Recommended Reading

Written by Paul Coccia

Zando Young Readers

978-1-63893-149-2

320 pp.

Ages 12-17

January 2025

 

Seventeen-year-old Bobby Ashton has got a plan for the perfect summer before college. He's got plans for a perfect job, the perfect boyfriend, and more. The problems with planning everything down to the last second is that "it only takes one second to throw it all off." (p. vii)

 

All goes amiss when Bobby's big-gesture proclamation of love for his crush Truman becomes a streamed fiasco of broken glass and more, landing Bobby and his mother Cass in the office of Little Elm College's Dean Perez. Bobby loses his job at Campus Books, is removed from his freshman liaison gig for the Big Summer Reading Festival, and he could lose his scholarship and even his admission. His grand gesture was an epic fail, but Bobby is nothing except determined and resilient. His mother, a renowned but retired artist, makes a deal with the Dean to create a sculpture for the college out of the broken glass, and Bobby promises to stay out of trouble.

 

First thing Bobby does is get his Uncle Andy, a friend of Cass's, to let him work at his bookstore Corner Books, a  run-down bookstore that mostly carries used books. And with that new endeavour, the plan for The Summer of Bobby (AKA Bobby Ashton's Plan for the Perfect Summer Before College) begins to transform. Everything Bobby thought he needed for the perfect summer, from the job and the boyfriend to his fashion and achievements, start to change. His tasks may start off as seemingly manageable, like playing nice with crotchety Gladys at the bookstore to overhauling Corner Books to bring in more customers, but Bobby is nothing but persistent. And his new reputation as the Book Whisperer, the young man who knows just the right book for each person, helps make things happen.

 

One of the bookstore visitors Bobby meets is Luke, a college student, with whom he becomes friends. But Bobby knows that after his romantic fiasco, Dean Perez had warned him off of boys, telling him that, "Adolescent crushes will still be there after you graduate." (p. 10) That doesn't stop Bobby from doing a little matchmaking with others, like Luke's roommate Jerome and Mya, the coffee shop girl, his mom and Andy, and even best friend Wanda and a gamer called chickn-backflip. Will it be enough romance for Bobby, affectionately called Casanova by Luke a.k.a. the love Grinch, or will Bobby find himself falling for the least romantic guy around?

 

If you're a book lover, you'll adore Recommended Reading for its literary references and bookshop character. If you're a romantic, you'll fall in love with the dreamy Bobby and his efforts to help others connect, and find his own true love, albeit circuitously. If you appreciate reading about characters that are real, dealing with issues of missteps that need to be corrected and of body image and self-acceptance, while being fanciful and hopeful, then Paul Coccia's Recommended Reading is recommended for you. Paul Coccia, whose earlier books include I Got You Babe, Leon Levels Up, On the Line (co-written with Eric Walters) and The Player, gives us teens who are authentic in their feelings, whether it be their fears or loves, relationships or insecurities. These teens haven't got it all figured out, yet, but they are looking for ways to understand themselves and how they fit in with others. There are no easy fixes–are there any in life for anyone?–but they're trying. Bobby is looking for love and to have a positive impact on his community. He makes mistakes but he connects with people, whether through his book recommendations or through his sensitivity. And he does so with personality–and lots of book and movie references–and an awesome fashion sense.

 

Bobby may be the Book Whisperer but he's also the guy you want to have in your corner to cheer you on, help you find love, and to appreciate yourself. And with Recommended Reading, Paul Coccia gives readers the opportunity to fall in love with Bobby.

I Want to Read All the Books: Book launch (Toronto, ON)

 Debbie Ridpath Ohi

author and illustrator

 

is launching her new picture book!

 

I Want to Read All the Books

Written and illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

978-1481416306

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 17 2024

 

 

 

Book launch will take place on

 

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

 

at 7 PM 

(doors open at 6:30 PM)

 

at

 

TYPE Junction

2887 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON

Friends Find a Way!

Written by Heather M. O'Connor

Illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9386-3

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2023

 

When Suze first joined Tyson's class in Heather M. O'Connor's Fast Friends (2020), there was some nervousness about a non-verbal child in a wheelchair becoming friends with a boy who couldn't slow down. But, the two children did become friends, and fast friends at that, with Suze enjoying the speed in her wheelchair as much as Tyson loved helping her race about. Now the class is heading to the zoo for a field trip and both Tyson and Suze are excited to see the cheetah, an animal known for speed.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

At the zoo, the class are buddied up–Tyson with Suze–and told to stay together. As they focus on visiting different animals, the kids help direct the class, using the map. Of course, when it's time to see the cheetah, Tyson and Suze know just where to go. But as Tyson remains enthralled with the cheetahs, the class moves on, and suddenly Tyson and Suze are on their own. Tyson hadn't been paying attention, but Suze had, and though she can't express herself verbally, she knows how to tell Tyson where the class has gone.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

While some readers may see Suze's disability as the focus of Friends Find a Way!, author Heather M. O'Connor spends less time on Suze's limitations and more on the connection that Suze and Tyson have. That friendship may have been based initially on their appreciation for speed, but it has evolved into one of camaraderie, similar interests, and cooperation. There is no judgment about who can do or can't do something but instead shows them working together to get what they both need and want. It's that working together to navigate the rambling paths of the zoo to the missing class and to get there as quickly as possible that is how this friendship works. And a story about friends finding a way, whether to rejoining their class or to making their lives fuller and better, is the way to go.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

Claudia Dávila, who illustrated Fast Friends as well as Friends Find a Way!, keeps her digital art colourful, upbeat and dynamic, just like Suze and Tyson. And her illustrations are as inclusive as Heather M. O'Connor's story. Claudia Dávila shows us people of all ages, abilities, cultures and more and makes them all part of the community. And with a delightful assortment of animals, from the sloth and red panda, Komodo dragon and kangaroos, she also takes us on a visit to the zoo alongside Suze and Tyson's class.

Friends do find a way to make things work and Tyson and Suze have found a friendship that works for them, whether at school or at the zoo. They are truly fast friends, both in the speed of their mobility and in the security of the connection, with new experiences strengthening that bond even more.

• • • • • • • 

 

Fast Friends (2020)

Friends Find a Way (2023)

Monster vs. Boy

Written by Karen Krossing
Charlesbridge
978-1-62354-356-3
240 pp.
Ages 10+
July 2023

 

...people believe the strangest things, especially when they're scared or upset. I think the stories people share are part truth and part not-truth. The hard part is figuring out which is which. (pg. 126)

This is a story about a boy and a monster. Yes, a real monster that lives in his closet. I know you'll say that monsters don't exist but in the town of Morsh (from "monstrous marsh") where 11-year-old Dawz lives with his little sister Jayla with their uncle Pop, there is a history of monster sightings. Problem is that Dawz hasn't really seen the monster because he doesn't go into that large bedroom closet. Still, his fears about it are very real, especially as the kids were abandoned by their mother after she got weird, talking about a monster with yellow feathers and a scorpion tail.

As Karen Krossing tells her story from two perspectives, we know Dawz is right about a monster living there. Mim is small, with purple scales, gray fur, two hearts, several horns, and she can release smoke and ash from her nostrils. She loves the nest she has built among the boxes and bags. Most of all, she loves when the grown-up opens a book and tells a story from it. She thinks it's absolutely magical.

Books were powerful. Wonders dwelled inside them. Wonders that Mim was missing, alone in her dusty closet. (pg. 6)

But Mim didn't understand how something in the book turned into a story told aloud. She had a book in her nest, and nothing happened when she opened it. Her aim was to learn how to make the book work for her.

But Dawz and Mim's status quo is disturbed when Pop decides to clean the closet and excavate some aprons Dawz's mom had made long ago for the annual Baker's Brawl baking contest which she used to enter with her brother and which Dawz now entered with his best friend Atlas. When Mim tries to scare them away, Dawz realizes that only he can see and hear her. With her nest eliminated–"Her world had cracked open... (pg. 41)"– Mim ventures out, grabbing a pillowcase, a sock, and a book, and finds herself pursued by Dawz and company, including Ronny the pest control guy and Officer Rashmi.

As Mim befriends a cat she calls Raar and struggles to find a new nest, deal with her hunger and her surprising growth, Dawz and Thea, one of Atlas's moms, cope with their injuries from encounters with Mim. It takes a while but both Dawz the Horrible, as Mim calls him, and Mim will need to find their way back to each other in order to alleviate their fears, understand their needs, and appreciate the other for whom they are.

While some readers may pick up Monster vs. Boy because of the promise of a horror story, Karen Krossing's latest middle-grade novel is more a reflection of what we see and fear in others before we know them. Dawz has a lot of baggage because of what he remembers of his mother before she abandoned them and, with his nightmares of monsters, he has essentially created one that lives in his closet. On the other hand, Mim knows the comfort of her closet nest and has no interest in the outside except for the opportunity to hear the stories that come from books. When forced out, she tries to make connections, such as with the cat, but finds herself drawn back to the familiar even if it makes her nervous. Because neither understands the other, until the end, they interpret their actions as threatening or horrible and try to prevent further dangers to themselves. There's much learning about themselves and others as the two go from monster vs. boy to monster and boy.

But beyond the conflictual theme of her story, Karen Krossing also reminds us of the magic of books and reading. Whether being a writer who puts words to paper or a listener who has the words read aloud to them, the process of reading is miraculous, taking us from the mundane to the fantastic. Even the text of a recipe, which Dawz reads to Mim, enthralls her. It's the translation of letters to words to meaning that elevates books from paper and ink to the extraordinary, and even a purple-scaled monster knows this. 

So, open your own closet and see what opportunities there are for new learnings and relationships. Taking a chance on the unknown may be trepidatious but the rewards can be so un-horrible.

A Starlit Trip to the Library

Written by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel

Illustrated by Joseph Sherman

CrackBoom! Books (Chouette Publishing)

978-2-898023217

44 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2022

 

A trip to the library is always special but a starlit one is even more so. 

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Camping out on an island near her home, Julia spends time with her forest buddies from How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read: Frieda the skunk, Abigail the groundhog, and Scotty the squirrel. But, just as she's about to start storytime, Julia is disappointed to find her storybook missing from her backpack. Fortunately, their bear friend, Bertrand, arrives via houseboat, and invites them to join him on a book-scavenging adventure to the "perfect place to dig for page-turners, sublime rhymes and other treasures."

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Using the stars to guide them, the reading adventurers head to town and to the library. But, because it's late and not all of them are permitted to have library cards, the group heads behind the library. There they meet up with the night librarian, Olga the owl, who shows them the many boxes of donated books which she organizes.

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Olga offers assistance in finding just the right book but it's a tall order as they all want something specific in the book, something that reflects their own lives. Of course, like the wonderful librarian that she is, Olga finds the perfect story to make everyone happy.

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Readers know the joys of connection that come with finding the right book and sharing that reading with others. In both their Julia books, Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel focus on books and the richness that comes with the reading. They show us the inspiration that comes with connecting with others, or seeing oneself reflected in the stories, or learning new things, or getting lost in new worlds. But this time, Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel also highlight the library and librarians and the bounty that comes from engagement with both. Reading is paramount but only if you have the book that fits your needs at that time. Thankfully, there are loads of books available at our public libraries, and school libraries too, and qualified staff to advise, recommend, listen, read and share their expertise with readers of all ages.  And Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel celebrate them and their readers both in A Starlit Trip to the Library. (And if that's not enough, there's also notes about animals in the constellations and a very catchy song, sung by JUNO Award-winning Taes Leavitt of Splash’N Boots.)

 

Joseph Sherman, a Gemini Award-winning animation designer as well as illustrator, uses colour and shape to bring that celebratory luminosity to A Starlit Trip to the Library. Though the setting is night, the stars are out in the sky and there's a brightness to the characters and their landscapes. Illumination, through books, stars and constellations, and friendship, is aptly evoked through Joseph Sherman's artwork.

There's magic in books, as every reader knows. There's the magic of searching for the right book, of sharing a story with friends, and of the adventure that comes from within. Julia and friends find their newest bit of magic under the stars and behind a library and, by telling us their story of A Starlit Trip to the Library, Andrew Katz, Juliana Léveillé-Trudel and Joseph Sherman get to share some of that allure with us.

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Julia’s Song (from the book A Starlit Trip to the Library)

          Music and lyrics by Andrew Katz

          Produced and engineered by Peter Katz

          Performed by Taes Leavitt

Posted on Bibliovideo on February 24, 2022 at YouTube.

 🌠📘🌠📘🌠

Tomorrow I interview co-author (and songwriter) Andrew Katz about A Starlit Trip to the Library, so look for that here.

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Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917428

44 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2021

Mr. Beagle first sniffed out a mystery in Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown (2020) and brought his community of Rabbittown together in one of acceptance for diversity. Now Mr. Beagle is visiting his cousin Georgie in the neighbourhood of Georgestown and there's another mystery to solve. 

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Enjoying a walk in the neighbourhood, Georgie tells Mr. Beagle of a spate of break-ins around Georgestown. But the cat burglar wasn't stealing valuables like money (piggy banks, actually) or art; they were taking storybooks. The residents of Georgestown were waking up to emptied bookshelves, saddened to realize there would be no more relaxing reads or bedtime stories for little ones.

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Mr. Beagle puts his head to work to finding the cat burglar, looking throughout the community for possible suspects, from renovators and painters to line workers adept with tall ladders. But it's not until the cat burglar makes their way to Georgie's one night that Mr. Beagle realizes how wrong he was about the who and the why of the burglaries and helps makes things right for the neighbourhood.

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Lori Doody consistently presents readers with important messages in quaint stories with playful settings and characters. She gives us the colour of a Newfoundland community with a diversity of characters–dogs, cats, rabbits, foxes, etc.–and reminds us not to judge too quickly. The end-papers (I used them as background for the book cover above) celebrate the diversity of individuals in Lori Doody's story, always reminding us that differences bring richness to a community. And that community is what is key to Lori Doody's stories. Here, not only does Mr. Beagle solve the mystery of the thefts, he finds a way to turn things around for the thief, get the books returned to their rightful owners and create a neighbourhood meeting place where books might be shared and celebrated by all. With the whimsy of its bold lines and shapes and the vibrancy of its colours and characters, Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery gives readers a lesson in ignoring appearances and stereotypes and celebrates the benefits of embracing all for the betterment of all. I'd say that's another victory and mystery solved for Mr. Beagle.

 

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Author-illustrator Lori Doody talks about her new book in a short video posted at https://youtu.be/eoNVwoxLcNI by publisher Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides.

 

Uploaded by RunningTheGoat on June 28, 2021 to YouTube.

The Undercover Book List

Written by Colleen Nelson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-187-8

224 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2021 

With the departure of her best friend Sienna to a new home and school, Jane McDonald is not looking forward to her Grade 7 year. But a literary mystery and an undercover friend-making activity may be what she needs to help make the year tolerable. Maybe even more.

In alternating voices and chapters of twelve-year-olds Jane and Tyson, Colleen Nelson brings together two kids with very divergent views on reading. Jane is a voracious reader, a passion she has shared with her best friend Sienna. But, with her dad already posted overseas as a Chief of Staff for a peacekeeping mission and now Sienna moving far away, she is feeling empty. Still Sienna has left her a clue that she hopes will help her friend find other reader friends. Giving Jane the code name X, Sienna initiates the Undercover Book Club by which Jane can leave notes and book recommendations and connect with others. 

The note is found by Tyson, a non-reader and prankster, who discovers the note when sent to the library for a book while he waits for the principal to discipline him. Tyson is not a reader. In fact, he can't even take books of the library since he has not returned some from last year. But when this Mutant-Z aficianado gamer has his Xbox taken away and has nothing else to do, he sneaks out the book in which the first note is found, recommends a book he remembers his teacher reading, and starts on his own reading journey.

Tyson knows X is Jane but she has no idea he's Y. As the two begin an unlikely book friendship, and Jane and her Kid Lit Quiz team struggle to reorganize after Sienna's departure, the Undercover Book Club is born, each reading new books and talking about their choices and learning more about themselves. As they compile a list of extraordinary books–with shout-outs to Canadian authors Kenneth Oppel, David A. Robertson, Monica Hughes and Susin Nielsen among others–it's a journey of self-discovery and self-development and it's all courtesy of reading.

Readers know the richness that stories can bring into their lives. We meet new friends, travel to different places and times, and we learn.  By bringing together a reader and non-reader, Colleen Nelson, an astute writer and undoubtedly understanding teacher, has written about every child out there. The ones that love books will always find something to read but can get so much insight from the perspectives of others. Those that haven't become readers yet often just need the scaffolding of the right book or the right person to bring them to reading. With the Undercover Book Club, Tyson and Jane both find their people among those they would have dismissed originally and enrich their lives beyond just reading.

Colleen Nelson has a natural skill at giving young readers characters who are real, though not always likeable at first, and who are able to change with their experiences and perspectives. It's her characters who have always driven her stories, whether they are in her picture books (e.g., Teaching Miss Muddle, 2020), middle grade (e.g., Harvey Comes Home, 2019) or young adult novels (e.g., Sadia, 20018), and give her plots the foundation for exploration of topics from bullying to abandonment, abuse and empowerment. By letting us see Jane and Tyson from different perspectives and responding to common scenarios, they become even more real.

Thanks for seeing me for who I am. And who I wanted to be, even if I didn't know it. (pg. 258)

For the reluctant reader who doesn't know they're a reader yet and for those who will consume this story with gusto, The Undercover Book List is for them. From its fabulous cover–easily identifiable as that of illustrator Scot Ritchie–through Colleen Nelson's irresistible text and appended notes about authors and books to check out, The Undercover Book List brings reading out from under its nerd status into a mainstream social avocation it can be.

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Tomorrow I'll post about Colleen Nelson's hybrid (limited in-person and online) book launch for The Undercover Book List on Friday, September 17, 2021.

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The Librarian's Stories

Written by Lucy Falcone

Illustrated by Anna Wilson

POW! Kids Books

978-1-576879450

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

February 2021

 

Though many young readers will recognize the name L. M. Falcone as the writer of supernatural mysteries like Walking with the Dead (Kids Can Press, 2005), Lucy Falcone has recently pursued writing emotionally-charged picture books like I Didn't Stand Up (Clockwise Press, 2018) that remind that what really counts, like justice and compassion. In The Librarian's Stories, it's humanity and literacy.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Though life in this town was once a typical one for children of play and birthdays, the greyness of war settles over the community in which a library is destroyed, scattering pages, words and letters out and away. Life is now one lived in fear, of long lines for water, of cold rooms without electricity, and sparse food availability.

 

Then one day there are spoken words sprinkled in the air from the local square. Papa may call the librarian who sits there reading aloud foolish but they stop to listen.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Without much food and only the cold and grey as backdrop, the child joins others watching from their own windows and tucked into doorways and against walls, all listening.

Her words carry me back...

Briefly, the boy remembers his birthday, with balloons and kites and even birds flying.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

But even as he and other children and adults listen, the reality of their lives, from the danger of standing in open windows, tanks in the streets, barbed wire and marching soldiers, encroaches back in. Still the librarian returns and reads aloud.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Eventually the soldiers are gone and the town repairs itself, including the child helping by reading aloud himself. But the best thing to help the goodness return is the rebuilding of that library.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

War and conflict bring hardship and destruction but it is often seen in terms of shortages, deaths and injury, and the ruination of structures. But Lucy Falcone reminds us that the extinguishing of hope offered through literacy can be just as traumatic. The librarian knows the power of words to renew and enliven, and her perseverance and determination herald the new spirit for the town. By choosing to show us what is impactful for a child, Lucy Falcone gives a perspective that is elementary but profound by contrasting the darkness of conflict with the light of literacy.

 

New Zealand illustrator Anna Wilson similarly accentuates the anguish of a community in strife with the brightness of children and the luminosity of stories. In The Librarian's Stories, she gets the tone right for transitioning the story from one of the grim reality of war to one of hope and brightness, and her depiction of darkened letters fractured from the library's ruins and of blue or white words wafting from a reading are especially telling.

 

Most readers know the healing capacity of books and words but The Librarian's Stories reminds us that they can do much to restore communities from trauma as well.  Without words, without stories, without reading, we are all desolate.

Goldibooks and the Wee Bear

Written by Troy Wilson

Illustrated by Edwardian Taylor

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-9620-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

January 2021

 

When Goldibooks and her reading-loving parents head to the library to exchange their books, they spot a wee bear that the girl thinks is adorable. Though her parents caution her away because adult bears can be protective of their young, she needn't have worried as the cub is just desperate to find something to read.

 

From Goldibooks and the Wee Bear by Troy Wilson, illus. by Edwardian Taylor

When the wee bear comes across the humans' cottage, he can't resist peeking in and is elated to spot three packed bookshelves. As in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, upon which Troy Wilson has based his story, the wee bear tries out the books on each case. Of course, Mom's are too hard, and Dad's are too soft, but Goldi's are just right.

From Goldibooks and the Wee Bear by Troy Wilson, illus. by Edwardian Taylor

Similarly, the wee bear looks for a comfy spot to read and finally finds that Goldi's chair is just right, though he does have a bit of a fumble with it. So he tries the beds because what better place to read, right? And as every reader knows, when gets comfortable reading, he falls asleep.

 

From Goldibooks and the Wee Bear by Troy Wilson, illus. by Edwardian Taylor

When the family returns from the library, they are shocked to see the mayhem with their books, and their chairs, and beds. Just as Goldibooks discovers the wee bear who knows he shouldn't have trespassed, his bear parents show up, distressed that he didn't stay away from the wee human whose parents could be dangerous if you get near their kids. (Sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

From Goldibooks and the Wee Bear by Troy Wilson, illus. by Edwardian Taylor

But books can do so much to help us overcome fears and discrimination, and soon enough the wee ones, human and bear, have encouraged their families to enjoy reading together.

 

By writing this story as a fractured fairy tale, Troy Wilson is able to incorporate important messages about reading and the coming together of cultures in a familiar narrative that kids will love. They'll know where the story should go—i.e., the first is too hard, the next is too soft and the last is just right—but they won't exactly know where Troy Wilson will take them. And by blanketing the story about a little bear who wants to read and parents who want to protect their young, even if their fears are unfounded, Troy Wilson gives us more to the story than just respecting other's stuff. 

American Edwardian Taylor's cartoon illustrations, with his apple-cheeked characters and fairy-tale setting of forests and cottages, keep the story light and cheerful. Even when the wee bear causes a bit of damage and the bears and humans meet, his colours and shapes add whimsy and brightness.

 

Goldibooks and the Wee Bear, Troy Wilson's second fractured fairy tale (Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf  in 2019 was his first) among his rich collection of picture books, releases today. With it, Troy Wilson is becoming a stand out in twisting a classic tale into a more contemporary and more meaningful story for teaching and entertaining young readers.

The Library Bus

Written by Bahram Rahman

Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-101-4

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

November, 2020

While education should be a right for all everywhere, sometimes someone has to step up to make sure those without access because of gender inequality or location or some other restriction get the schooling they should be receiving. That someone in The Library Bus is Pari's mother.

From The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illus. by Gabrielle Grimard

Little Pari, who will not be starting school until the following year, is going to help her mother on the library bus she takes around to villages and refugee camps without access to schools. Pari knows this is a privilege and takes her role seriously, repeating to herself that she should, "Arrange the books...clean up...be nice to the other girls." For the girls who wait patiently for the bus's arrival and cherish their time with the books and their teacher, the library bus is their school.

From The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illus. by Gabrielle Grimard

They exchange their library books for new ones and sit down with Pari's mother who teaches them the alphabet and their numbers in English. For the children of the refugee camps, they provide school supplies like notebooks and pencils. Pari is impressed by how much the girls know and want to learn. As she helps, she listens and learns too, ably reading the important acronyms of WFP and UNHCR by the time they leave the camp.

From The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illus. by Gabrielle Grimard

When Pari asks her mother where she learned the alphabet, she is told how Grandpa taught her mother in the basement as girls were prohibited from attending school. For that reason, she insists that Pari study well when she gets to school so that she might experience the freedom that learning gives.

The encouragement of learning is always powerful but by embodying it in Afghanistan, a country impacted by war and restrictive policies, Bahram Rahman's first children's book tells it gently but with influence. Many Canadian children will not appreciate the privilege that attending school and receiving an education entails. It is the norm for them. But for Bahram Rahman's characters, education is everything, and the generosity and impact of the library bus and its in-house teacher are significant.

From The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illus. by Gabrielle Grimard

Illustrated by award-winning artist Gabrielle Grimard with watercolour and digital media, Bahram Rahman's gentle strength of message is emulated. The softness of the watercolour and the openness of Gabrielle Grimard's character's faces invite the readers in to the story and the bus, allowing them to travel with Pari and her Mama and join the girls to be part of something bigger and meaningful.

While Bahram Rahman claims to have taken liberties to rearrange the details in the telling of the story of The Library Bus, based on his own experiences and meeting others in Afghanistan, I see only the truth about the hope gifted to the girls with the books and teaching that came with the bus's weekly visits. Now, by Bahram Rahman and Gabrielle Grimard's hands, the travels of The Library Bus will lead to even greater learning.

The Lady with the Books: A Story Inspired by the Remarkable Work of Jella Lepman

Written by Kathy Stinson

Illustrated by Marie Lafrance

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0154-4 

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2020

 

"Let us set this

upside-down

world right again

by starting with

the children.

They will show

the grown-ups

the way to go."

– Jella Lepman, 1943

 

So begins Kathy Stinson's homage to Jella Lepman, creator of the International Youth Library and a key player in the founding of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People). But while The Lady with the Books honours her efforts to bring books to children, Kathy Stinson's newest picture book is much more than a biography. It is a tome of hope that books have the promise to nurture during difficult times.

 

From The Lady with the Books by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Marie Lafrance

In the aftermath of World War II, a little girl, Anneliese, and her younger brother, Peter, wander the streets of Munich looking for food. What they do find, in addition to a bit of orange peel, is a line of people heading into a great hall filled with books. With memories of going to a library with their Papa, now both gone, the children are captivated and time flies until Anneliese and Peter are told by a kind lady that the exhibition was closing.

 

From The Lady with the Books by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Marie Lafrance

 

The next day they return to hear the same lady reading The Story of Ferdinand and are touched by the titular bull's pacifism, especially Peter who is drawn to flowers like Ferdinand. When this lady suggests that Anneliese might enjoy another book about a clever Pippi, Anneliese begins to imagine beyond the desolation of their daily lives, especially the struggle for food. The stories they hear at the exhibit and those that Anneliese weaves at night for her brother become a new source of sustenance, offering hope where there had been little.

Kathy Stinson's stories have always found ways to offer hope and comfort, easily getting into the heads of her characters and recognizing what is important to them. Whether it's colour (Red is Best) or music (The Man with the Violin) for children or a squirrel to The Dog Who Wanted to Fly, Kathy Stinson's picture books help children realize the importance of their dreams. At the onset of The Lady with the Books, Anneliese wonders why the women are clearing away rubble with their bare hands and sweeping the pavement when "Couldn't they see that the street would never be what it had been before the war?" However, by the story's end, she decides "she would join the women with their brooms. She would help clear the street around the damaged library. And maybe someday, the building would again be filled with books." There was hope again.

Marie Lafrance's illustrations, rendered in graphite pencil and coloured digitally, may reflect the devastating impacts of war, from bombed buildings to hunger, but the hope of Kathy Stinson's text and Jella Lepman's work–discussed in notes at the conclusion of the story–is there in the life peppering the scenes. From hardworking women with brooms, and men with wheelbarrows, trees and flowers growing out of rubble, markets of bright food, and books, books and more books, Marie Lafrance offers that buoyancy to the story, letting readers know that there is life and goodness out there.

Jella Lepman extended a hand to children after World War II, recognizing that more than food fed lives. Through book exhibitions, donations and ultimately the establishment of the International Youth Library, the largest international collection of children's books in the world, she nourished young lives, especially those disrupted by war and other disasters, to hope for better and more.

From The Lady with the Books by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Marie Lafrance

Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf

Written by Troy Wilson

Illustrated by Ilaria Campana

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-9266-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

July 2019

Readers know that you can find all the answers you need in books and Little Red Reading Hood, who loves red and reading, proves that books are also the means for surviving life and making friends.

From Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf by Troy Wilson, illus. by Ilaria Campana

When little Red learns that her grandmother, who'd sewn her a special hood embellished with letters and books, is ill, the child makes a special treat for her and heads off to deliver it. Along the way she meets a wolf and, following the directions in books, she maintains eye contact and backs away slowly before distracting it with hand movements and throwing rocks. Though he'd tried to tell her he just wanted...something, he slinks off dejected. But at her grandmother's house, she finds the wolf already there and in disguise, lounging in bed. Red's books had already taught her "what to do if you encounter a wolf dressed as a grandparent" and she proceeds to point out his large features. The wolf goes along with her until he becomes frustrated and lunges for her basket as she runs out.

From Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf by Troy Wilson, illus. by Ilaria Campana

The smell that had so entranced him? The smell of a new book. He begs her to read to him. But Red is perplexed. None of her books had told her "What to do if a wolf sniffs the book you made for Grandma, asks you to read it, and doesn't once try to eat you." When he finally helps Grandma from the armoire and Red is preparing to read to both of them, the woodsman arrives with his axe held high. After Grandma shelters the cowering wolf and Red explains, the group settle at Grandma's bed to share the book Red had brought.

In this twisted fairy tale, Troy Wilson extols the wisdom to be found in books while also recognizing that we often judge–wolves, people, books–on their outward appearances. Sure the wolf looks large and menacing but he is but a lover of books–don't we all love that new book smell?!–and of having someone read to him.  Fortunately, little Red reads the situation well before the wolf is hurt and in turn learns a lesson about not jumping to judgements.

From Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf by Troy Wilson, illus. by Ilaria Campana

I love a good fractured fairy tale, one that takes a popular fairy tale and turns it on its head. Victoria's Troy Wilson takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood and reshapes it to emphasize the importance of reading and a love of books with a caveat that "you can't judge a book by its cover." He plays up the fun and leaves the darkness of the original tale behind. Similarly, the artwork by Italy's Ilaria Campana attends to some of the original story with the dark woods through which Red travels, the size of the wolf and more while lightening it with the dramatic expressions and uniquely shaped bodies of her characters, the homey indoor settings, and even a ubiquitous little robin.

Little Red Reading Hood and the Misread Wolf removes the darkness that is prevalent in so many cautionary tales of yore and heralds fierce women, compassionate understanding and caution to stereotyping. Books can teach everything and anything, can't they?

Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair

Written by Alice Kuipers

Illustrated by Diana Toledano

Chronicle Books

978-1-4521-5233-2

112 pp.

Ages 6-9

May 2019

Reviewed from advance reader's copy

Little Polly Diamond continues to find the magic in words and the writing she does in her turquoise notebook which she affectionately calls Spell. That's because each time she writes in this book, her magic book, it writes back to her–displayed as bold text in the book–and makes amazing things happen.

From Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair by Alice Kuipers, illus. by Diana Toledano

Polly's school is having a book-themed fair to support family literacy and she has lots of ideas. Pop-Open-A-Book-Corn popcorn, Cotton-Cloud-Candy, Book Carousel, Book-Face-Painting, and more. And as she comes up with ideas, she plays with similes, alliteration and synonyms and even creates her own words.

From Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair by Alice Kuipers, illus. by Diana Toledano

But Polly wants to make it even more special so it truly becomes the "stunning" and "spectacular" event she's looking for it to be. Popcorn popping out of books is one thing but requesting, of Spell, that the character face painting be realistic results in fairies zinging from the face of her toddler sister and Anna's own transformation into a fairy. Moreover, classmate Dawson becomes a dragon, a teacher becomes Merlin, and their babysitter Shaylene becomes a squirrel! Still Polly and her friends continue to enjoy the fair with its indoor roller coaster, carousel of book characters like the Cheshire Cat, and a magic carpet ride to London. However, mayhem abounds and Polly can't write it away because she can't find Spell.

     I love novels and poems and true stories and dictionaries.
     But in Spell, I can write anything. With my book, I can go anywhere. I can be anyone. Now Spell is lost. Disaster. (pg. 89)

It will take some detective work and a confrontation with a Puddle Monster before Polly can locate Spell and write a story about the end of the school fair to give it the happy ending it needs.

Alice Kuipers introduced readers to this young writer and lover of words in Polly Diamond and the Magic Book (2018), the first book in this early reader series. However, I believe that Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair is even more irresistible, like Polly herself, charming us with the magic of reading and books and words. This child knows the value of books and the power of words to enrich life and vanquish monsters. She's imaginative and creative and a wordsmith. She is certainly the darling that Spanish illustrator Diana Toledano has envisioned her to be. But in all that fun and festivity, Polly doesn't lose sight of the capacity for writing to make things happen and make things better. This is something older readers will know but it's a message that younger ones will be delighted to get after Polly casts her own spell upon them.