Stop Feedin' da Boids!

Written by James Sage
Illustrated by Pierre Pratt
Kids Can Press
978-1-77138-613-5
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
April 2017

I wish I could review more books illustrated by Pierre Pratt. Unfortunately for me, his illustrations often accompany French-language texts and I am reluctant to reveal my lack of skill reviewing French books.  So, although author James Sage is British, I am delighted to be able to review an English-language text that is fortunate to be illustrated by Montreal's Pierre Pratt, a man whose bio includes copious nominations and awards, including the Governor General Literary Award for Children's Book Illustration, Le Prix TD, Bratislava's Golden Apple Award, and the UNICEF-Bologna Book Fair Illustrator of the Year Award.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

In Stop Feedin' da Boids!, Swanda and her dog Waldo and her family move from the country to Brooklyn.  Though she misses the wildlife, she soon finds herself enamoured with the birds that flock outside their apartment onto the iron fire-escape.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

Providing the birds with a bird feeder, more and more pigeons come to visit, much to the dismay of her neighbours who are displeased with the mess.  Swanda seeks help from so-called experts–a pest control officer, a zookeeper and an exotic bird fancier– but it's not until Lexi from the deli tells Angelo who tells another neighbour who shares with another neighbour and so on and so on the titular advice that Swanda rids the building and neighbourhood of her countless feathered friends. But Swanda's story doesn't end there. A chance sighting and a lot of heart finds Swanda discovering some new wildlife to welcome into her home.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

James Sage weaves a light-hearted story about a little girl who likes animals perhaps a little too much but whose intentions are always charitable.  But it's Pierre Pratt's artwork that provides the context for Swanda's love of animals and the neighbourhood that envelops her.  She is part of her community, whether it be the countryside or a diverse neighbourhood of people, animals and urban life. They are both detailed landscapes of colours and textures, solitude and activity.  Look for the dogs or cats looking out windows, or Mr. Kaminski's two-toned shoes, or the mega-armed bodybuilder.  There's a 1920s feel to the Brooklyn of Stop Feedin' da Boids!, and Pierre Pratt uses strong strokes and bold colours to create a cityscape of tall angled buildings and community of diverse people, all different in size, colour, shape, expression and dress.  It's wild and it's homey.  It's the same style that charmed readers in Gustave (by Rémy Simard, Groundwood, 2014) and No-Matter-What Friend (by Kari-Lynn Winters, Tradewind Books, 2014) by bringing an intensity to the storytelling and readers into the story's setting.

Go ahead and read this one aloud–get that Brooklyn accent right!–but be sure to share the illustrations to get the whole story behind why Swanda should "Stop Feedin' da Boids!"

No-Matter-What Friend

by Kari-Lynn Winters

Illustrated by Pierre Pratt

Tradewind Books

978-1-1896580838

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

2014

How Kari-Lynn Winters is able to express the magnitude of a lifetime of friendship in a mere 24 lines, some of only one or two words, is beyond me.  But she does so with her choice of understated vocabulary and its affective quality.

When a boy interrupts his playing with his peers to stop and spend time with his old dog, he enjoys the fond memories of being with his no-matter-what friend.  The turquoise ball from toddler days continues to be an important part of their play, even once the boy is able to ride a bike, climb trees and ski. And still the dog–maybe a cross between a Great Pyrenees and a Newfoundlander–with the jowly face and thoughtful eyes stays by the boy's side.  But Bud is growing old while the boy is growing up, and the boy's beckoning of Bud to come and play must be amended to respect all that the two mean to each other still.  Sweetly, the boy knows how to be a no-matter-what friend to Bud as well.

I became enamoured with Pierre Pratt's unique art with Gustave (Simard, 2014) in which the heavily-inked illustrations helped impose the sombre tone of that picture book. However, in No-Matter-What Friend, Pierre Pratt's ink-outlined elements are softened by lines of diffuse edges and fill of warm colours that complement the friendly nature of the boy-dog relationship. Appropriately, the association of Kari-Lynn Winters' endearing text with Pierre Pratt's art depicts fully the wealth and breadth of the two characters' companionable love.

Gustave

by Rémy Simard

Illustrated by Pierre Pratt

Translated by Shelley Tanaka

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-451-0

56 pp.

Ages 4-7

For release October, 2014

From the title page alone, Gustave evokes a rough darkness with its heavily-inked, coarse lettering and shades of colours with overlays of black.  There's black, black and more black. Sombre and fearful is how Gustave begins, with a little mouse overwhelmed by the loss of his dear friend Gustave when they venture too far from home and encounter a cat.  Gustave will not be returning home with the little mouse whose sorrow is well conveyed by the spare words of Rémy Simard's blunt text:

Gustave won't play with me anymore.
He won't tell me goodnight.
He won't look at me anymore. (pg. 6)

But Pierre Pratt's illustrations, in ink and gouache, are the force by which the story of Gustave is told.  The double-page spreads of artwork, sometimes with few words, if any, overwhelm the story, just as the consequences of the little mouse's actions smother him with sorrow.  It is only in the last half-dozen pages of the story that the colours are able to seep through, ending with a single page of bright artwork opposite a white page of text. It is a bright, hopeful ending in both text and illustration.

Though I may describe Gustave as having a dirge-like quality, it is nothing but brilliant in its masterful picture book story-telling of a mouse grieving the loss of a friend.  I suspect that, even without the unexpected twist at the end, this story could not have been told any better than it has been by Rémy Simard and Pierre Pratt, thankfully translated by Shelley Tanaka so that so many more of us can appreciate it.

Gustave is currently nominated for a 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for Illustration in a French Children's Book. Bonne chance, Pierre Pratt!