Pigs Can't Fly

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-0397-0194-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October 2023

 

Out of the creative heart and hands of Governor General Award-winning author-illustrator Wallace Edwards comes the message to look beyond the seemingly impossible and to imagine.

 

From Pigs Can't Fly, written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Many of us have heard the phrase "when pigs fly" and accept the logic of this statement. And the nature of adynatons like "when pigs fly" is the impossibility of them. But Wallace Edwards makes us see beyond the logical and real and imagine otherwise. In rhyming verse and brilliant artwork, Wallace Edwards asks us to consider the impossible as possible. From that flying pig to a turtle chewing gum and a chameleon that smiles, it may all be feasible. In fact, Wallace Edwards provides us with graphic evidence.

Fish never sing, I have been told,

They think it's too much trouble.

But this fish sings an old, sweet song,

Then saves it in a bubble.

From Pigs Can't Fly, written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Depicting some of his favourite characters–alligators, mice, pigs, rhinos, and elephants–Wallace Edwards offers hope for the impossible. And that hope, to think beyond what we've all been told, leads to his final proposition about love, contrary to the notion that nothing lasts forever.

From Pigs Can't Fly, written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

I know that when we're told "when pigs fly" that it's often to indicate something will never happen. It's a statement that puts the kibosh on any expectation of something coming to pass. But Wallace Edwards restores that expectation of possibility, through his words and his art, and reminds us ultimately that love can endure all. (His dedication suggests that his does, giving him "the happily-ever-after part" of his life.) His words are clear and still playful, just like his sophisticated art. The worm in a pointe shoe dances for his party of a frog, mouse, miniature lion, robot, mallard, elephant with red-painted toenails, warblers (maybe?) and a glorious orchid. The frog plays his bagpipes wearing his blue-green tartan and sporran in the highlands. And the mouse juggles a candy cane, key, apple core and teacup for his fellow mice all from atop a playing card. Wallace Edwards always gives readers a feast for the eyes and a message from the heart. His theme here is to look beyond the seemingly impossible for it might just be plausible.

This is the third book in Wallace Edwards's series of books–the first books were Can You Imagine? and Do You Wonder?–that implore us to wonder and imagine. With  Pigs Can't Fly, he reminds us that no matter how often we may be told or hear that something cannot be done, whether it's to protect us or to stifle us, it's within us to try.

• • • • • • •

Can You Imagine? (2021)

 Do You Wonder? (2022)

Pigs Can't Fly (2023)

Do You Wonder?

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Imprint of Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-8276-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

September 2022

We all wonder and ask questions. Sometimes it's about the small things like what we'll have for dinner that night or sometimes it's about bigger things like whether we're making the right decisions. And occasionally some of us ask the really monumental questions about the universe. Regardless, they are all important because these questions make us mindful of what we and others are experiencing which can only lead to greater compassion, understanding and creativity. Award-winning author and illustrator Wallace Edwards guides us through some important questions to reveal what it is we may be wondering about.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

In a series of single-page and double-page spreads, Wallace Edwards tells young readers some of the things he has wondered about. 

Sometimes I wonder about the mysteries of the sky. 

Sometimes I wonder why some songs make me happy.  

Sometimes I wonder how to join the conversation.

These ponderings are all ones that we have. But then Wallace Edwards takes on bigger inquiries.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right puppet show. 

Sometimes I wonder who was here before me.  

Sometimes I wonder if I really see what I think I see.

The depth and breadth of his meditations run the gamut from the playful (e.g., Sometimes I wonder where the banana went) to those of self-awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder if I can finish what I've started) or global awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder who decides what is important). His thoughtfulness is profound and I stopped on many pages to ponder the answers. I often had none but the wondering was sufficient. It required a focus to the question and a mindfulness of all that it encompassed. The answer was not necessary; what was important was the curiosity and the inquiry.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Ah, but this is Wallace Edwards, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Illustrations and numerous other picture book awards, so the text is married to extraordinary artwork, rendered here in pencil, watercolour and gouache. Even without the text, the art would be sublime, detailed in its depictions of animals that range from a barn owl, alligators, a rhino and elephants to a variety of bird species, as well as in the scenes filled with balloon animals, ice cream, vegetation and ornate furniture. There is so much to look at and to delve into. (Check out the faces in the forest on the cover of Do You Wonder? for a sampling.) But it's not "just" the art. It's the way Wallace Edwards's words are interpreted in his art. For example, the text "Sometimes I wonder why some things seem so difficult" is paired with a porcupine struggling to create balloon animals, having popped numerous balloons that hang off of his quills. Readers can think about challenges in their own lives, whether a struggle with school or with friends and family or even with health. But the artwork asks young readers to look beyond themselves and recognize that others too have challenges that may not be obvious until they are exposed. Of course a porcupine would struggle with balloons! But until I saw that illustration, it never occurred to me.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Thank you, Wallace Edwards, for helping us see ourselves and others and beyond ourselves. Thank you for inviting us into your considerations and encouraging us to do the same. And thank you for reminding us that there are somethings, like love, that never need to be questioned.

Can You Imagine?

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-7043-7

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October 2021

From the brilliant artistry and imagination of the author-illustrator of Governor General award-winning Alphabeasts (2002), Once Upon a Line (2015) and What is Peace? (2016) comes a new picture book of wild artwork and inventiveness about inspiration and creativity.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

Faced with a blank canvas, an artist goes in search of ideas, heading out on a journey in hopes of inspiration. The plainness of his house, bicycle and surroundings emulates the blankness of his creative spark. But, it doesn't take long before everything changes around him and ultimately inside him too.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

His home's natural surroundings may be filled with grassy meadows and only a few straggly trees but there is a single flower with hummingbird and caterpillar promising more growth and vitality. Soon the artist is travelling in his red and white sportster through the woods teeming with colour and complexity and life. There are mega-flowers, parrots and a lion. There is a jester and Humpty Dumpty on his wall and faces hidden in trees and greenery.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

As he travels further in, his red-and-white car becoming snazzier with each page, he notes a bunny behind a bush and other travellers. But the illustrations tell us more. The rabbit, wearing a red coat and drinking tea, is 4-5 times larger than the bush and he's watching a violin-playing mouse accompanying a singing carrot. The travellers are a rolling robot, a frog on a turtle, a fish on a penny-farthing and a tiny rabbit in a tailed carrot car. Similarly a stop at a pond to hear small fish jumping seems pleasant and innocuous but Wallace Edwards shows us there is far more behind the scenes: a crowned toad, a mermaid and a surprised squid. As the artist continues on, he enters a busy city, so bustling that he seeks quiet in a desert which leads him to a mountain and a return home by air and unicycle.

But, home is now transformed. The flower has opened, the caterpillar is a butterfly and the grass is lush with flowers. Colour abounds now as does real life and inspiration for the artist. Still what he paints after all his travels is a lot closer to home than he could have anticipated.

Wallace Edwards is certainly a wizard with his pencil, watercolour and gouache, transforming landscapes of flora and fauna into surreal scenes of vibrancy and movement. That same complexity which he has imbued much of his art is prevalent in the views the protagonist visits in his ever-evolving transport, of which there are at least twenty red-and-white versions. The imagination can take you everywhere and anywhere and Wallace Edwards demonstrates this with zeal. But the storytelling of Can You Imagine? is what really transforms the art from incredible to superlative. That story is not told so much in words–there are fewer than 100 words of text–as it is in the melding of those words with the art. Like Wallace Edwards's message about finding inspiration and gaining new perspectives on familiar circumstances, Can You Imagine? inspires us to look and really see, to experience more from less, and to be mindful of the moment. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz who found the best at home only after an incredible journey, the artist in Can You Imagine? gains his own inspiration and perspective by the pencil and paint travels from his own wizard, Wallace Edwards, and offers us encouragement to do much the same to bolster our own creativities.

Out of the Blue

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Scholastic Canada

978-1-443-148726

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2018

The message of Wallace Edwards's newest picture book, a story deceptively simple but unusually rich in context and imagery, is all about differences and finding commonalities to evoke compassion. Out of the Blue may be aimed at ages 3 to 7 but it's a directive that should be picked up by all of society.

Ernest is a rhino (Wallace Edwards does illustrate great rhinos, as well as elephants, zebras, lions, cats, mice, etc.) who gets his kite stuck in a tree.  While he contemplates a solution to his problem, he gets a fleeting glimpse of an aerial object (really it's a UFO) and hears a loud noise in the sky. Worrying that someone might need his help, Ernest embarks on a trek, with the help of a large egret, across the plain and then alone up a treacherous mountain. When he discovers the space ship and bumps into a green amorphous alien, both he and the creature are terrified of the monster each sees in the other.

From Out of the Blue by Wallace Edwards

When they both venture out to eye the other, they attempt to communicate. But, as with all whose languages are different, Ernest and the creature endeavour to find commonalities, whether in the shape or colour or emotion of their communiques.

From Out of the Blue by Wallace Edwards

Displaying their dialogue bubbles as puzzle pieces that struggle to find the means to fit, Ernest and the creature finally discover that they may each be familiar with different things but they both love. And what the alien needs help with is his transport which has lodged in the ground. Ernest is happy to help his new friend who, in turn, offers his support, courtesy of some extraordinarily malleable appendages, before waving goodbye.

And there were no more monsters, only friends.

Because Out of the Blue is about communication and perception, Wallace Edwards was astute to have little text in the story.  The reader is given the opportunity to interpret the story and the dialogue between the two creatures, familiar and not, while still recognizing their fears, troubles, and helpfulness. Moreover, extra activities from Scholastic include What Would You Say? and Take Turns Telling the Story offering children the opportunity to create their own discussions between Ernest and the alien.

Scholastic Canada's extra activities for Out of the Blue by Wallace Edwards

Wallace Edwards's stories always have a surreal quality to them, particularly in the art that brings the familiar, like rhinos and trees and mountains, into the realm of the fantastic. Yet Ernest, who is very earnest in his endeavours to help and communicate with the other-worldly creature, is very real and down-to-earth in his efforts and his feelings. Fortunately, he sees beyond the monster he assumes the unfamiliar being is and instead finds a friend. 

Out of the Blue shares a positive message that fits into our troubled times of suspiciousness and antagonism. Too many see the differences as strife when it would seem that we're more alike than we often know. Thank you Wallace Edwards for reminding us of this.

A World of Kindness

from the Editors and Illustrators of Pajama Press

(including Ann Featherstone, Brian Deines, Tara Anderson, Wallace Edwards, François Thisdale, Kim La Fave,      Manon Gauthier, Dean Griffiths, Suzanna Del Rizzo and Rebecca Bender)

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-050-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2018 

Whether a child dealing with a mean classmate, nastiness on social media, or world leaders striking out at others, it's evident that our world needs more kindness. But being kind is not always inherent; sometimes, often, it needs to be taught or even inspired. As Aesop affirmed, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is every wasted." Let us be kind.

In fourteen double-spreads of text and image, the editors and illustrators of Pajama Press spark discussions about how kindness can manifest and how we should examine our own actions for kindness. Starting with "Are you kind?", the book asks questions while suggesting ways of being kind. From "Do you wait your turn?" and "Will you help someone younger...or older?" to "Are you gentle with animals big...and small?" young readers are asked to look within for evidence of their own kindness.

From A World of Kindness, illustration by Kim La Fave

From A World of Kindness, illustration by Tara Anderson

Children see how to be kind while being asked about being kind. Ideas about saying "Please" and "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" are demonstrated as important, as are sharing, helping, being supportive and compassionate. A World of Kindness covers the simplest acts of thoughtfulness and yet makes the significant and critical point that "a little kindness grows into a world of kindness."

From A World of Kindness, illustration by Manon Gauthier

The text of A World of Kindness is endearing and straightforward, and will work well with young preschoolers and children in primary grades. But it's the illustrations, some from already published works and some original art, that will carry the message. Children will see kindness in the hugs, the sharing, and the love that seasons these pages. (There are different heart shapes throughout the book, reminding us what is at the heart of kindness.) The illustrations, like Suzanne Del Rizzo's amazing polymer clay book cover art, depict all children and are aimed at children's experiences with animals, peers, siblings, elders, and parents, and include those during all seasons in Canada and in other global locales including Sri Lanka (Kim La Fave's art from When the Rain Comes), Tanzania (Brian Deines's illustration from In a Cloud of Dust), and Jordan (Suzanne Del Rizzo's art from her My Beautiful Birds). A World of Kindness shows kindness in its own inclusivity.

A World of Kindness will undoubtedly be used as a tool for teaching and instilling kindness, especially as Pajama Press has provided a downloadable poster (https://pajamapress.ca/resource/a_world_of_kindness_extra_content/) and teaching guide (https://pajamapress.ca/resource/a_world_of_kindness_teaching_guides/) on its website. Moreover, with all royalties going to Think Kindness, a project that aspires to inspire kindness in schools and other communities, purchasing A World of Kindness is a win-win for all.  But, at its heart, A World of Kindness is a compendium of beautiful messages in words and art to help make our world, starting with our youngest readers, a place of graciousness and goodwill.  With such benevolence, this picture book will triumph with purpose.

Woodrow at Sea

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-029-1

24 pp.

Ages 3-5

November 2017

Not since an owl and a pussycat set off to sea have two wholly unlikely friends shared a boat on the open water.  But the story of Woodrow at Sea is less love story than story of friendship and a far more poignant one than Edward Lear's nonsense poem.

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

When Woodrow, the elephant, waves goodbye to his family, setting off on his adventure with only a boat, a paddle and a spyglass, he could never imagine finding a small white mouse marooned on a purplish mound in the open water.  The mouse tells of his own tale of saying goodbye to his own family who gift him with a compass and heading out in a teacup vessel until upturned by a purple, gold and orange creature. 

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

Together the travellers set out to seek adventure, with the mouse teaching Woodrow to sing. When a foul cloud blows in nasty weather and the calm sea is awoken into turmoil, the little mouse uses the spyglass to rescue Woodrow. Together they battle their way to calmer waters and, though they both return to their different island homes, they're both richer for their encounter and adventures.

From Woodrow at Sea

by Wallace Edwards

Because Woodrow at Sea is a wordless book, author-illustrator Wallace Edwards allows his illustrations to carry the story.  But it really isn't just one story.  Everyone will read something different into his touching and considerate artwork.  Though less elaborate than his art in earlier books such as Once Upon a Line (Pajama Press, 2015) and Unnatural Selections (Orca, 2014), Wallace Edwards provides more than enough depth of detail for our youngest readers to interpret the illustrations in a myriad of ways.  They will easily recognize the value of friendship and teamwork but there will be questions.  Why did Wallace Edwards choose and elephant and a mouse? Are the elephant and mouse singing or whistling?  Does Woodrow know how to sing or did the mouse have to teach him?  Were the two animals planning on an extended adventure that was interrupted by calamity or were these just day trips? When recounting their adventures to family, why did they focus on different events though both emphasize the goodwill of the other?  For a story told with no words, Woodrow at Sea has much to tell.  And a lesson in creative thinking and visual literacy would not go amiss here.

Woodrow at Sea is truly a story about the importance of friendship and the good fortune of having a friend who has your back when seas get a little rough. It may not always be an angry ocean or a purple monster, but there's always something that is eased with the support of a friend.

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

Wallace Edwards will launch his newest picture book this weekend in Toronto. Details for this event were posted here.

Woodrow at Sea: Book launch (Toronto, ON)

The wonderfully talented author and illustrator

Wallace Edwards

is set to launch his newest picture book of youngCanLit

Woodrow at Sea

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-029-1

24 pp.

Ages 3-5

November 2017
Review here

on

  Saturday, December 9, 2017

11 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

at

Queen Books

914 Queen St. East

Toronto, ON

In addition to book sales and signing by Wallace Edwards,
there will be:
• story time
• a drawing lesson
• crafts
• light refreshments

Look for my review of this special wordless picture book tomorrow!

What is Peace?: Book launch (Toronto)

Another Story Bookshop 

and 

the Toronto Public Library

present

award-winning author and illustrator

of

Wallace Edwards

for the launch of his newest book

What is Peace?

Text and illustrations by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-4843-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-10

November 2016

on 

Saturday, November 5, 2016

at 2 p.m.

at

Lillian H. Smith Library

(branch of the Toronto Public Library)

239 College Street

Toronto, ON

Book reviewed here on CanLit for Little Canadians

What is Peace?

Text and illustrations by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-4843-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-10

November 2016

If you’re seeing the red felt poppy pins on coats, you’ll be starting to think about Remembrance Day and war and peace.  The concept of peace is a prodigious one.  Imagine attemping to encompass all aspects of peace in a single book, especially a picture book?  Fortunately, with Wallace Edwards at the helm of that undertaking, and the use of his glorious illustrations and a multitude of questions to guide this reflective discussion of peace, enlightenment is on the horizon.

Each double spread has one page of text–a series of questions, culminating with a final line “What is peace?”–and a full page illustration.  From a bird on a cherry blossom branch with accompanying questions on the temporal and spatial nature of peace–old, new, near, far– there follows a range of quiet and evocative illustrations and questions about peace’s inclusivity, its study, its sensory nature, as well as expressions and attributes of peace.  Wallace Edwards covers all nature of peace without ever defining what it is, relating to this in the appending text titled “What Do You See?” (pg. 30), in which he admits that there are no right or wrong answers.

From What is Peace? by Wallace Edwards

In the preface to the book, Wallace Edwards discusses how, after being asked to do a series of paintings on the theme of peace, he found it himself meditating on the question that is the title.  And after recognizing how big a question it is, Wallace Edwards hopes that the book “inspires you to think and talk and maybe draw or write or sing about what peace means to you and the other creatures who share this world.” (pg. 3) Ever thoughtful, Wallace Edwards inspires with his words and artwork of all nature of creature and substance: mandrill, luna moth, zebra, crumbling wall, rhinos, and the ubiquitous white bird evident on every illustration.

By recognizing the distinctiveness of peace and a commonality to it as well, Wallace Edwards has shown us the way that is peace without actually driving his own definition of it onto the reader.  What is Peace? is an eloquent discussion starter and contemplative tome for a month of remembrance and loss and hope.

From What is Peace? by Wallace Edwards

Look for my post tomorrow about the book launch for What is Peace? in Toronto this weekend.

Once Upon a Line: Book Event and Art Exhibit and Sale (Toronto)

Join 

award-winning author, illustrator and artist 

Wallace Edwards 

for a special event to celebrate his newest picture book

Once Upon a Line

by Wallace Edwards

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-78-1

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

Released September, 2015

Reviewed here

on Saturday, December 5, 2015

from 2-4 p.m.

at

Ingram Gallery

24 Hazelton Avenue

Toronto, ON

In addition to a book signing 

(books will be available for purchase) 

and reception, with refreshments,

there will be an exhibition and sale 

of the original picture book art

(which will run until December 10)

Having met the lovely and talented Wallace Edwards and appreciated his artwork for many years, I am most excited about the art exhibit! Imagine an opportunity to purchase original art work from a work of youngCanLit that is sure to be on award lists in the upcoming year.

RSVP at bit.ly/OnceUponALine

Get more news from publisher Pajama Press about this event and book and more at http://pajamapress.ca

Once Upon a Line

by Wallace Edwards

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-78-1

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

On sale September 16, 2015

With Once Upon a Line, Wallace Edwards has catapulted himself and his books to the status of must-haves for any home, school or public library.  The USA may have Chris Van Allsburg and most notably The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, but teachers will now be scrambling to use Once Upon a Line instead as the go-to book for story-starters and creative writing projects based on intriguingly unique illustrations that get the creative juices flowing.  And it all starts with one simple and ordinary line.  This line by this pen:

In the introduction to the book, Wallace Edwards recounts the history of Great-Uncle George’s enchanted pen and a line–the line seen above and on the endpapers and in every illustration within–that was the basis for his many paintings, only a handful which exist today and are reproduced within the book.  And, as the reader is told, “Each painting is the beginning of a story, and every story begins with “Once upon a line.” Where each painting’s story goes is up to the reader’s imagination.

From the elaborate entranceway of a mouse to her home that helps her remember…something, someone, somewhere… to the race between the chicken and the egg “until the fluffy one began to…” and an equine-allergic knight who finds a solution, and a rain that brings joy to an elephant and a story from a seagull, Once Upon a Line is resplendent in its fantastical graphic details.   There’s a pajamaed kitten, birds and alligators, a dragon, lush greenery, royalty, a fish or two, several aliens, a compendium of zoological creatures and a variety of candy-kissed vehicles.  And of course, there’s handlebar-moustached and chin-goateed Great-Uncle George, a dashing magician who bears a striking ressemblance to a swashbuckling Musketeer.  And for those who must know where "the" line is in each illustration, Wallace Edwards has kindly appended the book with a cheat sheet to help locate it.

Once Upon a Line is so rich in its visual effects and textual texture that it deserves all the golden stars on its cover (as well as the golden cover font that I reproduced so poorly here) and more. I predict even more shining accolades in Once Upon a Line's future for Wallace Edwards.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Don't miss a chance at meeting Wallace Edwards who is one of the invited writers attending the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on Sunday, September 13, 2015.  Who knows?  There may even be early release copies of Once Upon a Line on sale there.

Wallace Edwards: Book Launch, and Art Exhibition and Sale (Toronto)

Join author and artist

Wallace Edwards 

for the book launch and signings 

of his newest picture book

Unnatural Selections

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Orca Book Publishers

9781459805552 

32 pp.

Ages 4+

October 2014

on

December 6, 2014

from 2 - 4 p.m.

at

Ingram Gallery

49 Avenue Road

Toronto, ON

Unnatural Selections is described on Orca's website as follows:

A fantastical collection of unnatural selections!
Beloved illustrator Wallace Edwards invites us into the world of Professor I.B. Doodling, a traveling artist who takes suggestions from schoolchildren in order to create fantastical hybrid animals. The result of these visits is Unnatural Selections, a collection of magnificent beasts, from the stately Whalephant to the talented Lizabouboon. Sure to inspire the imagination, Wallace Edwards’s intricate illustrations invite you to pore over them again and again. A supplementary index lists additional creatures to spot throughout the book’s pages, encouraging readers to go back for a second, and a third, look.

Retrieved from http://www.orcabook.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=2014 on November 8, 2014.

Plus

there will be an 

 Art Exhibition 

and Sale of Original Artwork

by Wallace Edwards

from

December 6 -16, 2014

Images retrieved from 

http://www.ingramgallery.com/artists/wallace_edwards/index.html on November 8, 2014.