Stella and Sam ABC

Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Groundwood Books

978-1-77946-067-7

34 pp.

Ages 0–3

May 2026 

 

This is not just another alphabet book. It's Stella and Sam, Marie-Louise Gay's wonderful siblings from countless books including Read Me a Story, Stella (2013), Stella, Princess of the Sky (2004), and Good Night Sam (2003). Together they share, explore, learn, and bond. Now they're helping others learn the alphabet through their relationship and joyous romps through play.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

From apple picking to 

moon-watching to 

exploring the jungle, 

every day is a new adventure 

for Stella and Sam. 

Do you want to join them? Let's turn 

the page!

With that first page, Marie-Louise Gay invites us to watch the two children as they play through the seasons. In winter, there's angel-making, ice-skating, and night-time dreaming ... with owls hooting. In the summer, there's fishing and vegetable gardening. And there's always fun in the house like hiding and seeking, reading, rolling and somersaulting, as well as yawning together (Sam and Fred the dog) before falling asleep. These children do so much that I suspect Marie-Louise Gay could write multiple alphabet books for Stella and Sam.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Whether together or off on their own, everything they do gives us new letters to learn, new words to identify, and new qualities to fall in love with. Stella and Sam are filled with joy, whether it's watching the moon, bathing with rubber duckies, or slurping some tasty treat. There are nouns and verbs, sounds and more. Marie-Louise Gay shows us that these kids are into everything, both remarkable and ordinary.

From Stella and Sam ABC, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Young children will definitely learn the alphabet as they read along with Stella and Sam ABC, but they'll also be learning to read. The words are simple and will be meaningful to children. Stella and Sam's activities and actions will all be familiar, and easily replicated which will strengthen young children's learning. And because Marie-Louise Gay always gives us more to love in her art, like hiding rabbits, a stray sock, or a hitchhiking snail, children will be pointing and finding and laughing as they learn.

 

It's so lovely to visit with Stella and Sam again. Even though Marie-Louise Gay has continued to give young readers fabulous picture books (e.g., Short Stories for Little Monsters, 2017); The Three Brothers, 2020; and I'm Not Sydney!, 2022) even early chapter books, I've missed Stella and Sam (and Fred too). They are sweet and true. They are delightful to watch in their relationship and in their play. They are different and yet similar in their dispositions—their parents or guardians must be extraordinary—and I want more of Stella and Sam. Please. After all, there is still so much of their world to explore—exploring is the x word, as you were probably wondering—and to see through their eyes and their hearts.

Read Me A Story, Stella

by Marie-Louise Gay

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-216-5

32 pp.

Ages 2-6

August, 2013

Imaginative, inquisitive and compassionate Stella, our youngest Canadian red-haired delight, courtesy of author-illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, has re-emerged as the brilliant reader and sharer of knowledge in Read Me a Story, Stella.  (Many children will recognize Stella and her younger brother Sam and his sidekick dog, Fred, from the television series, but, as all good readers know, great movies and shows always come from books, and such is the case with Stella and her brother.)

As Sam endeavours to create a doghouse for Fred from branches that he has collected, Stella is enjoying the humour of a book that might cover the stories of Stone Soup, Caramba and The Three Little Pigs or versions thereof.  But Sam, knowing that Stella has all the answers, is sweetly relentless in his questioning.  "Are there crocodiles in the pond?" "Caterpillars become butterflies? How do they do that?" "Will the kite get caught on a cloud?"  And Stella does not disappoint, drawing from her vast reading of fiction -- "But there is a big old toad wearing a velvet jacket." -- and non-fiction -- "Here's a picture of a caterpillar in my insect book."  Even after a bountiful day and evening of exploring, sharing, learning and reading, when Fred can't sleep, Stella draws upon her stories to create a personalized one for a little boy and his dog.

Marie-Louise Gay has taken young readers from Stella's first steps (When Stella was Very, Very Small) to her poetic explorations of the forest, sky, sea and snow, and now she shares the endless possibilities and wonder of reading.  With a light touch in her text and watercolour and pencil illustrations, Marie-Louise Gay easily melds childhood romps and sibling exploits together in a world of natural wonder and of enlightening literature.  There's no more cherished place to be a child.

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If you haven't enjoyed Marie-Louise Gay's Stella and Sam stories in print, definitely the best way to appreciate them, check them out.

Other Stella books:

• Stella, Star of the Sea (Groundwood, 1992)
• Stella, Queen of the Snow (Groundwood, 2000)
• Stella, Fairy of the Forest (Groundwood, 2002)
• Stella, Princess of the Sky (Groundwood, 2004)
• When Stella Was Very, Very Small (Groundwood, 2009)

Sam's books:

• Good Morning Sam (Groundwood, 2003)
• Good Night Sam (Groundwood, 2003)
• What Are You Doing, Sam? (Groundwood, 2006)