An Owl at Sea: Guest review

Today's review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

Written by Susan Vande Griek

Illustrated by Ian Wallace

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-111-5

32 pp.

Ages 6-10

May 2019

This beautiful picture book was written by Susan Vande Griek after she read a news article about a Short-eared Owl that somehow flew to an oil rig many kilometres out in the ocean off Scotland.  An Owl At Sea starts with an owl resting on a fence post in a field looking to see if it can find a mouse to eat.

From An Owl at Sea by Susan Vande Griek, illus. by Ian Wallace

It doesn’t explain why or how the owl got so far from this field when we see it navigating the sky above the ocean next.  However, the story of its journey to that oil rig, and then home, is captivating to read.

I am always drawn into books written in verse.  For me, it makes the story all the more magical.  An Owl At Sea by Susan Vande Griek is written in verse and I was instantly struck by the power of a simple description of the owl written in verse. 

Chunky legs,
tired wings
drop,
fold,
talons searching
for something to hold.

These words helped me feel the exhaustion of the owl, desperate for a place to rest after finding itself so far from its field back home. Susan Vande Griek weaves words so beautifully that the scene unfolds before your own eyes.

From An Owl at Sea by Susan Vande Griek, illus. by Ian Wallace

The words alone create wonderful images for the reader; however, that shouldn’t take away from the stunning artwork by Ian Wallace. His watercolour artwork brings the scene alive. I especially loved his images of the owl on its harrowing journey above the crashing waves and in the misty weather. It is almost as if you can feel the salty spray on your face as you cross your fingers tight, hoping for a safe landing for the owl.

From An Owl at Sea by Susan Vande Griek, illus. by Ian Wallace

An Owl At Sea is a great story to read about the determination of animals.  In the classroom, it would be an interesting book to read in combination with a non-fiction book on owls to compare how extraordinary a feat this journey was for the Short-eared Owl.  It could inspire more research on astounding animal accomplishments and their stories.  This book also illustrated the kindness of the humans that all helped this feathered creature return to its grassy field.  Perhaps, it will inspire children to find ways to help out animals in their own community.

~ Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.

The Curiosity Cabinet

Written and illustrated by Ian Wallace

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-922-5

36 pp.

Ages 5+

September 2017

See Canada from inside Ian Wallace's The Curiosity Cabinet, a book and cupboard filled with mementoes of each province and territory.  From Ian Wallace's dedication,

Dear Canada,

Thanks for the

countless adventures

logged in my red

Converse All Stars.

                        I.W.

to the rich endpapers detailing mugs of pens and T-shirts, a NWT license plate and a child's painting of a duck, The Curiosity Cabinet represents the accumulation of gifts, purchases and experiences Ian Wallace has received, made or had visiting communities across Canada.  They may be his curiosities but they are of our country and tell a story far greater than the totality of their numbers.

One day I realized that this vast land was a nation of families and diverse neighborhoods, and that I had left a piece of myself in each one – and they in me.

From The Curiosity Cabinet by Ian Wallace

Except for an introduction and four pages of illustrator's notes, which identify all the curiosities and the province or territory depicted, there is no text on the double-page spreads representing each region.  From his home province of Ontario represented by tamarack geese gifted from Attawapiskat and Moose Factory, and the sparrow carving for the launch of The Sparrow's Song (Groundwood, 1976) to the snow globe illuminating a reading at the Owen Sound Public Library circa 1978, Ian Wallace reveals his travels, his books and his memories of visits. 

From The Curiosity Cabinet by Ian Wallace

The illustration for Alberta honours the native land of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Nova Scotia's salutes the people of the sea and his book Boys of the Deeps (Groundwood, 1999) and Yukon's illustration celebrates the aurora borealis, the work of Robert Service and Ted Harrison, and Jan Andrew's story Very Last First Time (Groundwood, 1985) which Ian Wallace illustrated. Sadly this memory page is all the more poignant for the losses of Ted Harrison in 2015 and Jan Andrews just over a week ago.

Ian Wallace has chosen to illustrate exclusively in the subtle graphite that produces both an eeriness and an emotional distance.  It is like seeing a museum display, highly appropriate for a book titled The Curiosity Cabinet.  Still there is an intimacy because of the content of the cabinet, as each memento has a very personal attachment to the author/illustrator.  With each item and illustration, Ian Wallace remembers and celebrates the people and places of our Canada, as they have touched him. While reminding us of the plethora of books he has written and illustrated, The Curiosity Cabinet is a relevant and gratifying way to celebrate Canada 150.

From The Curiosity Cabinet by Ian Wallace

The Slippers' Keeper

by Ian Wallace

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-414-5

36 pp.

Ages 5-8

April 2015

I should have reviewed The Slippers’ Keeper in April when it first came out, as its inclusion on any list of picture books related to Earth Day and conservationism would have been more than appropriate.  The book cheers those like Joe Purdon, the subject of The Slippers’ Keeper, who against the odds continue to embrace nature as it is and should be, not as we can manipulate it to be.  And Ian Wallace’s retelling of Purdon’s story from childhood to his passing is an inspirational one for sharing the magnificence of nature and the propriety of saving it.

Born in 1914 into an Eastern Ontario farm family, Joe Purdon became enamoured by the natural world he trekked with his dog, Laddie.  The forests, the fens, the animals, birds, insects and plants were all integral to enriching his life.  Discovery of a small patch of eight Showy Lady’s Slipper plants, which he had just recently learned take 5-7 years to flower, has Joe at cross-purposes with his father who cannot see the value of nurturing that which isn’t a crop or food source. 

But, in his free time, Joe cares for the small population of plants, monitoring water levels, hand pollinating, clearing away hazards and predators, and thinning trees.  As he grows older, taking over the family farm, but turning to more word-working and maple-syrup production, Joe’s orchid population continues to multiply.  He passes that love of nature and the Showy Lady’s Slippers onto his youngest child, Rhodena.  Ultimately, that population which grows to thousands is entrusted to the local conservation authority to ensure its perpetuity.

The ethereal nature of Ian Wallace’s watercolour and pencil illustrations convey the earthly and wholesome spirit the natural world and Joe Purdon’s quest to conserve a small piece of heaven on earth.  Yet, the accurate details in the Showy Lady’s Slippers that adorn the fen’s groundcover are reminiscent of any botanical print of Redouté or Curtis.  Ian Wallace’s story of Joe Purdon’s heroic efforts at conservationism is in itself a splendid endeavour to enlighten, ecologically and aesthetically. 

Just So Stories: Volume II

Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Illustrated by Ian Wallace

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-213-4

140 pp.

Ages 5+

April 2014

Though there are numerous versions of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, I truly believe that Canadian artist Ian Wallace has created the quintessential illustrations for Rudyard Kipling's classic children's tales, just as he did in Just So Stories: Volume I  (Groundwood, 2013).  

In this second volume of the two-volume set, the six stories included are: The Beginning of the Armadilloes; How The First Letter Was Written; How the Alphabet Was Made; The Crab That Played with the Sea; The Cat That Walked by Himself; and The Butterfly that Stamped. For each story, Ian Wallace provides six full-page illustrations and manages to find ways to connect elements within stories as well as between them. From the wonder of the young Painted Jaguar for the armadillo, to the bold turbulence of the misbehaving sea and the adoration of Balkis for her husband, Ian Wallace matches Kipling's details with his own. Sadly I believe that, as the Head Chief claims in How The First Letter Was Written,

"pictures are not always properly understood." (pg. 45)

and only Ian Wallace can fully explain the depth of his illustrations. 

However, judging by his extensive Illustrator's Note at the conclusion of the stories, Ian Wallace gave great thought to more than the content of the stories.  He pays homage to Kipling by including original illustrations, to the history of the Paleolithic Era, to Maurice Sendak, to the geography of the stories, and to the wonder of children. By considering so many elements, both apparent in the text and not so, Ian Wallace has ensured unsurpassed richness in his volumes of Just So Stories. 

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.