Astronautical!

Written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Annick Press

978-1-77321-942-4

248 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2025 

 

In the Zephyr Galaxy a long time ago, the planet Zephyr exploded into chucks. The inhabitants were ever hopeful that the great Cynosure would fix it and reunite the Chunk Planets but a hundred years later, nothing has changed. The Zephyrians, which include everything from parrot-like beings to human-like creatures and stars with appendages, travel by vessels that look like sailing boats and ships between Chunk Planets. In fact, it's on a visit to the Star Bird store that Max and Lari's dad, Robert Cherryhair, is apprehended by Cynosure's security Foxes while the brothers are inside the store. So begins the story of Astronautical! and the boys' mission to find their father.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

With their own ship set aflame by Cynosure's Foxes, Max and Lari join twin yellow dwarf stars Dez and Ori on their ship, the Dove, intent on heading to Cynosure's hideout. But when you're travelling with twin stars one of whom rarely speak the truth and the other who believes almost everything–great lessons in fake news here–the journey is not a straightforward one. In fact, it is a drawn-out quest that takes them to different Chunk Planets, comets and more where they meet a blue supergiant star, a protostar and even a disguised black hole.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Even with obstacles thrown at them, the two boys, very different in their personalities, work together and discover that their differences are their strengths and would allow them to not only find their father but to also find a way to make things right for the Planet Zephyr.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Astronautical! is a rollicking middle-grade adventure for lovers of fantasy, astronomy, and good humour. The plot is wholly unpredictable, mostly because the characters range from human-like creatures to astronomical ones with the powers to alter their structures and abilities and interact with others. Brooklin Stormie, an artist from Peterborough, Ontario, has found an imaginative way to blend fantasy with science, merging a heroes' quest in a cosmic setting with legitimate elements of which young readers will want to learn more. (Brooklin Stormie includes extensive notes about sky-whales, black holes, star songs, and more in her appended notes called, "The Real Science (and Totally Not-Real Science) in Astronautical!") It's all very accessible, playful and captivating, and readers will never anticipate how it will end. 

Astronautical! is Brooklin Stormie's story but, as an illustrator, the artwork is what makes Astronautical! sparkle. Between weird characters and some strange abilities–though perhaps not really strange in an astronomical setting–as well as a variety of settings, from a convenience store to a desert, a planet separated into chunks, and more, Brooklin Stormie gives readers something fantastical and scientific. Quite extraordinary or, dare I say it, Astronautical!

My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean

Written by Bill Richardson

Illustrated by Bill Pechet

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-998802098

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

May 2024 

 

With a mondegreen play of words on the traditional Scottish folk song "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," Bill Richardson and Bill Pechet have given us another bunny story of a legendary incident. Like their earlier book Hare B & B (2021), readers are treated to a silly but playful adventure, this time one in which a stuffed rabbit endeavours to make its way home with a lot of help from a menagerie of animals. And it's all to the accompaniment of some talented singing seagulls.

From My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean, written by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Bill Pechet

When a bow-tied and sunglass-wearing bunny is abandoned at the beach and a seagull falls in love, a global escapade ensues. With a seagull bemoaning the stuffie's plight of being dragged out to sea, My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean becomes a lament.

My Bunny was wet and bedraggled,

My Bunny was dashed by the waves,

My Bunny was found by a starfish,

And that's how my Bunny was saved.

The words may not all be as we may have learned them but they certainly sound like they were made for a story about an errant bunny.

From My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean, written by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Bill Pechet

And, boy, does this bunny travel, and with the help of everything from a starfish and a whale, a tallship and a kangaroo, and more. Still when Bunny finally gets back to the family–who should be chastised for abandoning Bunny in the first place–there will still be someone lamenting Bunny's absence.

From My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean, written by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Bill Pechet

I defy you to read this story and not sing it to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." It's so easy to do with words that rhyme and flow, especially with a repetitive chorus. The story may be different and homophones used, but Bill Richardson, who does clever very well, keeps the rhythm and the momentum of the original and gives it the humour and cheekiness that will delight readers of all ages. Kids may sympathize with a lost stuffie, but adults will chuckle at the lovestruck seagull and the astonishing path of the bunny to its home.

From My Bunny Lies Over the Ocean, written by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Bill Pechet

That cheekiness is seen in Bill Pechet's sketch art, from Bunny relaxing on a bed inside the whale's belly to seagulls singing atop the "Bunnilator" plane heading between signposts "Here" and "There." Sticking with his palette of pale turquoise, light lime green, and pale orange, Bill Pechet keeps us on that ocean, on the land, and in the air as Bunny finds its way home. And he makes us laugh.

 

Bunny may make it home via a prolonged path, but they will be prepared for another such eventuality. (Come on, it wasn't Bunny's fault that they were left behind.) And with a seagull singing its yearning for Bunny still, I suspect Bunny will never be alone again.

Rumie Goes Rafting

Written and illustrated by Meghan Marentette

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-635-5

36 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2024 

 

 

To a child, everything can become an adventure with a little imagination. But when the excitement takes over, sometimes safety is forgotten.

From Rumie Goes Rafting, written and illustrated by Meghan Marentette

Rumie roams the forest, picking up curious bits that draw his attention. There's a red string, a yellow bread clip, a spruce cone, and more that Rumie gathers in his wagon. His curiosity takes him to a stream where he plays with a twig and then a toy boat, but he is dismayed that nothing will float very far. A ladybug on a leaf gives him an idea and he suggests to his Uncle Hawthorne that they build a raft. What an idea!

From Rumie Goes Rafting, written and illustrated by Meghan Marentette

And so, the two saw and hammer and construct a beautiful raft with ribbons dangling from a mast. Uncle Hawthorne insists on a safety test run with life vests, but Rumie is so excited and even more so when the rains come in the night and swell the stream. Though he never intends to set off on their raft, Rumie gets the raft ready for testing once Uncle Hawthorne awakens. But that slow moving stream is no longer and the current grabs the raft and starts taking Rumie along for an unexpected ride.

From Rumie Goes Rafting, written and illustrated by Meghan Marentette

What begins as a new adventure in sailing becomes a dangerous excursion from which Rumie is saved by his uncle, learning that patience could have saved him from disaster.

With spring streams and rivers becoming swollen with melted snow and rainwater, Rumie Goes Rafting is a valuable cautionary tale of the unpredictability of waters. Water will always draw children with its movement and opportunity for play but without consideration of safety, it can become a danger quickly and unexpectedly. Rumie's curiosity and imagination are laudable and nurtured by his uncle. He loves the outdoors and building and collecting. But he is impetuous, as we can all be when excited about something, and it is only his uncle's quick thinking and safety measures that saved the little mouse. 

Meghan Marentette, who previously wrote The Stowaways, a middle-grade novel about a sailing family of mice, may have revisited her theme of adventurous mice in Rumie Goes Rafting but her approach is quite different here. It is different is message, in audience, and in format, and it all works. Meghan Marentette created three-dimensional scenes and characters which were photographed, giving her story rich texture and immersive illustrations. Look for the details in Uncle Hawthorne's tail, the patch in his vest, the cone on a string for a life buoy, the tiny, crocheted pillow, and a home decorated with love. (Meghan Marentette is obviously skilled in making miniature models.) Because of the realism, young children will be inspired to create their own scenes with their small stuffies, build rafts to travel in puddles, and tell stories of sailing, and maybe flying, adventures. With Rumie's imagination and curiosity, I foresee further adventures on the horizon.

From Rumie Goes Rafting, written and illustrated by Meghan Marentette

Dropped! (Orca Anchor)

Written by Alice Kuipers

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3774-4

96 pp.

Ages 12+

RL 1.9

February 2024

 

When Dex is dumped by his girlfriend Lola and then deserted by his friends and his social media after an embarrassingly pathetic display to get her back, he is desperate to regain his popularity. So, he signs up for a reality show called Dropped! on which he and other contestants are dropped on Adventure Island and have five days to attract the greatest number of followers through their feeds if they are to win $250,000 and a trip to Dubai. As he says goodbye to his mother and boards a chopper, he becomes Determined Dex.

 

After being dropped on the island and being told "Don't risk too much," Dex checks the game's feed to meet the other contestants and view photos and live streams of their progress. There's gorgeous Amina whose efforts and story are racking up more followers than anyone else. There's buff identical twins Salvo and Kai, geeky Deepak, and timid Em. Through an app, they are given tasks to complete, like finding a treasure chest of  supplies or sharing their personal stories with their audience. Soon Dex realizes that by associating himself with Amina or engaging in risky or wild activities, he can pull in those much-needed followers. But will he go too far?

Told in chapters according to the date and time, Dex narrates what he does, what he sees, and what he thinks, sometimes in his head and sometimes live in his feed. With each new endeavour or challenge he wonders how he will be seen. Will it be Dangerous Dex or Daring Dex, or will it be Desperate Dex? At one point, he hopes they see him as Decent Dex. But, when he worries that the audience may see him as Deadly Dex, he has a revelation that takes his game from competition to cooperation. Dex may or may not win Dropped! but he still will get more than what he came for.

 

Orca Anchor is just one of the many series from Orca Book Publisher, with this one aimed at young adults reading below Grade 2.0 level. But don't let that detract you from the great story that Alice Kuipers tells. Dropped! may be a fast read but it's a great read for teens and adults, filled with action and social commentary, and embedded in contemporary situations with which many young people will be familiar. Saskatchewan's Alice Kuipers is an accomplished storyteller of YA (e.g., 40 Things I Want to Tell You and The Death of Us), early chapter books (e.g., Polly Diamond and the Magic Book) and even non-fiction (e.g., Always Smile: Carley Allison's Secrets for Laughing, Loving and Living) so it's not surprising that she can write an extraordinary hi-lo story for teens. By merging social media, how many young people derive validation, support, and identity, with reality shows that put teens in unfamiliar circumstances in which their true selves are exposed, Alice Kuipers has let Dex find himself. He struggles with his identity and what he wants to do or who he wants to be, labelling himself constantly and temporarily, as he reflects on his actions and thoughts. But Alice Kuipers has always been very good at seeing teens from their own perspectives, recognizing their challenges and confusion without judging them. Some might see Dex's obsession with his cell phone and with social media as ill-advised, but Alice Kuipers lets us see Dex as flawed by nature of his being human, looking for approval and solidarity as we all do but from virtual communities until he finds it within a real one. He may have been dropped from one community, but he builds a new one or two, both real and virtual, and by recognizing the value of those worlds, and by letting his good sense and self-awareness finally guide him, he'll find himself dropped into much finer ones.

Night of the Living Zed

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-4434-6920-3 

256 pp.

Ages 8–12

January 16 2024

 

Sure, everyone gets ready for Christmas. There's the tree decorating, the shopping, the baking. But what about the "super-duper-stupendousest of all holidays" (p. 3): Halloween! Zed Watson, star of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's highly-acclaimed first collaboration The Fabulous Zed Watson! (2021) is all about Halloween, so it's going to be a shame if they miss it because they're heading out of town with best friend Gabe to solve the mystery of Glyndebourne Manor, the house once owned by the rich and famous opera costume and set designer, Charlotte Scherrer. But it's all in support of a good cause: getting a reward that could help elevate the upcoming nuptials of Gabe's sister Sam and partner Jo.

So, determined to spend the required 3 days and 2 nights in the supposedly-haunted house and search for Charlotte's treasure, Zed and Gabe set off on October 29, hopeful of solving the mystery before Halloween. Well, Zed is convinced of it. Gabe is less sure about it, but the operatic flavour of decorations in Charlotte's century-old, 4-storey house gets him interested. Things become more complicated when the rules state that they must move from room to room but never exiting through the door they entered. Only by solving complicated clues related to Charlotte's life and memorabilia do Zed and Gabe have any chance of making it through this challenge. Of course, there's also the ghosts and copious booby traps to trick them, so solving the mystery is a lot less obvious than finding a pile of gold.

 

With humour and compassion, the two friends, face each challenge head on. They carefully scrutinize curious rooms filled with opera collectibles, they construct maquettes, they read personal journal entries, and they piece together Charlotte's life to help them uncover hidden means of egress. But, as long as the ghosts don't impede their progress and they don't runaway, they've got a good chance to find...something?

Night of the Living Zed has all the colour of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's first book, The Fabulous Zed Watson!, but it's a fresh new mystery with a different set of characters. Readers will be pleased to visit again with the quirky Zed and Gabe, a pair of young friends with strong but different personalities.  There's non-binary Zed who approaches life at break-neck speed, enthusiastic about vampires and ghosts, eager to interact with the supernatural, and lover of all things Halloween. Gabe is less forward, but still fascinated by and knowledgeable about opera and plants, and loves playing the piano and wearing multi-pocketed clothes. And he's a little ghost-shy. In addition to a host of regulars, like Ph. D. candidates Sam and Jo, and a plethora of named inanimate objects–there's Sam's vehicle Carssandra, Zed's stuffed jackalope Aloysius, and their pumpkin nightlight Willoughby–readers meet Bertie and Hyacinth who are Charlotte's relatives, and a pair of treasure seekers called Soraya and Dean (often called Dan by Bertie).

The characters are wacky and the dialogue between them is priceless. It's this humour, including their gaffes that take Night of the Living Zed from mystery to a romping good time. From doing their Halloween-O-ween inspection–and learning Mrs. Gianelli is upgrading from licorice sticks to candy bars–or Gabe explaining to Zed that "i.e." is Latin for "Id est" and they answer, "You dest? What's a 'dest'?" (p. 80), there's a rich but underlying humour that will make readers smile and laugh out loud. And then there's the mystery. It is not easily solved, neither by Zed and Gabe nor the readers, so we have to hang in through all the ups and downs, and twists and turns, to get our "Aha!" moment.

I know it's a long way off until Halloween–maybe we can look at January as pre-pre-pre-Halloween-O-ween–but a mystery is a great read anytime, and Night of the Living Zed is a great one. With their open heart and enthusiasm for life and for exploring the unknown, Zed can take us and Gabe along on any new adventure they want, ghosts or no ghosts.

 

 • • • • • •

 

The Fabulous Zed Watson (2021)

Night of the Living Zed (2024)

 

The Secret of the Ravens

 

Written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

Clarion Books

 978-0-35-865011-9

272 pp.

Ages 8-12

November 2023

Reviewed from ebook

 

In the Kawumiti Kingdom. twins Elliot and Liza are homeless and scour trash heaps for things to sell. When a boy tells them about capturing marked ravens who bestow upon them missions to earn coins, the twins are all in. Using a shoplifted book of magic, the twins undertake their first task: to collect eggs from the fairy-bluebird. After several additional missions, they head to Capital City looking for shelter but learn quickly how the poor and derelict are mistreated there, all on the orders of King Tavon. They do meet Seb, a royal apprentice, who tries to encourage them to apply for the same program, but Elliot will have none of it.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

When the two go after the active venom of a titan snake, Liza is injured, and no one will help them without payment, so Seb takes them to a mage in the forest who does not charge. Isra, who was rumoured to have fought in the Human-Ryven War a century earlier, agrees to help but she can only create an antidote if they acquire the egg of a crowned eagle, a black lily, and jadeite. And so, as Liza remains with Isra in her cave, Elliot and Seb pursue the elusive ingredients she requires.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

But the ingredients are more elusive than they realize. The egg may be tricky but possible, but Seb learns from his friend and commander, Leya, that the black lily is extinct, and jadeite is so rare that perhaps only Queen Reyna has a necklace with it.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

And so, the  two boys, one a disciplined apprentice with friends in the castle and the other a brother with limited magic skills but a desperation to help his sister, must work together, never knowing whom they can trust, perhaps not even each other.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

The Secret of the Ravens is Winnipeg's Joanna Cacao's debut as both author and illustrator, and, judging by the open ending of this story, it will not be her last. She's got lots more story to tell, whether it's about a family that needs reuniting or a family that needs to be created–there is a very subtle spark between Seb and Elliot–or because of the historical clash between the Humans and Ryvens. And there's always magic to be learned and to be worked.

 

Family is paramount here, though by creating a new world in which Humans mistreated Ryvens, in which magic and mages are common, and in which unusual species like the titan snake and black lily exist, Joanna Cacao has blended the familiar with the fantastic. The twins and Seb look like any young people, as are their challenges to survive and thrive. But the other elements take the story to a different level. With ease, Joanna Cacao has given us a world in which the supernatural is natural and magic–documented in an appendix to the story–can make things happen. Her art gives us both that reality and the fantastic, depicting characters who look like us but can teleport between locations, castles and forests of extraordinary beauty and detail, and snazzy and brassy magic with spells cast with words like Sumabog and Pakawalan. (Interestingly, casting spells use words that seem to reflect Joanna Cacao's Filipino heritage.)

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

I don't know when readers will be returning to the Kingdom of Kawumiti but return we must to discover whether Isra will be successful in seeing her own family again, whether Elliot survives a deadly pact he has made, and whether Liza, Seb and Elliot will be reunited. Oh, and there's also the little matter of justice for the Ryvens and retribution for King Tavon and Queen Reyna. So, there's lots more story to be told and read and imagined.

Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake

Written and illustrated by Rob Justus

Chronicle Books

978-1-7972-0638-7

316 pp.

Ages 10–4

November 2023

 

When Death first met Sparkles, the last unicorn and media sweetheart, in Death & Sparkles (2021), it was a difficult relationship. Death had never had a friend–how could he when whomever he touched would die?–and Sparkles was all about his celebrity. But they found a way to work together and give support as needed. But in their newest adventure, their friendship will be challenged by a quartet of moles who may know a little more about unicorns–or 'corns as they call them–and are accordingly less than impressed by Sparkles and his ancestors.

From Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake, written and illustrated by Rob Justus

Rob Justus, who apparently rendered the illustrations "in magical cupcakes with a sprinkle of digital art" develops his story along two parallel subplots. In the first, four moles, identified by their colours of Purple, Brown, Pink, and Blue, are obligated to tend the unicorns' sacred garden resplendent in golden colossal statues. When the  moles turn sixteen, they are sure that they will be invited to the ceremonial coming-of-age party held for uni-colts becoming unicorns. Instead, they are unceremoniously excluded by the unicorns. To exact their revenge, the moles intend to steal the sacred golden cupcake. Instead, they are discovered and banished to the darkness of the underground.

From Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake, written and illustrated by Rob Justus

The second subplot revolves around our two titular protagonists. Sparkles is not feeling quite right. His horn is glowing and his body is tingling. When Death suggests a growth spurt, Sparkles opens a suitcase left to him by his late parents and discovers a letter about the journey he must go on as well as a golden cupcake on a chain that compels him to dance. Regardless of what Death wants, Sparkles drags his friend to club after club, looking for the right one. When they are transported to an underground cavern and a golden-gated garden, and they must make choices as to where they should go, there is a clash of personalities, as the egocentric Sparkles plows on ahead, ignoring Death and following his "super-mega important unicorn family quest." (p. 134) Separated, Death meets the moles and, feeling welcomed and appreciated, befriends them, unknowingly becoming part of their scheme to get the scared golden cupcake.

From Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake, written and illustrated by Rob Justus

There may be a lot of pink and purple and bling in Rob Justus's second book starring Death and Sparkles but within all the sugary sweetness and sparkling flashiness there are important messages about being different, empathizing with others, true friendship, and humility (something Sparkles lacks). By juxtaposing the subdued and cautious Death with the look-at-me, self-absorbed Sparkles, Rob Justus lets us see that both extremes can be tiresome. However, a bit of risky taking with some judicious caution makes for a great partnership. And, though the mistreatment of the moles by the unicorns shows Sparkles that his heritage is not as noble as he'd imagined, it does inspire him to do better. (Now, if he just wasn't so over-confident and pushy. Sigh.)

From Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake, written and illustrated by Rob Justus

Although Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake only releases tomorrow, I'm already looking forward to Book 3 in this series. (Please let there be more books coming.) Judging by Rob Justus's Acknowledgments, he has lots of ideas. Maybe the ghost pirates didn't show up here, but I think Death and Sparkles have lots more adventures, and calamity, to experience, and more revelations to make about themselves.

 

• • • • • • •

 

Death & Sparkles (2021)

Death & Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake (2023)

Pugs Cause Traffic Jams

Written by Jennifer McGrath

Illustrated by Kathryn Durst

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0340-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

May 2022

 

When Kirby, her pug, goes missing, this child searches all over town, inquiring of others with their own dogs, as to any sightings. There's Mrs. Gossman with her golden retriever and Mr. McCraig the crossing guard with his helpful border collie. Then there's Casey with his ball-playing lab and Jo and Jan with their Doberman. There are countless dogs and their people all over town and, while she politely asks for help finding her chubby pug with his macaroni-shaped tail, Kirby is out on the road causing mayhem for drivers and then the police and the community as a whole.

From Pugs Cause Traffic James by Jennifer McGrath, illus. by Kathryn Durst

There are poodles and chihuahuas, huskies and terriers, German shepherds, afghans and basenjis. But no Kirby, the pug, who has left the comforts of his home to follow a butterfly.

From Pugs Cause Traffic James by Jennifer McGrath, illus. by Kathryn Durst

And, oh, the chaos while Kirby plays with the butterfly, oblivious to everyone around him trying to avoid him and instead having collisions and dropping their loads and getting snarled in traffic. But, it's with that attention–in fact, Kirby becomes a bit of a celebrity–that the child is able to finally be reunited with her beloved pooch.

From Pugs Cause Traffic James by Jennifer McGrath, illus. by Kathryn Durst

My, my, my! Kirby may be unaware of the pandemonium and subsequent distinction given to him–there is a sign "Pug 4 Prez" and pugarazzi wanting his pawtograph–but he has always been a star to his girl. His household toys, treats, food and sleeping accommodations suggest a well-loved dog, not unlike the plethora of other breeds that ride in cars with their people, play and work and offer companionship. So, while New Brunswick author Jennifer McGrath introduces young readers to many, many dog breeds and their characteristics, she puts her tongue firmly in cheek, makes a few puns, and lets us join Kirby on his adventure, ultimately a safe one, to be the playful rover of Pugs Cause Traffic Jams. Moreover, Jennifer McGrath shows us the absurdity of those who declare celebrity for trifling matters, with photographers, police, podcasters, news people and fans pursuing the latest trend without question. It's only the children who notice Kirby for the lost dog that he is.

While there's a lot of accuracy in Toronto artist Kathryn Durst's illustrations, easily distinguishing the various dog breeds with their colourings, temperaments and morphologies, she keeps the artwork playful and energized, suitable for a story of an AWOL dog who unknowingly creates havoc. As bold as Kirby's spirit for adventure are Kathryn Durst's art created in pencil and pencil crayon with digital graphic apps Procreate and Photoshop. The illustrations are striking in their colour and shape, offering semi-realism with cartoon sass.

For young readers and especially those who are dog-lovers, Pugs Cause Traffic Jams will make them think twice about dropping their guard around their audacious pets, especially those special pugs, but also recognize that celebrating their pets' uniqueness doesn't require the spotlight of social media. Just being their canine selves should be enough to afford love and attention.

Valley of the Rats

Written by Mahtab Narsimhan

DCB

978-1-77086-628-7

232 pp.

Ages 9-12

September 2021

Twelve-year-old Krish Roy has taken himself out of his comfort zone of the indoors, books and cleanliness when he suggests (or perhaps agrees) to an outdoor camping trip with his nature photographer father. Always cognizant of what a disappointment he is to his father who holds Krish's cousin Anjali as an example of how he wishes Krish would be i.e., optimistic, adventurous, outdoorsy, Krish is determined to bond with his dad, even if he has to arm himself with plenty of hand-sanitizer and candies to calm him.

But from the onset, everything seems to go wrong. In the bamboo forests of the Ladakh Range (India), their GPS gets busted and they get lost, they can't get a cell signal, Krish loses his pocket hand sanitizer, a thunderstorm hits and there are rats. Oh, there are rats, and plenty of them. Hopeful that the rats will lead them to people, Krish and his Dad follow them to a village of huts. There they are given shelter by the villagers of Imdur but warned not to leave their guest house or wander the village. In fact, they are adamant that Dad cannot take photos as they do not want people knowing of them.

However, Krish learns soon enough that this camping trip is actually an assignment Kabir Roy has undertaken, hopeful of a blockbuster photo story about a rumoured village of rat worshippers. But all Krish wants to do is fix their radio and get out of Imdur, a community rife with rats and unhygienic conditions. As Krish and his father both try to meet their own needs, the villagers of Imdur, lead by the shaman Imma and her daughter Tashi, try to maintain their secretive community. With a clash of cultures, between father and son, and the reclusive Imdur and those beyond its borders, there may be no happy ending here.

Each time Mahtab Narsimhan takes us into India as she did in several of her earlier middle-grade novels, including her Silver Birch award-winning The Third Eye (2007), The Tiffin (2011) and Mission Mumbai (2016), she drops us into cultures resplendent in myths, food, celebrations, and even superstitions. In Valley of the Rats, she again takes us into a world that is different and even surreal (there is an element of the fantastic in Imdur) and makes it credible. Because Mahtab Narsimhan's fictional village of Imdur was founded after the ecological event called Mautam, there is plausibility to communities like it finding unusual means of survival. Whether or not there really is an Imdur, perhaps by a different name, Mahtab Narsimhan has taken us there, to live with these people who wear rat-skin coats and feed what we consider vermin as if they are their pets or deities. As such, readers should know that they will truly be entering the valley of the rats, and there are no shortage of the creatures.

Still, Valley of the Rats is about survival. It's about the villages of Imdur seeking to survive in a world that gave them famine and rats and no government help. And it's about Krish enduring incredible anxiety to make his father accept him as he is–imagine a germaphobe in a community of rats–and the two of them surviving their encounter with a community that has secreted itself away from the world. Survival by its very nature is precarious; if it was easy, it wouldn't be so uncertain. Who survives and how in Mahtab Narsimhan's story is yet another secret–the plot is rife with them–that will only be revealed in the climatic last few pages but it's worth the wild adventure that is Valley of the Rats.

Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library

Written and illustrated by Brian McLachlan

Imprint

978-1-250-26829-7

128 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2021

For those middle-graders who want an adventure that is uniquely their own, or for those who love RPGs and have been told to get off their tech, or for those who love a good story with amazing characters, humour, and fantasy worlds of surprising elements, Brian McLachlan's Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library ticks all the boxes.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

To undertake their quest in the world of Chimeria, readers are invited to pick a team of three heroes from Javen the Elven Druid; Coran the Human Priest; Blade the Flowerkin Sneak; Zix the Dragonfolk Wizard; and Crax and Tonk the Dwarven Barbarian Brothers. Each has unique powers and optional backstories about family, fears and habits which will help the reader complete the quest.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

And the quest? Queen Evergreen, who rules over Chimeria, with her friend and advisor Marisha and daughter Princess Violet, has been gifted with a poisonous book, imbued with bad magic. Instead of working towards keeping harmony with all the people of Chimeria as she has always done, she begins to see Marisha as tricking her into discriminating against the human-like Kith. She tries to fight it but she slips into a deep sleep. While her people look for the source of the book, the heroes of the story, i.e., whoever readers have chosen, are tasked with searching out the five ingredients needed to cure her of the book's poison. These include a star diamond, a blank lotus, a ghost cloud, a dragon lime and a skrim (a water creature).

Like the original pen-and-paper role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons, it's advised that young readers keep track of their characters and their abilities as well as the items they acquire or lose, including different coloured pearls. 

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

As they enter realms that include caverns and a maze, a jungle, the mountains, the sky and a spheramid, your heroes meet centaurpedes, phantomcap mushrooms, rock blobs, dragonfolk bandits and more. There are opportunities to join forces with others like the Flowerkin Glowvin or the bard Harmony but it's all up to the reader how the quest will be completed.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

The fun thing about Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library is that Brian McLachlan has set it up so that the quest is always completed and young players (readers?) don't have to worry that they will be killed off before achieving their mission. Even better, they can complete the mission repeatedly but with different combinations of heroes with different backstories while altering their selections along the way. There will always be laughs with riddles and jokes, a fart elemental or a ghost barf, and much play with words like the Widow the Wisp and the Hot Steppers.

 

But the artwork is what will draw young readers in. It's vibrant and imaginative, fantastic in its diversity of characters and elements, landscapes and stories. Brian McLachlan bases his characters in animals, plants, humans and otherwise. They use different pronouns, i.e., she/her, he/him and they/them, and are coloured everything from purple or brown to green and pink. These differences, in fact, are what the poisonous book wants to use to separate Chimeria, encouraging discrimination and strife between distinct creatures. Thankfully the Queen recognizes that the book was a mask "to hide the truth and frighten us with a false image" (pg. 102) and that "We might look different, but we share universal needs and feelings." (pg. 103)

He will get kids reading and imaginatively playing with Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library while paying homage to books and book people–there are books everywhere and librarians and readers galore–but Toronto cartoonist Brian McLachlan has made some powerful statements about diversity and inclusiveness and done so with colour and whimsy. This is certainly a quest worth undertaking.

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.

The Desert Prince (Secrets of the Sands, Book 2)

Written by Alisha Sevigny

Dundurn

978-1-45974-432-5

364 pp.

Ages 8-13

September 2020 

"I know what it is like, how acting on your conscience can bring you into conflict with higher powers." (pg. 52)

 

When middle-grade readers first met Sesha in The Lost Scroll of the Physician, she was studying with other scribes and searching for the lost scroll of the Great Imhotep. Though those in power viewed the scroll as a tool of influence, whether for military surgery or more, Sesha needed it to help save the life of her younger brother Ky. So, even though Pharaoh's queen Anat stole the scroll and tried to kill Sesha and fellow scribes Paser and Reb, the Pharaoh's physician Ahmes was able to help Ky. Now the trio of teens are on the run and searching for Pharaoh's daughter, Merat, who'd been given to the Hyskos chieftain in betrothal.

 

To improve their chances of escape and survival, Sesha helps free a Hyskos spy who'd been in the pits alongside them. Under Pepi's guidance, Sesha, Paser and Reb are able to cross the dangerous desert of scorching heat, deadly quicksand, negligible water and terrifying sandstorms to reach the Chieftain's oasis community. Under the ruse of Sesha being betrothed to Pepi who is the Chieftain's cousin, and Reb and Paser being her brothers, they ingratiate themselves into the community and look for ways to free Merat and save themselves. 

But freeing Merat is not as easy as it sounds, especially at a secluded oasis where they all become integrated: Merat working with children, Sesha helping as a physician, and Paser and Reb training as Hyskos soldiers. When the Chieftain's right-hand man Akin is badly injured, Sesha devises a plan to retrieve the scroll from Thebes, ostensibly to help in his recovery, and to get them all to the city of Avaris from which they might escape. But will her scheme to return to Thebes and see her brother, recover the scroll, warn the Thebans about the Chieftain's plans for war, and return safely to her friends be as easy as she plots, especially with Pepi by her side? And will the skills he has taught her as a spy be enough to ensure their success?

If The Lost Scroll of the Physician was a thriller, then The Desert Prince is action adventure. By taking the action out of Thebes and into the desert, where survival requires skills beyond understanding how and why people act as they do, Alisha Sevigny has added a new dimension to her story. There is still the myriad of characters, some of whom we don't trust and learn to trust, and others whose motives are questionable all along, and they are key to the plot of the story and how it progresses but place and time become even more prominent. Being set in Ancient Egypt, the Secrets of the Sands series is already historical fiction with a different landscape, and Alisha Sevigny adds richness to her story by infusing it with the Ancient Egyptians' belief system, cultures, medical and funereal practices and more. But now she also brings us into the desert and to an oasis and introduces a new culture, that of the Hyksos, and an imminent new conflict. Alisha Sevigny has taken us to Ancient Egypt, making everything so real that young readers will be tempted to check how much is authentic (Thebes, Hyskos, Imhotep, Avaris, and Ahmes all are) and even if Sesha might be found in Wikipedia (she is not). 

That's the context of Alisha Sevigny's The Desert Prince but the story, of a prophetic scroll, of allegiances and spies, betrothals and family, and war and accord, provides us with the action and the mystery that will keep readers reading, especially as even more secrets are revealed. She may have left us satisfied with her story's resolution but, just as she did at the conclusion of The Lost Scroll of the Physician, Alisa Sevigny knows how to keep us wanting more and, with a secret prophecy and a looming war along with some budding romances, she's hooked us into anticipating Book 3.