Hidden Treasure

Written and illustrated by Elly MacKay

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-6301-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2021

 

There's magic here. It's the magic of Elly MacKay's artwork but it's also in a child's wonder of discovery, finding treasure which most would overlook and appreciating a day of togetherness. It's in a lazy summer day on a beach and we're invited to watch.

 

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

A child and her Papa stroll down to the bay with their dog, past stores that claim to sell treasures, though she knows better.  She knows what true treasures are, and it's not the stuff sold in stores or the kind lauded by pirates in movies.

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

She finds treasure in the beach stones that are different with each visit. This day she picks up one that looks like a whale tooth, a perfect match for the whale she envisions in the clouds.

Dipping into the water, she discovers more treasure including shells, a speckled rock, a bubble wand, a rusty key and a marble, all which she lays out on the dock for her dog to see. Some she will return to the water to revisit another day and some treasures she will admire from afar, like the cocoon on the swamp milkweed.

 

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

Deciding what she will choose to add to her treasure box–“ones I can borrow, keep for a while”–is an important part of the process and one she shares with her Papa.

When I’m here, I feel like a queen.
So I think I know what treasure means.

And she knows that treasure goes beyond the things she picks up or sees on their outing.

From her debut picture book, If You Hold a Seed, Elly MacKay has been wowing young readers and their teachers, school and home, with her expressive illustrations. Because she blends drawings with ink and cut paper into scenes which she photographs–her Twitter handle is appropriately @theaterclouds–Elly MacKay melds layer upon layer of colour and texture and shape into an evocative landscapes of life and setting. The water produced from iridescent wrapping paper shimmers with movement and warmth and the beach radiates summer heat and softness with natural quiet. There's connection between people and with place but there is solitude as well. This is treasure in itself, as the child recognizes. 

 

I suspect that there will be, as there always have been, children collecting hidden treasures from walks in forests, along beaches and in urban settings on this very day. They will see the extraordinary in the ordinary. With Hidden Treasure and her ethereal artwork of theatre, Elly MacKay has reminded us all of the magic that comes from the ordinary and to see the treasure that is too often missed.

The Tallest Tree House

Written and illustrated by Elly MacKay

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-6299-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2019

Mip, the red mushroom-capped fairy, is a true kinesthete. She's always on the move, singing, flying and building. Her impetuousness has her challenging Pip, her book-loving, contemplative fairy friend to a tree house race after she sees him reading a book on architecture.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

Mip is all at it immediately, determined to make the tallest tree house ever and by sundown. Pip, on the other hand, sits on his rock among the Trillium, Erythronium and Aquilegia, and plans his build with precision and thoughtfulness.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

Slowly the two tree houses start to take shape, as Mip frantically and rather haphazardly builds and builds while Pip slowly but methodically creates his own.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

When "Gusts of wind send sprays of mist over the rocks" and "The leaves began to dance," Pip suggests Mip secure her tower. Of course Mip sees this as a ploy to slow her down and continues building. But when the wind and rain topple her tower into Pip's tree house and traps his wing, Mip comes to the rescue. Then, after the storm has passed, the two work together on a new tree house that incorporates both their structures into "a winning piece of architecture."

As her website's name and Twitter handle can attest, Elly MacKay truly creates theatre in the clouds. Through a laborious process that may appear to be like play–see full details at her website here–Elly MacKay blends inked figures and other structures cut from paper into a theatre in which she can manipulate the layers and lighting. It's a stunning blend of two-dimensional creations with three dimensions. Children are fascinated by the textures that come from her artwork and have been charmed by it in her picture books from If You Hold a Seed (Running Press, 2013) to her latter works including Butterfly Park (Running Press, 2015) and Red Sky at Night (Tundra, 2018). Couple that art with fairies and a competition that transforms into cooperation and partnership and The Tallest Tree House becomes a winner for all readers.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

Two picture books to launch from Owlkids: SKUNK ON A STRING and MAYA (Toronto)

It's twice the fun
because there are two books being launched!

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Join author-illustrator Thao Lam for the launch of

Skunk on a String

Owlkids Books
978-1-77147-131-2
40 pp.
Ages 4-7
March 2016

A wordless picture book about a skunk who sees the world from a new perspective
Reviewed here

and

debut author Mahak Jain

and award-winning illustrator Elly McKay

for the launch of their picture book

Maya

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-100-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2016

The story of a young girl who uses her imagination and the legend of a banyan tree to assuage her fears and grief

on

Saturday, June 4, 2016

2-3:30 p.m.

at

Toronto Public Library

Lillian H. Smith branch

There will be:

• swag bags for the first 30 kids (and treats for adults too)
• storytime
• crafts and activities
• refreshments
• book signing
• books on sale courtesy of Another Story Bookshop

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YoungCanLit Who's Who: Illustrators H-Q, List II

Here's list # 2 for this second round of youngCanLit illustrators:

Kellen Hatanka

Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

Matt James

Brooke Kerrigan

Dayal Kaur Khalsa

Jon Klassen

Julie Kraulis

Eliska Liska

Mike Lowery

J. Lum

Elly Mackay

Patsy MacKinnon

Isabelle Malenfant

Cyndi Marko

Luc Melanson

Nicholas Oldland

Paola Opal

Pierre Pratt

Check yesterday's listing for Illustrators A-G, List II.

The Best Gifts

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Illustrated by Elly MacKay

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

981-1-55455-283-2

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

May, 2013

Throughout Sara's life, she is wrapped in love and celebrated with joy and gifts.  From birthdays, to graduation, to marriage, Sara is showered with adoration.  But the very best gift is the one that she receives at her mother's breast with her father beside them, and the one that she gives her own child, Sam, at the conclusion of the book.

This new edition of Marsha Skrypuch's The Best Gifts (originally illustrated by Halina Below; Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1998) is the story of a new life that is nurtured and treasured, and allowed to grow and flourish so that she may share the same gifts with her newborn son.  And the final message,

"...the best gifts can never be bought"

is warmly extended through the unique paper art of Elly MacKay.

Award-winning author of children's fiction and non-fiction Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch has always been able to touch readers' hearts with her poignant takes on historical circumstances of the Ukrainian Holodomyr, the Armenian genocide, airlifts from Vietnam and immigration. But this story comes from the past, the present and the future, for every child born and yet to be born, in love and care, and blessed with a mother's milk, sharing the most natural of first gifts.  Complemented with Elly MacKay's soft, ethereal paper artwork, Marsha Skrypuch's text gently shares the importance of breastfeeding without insisting that readers get up close and personal with it.  While resources and links to organizations and research into the valuable nature of breastfeeding are provided, Marsha Skrypuch and Elly MacKay have taken a step back from lauding breastfeeding directly and allowed The Best Gifts to be introduced to a younger readership with the aim of appreciating the nature of all gifts (though The Best Gifts is still a great gift for new parents!)