything 

by Marilee Peters 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

As biography, The Man Who Knew Everything is somewhat a departure for Marilee Peters whose non-fiction for young people includes 10 Rivers That Shaped the World (Annick, 2015) and Making It Right: Building Peace, Settling Conflict (Annick, 2015) but her fastidious research and ability to bring imagination to her topics of study are definitely there.  The text, never extensive but always illuminating, is like a museum of information, short snippets of knowledge bites.  With Roxanna Bikadoroff's quirky illustrations (recently seen in The Alphabet Thief; Groundwood, 2017), The Man Who Knew Everything has a Monty Pythonesque vibe (recall their TV show of the 1970s): a little irreverent, a lot of details and a general impression of something innovative.  By encompassing lots of biographical info and scientific thought in an unconventional style, The Man Who Knew Everything works for a visionary whose unusual drive for knowledge opened many doors and left many open for further exploration. He might not have actually known everything, but he sure tried.

From The Man Who Knew Everything 

by Marilee Peters 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Goodnight, Hockey Fans

Written by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Jacqui Lee

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-105-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2017

Older readers will recognize the title as the sign-off of radio and TV broadcaster Foster Hewitt after calling a hockey game for Hockey Night in Canada.  They may even recognize the setting, time and place, from their mid-1950s to early-1960s home, with its antennaed television and transistor radio.  But every child, then and now, who dreams of hockey glory will feel this story.

Though the family–mom, dad, son, dog and cat–are enjoying watching television, it's time for the child to go to bed.  He's a little apprehensive, not knowing if he'll be able to fall asleep, especially amidst the silence that seems to roar.

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

He shines his flashlight on his hockey poster, pennant and puck trophy and finally settles on calming himself with his dad's old transistor radio.  When he hears the familiar "Welcome back, hockey fans from coast to coast" he knows he has found his ticket to dreamland.

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

And dream he does. First it's just the hockey game that might be being watched on TV, but soon the announcement of a boy skating onto the ice and going after the puck is trumpeted.  There is that culminating goal and cheers that fade into the nighttime quiet, but it's not really over until mom and dad head to bed and hear the iconic sign-off from their son's concealed radio:  "Goodnight, hockey fans from coast to coast."

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

What a delightful way to celebrate hockey in Canada and to honour Foster Hewitt, the voice of Canadian hockey! By melding the broadcast of a hockey game, complete with the broadcaster's trademark sayings, with a boy's imaginative dreams, everyone is transported to a dreamland of historic play on the ice.  Andrew Larsen who can't possibly be old enough to remember when Foster Hewitt's broadcasts took place on radio and TV captures the wonder of the game and the dream of children nation-wide to play with their hockey heroes and score a winning goal.   The playfulness that Andrew Larsen embeds in his books (see Dingus, Kids Can Press, 2017; Charlie's Dirt Day, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015; and See You Next Year, Owlkids Books, 2015) comes through loud and clear, even in the quiet of a dreaming child's bedroom.

That same playfulness is evoked in Jacqui Lee's retro-style illustrations. From the colours she selects, very reminiscent of a 1950s paint palette, to the uniforms of the hockey players, Jacqui Lee's artwork blends well with Andrew Larsen's story's setting.  The art, like the text, is of a time when Foster Hewitt was everything to hockey in Canada, including the soothing voice of dreams and comfortable slumber.