By the Time You Read This

Written by Jennifer Lanthier

Illustrated by Patricia Storms

Clockwise Press

 978-1-988347-05-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2017

By the Time You Read This, this book will probably be out and I’ll have missed its launch, but, hey, what can you do? At least it’s not the devastating news like that which the arm cast-addled Oscar pens to his former friend Sam, beginning with “To my mortal enemy, By the time you read this….” He then proceeds to itemize all the play things he is dismantling or putting the kibosh on in light of their conflict: the Scientific Experiment of Glorious Doom; their Indestructible Fortress of Fiendishness; their Epic Battle of Giant Robots versus Alien Insects; the Magical Zoo of Mystical Creatures; the Neverending Novel of Awesome Adventures; the Precarious Portal for Intrepid Explorers; and the Time Travel Tower of Ultimate Power.  It seems Sam laughed when Oscar fell when skateboarding.

But all that anger dissipates when Sam finds Oscar and apologizes for laughing, not realizing he’d hurt himself.  Recalling all the fun things they had done together, Oscar relents, asking Sam if she’d like to sign his cast.  With that, the two surrender to their friendship and get back to the business of serious play.

From By the Time You Read This 

by Jennifer Lanthier 

illus. by Patricia Storms

Though Oscar is initially vehement in his new enemy-ship with Sam, as denoted by his powerful words and the decisiveness of his actions, he is not immune to a little empathy and an apology.  It’s amazing what a small step of humility and voiced regret can do to turn things around, especially in a childhood friendship.  Children are forever making friends and dissolving friendships on a whim, justifiably so or not.  It’s evident that, in By the Time You Read This, even anger and disappointment can be fleeting and resolved amicably with just a few words.  Jennifer Lanthier’s text demonstrates the depths of friendship in Oscar and Sam’s imaginative play, especially in their super-duper partnership in taking on the world.  How could Oscar and Sam not stay friends?

From By the Time You Read This 

by Jennifer Lanthier 

illus. by Patricia Storms

Patricia Storms, who can illustrate both tender books like Never Let You Go and playful picture books like The Ghosts Go Spooking, lends an energetic atmosphere to By the Time You Read This, portraying the spirit of children in her boldly-coloured cartoons and in the little details in signage (e.g., "Oscar + Sam ONLY, No Parents Allowed, No Brothers Either") and toys.   Kids will laugh themselves silly over the creatures in the Magical Zoo of Mystical Creatures, like the Farting Fur-Tail and Lionisaurus Rex, and probably recognize a few of their own toys within the pages of By the Time You Read This. They’ll definitely see themselves in the book.  This is a important as young readers need to know that friendships sometimes fall apart but can be reconstructed, sometimes with just a little bandage of kind words.  And even though By the Time You Read This ends with Oscar and Sam reconciled, back at play in their Planetary Pirate Ship, they might still have another falling out.  Such are the nature of friendships when you’re close to someone and care about what they feel and do. But, with a smile and a little play (perhaps the board game on the inside of By the Time You Read This' s cover), all might be forgiven.

The Stamp Collector

by Jennifer Lanthier

Illustrations by François Thisdale

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-218-4

32 pp.

Ages 8+

2012 

"A darkly luminous tale about the power of stories, and the bonds of empathy they can weave." - Yann Martel

(cover blurb endorsement for The Stamp Collector)

There is an art to writing blurbs on books and Canadian author Yann Martel (Life of Pi, Vintage Canada, 2002) has produced the epitome of a succinct but comprehensive, precise and genuine book blurb for Jennifer Lanthier's first picture book, The Stamp Collector. It is as perfect as the book itself.

The Stamp Collector tells the story of two boys, ostensibly in China: one who grows up in the countryside drawing upon the richness of words in his reading and then in his writing; and the other who lives in the desolation of a neighbourhood in the shadow of a prison, enthralled by a found stamp that promises worlds and adventures beyond. When old enough, both boys take on jobs to help their families: the writer continues to write of the land dying and the need for change while he works in a factory, and the city boy takes a job as a prison guard. The factory owners, fearful of the writer's skill in promoting hope through action, enlist the help of "the grey men who run the village" and the writer is arrested and sent to the prison where the other young man works.

"The boy who became a writer" is prevented from writing and interacting with others, and knows nothing of the letters of encouragement sent to him from those touched by his writing. But "the boy who became a guard" is instructed to file the letters away, although he admires the beautiful array of stamps that "are like seeds blown by powerful winds from all corners of the world. Like wishes." Though he knows that he must not break the rules, the guard finds the means to offer as well as accept hope.

Jennifer Lanthier's previous novels (The Mystery of the Martello Tower, HarperTrophy Canada, 2007 and The Legend of the Lost Diamonds, HarperTrophy Canada, 2008) pegged her as a middle-grade mystery writer but The Stamp Collector has catapulted (emphatically, if one doesn't regard catapulting as definitive enough) her work into the realm of life-changing social justice writing. While some authors may seem restricted by the limited text of picture books, Jennifer Lanthier has found the means to extend her writing beyond the words themselves. Just as "the boy who became a writer" was able to exert his influence beyond but still from within his prison, Jennifer Lanthier writes between the lines, offering far more insight, empathy and compassion than suggested by the simple text. And with the enhancement of her text by François Thisdale's blended illustrations of drawings and paintings with digital imagery (see http://www.thisdale.com), the message that words have the power to offer hope and freedom is enduring.