A Single Dreadlock

Written by Xaiver Michael Campbell

Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-938-8

32 pp.

Ages 3–6

September 2025 

 

For many, our hair, or lack thereof, can define us. If hair is present, it can be one of the first attributes by which people identify others: colour, length, texture, appearance. And when you're new to a community and your hair is unusual, it can unfortunately become the difference that separates rather than connects. Ask Lovie.

From A Single Dreadlock, written by Xaiver Michael Campbell, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

As a young child in Jamaica with his dads and grandma, Lovie grew up feeling like he belonged. He looked like the other kids, and his grandmother would care for his hair every Sunday before bedtime. She would grease and comb and then style it whatever way he wanted. But then he and his dads move to Newfoundland, and no one, not even his fathers, know how to tame his curly hair. In the summer, his hair is free and full and playful, dreading in one spot only. Lovie likes that. But when he goes to school, a bully pulls at the one dreadlock and makes fun of Lovie's hair. Now, instead of appreciating all the loveliness of his hair, Lovie wants to hide the dreadlock and avoid the teasing. 

From A Single Dreadlock, written by Xaiver Michael Campbell, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

When his grandmother comes for a surprise visit for Chanukkah, she reassures him that dreading is what their hair type does naturally, and that his strands are full of love. Loving the idea of his hair hugging itself in dreads, he's pleased when his grandmother gets out her hair grease and works on Lovie's hair, making perfect dreads. Proudly he displays them at school. When he's taunted once again, he tells the kids, "They're called dreadlocks, and I love them. And please don't touch my hair."(pg. 28)

From A Single Dreadlock, written by Xaiver Michael Campbell, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Lovie's story is Xaiver Michael Campbell's story. It's one of immigration from Jamaica to Newfoundland. It's one of fitting in to a new community and self-acceptance. It's one of heritage and family, of traditions and self-love. It's a big story about hair. You just wish young Lovie didn't need to endure any intolerance of his differences, but we can be thankful that he has a grandmother with such wisdom and love to help him see the joy of his hair. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, A Single Dreadlock is Xaiver Michael Campbell's first children's book. And it is a deeply personal one because it is one that was lived. Still, Xaiver Michael Campbell's focus is on the joy that is his hair and the help he gets from his grandmother–as well as some generous aids–rather than the bullying. By placing the emphasis on Lovie rather than his unnamed bully, Xaiver Michael Campbell lets young readers see that Lovie and how he feels about his own hair is the story.

 

The joy of Lovie's life in Jamaica and in Newfoundland is depicted in Eugenie Fernandes's paintings (acrylic on watercolour paper). She emphasizes Jamaica's tropical nature and Newfoundland's temperate climate with shades of yellow and blue, but she always makes Lovie this beacon of happiness. Eugenie Fernandes has always been able to bring the warmth of goodness into her art work (e.g., When Rabbit Was a Lion, 2023, and Finding Lucy, 2019), showing children, or animals, finding the strength to be themselves, regardless of those who cannot accept differences. Between her choice of colours and the lushness of the lines she uses to create shapes, whether mangoes, water, or hair, Eugenie Fernandes makes us feel the warmth of place and people.

 

We all have something that makes us unique. It might be a single dreadlock, or a physical attribute, or a skill. But a difference does not need to isolate us. It can be a difference that bears strength and individuality rather than inequality. I hope that Xaiver Michael Campbell always celebrates his hair in whatever style he wants now.

Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides, Inc.

978-1-998802234

44 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2025 

 

If it's a picture book by Lori Doody, you know it's time for another visit to Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, Lori Doody invites us to revisit her character Mr. Beagle, whose nose for mystery helped him solve the local cases in Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown, Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery, and Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill.  This time, Mr. Beagle heads to the charming neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi in St. John's, Newfoundland and discovers a new mystery to solve.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

While making a delivery from his store, Mr. Beagle's Convenience, he notices that folks in the neighbourhood are looking a little sad and seem to be having a hard day. He learns that their stuffed teddy bears have gone missing. "It was unbearable!"

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

He walks through the neighbourhood, talking to people and visiting the fish and chips stand and the one selling pupsicles before heading to the wharf. As the locals and tourists, all donning colourful sweaters and hats, scarves and bottoms, meander the wharf, shopping, taking boat rides, fishing, watching artists and more, Mr. Beagle has his beagle eyes open and his sniffer on the scent. With observation and insight, he catches the culprit whose plight compelled him to theft.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

But identifying the thief is just part of Mr. Beagle's talent. As in his earlier stories, Mr. Beagle finds a way to help the offender and in turn enrich the community in a novel way. And for Quidi Vidi, there's going to be a new attraction.

 

With a plethora of pun and subtle charm, Lori Doody has Mr. Beagle solving a mystery and helping the neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi. The mystery he tasks himself to solve may not be a heist of incalculable wealth, but it is a grab at the most precious and comforting of possessions for many: a beloved teddy bear. So, he takes his task seriously and just apprehending the culprit is not enough. Mr. Beagle needs to know why the theft took place and what could be done to resolve this for both thief and victims. In doing so, he institutes a form of restorative justice whereby both victim and perpetrator can find healing.

 

That's a big message for a little story about a dog who solves the mystery of the disappearing teddy bears, but St. John's printmaker Lori Doody keeps the lightness and brightness of the story in her art. From the bold colours of the sea, sky and land to the myriad of characters that populate the community, Lori Doody takes us to a neighbourhood that is unique and rich in spirit. And with another mystery solved, Mr. Beagle has strengthened another Newfoundland community and revitalized its residents through humanity.

 

Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown (2020)

Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery (2021)

Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill (2022)

Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper (2025)

 

Kimmy & Mike

Written by Dave Paddon

Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917398

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

March 2021 

I'm sure siblings Kimmy and Mike have had some pretty extraordinary adventures on the sea but even I find it hard to believe how a simple fishing outing could become a round-the-world trip of danger and folly. But that's a tall tale for you. See what you believe in this narrative poem and tall tale from Newfoundland and Labrador's Dave Paddon.

It has often been said, and I can't disagree,

That there's no one as tough as our folk of the sea.

But two of the toughest, if the rights was known,

Were Kimmy and Mike, who lived in Belloram.

So begins the tale of Kimmy and Mike who go fishing on order from Mom to "Get something for the pot!" Unfortunately, their best fishing spot lands them only a few sculpins and kelp so they scull around the Gulf and the Straits and elsewhere before deciding they need to cross the pond i.e., the Atlantic Ocean.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Not only do they cross the ocean, they pass through two hurricanes, declaring the 90-knot winds and 60-foot waves to be "a bit of a lop", and catch a small submarine and a squid with 60-foot arms and a 30-foot head. But, throwing both back, they head southward towards the Cape of Good Hope where they encounter a 100-mile iceberg which they cleave with an axe, before Kimmy fights off some pirates single-handedly.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Then there's the merman named Saul and a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii before their mother finds them. Having taken out their father's old punt, she's been doing her own fishing and intends to continue on, sending the twins home.

She said, "Get on home out of it, through the Panama Canal,

And make your father his tea–you know he's not well.

I'm just going to dart 'round Cape Horn while it's light

And stop into Rio for bingo tonight."

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

The twins eventually make it back home, after a stop at the Galapagos and tunnelling beneath the Panama Canal, while their mother, having won a jackpot in Rio and salting and drying her plentiful catch, returns the next morning.

Readers will finish the rhyming story of Kimmy & Mike with a smile upon their faces, envisioning the twins' exploits and the extent of their travel. (This would be a fun geography lesson, especially when coupled with math to determine the probability of this all happening in one day.)  It could even become a ballad if set to music, with its rousing story, melodic nature of ups and downs, highs and lows, and big moments. Add a fiddle, an accordion and maybe an ugly stick and you got a kitchen party going. With this tall tale of fisherfolk, Dave Paddon takes us to Newfoundland and Labrador, to the people who have stories to tell, who use a language of their own (I had to look up several of the words like crousty, stage and sooky in the "Glossary" provided) and try to outdo each other with their tongue-in-cheek stories.

With Lily Snowden-Fine's gorgeous gouache artwork to complement Dave Paddon's story, though, Kimmy & Mike goes beyond just a folk tale. It may have the whimsy that is often associated with folk art but there is a refinement in Lily Snowden-Fine's lines and shapes that make each illustration a work of art, stark but refined, colourful and resonating with the spirit of the Newfoundland and Labrador. 

In the tradition of the recitations, which Dave Paddon discusses in his "Afterward," Kimmy & Mike's fishing adventure would win any kitchen storytelling contest, for its rhyme, plot and artwork. I only wonder what Kimmy and Mike, and their mother, will get up to next time because, you know, there will be another story to tell.