This is a Tiny Fragile Snake

Written by Nicholas Ruddock

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-784-1

36 pp.

Ages 3+

February 2024

 

This is a Tiny Fragile Snake is a nature walk, a stroll through different habitats to see a variety of animals but observed through human eyes and through our interactions with them. Nicholas Ruddock, Guelph writer and physician, gives us the perspective of children as they take in a snake, a bear, a hummingbird, a caterpillar, and more as their worlds intersect with ours. In rhyming verse, Nicholas Ruddock lets us see something different along with these children.

From This is a Tiny Fragile Snake, written by Nicholas Ruddock, illustrated by Ashley Barron

The first poem is "Snake" which, while it mentions what the snake eats, is more about the children protecting the snake from being trampled by moving it to a safer place via a coffee cup. Children being benevolent is a theme that also shows up in the poem about the hummingbird that has its beak stuck in a window screen, and a caterpillar saved from a lawnmower, as well as a chipmunk being stalked by a tuxedo cat.

I plucked it from its blade of grass

and placed it on a tree,

and a week ago a butterfly

came by and danced for me. ("Caterpillar")

From This is a Tiny Fragile Snake, written by Nicholas Ruddock, illustrated by Ashley Barron

Some poems reflect how we feel about the animals highlighted, whether disgusted, scared, impressed or something completely different. "Ants" speaks to dissuading ants from ruining a picnic by offering some sugary treats some distance away. "Skunk" suggests to children that, while we might see a skunk as a stinky animal, perhaps the skunk sees us with disdain too. Whether it be hornets, a moose, herons, a red squirrel, or a finch, wasp, worms, or loon, Nicholas Ruddock reminds us that people have a relationship with other animals. This might be because we have imposed ourselves on their habitats, or because they have encroached on ours, but there is an interrelationship as our dynamic worlds merge and separate.

From This is a Tiny Fragile Snake, written by Nicholas Ruddock, illustrated by Ashley Barron

By showing young readers how our actions can impact other species, Nicholas Ruddock demonstrates how we can ensure that those actions are always positive or at least harmless. There is wisdom in getting a raccoon out of house or how to free a loon trapped in ice which is delivered with a gentle awe of these animals and how they behave. There is a respect for them that is both explicit and implicit.

It turned out we were helpless,

there was nothing we could do,

for there seemed a steady stream of them,

and we were only two. ("Hornets")

I've admired Ashley Barron's cut-paper collage illustrations in earlier books that she's illustrated for others (e.g., Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones, Chaiwala!, and Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship) and I believe that the texturing that comes with her technique lends itself well to outdoor settings. Like leaves that layer and feathers and fur, scales and petals of texture, Ashley Barron's art is rich in depth and colour, giving a three-dimensionality to the landscapes and their animals.

While This is a Tiny Fragile Snake will entice readers, young and old, to find the poetry in nature and how we interact with it, the poems within also remind us how, when our worlds merge, we can ensure those interactions remain copacetic.

So we gave up, threw up our hands,

defeated by a pest,

and for the rest of summer

she was treated as a guest. ("Squirrel")

Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship

Written by Heather Smith

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0552-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

June 2023

 

This is a story of what is left after a grandparent passes. Many think of the tangible bequests. This child's inheritance is so much more.

From Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship, written by Heather Smith, illus. by Ashley Barron

When Granny dies, there was a hole in our family.
Remembering her helped us fill it.

After a boy's grandmother dies, his family deals with their grief in different ways. There's the sharing of stories and photos, and there's reminiscing about the items she bequeathed them. But what did she leave him? It wasn't one thing. She's left him an abundance of memories of adventures that they'd created together. 

From Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship, written by Heather Smith, illus. by Ashley Barron

Whether it's the memory of creating a tent with blankets or a flying broomstick, a knight's sword on which marshmallows were roasted, or a rocket ship, often using Granny's blue cane, this child has a lifetime of memories of fantastic exploits.

Grief and loss are handled differently for everyone and will definitely vary between adults and children. The adults in this household must get on with the task of sorting out Granny's home and cherishing unique gifts bestowed on them, as do the two older children. But what the narrator gets is far greater and this child knows it. Heather Smith, author of everything from picture books like Annie's Cat is Sad to middle-grade novels in verse (e.g., Ebb & Flow) and YA like The Agony of Bun O'Keefe, always gets into the heart of feelings. She finds a way to see something positive and uplifting even in the challenging times. Here, a child is dealing with the loss of a beloved grandparents, and he finds a way to be grateful for the experiences he had with his grandmother. We've all heard of or experienced how a family loss can become a struggle of disputes with who got what, but this child sees beyond the material things his parents and siblings got and knows that he got so much more. He didn't get the tuba or the record collection or the microscope but he got everything he wanted in adventures and time and imaginative play with an elder he loved. In few words, Heather Smith lets us feel the adoration and gratitude.

From Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship, written by Heather Smith, illus. by Ashley Barron

From Ashley Barron's cut-paper collage with watercolour, and acrylic and pencil crayon, readers will never experience the grief that is the reason that the child was left something at all. There is no somberness to Ashley Barron's illustrations and that's because, while this boy and his family have experienced a loss, they are grateful for the gifts and time and  relationships they've had with their mother and grandmother. For the narrator, the gift of time and connection takes him from Granny's very real living room into his imagination with palm trees and teal waters to dragons and owls.

When Granny died,

she left me a world of adventure...

that I can take with me wherever I go.

What a gift.

Chaiwala!

Written by Priti Birla Maheshwari

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-368-2

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2021

For kids in North America, it may be a treat to pick up a hot chocolate or a smoothie at their local fast food spot, but for this young girl it's all about the chai, and getting it from the skilled and artistic chaiwala at the train station.

From Chaiwala! by Priti Birla Maheshwari, illus. by Ashley Barron

When she and her mother disembark their train, the child runs to the line for the chaiwala, a person who makes the aromatic and tasty beverage, chai. 

From Chaiwala! by Priti Birla Maheshwari, illus. by Ashley Barron

But waiting for a cup of chai to be made is a whole experience. There is no impatience for the time and effort the chaiwala takes to make that heavenly chai. In fact, judging by the expression on the child's face, every sound and every scent enhances that experience to something ethereal. From the "clink" of the cups to the grinding of the ingredients and the  scooping of tea leaves, the child observes and enjoys. This is not a child irritable with waiting. For her, the making of the chai is as gratifying as drinking it. And her appreciation is as palpable as the tea itself.

From Chaiwala! by Priti Birla Maheshwari, illus. by Ashley Barron

This is teacher Priti Birla Maheshwari's first picture book and, by basing it on a childhood memory of enjoying chai with her family, she is able to evoke an anecdote about the chaiwala and turn it into a sensory celebration. From the smells of the spices, the sounds of the chaiwala at his task, and the colours of the train station and its people, Chaiwala! celebrates an attribute of Indian culture that may be familiar for those living or visiting India but new to others. By sharing, Priti Birla Maheshwari is teaching and inviting readers to see something amazing and perhaps different.

Those same sensory experiences burst from Ashley Barron's paper collage work. Like the busyness of a train station and the symphony involved in the making of the chai, Ashley Barron bombards us with feeling through colour and form. She lets us breathe in the sweet and the spicy, feel the warmth of location and drink, and enjoy the taste of a cup of chai. By focusing on the child and her experiences, Ashley Barron's cut-paper art brings an intimacy to the process of watching the chai being made and then savouring it with family.

Although I've enjoyed a cup or two of chai, I've never visited India, that is, until I read Chaiwala! With this picture book, I experienced a brief moment of being in that train station in Jaipur, watching a child watch the chaiwala and appreciating the specialness of that moment with her mother. I believe my next cup of chai may seem somewhat bland compared to that made by the chaiwala but it'll certainly evoke memories of reading Chaiwala!

My City Speaks

Written by Darren Lebeuf

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0414-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2021

When a young girl and her father head to her outdoor violin recital, the city becomes their companion, sensory-rich and amazingly diverse in its scope. This visually-impaired child, as evidenced by her white cane, listens as her city speaks and she hears, as well as smells and tastes and feels. Her city is alive.

From My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

As she and her father walk to the park, she "sees" everything but her seeing is with all her senses except her eyes. The reader will see the neighbour pruning his shrubs and the lady walking her terrier and her father locking the door but the child will know them in her own way. We see them reach the tactile paving at the busy intersection while she hears the city moving.

It rushes and stops and waits and goes.

From dropping a letter off in the post box to watering plants in the raised garden beds near a construction site, the child hears the city growing in different ways. But the city is really a spectacle of contrasts: busy and relaxed, playful and working. And she hears it all.

From My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

After stops at a playground, ice-cream shop and grocer's, filled with their own sensory experiences, the weather changes.

It pitters and patters and drips and drains.

From My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

Finally after a subway ride, alive with "whispers and giggles and sometimes meows," the girl and her father reach the outdoor venue where she and other children are to perform. Then, her city not only speaks, it listens.

Vancouver's Darren Lebeuf may take us to his neighbourhood–though maybe not–to experience it through the senses of a child whose eyesight is impaired but this could be any city. There are roads and parks, stores and playgrounds. There are quiet areas and busy ones, and the girl notices everything around her. By choosing to make his character less dependent on her eyesight, the sense that most of us rely on as we navigate our neighbourhoods, Darren Lebeuf helps us hear and occasionally smell and taste, reminding us of everything we undoubtedly miss when we use only our eyes. Moreover by giving a rhythm to his words, like the "hasty honks, impatient beeps, distant chimes, reliable rumbles, speedy sirens and urgent clangs," Darren Lebeuf has found the city's heartbeats, those that come from its people, its infrastructure, and more.

But while Darren Lebeuf's character cannot rely on her eyesight, readers will get the full visual experience from Ashley Barron's cut-paper collages of the most vibrant colours and the most intricate details. There's a hot pink Vespa, a raccoon peeking out from a trash container, and the family's cats playing with a toy mouse. On the subway, the child may not see the hijab-wearing woman sharing earbuds with a wheelchair-bound young man or the pink-haired person beside another with pencil-skewered hair, but we do. And so the child's amazing sense of what is going on around her is all the more impressive. 

 

Darren Lebeuf and Ashley Barron's My City Speaks certainly speaks to an awareness for one's environment but it also celebrates the richness of an urban landscape in stimulating all our senses and the importance of being ever present in its distinct quality.

My Forest is Green

Written by Darren Lebeuf

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-930-3

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2019

Earth Day will be upon us soon and the wonders of the natural world will call. For some it calls from an apartment balcony while for others it's from the ground beneath a canopy of deciduous or coniferous trees, and for one little boy, it's both.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

A little boy looks out from a high-rise balcony over a forest, perhaps park or ravine or woodland green space. But he also has an inside forest of artwork depicting that world.  He has seen the contrasts of height and textures, size and sound, and colour, through different seasons and weather. He sketches it, paints it, collages it, makes cut-paper art, sculpts snow, takes photos, and combines mixed media to capture the essence of the forest.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

This is BC author Darren Lebeuf's first picture book and he gives life to a child's appreciation of the forest as the child uses all his senses to gather information about it before depicting it in his artwork. It's evident how much the child enjoys exploring the forest of his neighbourhood, seeking out the wonders above and below, from milkweed pods to resourceful ants, making bark prints and using rocks and leaves to create his own forest of art. The child accepts the dynamics of a world rich with life, plant and animal, and appreciates that his impression of the forest will change with its evolution.

My forest is so many things...
I can't wait to see what my forest is tomorrow.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

The child's art is all the more lavish because it is the artwork of Ashley Barron. Her cut-paper collages have graced many a picture book including Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones (Owlkids, 2017) and Kyle Goes Alone (Owlkids, 2015), but now she goes beyond that style to show how a child interprets the natural world through his art. From his leaves taped to paper, or his sponge-painted moss and Polaroids, Ashley Barron brings his perspective to us, from a child's eye to a reader's. It's detailed and colourful, like nature itself, and takes us all on a walk into a forest that is mostly green but much more.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

Birthdays Around the World

Written by Margriet Ruurs

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-624-1

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2017

Global perspectives are difficult concepts for very young children to grasp.  They are typically just learning about their own place, here and now, and understanding that there is much beyond that is challenging.  By focusing on a familiar and shared concept such as birthdays, Margriet Ruurs has found a way for young children to connect with those around the world.

From Birthdays Around the World

by Margriet Ruurs

 illus. by Ashley Barron

Birthdays around the world, boldly illustrated by cut-paper collage artist Ashley Barron, looks at children in 14 different countries around the world and tells about their family, birthday greetings, celebratory activities and food.  The children and countries depicted in each double-spread include:

• Arvaarluk from Canada (Nunavut, specifically)
• Alana and Kainoa  from the United States (Hawaii)
• Opal and Delroy in Jamaica
• Mercedes in Peru
• Ieva in Latvia
• Dmitry in Russia (on the border of Europe and Asia)
• Bram in Belgium
• Maame in Ghana
• Nthabeleng in Lesotho
• Ninoshka in India (Kashmir region)
• Shinobu in Japan
• Athom and Arunny in Cambodia
• Phúc Khang in Vietnam
• Thea on Norfolk Island, Australia

From Birthdays Around the World 

by Margriet Ruurs 

illus. by Ashley Barron

A mixture of boys and girls of different ages and living in different types of communities (big cities, islands, remote towns, rural areas) will ensure that young readers might see something of themselves in these children.  Some of their stories are presented by a sibling e.g. Athom speaks for baby sister Arunny.  Some are atypical celebrations that are held country-wide rather than commemorating the birth day of an individual. And, even though many of their celebrations will be foreign to young readers e.g. the dumping of flour on Delroy's head, there is much that they can envision, different as they may be.  Special foods and treats, good wishes and blessings, family and friends.  Whether they dress in a silk kimono, a palaka aloha shirt or a favourite outfit, these children know how special this day is for them and others to celebrate with them.

Margriet Ruurs does a stellar job of bringing the world in a little closer to home.  She always does (e.g., Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey, illus. by Nizar Ali Badr, Orca, 2015). In Birthdays Around the World, Margriet Ruurs has endeavoured to include all continents (except Antarctica) and cover the full range of birthdays, from simple days of food and family to elaborate days of military parades and more. Both secular and religious observances are included, as is appropriate, and Margriet Ruurs even helps direct discussions of the reader's birthday celebrations in an addendum called "Your Birthday" and provides activities for parents and teachers relating to the book's contents and more.  And everything is so much better for the unique art of Ashley Barron, whose cut-paper graced earlier works Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones (Susan Hughes, Owlkids, 2017) and Kyle Goes Alone (Jan Thornhill, Owlkids, 2015).  The cut-paper artwork adds astounding depth and clarity to the text, guaranteeing that Birthdays Around the World is a relatable and visually expressive children's book on the global perspective of birthdays.

From Birthdays Around the World 

by Margriet Ruurs 

illus. by Ashley Barron

Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones

Written by Susan Hughes

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-176-3

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

April 2017

Susan Hughes is a prolific and award-winning writer of all genres of children’s books, having written picture books (e.g., Earth to Audrey and Maggie McGillicuddy’s Eye for Trouble), early chapter books (e.g., Four Seasons of Patrick, and numerous books in The Puppy Collection), young adult fiction (Virginia) and non-fiction (e.g., Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World and Case Closed: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science).  But where Susan Hughes excels is in those books which focus on global perspectives and social justice issues, bringing the world a little closer to Canadian children, as she does in Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones.  It’s a warm-hearted but candid look at the common practice of carrying babies in urban and rural settings around the world with cuddly images rendered by paper-collage artist Ashley Barron.

From the onset, Susan Hughes lists which countries will be visited in our global tour of baby transport:

From West Africa to Peru, from
Egypt to Canada’s Far North, from
Korea to India, from Poland to China
and Afghanistan and the place you call
home, all around the world, families
carry their babies in many different
ways.  Come join us and see…

And, with an “Upsy-daisy, baby” our tour begins, taking young readers to familiar and exotic locales, to see a diversity of babies–all adorable!–being bundled in arms, shawls, parkas, carriers, packs, slings, baskets, and carried on hips and shoulders, cradled as the precious cargo they are.  Their caregivers are as diverse as the children including parents, siblings, grandparents, and other relatives of all shapes, ages and colours.  It’s a wonderful collection of familial vignettes from around the world.

From Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones

by Susan Hughes 

illus. by Ashley Barron

The affection for the babies by the caregivers is obvious and Ashley Barron’s cut-paper collages give texture and shape to those expressions of care and adoration.  As in Kyle Goes Alone, the first book I reviewed illustrated by Ashley Barron, the artist is astoundingly adept at cutting the shape of a chubby leg or beard-clasping fingers and depicting angelic and joyous faces of babies who know they are safe and much-loved.  Her details, from the playground in Poland to the twisted turban of the Afghan grandfather and the Indian fruit and textile market, bring the settings of Susan Hughes' text to life, creating a travelogue and personalized context for each baby’s home.

From Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones 

by Susan Hughes 

illus. by Ashley Barron

Susan Hughes and Ashley Barron have created a global story of life and love in Up! and they’ll have you shamelessly oohing and ahhing over these little ones and the care they are given as they are raised Up! into loving arms and hearts.

From Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones 

by Susan Hughes 

illus. by Ashley Barron

Kyle Goes Alone

by Jan Thornhill

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Owlkids

978-1-77147-075-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August, 2015

Kyle is a three-toed sloth and he’s used to his mother taking him down from the top of the rainforest canopy all the way down to the ground for his once a week toileting.  But his mom decides that he’s old enough to go alone.

“You can do it, “ said his mom.
“I’ll be right here if you need me.”

And slowly, the way sloths always move, Kyle makes his way down , always wondering if he should turn back.  Except he really has to go.  And, even though he can’t always see her, she’s watching him from between the leaves, reassuring him that he’s doing well.

But, Kyle looks around and feels alone in that ominous way that only a child who has always clung to his mother can feel.  “But I’m all alone!” cried Kyle, repeatedly, and surprisingly he is always answered with, “No, you’re not.”  First, it’s a beautiful red-speckled parrot.  Then, further down, it’s a green and yellow whipsnake, and then a tiger-legged monkey tree frog and a leaf-cutting ant.  By the time he reaches the bottom and “goes”, Kyle is smiling, proud of himself for what he has accomplished.  And finds out his mother is still there for him when he needs her, regardless of the fact that Kyle Goes Alone now.

If this was a YA book, it would be considered a coming-of-age story because that’s what it is for Kyle: he’s coming of an age when he needs to become independent of his mother.  It just happens that this independence is related to toileting!  And there’s lots to learn about it from Jan Thornhill, whose wealth of non-fiction attests to her scientific knowledge.  So in addition to this charming story that parents will want to share with their children, especially those who are being toilet-trained, Jan Thornhill provides “The Poop about Three-toed Sloths” as well as about “Camouflage: Hiding in Plain Sight.”  Read, learn, enjoy.

But wait until you take in Ashely Barron’s breath-taking paper-collage illustrations that pop from the page.  I am red-faced that I’d missed including this talented artist in my posts about youngCanLit illustrators. Her ability to create textured rainforests and colourful creatures from cut-paper is astounding.  If you check out Ashley Barron's blog at https://ashleybarron.wordpress.com, you can watch her create Kyle.  While her workmanship is astonishing, her choice and creation of colourful papers is just as dazzling.  You'll see Kyle’s expresssion change from fearful grimaces to proud grins as he travels down the tree, but so too do the colours of the landscape change from the cool colours of fear to the sun-dappled greens and turquoises of hope and success.

Kyle Goes Alone is an triumph of storytelling, blending scientific non-fiction, collage artistry and sloth-pooping, thanks to Jan Thornhill, Ashley Barron and, of course, Kyle.