The Crow That Wouldn't Go

Written and illustrated by Matea Drljepan

The Pictou Bee Press

978-0-920297-07-0

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

June 2025 

 

This may be a story of a crow but it's also the story of a Nova Scotian town, because the place the crow won't leave is Antigonish. So, as the other crows wonder why it won't leave—this partial migration whereby some crows migrate and others don't is quite real—the crow counts off, in rhyming verse, all the things he likes to do in the town of Antigonish.

There was a crow who wouldn't go

He hung around, through hail, rain, and snow.

He wouldn't leave, and he wouldn't fly,

Tied to home, he refused to say bye. (pg. 5)

From The Crow That Wouldn't Go, written and illustrated by Matea Drljepan

The other crows ask what makes this location so special that he'd want to stay, and, in rhyming verse, the crow that wouldn't go tells them. He mentions some places by name like Cape George, Spook Farm, and Keppoch Hill but it's Matea Drljepan's illustrations that give us more of the story. Her text speaks of pizza, ice cream, ghosts, a Cellidh, and a powwow, but her illustrations show us Koala Cone, the Keating Centre, and the Victorian Inn.  There are so many landmarks, historical and cultural, popular and personal, that it becomes evident why this crow doesn't want to leave. Antigonish is home. He is so convincing that Antigonish becomes a little more because of his travelogue.

From The Crow That Wouldn't Go, written and illustrated by Matea Drljepan

It's been many years since I've visited Antigonish, but for those who live in the Maritimes and those who have attended St. Francis Xavier University or the Highland Games, Antigonish offers a little bit of everything. Its character is one of community, history, and culture, and Matea Drljepan's picture book reflects her admiration for the town. But not only does she speak to the town's richness of place and people, she also speaks to the nature of crows in her text and appended note.  

From The Crow That Wouldn't Go, written and illustrated by Matea Drljepan

Beyond Matea Drljepan's depiction of Antigonish and the crows in her boldly-outlined and colourful artwork, young readers will be treated to some very clever references to everything beyond those worlds. For example, when the crow admits that he sometimes feels lonely when all his friends are gone, there is an art parody of Picasso's The Old Guitarist (1903, from his Blue Period). So, not only does she take us to Nova Scotia, she also makes us see beyond it. 

So whatever your family name may be

Whether Ross, Wong, Benoit, Hadhad, or Phee,

This special place was built with love and care,

To welcome all people from everywhere. (pg. 25)

Perhaps you won't be visiting Nova Scotia until we're through with winter, but The Crow That Wouldn't Go would be a delightful accompaniment to your travels with young children. If you've been fortunate enough to have visited before, you will be able to recount the sights you enjoyed then. And, if you're a teacher, I can imagine using this story as a template for children writing their own stories about the places they've visited or the special place they call home. After all, these crows have a lesson or two to teach us about appreciating places near and far.

My Nova Scotia

Written by Lindsay Ruck

Illustrations by Martyna Czub

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-439-3

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

June 2025 

 

Do not think that My Nova Scotia is a travelogue about one of Canada's Atlantic provinces. Instead, read and see about a land and people much loved and spirited and diverse through the words and art of two Nova Scotians, Lindsay Ruck and Martyna Czub.

From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub

In a lovely, melodic rhyming text, Lindsay Ruck shows us her Nova Scotia. It's a setting of ocean breezes, rustling trees, apples, berries, and a rolling sea. But beyond what is seen in its landscape, it is a place of heritage and people. It is Mi'kma'ki and a land of diverse cultures, from Black Loyalists and refugees and Acadians to those who celebrate the Lunar New Year. They are a people who celebrate with music and dance, food and family. They are a people who have big dreams and share their stories.

 

We work as one and together we rise. 

From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub

Lindsay Ruck tells of a Nova Scotia of the past and of the present, and honours all that it is with her words.

 

My Nova Scotia honours our past

Our cultures are rich and our heritage vast 

But added to Lindsay Ruck's words is the watercolour artwork of Martyna Czub which transports young readers to an ethereal Nova Scotia of colour and vibrancy, solitude and contemplation. She gives us lively scenes of Lunar New Year celebrations and ceilidhs, large family meals and the gardening and harvesting of food. Martyna Czub also takes us to quiet places of hiking in the woods and travelling on the water. But her depictions of these places and people are so emotive through her choice of colours and strokes of her brushes that Martyna Czub imbues her art with heart and a calming spirit of devotion. Both Martyna Czub and Lindsay Ruck give us a lovely view of Nova Scotia and yet each finds their own way to reveal its charm.

From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub

I know that some readers may see My Nova Scotia as a regional book that could only be appreciated by locals, but you'd be mistaken. It's been years since I visited Nova Scotia so my appreciation of its beauty and people and all it has to offer a tourist is very limited. But, even if I had never been to this Atlantic province, I would get a true impression of its wonder.  And as I read the text, I was the hearing the melody of "Farewell to Nova Scotia," not because it had a similar tale but because they are both infused with love for a land. My Nova Scotia may be that of Lindsay Ruck and Martyna Czub, but it is an all-embracing admiration for a land unique in place and people that could only be Nova Scotia.

From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub

Lobster's Vacation: Greetings from the Coast

Written by Michelle Robinson

Illustrated by Paul G. Hammond

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-280-1

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

June 2024

 

Enjoying his ocean life with buddies Crab, Starfish and Whale, Lobster is shocked to be caught and transported to a chef's kitchen. But he's having none of it, jumping from the hot pot and making a run for it. It's time for him to get a break and take a vacation.

From Lobster's Vacation, written by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Paul G. Hammond

So, amidst all the tourists and locals, some with maps and cameras, others with dogs and their binoculars, Lobster takes off. His first stop is for a tartan cap and ice cream on the waterfront. Then he's onto a tour bus and seeing all the sights from the wrought iron gates at Halifax Public Gardens National Historic Site to a harbour bridge and the Viola Desmond ferry. 

From Lobster's Vacation, written by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Paul G. Hammond

In the country, Lobster shares a campfire and some music with woodland animals. When the leaves start to change, there's berries to pick and hiking. But, as for most of us, Lobster's vacation becomes tiring, and he longs to see his friends.

Lobster's heading homeward.

So long, sandy shore!

 

Back home with his buddies

on the ocean floor.

At a time when many families are visiting Nova Scotia and other parts of Atlantic Canada for their summer holidays, Michelle Robinson has given them a picture book to take along and feed their travels. If you're fortunate enough to be in Halifax and environs, you may be able to pick out the very ice cream shop where Lobster gets his double scoop or the tartan shop. You'll certainly be able to watch popular kite flying and even board the Viola Desmond ferry. Lobster certainly sees all the sights, both touristy and local faves, but Michelle Robinson still gets Lobster home, and with a cheeky postcard to the fishermen who caught him in the first place.

From Lobster's Vacation, written by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Paul G. Hammond

Paul G. Hammond, also a creator from Halifax like Michelle Robinson, makes Lobster's adventures whimsical and postcard-ready. Every illustration is like a cartoon of a photo from a vacation, showing a smiling Lobster enjoying the sights of Nova Scotia and the company of others. Bold, bright colours, fabulous lines and shapes and text (within the art) makes for a flashy adventure for Lobster and for the readers who get to travel with him.

If you're lucky enough to be visiting the East Coast this summer or another, take along a copy of Lobster's Vacation. Use it as a child's guide to Halifax and area. The kids will love the rhyming story, and especially Lobster's escape from the cooking pot, and will be able to read it for themselves soon enough. And if a trip to Nova Scotia cannot be on your schedule, visit it vicariously through Lobster's Vacation. It's just like being there.

Wild Trails to the Sea

 

Written by Penelope Jackson

 Illustrated by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-273-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2024

 

Wild Trails to the Sea is a reflection of parents who are hopeful for children to enjoy play in the natural worlds of shorelines, oceans, and forests but it reads like a love song to their children, to nature and all its elements, and to curiosity and exploration. 

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

The day begins with a mother carrying her young daughter and looking out the window at the dawn and hoping "the peepers always wake you a little too early." And then there are a multitude of days of outdoor play, with parents watching and interacting and showing and learning as their little ones explore wild areas. It's taking off your shoes to feel the sand and rocks beneath your feet. Or tasting spruce tips. Or leaping into freezing waves. It's going from spring when the first mayflower opens to the summer of bathing suits and hot sands, and then to fall when they "climb the tallest hill to watch whirls of colour tumbling toward the ocean" and winter to fling pebbles onto an icy pond. It's a full year and life in the outdoors for this family and these children, and one that will become a tradition for generations.

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

Halifax's Penelope Jackson has a story to tell, whether of her own childhood or that of other children. She tells it with an almost perceptible sigh of contentment and respect and awe. The natural world is one of wonder, one of extraordinary treasures to be appreciated. Penelope Jackson's text is written in free verse but it is still rhythmic without rhyming. Her words are cadenced, almost like a song, and it is a song of hopes for children to experience their natural worlds and for nature to be recognized and valued. And it is the promise that that wonder will extend beyond themselves.

I hope that when you are grown

and making pathways of your own

you still follow every salty wind...

and walk the wild trails to the sea.

That sensibility of Penelope Jackson's words is matched with Elena Skoreyko Wagner's collage art. With an eye to both colour and shape, Elena Skoreyko Wagner, originally from Nova Scotia and now of the UK, creates vignettes that are so textured that they seem almost tangible. Whether it's a child's hair being tossed by the wind, or the layers of spruce and pine tree branches in a forest, or smoke curling from a bonfire, Elena Skoreyko Wagner has found a way to bring a new dimensionality to the people and landscapes of Wild Trails to the Sea.

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

We may not all have access to a maritime location, but we all have opportunities to get out and play and discover. While Wild Trails to the Sea speaks to one family and the joy and experiential learning of outdoor play, it reminds us that there is much promise if we just open our eyes and take in our surroundings for more than just a backdrop to our structured and scheduled lives.

One Summer in Whitney Pier

Written by The Honourable Mayann Francis

Illustrated by Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-960-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

May 2022

The Honourable Mayann Francis, Nova Scotia's first Black lieutenant-governor, takes us back to the Cape Breton community of her youth, a place of diversity that gives her the context for her latter vocation. This story takes place two years later from Mayann's First Ride, Mayann Francis's first collaboration with artist Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo, and during a 1950s summer which is bountiful with possibilities, even if Mayann doesn't see them at first.

From One Summer in Whitney Pier by Mayann Francis, illus. by Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo

With her best friends Eunice and Betty going away, Mayann is faced with filling her time. Though baseball seems a possibility, the Hankard Street Crew tell her she is too young. When she tells her father, a church minister, that there's nothing to do, he suggests she help her mother and him to see how much there really is to do. 

From One Summer in Whitney Pier by Mayann Francis, illus. by Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo

There's cooking of her many favourite Caribbean meals, learning to make fudge and soft drinks and baking of cakes and pies to share with neighbours. She helps out at the church, watches her sixteen-year-old sister play baseball, and embroiders. And then she realizes she can combine several of those activities and, with a little help from her friends who return early from holidays, do more good for her community.

From One Summer in Whitney Pier by Mayann Francis, illus. by Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo

The Honourable Mayann Francis takes us to a different time and place in One Summer in Whitney Pier. It's a time when summers were not filled with camps, scheduled activities, and tech, and days stretched with opportunities. It's a place where people shared food, and cooking and baking were full-day endeavours. 1950s Whitney Pier was everything to a young Mayann Francis to discover what she could and would enjoy doing and to become a part of something more significant.

That feel to the book also comes from Tamara Thiébaux-Heïkalo's artwork, a blend of pencil and watercolours, giving it a softness appropriate for a nostalgic look at Whitney Pier. The girls wear skirts and white socks, the kids ride their bikes down streets waving to others, and sewing was a skill encouraged in girls. Whitney Pier may not be like that anymore but it gave Mayann Francis a foundation for a life as a public servant and human rights authority and will now give young readers a historical perspective–as well as a couple of recipes–on summers once lived and well spent.

Thanks A Lot, Universe

Written by Chad Lucas

Amulet Books (Abrams)

978-1-4197-5102-8

288 pp.

Ages 10-15

May 2021 

Thanks a Lot, Universe is the story of two boys, both coming to terms with new realities. While they are as different as they appear on the cover, the two are both looking for and finding their true selves, with or without the help of the universe.

Told in the alternating voices of thirteen-year-olds Brian Day and Ezra Komizarek, Thanks a Lot, Universe parallels the stories of the two Halifax boys as they become true friends, and maybe more, though the plot is very much driven by the shy and socially anxious Brian. On the day of his thirteenth birthday, Brian learns via letter that his father has left–the police are after him for his role in "cannabis production and distribution"–and his mother, distraught, attempts suicide, though Brian finds her in time to save her.

We'd thought everything was fine. We hadn't known the world was ending. (pg. 16)

Because the whereabouts of their father is unknown and their mother is hospitalized, Brian and his 9-year-old brother Richie are sent to the foster home of grandparents-like Gordon and Emma Wentzell. Still being questioned by Sergeant States of the police about his father, and now dealing with social worker Kate Evans and the incessant attempts at Mrs. Wentzell to engage him, as well as bullying by Victor MacLennan at school, Brian gets absolutely no respite from his social anxiety, dealing with strangers everywhere.

Meanwhile, Ezra is dealing with his changing relationship with his best friend Colby Newcombe who is in the throws of first love and hanging with a new group which includes Victor. Fortunately Ezra still has his older half-sister Natalie and friends Ty and Kevan with whom he can talk and help him sort out his feelings, including about girls or not.

There are people we hang around because it's comfortable or convenient or safe, then there are our people. When you find them, you'll know the difference. (pg. 48)

Though Ezra knows the quiet Brian from basketball, it's not until the two connect over music briefly on a bus ride, that Ezra begins to really notice him. So when Brian runs away with his brother, Ezra joins up with Brian's teacher's son, Gabe Clelland and his girlfriend Brittany, to find them.

Life is probably doing to kick you right in the junk someday, B-Man. This is all the fatherly wisdom I've got. Brace yourself and kick right back. (pg. 84)

Finding Brian and Ritchie is only half of the story. What happens after the boys are found is a new story, with Brian establishing new supports and the means to divert his Super Awkward Weirdo Syndrome–SAWS is his term for his social anxiety–and Ezra admitting his feelings about his new friend and acting on them with heart and gentleness.

 

In his debut novel, Chad Lucas has given young readers a new way of seeing. As readers, we see the anxiety of family trauma, coming out, and regular teenage angst but Chad Lucas has made us see beyond the surface and look a little deeper into what we think we know. Brian is seen as the quiet kid, perhaps a little weird, even by himself, but beneath that front is a complicated young man who is dealing with so much more: making sense of his own disorder, worrying about a mother with a mental illness, angry with a father involved in illegal activities, and agonizing over a broken family, which may or may not be repairable. But when you're only thirteen and you're left to repair that family without having the supports necessary to do so, it's overwhelming. Most of his peers only see him as different and, though there are adults who can see his need for help, Brian's anxiety doesn't allow him to ask for it. Ezra, on the other hand, is comfortable in his own skin, with his friends and family, but he too is dealing with something new. In his head, he ruminates about his attraction to boys and with whom he might be able to share that. But taking a chance on talking about it with someone else, whether family, friend or crush, is still a risk. 

 

Fortunately, sometimes the universe gives you what you need. Through an alignment of circumstances, Brian and Ezra find each other and give each other something they need, whether a push, a pull, or just a hand. It's all good, or at least better. Sometimes that's all the universe can give you.

 

• • • • • • •

 

Look for my interview with author Chad Lucas tomorrow.

 

• • • • • • •

Larkin on the Shore

Written by Jean Mills

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-577-6

310 pp.

Ages 13+

October 2019

"...her words have stayed with me, just like Jonah's. Words do that. Words spoken and words in books. Words you write. They start to breathe and live and just take over. And right now, I've been taken over by the words of other people–people talking–and I can't find myself or my own words." (pg. 221)

After she is traumatized by something that happened with a boy, Jonah, and ejected from a moving car, sixteen-year-old Larkin Day is sent from her home in Toronto to stay with her grandmother Granne in Tuttle Harbour, Nova Scotia for the summer.  Larkin had managed to finish her Grade 10 exams but the gossip and social media about what happened have left her feeling isolated and unsafe and contemplating the relief of suicide. Her dad decides his mother, a retired principal, would be the best bet for his daughter while he heads to Vancouver to deal with Larkin's mom, a woman addicted to painkillers and bouncing between the unsafe streets and rehab. 

But for Larkin, Granne and Tuttle Harbour are unfamiliar and she must learn to assess every person she meets for sincerity and safety. That includes neighbour Will Greenfield who is helping his dad Billy renovate an old house for Granne into the Tuttle Harbour Café and Reading Room. As Larkin helps Granne with the book donations for the reading room, she deals with her anxiety which tempers her interactions with others, even with nice-guy Will. But when Will takes her to a local campfire with his peers, Larkin meets the gregarious Casey Henwood, his girlfriend Beth and others, and overdoes the drink when "...it tastes so good and goes down easily." (pg. 70). Could she be putting herself in harm's way?

When a fire destroys the back of the café, Casey and Beth and others are quick to point fingers at Will's dad, a recovering alcoholic, who'd apparently once burned down a shed he was building at the Henwood's farm. Hearing the gossip about Billy as well as about Will from Beth, and reflecting on the talk that went on about her after she was injured, Larkin is perplexed about whom to believe or to trust. What's worse is the news coming from her dad about her mother's health situation.  Walking out into the water until the darkness envelopes her or trying to swim out to Prince Edward Island, knowing she'd never make it, continue to overshadow her regular visits to the shore until she starts to live beyond others' words.

Jean Mills, who wrote the Red Maple-nominated Skating Over Thin Ice (Red Deer Press, 2018), knows how to tell a story about dealing with expectations from family, school and self. She gets what it's like to trust and not trust your own feelings and to be confused about how those you care about conduct themselves around you. From an addicted mother to an unfamiliar grandmother and peers that are both charming and deceptive, Larkin must look at every interaction as a potential disaster and possibly harmful. Sadly this is probably not unusual for teens who are trying to understand a world in which they are expected and allowed to take on greater responsibilities but may be unsure whether they have the strength or understanding to meet them. For Larkin, it may not always be evident which is the safe world or the dangerous one, not unlike a shore that borders land and water, but she is developing the courage to choose her heading and a solid intuition about good people that will guide her.

Africville

Written by Shauntay Grant

Illustrated by Eva Campbell

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-043-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2018

Though Africville, a Nova Scotia community founded by former slaves and Black Loyalists in the 1800s, is sadly a legacy of racial discrimination and abandonment, Shauntay Grant chooses to tell the story of community and all the goodness one child sees in Africville.

Africville's story begins with a young girl looking at the community as an observer, seeing its location

at the end of the ocean
 where waves come to rest
 and hug the harbor stones

to its structures

and the houses lay out like a rainbow

From Africville by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Eva Campbell

and the activity of children at play and at home, relaxing and busy. There is fishing and football, rafting, skipping and fishing, food, family and church. This is the Africville of home.

From Africville by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Eva Campbell

Take me to where the pavement ends
and family begins

Though Shauntay Grant shares the girl's observations of Africville as if the child is of that place and time, it only becomes evident at the very end that the girl is visiting the current historic site, looking at the community from a contemporary setting, envisioning the children and families as their lives may have been lived and Africville may have been.

From Africville by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Eva Campbell

But, while Africville is a piece of history of which countless books have been written, including several of youngCanLit, Shauntay Grant's book is not a journalist piece about the community's evolution and tragedies. She has written a joyful account of a neighbourhood of people. The colour in their lives comes from where they are, what they do, and how they feel. There is a respect for the past and for the present, and anticipation for the future.

where memories turn to dreams,
and dreams turn to hope,
and hope never ends.

Shauntay Grant is a poet who brings that sweetness of time and place to her free verse, transporting all readers to the humanity of Africville. Likewise, BC painter Eva Campbell uses vivid colours of acrylic on canvas to bring out Africville's joys and its sense of kinship even with those who would be unrelated. In Africville, everyone belongs.

The legacy that is Africville will spark deep discussions of history and racism but Shauntay Grant and Eva Campbell's Africville will take those discussion sideways to celebrate the Africville that was home and life to so many for over a century.

My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River

Written by Anne Laurel Carter

Formac

978-1-4595-0551-3

96 pp.

Ages 7-12

September 2018

Stella Bowles, her parents, younger brother William and dog Zappa live on the LaHave River in Nova Scotia. Though they have a wharf, a motorboat and her brother and father sail, Mom expects them to swim in their above-ground pool rather than the river where many swim regularly. After an issue with their septic system, eleven-year-old Stella learns that many people on their 97 km-long river, that runs from the Annapolis Valley to the Atlantic Ocean, still use straight pipes i.e., pipes that let toilets flush directly into the river.

From My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River by Anne Laurel Carter

After meeting Dr. Maxwell, a man who had been testing the water of the LaHave for several years and reporting it to the government without any action, Stella posts a large sign-"This river is contaminated with fecal bacteria"-to warn people about the dangers hidden in the river and begins a science project, under the guidance of Dr. Maxwell, to test the water for contamination. Readers learn much about the scientific method and Stella's experimental process while she endeavours to inform herself and others about the health of her river, garnering much attention both locally and online.

"My poop river project had gone viral." (pg. 43).

From My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River by Anne Laurel Carter

Though Stella finds much physical evidence of toilet waste (you don't really need the details), it's her test results for enterococci bacteria that are startling, revealing that several sites were not even safe for skin contact. Stella presents her findings at her local and regional school science fairs but the biggest hurdle is getting three levels of government to become involved in helping residents replace straight pipes with septic systems.  It's an arduous task, especially for one so young, but Stella Bowles is passionate about her river and getting it cleaned up.

Award-winning author Anne Laurel Carter caught wind of Stella Bowles's story after purchasing a property in the area in 2003. By telling Stella Bowles' story in the voice of the young teen, Anne Laurel Carter, best known for her acclaimed fiction, has made My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River a worthwhile read of citizen science and activism.

While My River does include some of the features of non-fiction text like photographs, information boxes and diagrams that can help provide clarification and greater depth to the story, it is the text of Stella Bowles's story of helping to put a stop to polluting practices on the LaHave River that carries the tale. It's the small steps in learning and discovery that make My River an exemplar of activism by young people with the message that, with perseverance and science, while looking in your own backyard, you can help change the world.

Town Is by the Sea: Book launch (Halifax, NS)

Halifax Public Libraries

and 

Groundwood Books

are partnering for the book launch 

of the first collaboration

between 

author Joanne Schwartz 

and 

illustrator Sydney Smith

Town Is by the Sea

on

Saturday, March 25, 2017

10 a.m. -12 p.m.

at

Halifax Public Library

Central Branch

Lindsay Children's Room

5440 Spring Garden Road 

Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

From the website of the Halifax Public Libraries:

Families are invited to help launch the new picture book Town Is by the Sea with the author Joanne Schwartz and illustrator Sydney Smith. In this beautifully understated and haunting story, a piece of Canadian history is brought to life. A young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather's grave after lunch, and comes home to a simple family dinner with his family, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for coal deep down under the sea. Stunning illustrations by Sydney Smith, the award-winning illustrator of Sidewalk Flowers, show the striking contrast between a sparkling seaside day and the darkness underground where the miners dig.

Abigail's Wish

by Gloria Ann Wesley

Illustrated by Richard Rudnicki

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-439-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

2016

With Black History Month on the horizon, I think I will need to renew last year’s update of youngCanLit valuable for commemorating that important month to include, Abigail's Wish, a lovely picture book about a young girl of a Black Loyalist family.

From Abigail's Wish

by Gloria Ann Wesley 

illus. by Richard Rudnicki

It’s spring and young Abigail is witnessing the dawn of a new season in the world of her new homeland of Nova Scotia.  She still recalls the noise and fears endured during the American Revolution and their long journey by ship from New York in 1783 to the new colony of Birchtown. But she can see forward, looking past the hardships of little food and simple shelter, to the specialness of a day when a new baby would be welcomed.  Abigail’s Aunt Dinah is ready to give birth, and that birth

"…would mean a big celebration: people would bring what they could spare to eat, and the singing and laughter and dancing would be such fun.  Surely, a new dress was needed for such a celebration, Abigail hoped." (pg. 13)

That is Abigail’s wish, for a new dress, and she hopes her mother will use some of their payment of vegetables from cleaning Mrs. Spinney’s house for trade for some fabric at Mr. Tobin’s store.  But it is not to happen.  Returning home, the community has gathered to celebrate the birth of her new cousin, Isaac.  Still Abigail hopes, heading to the church with her mother to see if any donations had arrived from which a suitable dress might be found.  However, as it had been a cold spring and few had undertaken their spring cleaning during which donations often arose, Abigail finds nothing.  Still there is reason to celebrate and Abigail puts her efforts into sewing a quilt for her new cousin from bits and pieces of fabric.  It’s weeks after the celebration that a very special donation just for Abigail helps make her wish finally come true.

From Abigail's Wish

by Gloria Ann Wesley 

illus. by Richard Rudnicki

Gloria Ann Wesley, poet and author of Chasing Freedom (Roseway, 2011) and If This is Freedom (Roseway, 2013), brings a story of the pioneering spirit and the joys of simple successes to the forefront of this picture book of historical fiction.  The birth of a new baby, a job well-paid in produce, a gift of a piece of licorice–all are riches to be appreciated for a Black Loyalist girl who’d already seen much horror in her short life.  A dress becomes the icing on a cake already enjoyed for its flavour and rarity.  Painter Richard Rudnicki, well known for illustrating Gracie, The Public Gardens Duck (Nimbus, 2007) and Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged (Groundwood, 2010), produces a fine mixture of realism and the divine, both which must have impregnated the experiences of Black Loyalists making their way to Canada to establish new homes.  Hardships are plenty but still there are opportunities for diversion and gaiety.  Richard Rudnicki’s art, steeped in the browns and taupes of the naturalness of the land, the everyday clothing and the wood-based interiors, still finds the means to add some mauves and blues, with some reds and yellows, to brighten the reality.  With his art, Richard Rudnicki is able to line Glora Ann Wesley’s story of toil with a quilt of simple joys and appreciation for the goodness of life, helping Abigail's Wish to bring young readers a new awareness of history.

The King of Keji: Book Launch (Wolfville)

Join 

author Jan L. Coates

and illustrator Patsy MacKinnon

for the launch of their new picture book

 from Nimbus Publishing

The King of Keji

978-1-771082815

32 pp.

More than just a camping trip to Nova Scotia’s Kejimkujik National Park

on Saturday, June, 6, 2015

11:00 a.m.

at

The Box of Delights Bookshop

466 Main Street

Wolfville, Nova Scotia

The Power of Harmony

by Jan L. Coates

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-495-3

260 pp.

Ages 9-12

May, 2013

There's a nebulous haze that pervades the atmosphere of The Power of Harmony.  Sometimes it's the darker gray or mauve of coal-mining, grief and prejudice but sometimes there's a vague yellow of the canary peeking through, working at bringing up a message.  Though it is often difficult to heed a message that is unusual or contrary, those who listen will know the benefits of it.  In 1968 Springhill Nova Scotia, nine-year-old Jenny knows the gray of Springhill's mining disaster, perennial sinkholes, and the bullying by Sarah Saunders (a.k.a. Queen Smirkle Bee) and the Bad Boys (Junior and Wade) but her wonderful parents, joyous baby sister, Bethy, and books bring much light into her life.

But, when a new student, Melody Summer Syliboy, joins their class, Jenny watches how her Nanny and others respond to Melody with a full-range of prejudices levelled against Aboriginal People.  Melody may withdraw from the taunts of the Bad Boys and ignore other insensitive comments, but she stands up for Jenny when she is bullied and saves her when she almost drowns in Pit Pond.  The two girls become friends, sharing a love of singing and the need to share their fears and secrets.

With the upcoming Miners' Hall Concert, on the tenth anniversary of the Springhill mining disaster, Melody and Jennifer are asked to sing a song together. They heed the words of surprise guest, Anne Murray, who tells them,

"Remember - sing with your heart and soul; harmony's a powerful thing." (pg. 238)

The harmony of Melody and Jenny is a powerful force, helping the two girls face extraordinary life challenges of death, shame, prejudice, grief, fear, and abuse.  Together they support each other as no one else could, providing the strength needed to overcome those challenges.  For two young girls, they endure much trauma, both within their families and more publicly.  But Jan L. Coates does not depict Melody and Jenny as anything but ordinary children, albeit more aware of how people treat each other.  They are emotive ("Try to swallow the fat lump of sad in my throat." pg. 143) without being emotional; kind without gushiness; and clever without being smart-alecky.  It's Jan L. Coates evocative text and careful plotting that elevate the girls to extraordinary while the history of Springhill, Nova Scotia, including the coal mining, the residential school and the prison, ground the story in reality.  The Power of Harmony could have been a cacophony of anger, abuse and prejudice but, with Jan L. Coates' considerate story-telling, it is a sensitive coming of age story in a socially-evolving Canadian setting.