The Little Red Shed

Written by Adam and Jennifer Young

Illustrated by Adam Young

Breakwater Books

978-1-55081-833-8

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

May 2020

In this allegory about the need for diversity and acceptance of all, a little red shed is excluded by the other maritime sheds for looking different. Timely, poignant and relevant.

The little red shed was once white, like all the other sheds, but she has turned red and the other sheds think this is wrong.

From The Little Red Shed by Adam and Jennifer Young, illus. by Adam Young

She feels excluded and tearful. Even more distressing is the fact that, though she feels like she is the same shed she has always been, she is now ashamed of how she looks and takes herself off, boarding the Ocean Queen boat for the anonymity of the sea.

From The Little Red Shed by Adam and Jennifer Young, illus. by Adam Young

There a humpback whale welcomes her, delighted in her colourfulness, telling her that, "Well, nothing would be beautiful if we all looked the same." Feeling hopeful and befriended, she returns home and proclaims her self-acceptance to the others, demonstrating the value of differences and emboldening them to change.

What was once a bundle
without colour or hue
was now a RAINBOW
vibrant and true.

From The Little Red Shed by Adam and Jennifer Young, illus. by Adam Young

From worry and despair through compassion and hope and finally self-appreciation and diversity, The Little Red Shed offers a lesson for young children to accept themselves as they are, not as others decide they should be. It's an important lesson but a difficult one, as the little red shed realizes, first being ashamed for her differences and exiling herself to avoid the discrimination she feels. Newfoundlanders' Adam and Jennifer Young make sure the text is minimal, enough to carry a story, choosing words that are absolute in their power and naturalness. From declaring the little red shed to be "wrong" to her feeling "sad and alone" to something that is "beautiful" and finally being given the moniker of the "brave little shed" when she is no longer distinguished by her colour. The voice of the story is ideal for young children, helping them understand that differences are not a curse but a gift.

With Adam Young's bold and colourful art, the story is carried from the darkness and despair of stormy blues through the hope of green and ending with the vibrancy of the rainbow of sheds and water and landscape. There is so much movement and emotion in Adam Young's illustrations that the story of the little red shed becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and colour that every reader can and will appreciate.

Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color

Written by Andrée Poulin

Illustrated by Lucile Danis Drouot

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-104-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

February 2020 

I'm tickled pink by any book that supports diversity and acceptance of differences as the norm so I'm especially thrilled about a picture book that supports this message in as subtle and eloquent a way, as well as playful, as Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color.

When Zac the zebra and Poncho the panda are playing and Filippo the flamingo asks if he can join them, he is told that he is too pink, a colour which gives Poncho a headache. But when Filippa asks his parents, they tell him pink is the colour of kindness and happiness. So Filippo tries again.

From Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color by Andrée Poulin, illus. by Lucile Danis Drouot

From Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color by Andrée Poulin, illus. by Lucile Danis Drouot

Zac and Poncho are now rude to Filippo, telling him they don't want him to play and that "Pink doesn't mix with black and white." His grandmother shows him with her paints how wrong that idea is. So Filippo adds some black and white paint to his body and asks politely again. But, of course, Zac and Poncho continue to make excuses, about pink being the colour for babies who cry and princesses who are fussy.

From Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color by Andrée Poulin, illus. by Lucile Danis Drouot

Though Filippo gets support from his family, it's input from his shy peer, Ludo the lemur, that makes things right for Filippo.  Ludo recounts to Filippo all the wonderful things that come in pink: shrimp, salmon, bubble gum, cherry blossoms, begonias, peonies, petunias, and roses. And Ludo, who is black and white, says he would be pleased to play with Filippo. That play includes adding a little pink paint to the sleeping zebra and panda, who are not pleased, but also to other animals who are "tickled pink to go pink."

From Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color by Andrée Poulin, illus. by Lucile Danis Drouot

The story in Tickled Pink is far from black and white. It goes beyond a story of excluding those who are different. It demonstrates how much we all want to be included.  Filippo could have thrown up his wings and said, "Fine, I don't want to play with you, Zak and Poncho" but he didn't. He questioned his parents and his grandmother and his sister, all to help him grasp what being pink meant. But bullying and intolerance are incomprehensible, especially when "reasons" are given to explain the intolerance. I'm glad Andrée Poulin gave Filippo a quiet and insightful friend in Ludo who proves that it's not the black-and-white animals that lack understanding, but just one zebra and one panda. (Okay, there may be others out there, there always are, but it's clear that it's not all black-and-white animals.) For intolerance to be eliminated, everyone needed to see beyond the colours.

Artist Lucile Danis Drouot keeps her palette, until the very end, black, white, gray and pinks to emphasize the separation that Zak and Poncho highlight but she adds a playfulness in her animals' activities–vine-climbing, soccer, volleyball, and badminton–that embeds the message in gentleness and whimsy. A final spread resplendent in pinks brightens the world in happiness and friendship.

Like any racism or discrimination, the zebra and the panda could have arbitrarily chosen an attribute other than colour, such as non-feathered vs. feathered, or four-legged vs. two-legged.  But, like so many who discriminate, they chose colour. Fortunately, there are so many who don't see the colour, only the substance, and infuse our world with goodness and acceptance.

Finding Lucy

Written and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-088-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2019

Lucy is a joyful artist. She paints with bold colours and emotion and a brush full of voice that brings her and her cat great joy. But when others begin to opine about her work and advise her about her painting, that comfort turns to turmoil as she attempts to heed their unsolicited advice.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

In her raggedy and patched pants, bright yellow tee and paint-splattered apron, with ginger pigtails bursting from the top of her head, Lucy is happy. She paints from her heart. But, then a rabbit reporter tells her that her artwork looks like jellybean soup. An elephant tells her it isn't loud enough. A crocodile tells her it isn't scrumptious enough.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

When Lucy starts painting for herself again, "the painting was like a dream." But then she starts listening again to those who call her work out as not brave enough (that from a chicken) or not pink enough (that from a mother pig) or in need of more green (a frog shared that with her).

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

By now, Lucy was beginning to see that everybody had something to say.

It would seem that a variety of animals–giraffe, leopard, ostrich, fox and others–all confound her and her creativity. Only the cat reminds her to paint what once brought her joy.

She painted the flutter of birds and the whimsy of the wind.

Ultimately Lucy rediscovers her true art and accepts it as an expression of self, not the means for the approval of others.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

And ever after, after that,
the cat purred,
and Lucy painted with grit
and determination
and GUMPTION
and PIZZAZZ.

And the courage of spring
and the color of laughter.

I don't know if Lucy is supposed to honour a famous artist or a piece of abstract expressionist art but I don't think it matters. Eugenie Fernandes has given us a story in words and pictures that supports that idea that creativity is an expression of self and needs to be embraced rather than questioned, especially when every armchair critic feels the need to voice their personal preferences and expects the artist to accommodate those. From colour to feeling, shape and voice, creativity comes from within and Lucy knew and knows this. Sadly she is distracted by those with loud and overbearing opinions and buckles under their varied and judgemental assertions.

I hope Eugenie Fernandes, whose art work has won her a variety of awards and accolades, has always felt supported in her artistic endeavours whether she chooses to use acrylic paint on canvas as she does here in Finding Lucy or other media. If Finding Lucy demonstrates anything it's that those who observe art derive their perceptions from their perspective and attitudes and Lucy can't possibly give every viewer what they need to see the art's beauty. I'm glad that she finally trusts herself, and her very wise cat, that what she brings to her art is everything it needs to be to bring her joy.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

Rosie's Glasses

Written and illustrated by Dave Whamond

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-991-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2018

Many of us know that feeling of waking up with a black cloud hanging over our heads. You've woken up late, it's raining outside and everything is grey.  Life has no colour. If anything can go wrong, it does. How does a child pick themselves up to see beyond the noise and strife and bad luck and gloom that pervades everything at home, on the street and at school?

From Rosie's Glasses by Dave Whamond

If you're little Rosie, you're fortunate to spot a colourful butterfly which leads you straight to a pair of round pink glasses that offer you a rosier perspective on your world. The blasé street scene now reveals flowers and bees and families with ice cream and singing birds and multi-coloured balloons. The park is filled with friendly chatter and play and joyful wildlife. At home, there's a new puppy.  

From Rosie's Glasses by Dave Whamond

Now waking up is vibrant and enthusiastic and Rosie, the darling with the rabbit-eared pigtails, sees rainbows and music and colour everywhere.  But, Rosie's new perspective may be in jeopardy when she loses her new glasses. Or is it?

From Rosie's Glasses by Dave Whamond

Rosie's Glasses may play on the premise that rose-coloured glasses tend to make life look better than it really is but Dave Whamond would not give Rosie the perspective of optimism without a bit of reality.  Her day really does start out poorly and things are dreary and unfortunate. Her pigtails even droop! But the magic that comes from those glasses is extraordinary, helping Rosie see the goodness in her reality, not just the bad.  Even when she has lost the glasses, Rosie has been infused with a dose of encouragement–the new puppy helps too–that will help her see the good and the bad, even on inevitable grey days of her future.

I know I always go on and on about Dave Whamond's illustrations from his picture books like Oddrey (Owlkids, 2012) and My Think-a-Ma-Jink (Owlkids, 2009), his first graphic novel Nick the Sidekick (Kids Can Press, 2018) and, of course, his syndicated cartoon Reality Check (see samples at his website at http://davewhamond.com/reality-check/) but the art is fabulous! It draws the eye everywhere to reveal details in faces and in buildings, in scenes and in actions. With Rosie's Glasses being a wordless picture book, readers, children and adults alike, will be able to linger on illustrations and find more and more to discuss and contemplate. 

Rosie's Glasses is a story that offers encouragement on observing life from different perspectives and it's a buffet of colour and activity.  Teachers and parents will undoubtedly, as they should, take advantage of the book's value in teaching visual literacy but there's much more to the story and the art. So, be sure to smell the roses along that pedagogical path because there's much more here than a lesson. There's life: the good, the bad and the rosy.

From Rosie's Glasses by Dave Whamond