While You Were Sleeping

Written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-205-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2023

There are so many versions of families but, when a little one is born, their lives are transformed. Nova Scotian author and artist Briana Corr Scott speaks to all those families as they live, work, play and dream while those little ones, even as they age, sleep.

From While You Were Sleeping, written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott

In rhyming verse, Briana Corr Scott shows a mother and father with baby strapped in a front-facing carrier preparing a baby's room for wallpaper and paint. As the baby continues to rest in a rocker, the parents finish the room with crib, sheets, and more. But this is but one family. Another is one visited by a trio of aunties, themselves of different skin shades, who coo and admire the child as they sleep. A street scene shows babies and young children in strollers, in front wraps, backpacks and wagons, all sleeping as their caregivers stroll. On a beach, two fathers and their sheepdog wander with their child, while two moms catch their own forty winks in between folding laundry. 

From While You Were Sleeping, written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott

While their babies sleep, caregivers of all kinds-mothers, fathers, grandparents, and more–go to their jobs and school, do housework, and rest.

But while they sleep, those little ones are growing and they are growing up, until they make their own homes. Still the memories that were made remain.

From While You Were Sleeping, written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott

While You Were Sleeping may be a lovely bedtime story to send your child off to slumber but I read it more as a tribute to the parents and caregivers who live, work, learn, and love behind the scenes. They are the parents who nurture and provide, who cherish and struggle, but who always keep on. Briana Corr Scott, herself a mother of three, undoubtedly knows the wonders and the challenges of bringing up a child and managing a household, a job, and more while caring for that child. And even though it is work, often requiring multitasking and asking for help, the rewards are more than sufficient.

If you know a family with a newborn, I recommend sharing While You Were Sleeping with them. Briana Corr Scott's touching words will surely resonate with them.

We went to our jobs

We woke with the dawn

We longed to be home

And we loathed being gone...

 

          While you were sleeping.

And her paintings, resplendent with colours and patterns, visit the homes of all types of families, from those with single parents to multigenerational ones, and include multiracial and same-sex parents. Everyone is making a family, while their children sleep, and Briana Corr Scott shows them to us. Your children may fall asleep as you read this, but I know a tear or two will venture out onto your cheeks as you do so.

The Center of the Universe

Written by Ria Voros

KCP Loft (An imprint of Kids Can Press)

978-1-5253-0038-7

512 pp.

Ages 14-18

April 2019

...we slam into people around us, invisibly, all the time. Through things we say and don't say. What we do and don't do. That we are slowly changed by the constant bombardment. That we consume and are consumed, until we become products of our interactions, made of old and new parts, simultaneously broken and healing. (pg. 351)

When her mother, GG Carter, celebrity and news anchor, goes missing, seventeen-year-old Grace's world becomes warped, though not shattered. She'd already been arguing with her mother who is obsessed with her reputation and her work, often putting it before her family, even missing out on important events like Grace's astrophotography exhibit. (Grace is a budding astronomer, an active member of Star Club and a fan of Elizabeth Tasker.) Though Grace thinks her mother has been more stressed lately, it's evident that her mother has been keeping her cards close to her chest for awhile, and Dad even wonders if GG just needed some time away. But when Grace's dad gets a text from GG that reads "I'm not coming back. Don't look for me. Goodbye." (pg. 50), which he is convinced didn't come from her, Grace begins to pull memories and evidence together to learn what truly happened to her mother.

In tandem with her mother's disappearance, Grace is connecting with her crush, Mylo McLean, who has his own family issues including a powerful mother whose parenting causes him much stress. Together Grace and Mylo support each other knowing the struggle of having well-known mothers but, when Mylo admits that his father has been gone for five years and may be living on the street, the two realize that being in limbo puts them in a similarly unique place, the Perpetual Waiting Room (PWR).

He could sit in my PWR with me because we actually shared the waiting room. We were sitting against the same wall, staring at the same old magazines, waiting for different people to come through the door. (pg. 201)

The Center of the Universe may revolve around GG Carter's disappearance as her family struggles to learn what happened to her and then to reorganize upon her return home but she is not the center of Grace's universe. Her actions may impact her daughter but Grace exerts her own pull on those around her. While she may not realize her impact, she still draws others to her, including her young brother, her grandmother, her friends, her love interest and even her mother, and it's her story that Ria Voros has appropriately made the focal point. There is much discussion about perspectives and perceptions, especially with regards to GG Carter's back story, but Ria Voros makes Grace a compassionate and astute teen, especially as she attempts to process what she learns about her mother, while choosing what and whom she needs in her own life.

Ria Voros has written an extraordinary young adult novel about a mother-daughter relationship that is turned inside out but, first and foremost, The Center of the Universe is a coming of age for Grace as she learns who she is, with and without her mother, and that she is a star in her own universe.

Honouring differences in families' lives: Cultural competence with diverse youngCanLit

Today's post is the sixth in seven posts related to my recent presentation at the  Ontario Library Association's Superconference in Toronto.  The presentation, titled Becoming Culturally Competent with Diverse YoungCanLit, included booklists of youngCanLit to help individuals, schools and other institutions become culturally competent.

Today's post focuses on...

250 Hours
by Colleen Nelson
Coteau Books
152 pp.
Ages 12+
2015
Métis, small town, discrimination, arson, independence
Review here

Asha’s Mums
by Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse
Illus. by Dawn Lee
Women’s Literary Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-9
1990
Same-sex parents

The Biggest Poutine in the World
by Andrée Poulin
Annick Press
160 pp.
Ages 8-12
2016
Abandonment, community, dysfunctional family
Review here

Dear Baobab
by Cheryl Foggo
Illus. by Qin Leng
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-8
2011
Home, Africa, Canada, grief
Review here

Elliot
by Julie Pearson
Illus. by Manon Gauthier
Trans. by Erin Woods
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2016
Foster parents, dysfunctional family, adoption
Review here

A Family is a Family is a Family
by Sara O’Leary
Illus. by Qin Leng
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2016
Diversity, family, parents
Review here

The Finding Place
by Julie Hartley
Red Deer Press
244 pp.
Ages 10-14
2015
International adoption, China, orphanages, self-acceptance
Review here

Fostergirls
by Liane Shaw
Second Story Press
256 pp.
Ages 13-16
2011
Foster children, group homes, learning disability
Review here

Four Seasons of Patrick
by Susan Hughes
Red Deer Press
80 pp.
Ages 7-10
2013
Blended families
Review here

Jakeman
by Deborah Ellis
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
201 pp.
Ages 10-13
2007
Prison, convicted parents, bus trips

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
256 pp.
Ages 12+
2013
Indigenous communities, heritage, residential schools, ostracism, abuse
Review here

Missing Nimâmâ 
by Melanie Florence
Illus. by François Thisdale
Clockwise Press
32 pp.
Ages 8+
2015
Missing indigenous women,  Aboriginal Peoples
Review here

My Beautiful Birds
by Suzanne Del Rizzo
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
2017
Syria, refugees, refugee camp, pigeons

My Book of Life By Angel
by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books
246 pp.
Ages 14+
2012
Sex trade workers, missing women, drugs
Review here

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
128 pp.
Ages 8-12
2012
Vietnam War, airlifts, adoption, immigration, non-fiction
Review here

Outside In
by Sarah Ellis
Groundwood Books
208 pp.
Ages 10-13
2014
Home, homelessness, dysfunctional family
Review here

Pandas on the Eastside
by Gabrielle Prendergast
Orca Book Publishers
192 pp.
Ages 9-12
2016
Vancouver, East Van, poverty, community
Review here

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey
by Margriet Ruurs
Illus. by Nizar Ali Badr
Orca Book Publishers
28 pp.
All ages
2016
Refugees, Syria, dual-language, Arabic, immigration
Review here

We Are All Made of Molecules
by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books
246 pp.
Ages 12+
2015
Blended families, gay parents, grief
Review here

Downloadable booklist available here

Becoming Culturally Competent with Diverse youngCanLit

Last week, I presented a talk on cultural competence at the Ontario Library Association's Superconference in Toronto.  The premise behind the talk was the need for schools, libraries and all institutions to go beyond tolerance and acceptance and become culturally competent.  To that end, I shared lists of some books (but only a fraction of a fraction of the books that could  be included!) of youngCanLit that could be used to support that endeavour, and thought that perhaps others might benefit from them as well.

If diversity is a window into other cultures, races, ethnicities, sexualities, families and individuals, then cultural competence is a mirror or a sliding glass door into those same identities. It is based on three main premises:

• recognizing the differences among students and families from different cultural groups;
• responding to those differences positively; and
• interacting effectively in a range of cultural environments.

(Lindsey, R.B., Robins, K.N. and Terrell, R.D. 2003. 

Cultural proficiency: A manual for school leaders. 

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press)

I based my presentation on seven foci that need to be understood and honoured in order to become more culturally competent.  There were:

• cultures
• languages
• races and ethnicities
• gender identities and sexualities
• capacities and abilities
• family life
• Aboriginal ways of knowing and being

Becoming culturally competent is a tall order but one which must be addressed in order to become a considerate and full-functioning member of society.  Everyone should be culturally competent, and awareness through youngCanLit is a great first step.

I hope these booklists, which I will present in a series of 7 posts, will help readers to come closer to achieving that end.

Let's begin with today's post focusing on...

Alego
by Ningeokuluk Teevee
Groundwood Books
24 pp.
Ages 3-7
2009
Inuit life

Chin Chiang and the Dragon’s Dance
by Ian Wallace
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
1994/1998
Chinese, dance, celebration

From Lands of the Night
by Tololwa Mollel
Illus. by Darrell McCalla
Red Deer Press
32 pp.
Ages 7+
2014
Tanzania, illness, ancestors, celebration
Reviewed here

Games of Survival: Traditional Inuit Games for Elementary Students
by Johnny Issaluk
Inhabit Media
60 pp.
Ages 7+
2012
Inuit, Arctic, games, skills, survival
Reviewed here

Greetings, Leroy 
by Itah Sadu
Illus. by Alix Delinois
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2017
Immigration, Jamaica

Haiti My Country
Haitian schoolchildren
Illus. by Rogé
Fifth House Publishers
44 pp.
Ages 7-11
2014
Haiti, nature, poetry

Hand Over Hand
by Alma Fullerton
Illus. Renné Benoit
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-8
2017
Philippines, fishing

The Hill
by Karen Bass
Pajama Press
256 pp.
Ages 12+
2016
Cree, survival, legends, supernatural beliefs, tolerance
Reviewed here

Lights for Gita
by Rachna Gilmore
Illus. by Alice Priestley
Second Story Press
24 pp.
1994
Hinduism, Diwali

Malaika’s Costume
by Nadia L. Hohn
Illus. by Irene Luxbacher
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2016
Trinidad & Tobago, Carnival, absentee mother
Reviewed here

Mission Mumbai: A novel of sacred cows, snakes, and stolen toilets
by Mahtab Narsimhan
Scholastic Canada
272 pp.,
Ages 9-12
2016
India, Hinduism, Mumbai
Reviewed here

The Mummer’s Song
by Bud Davidge
Illus. by Ian Wallace
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages
2009
Newfoundland, mummering, song

My Two Grandmothers
by Diane Carmel Léger
Illus. by Jean-Luc Trudel
Nimbus Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2016
French Acadian, Scottish, grandmothers
Reviewed here

P’ésk’a and the First Salmon Ceremony
by Scott Ritchie
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2015
Sts’ailes, salmon, ceremony

Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox
by Danielle Daniel
Groundwood Books
36 pp.
Ages 4-7
2015
Anishinaabe, totem animals
Reviewed here

The Tiffin
by Mahtab Narsimhan
Dancing Cat Books
190 pp.
Ages 8-13
2011
India, abandonment, working children
Reviewed here

Treasure for Lunch
by Shenaaz Nanji
Illus. by Yvonne Cathcart
Second Story Press
28 pp.
Ages 4-8
2000
Indian food,  shame, immigration

The Trouble with Dilly
by Rachna Gilmore
HarperCollins Canada
162 pp.
Ages 7-10
2009
Immigration, cultural conflict, hockey, India, Hungary

When the Rain Comes
by Alma Fullerton
Illus. by Kim La Fave
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2016
Sri Lanka, monsoons, rice-planting, oxen, floods
Reviewed here


Downloadable book list available here

A Family is a Family is a Family

Written by Sara O'Leary

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-794-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2016

Following prescribed curricula from across the country, teachers will be encouraging their students to share details about their families and what makes them special, just like the students in Sara O'Leary's book in which a teacher asks her young charges what makes their families unique.  And though I suspect most children will see a version of their family somewhere in the multitude of families in A Family is a Family is a Family, it's Sara O'Leary's poetic inclusivity that takes the concept of family from an insular group to a worldwide love-in.

When the teacher first asks her students about their families, it is evident that one little child, who drops his eraser so that he can go last, is reluctant, knowing that "My family is not like everyone else's." (pg. 3) He's right, of course, because all families are unique.  From the little girl whose parents are heavily into PDAs, "It's kind of gross" (pg. 4) to the one whose parents "just keep coming home with more" (pg. 6) –I counted fifteen children!–

From A Family is a Family is a Family 

by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

to the children who are part of blended families, or have same-sex or divorced parents. But it's the last little child who finally recognizes that their foster family is still a family after recalling Foster Mom's affectionate answer to a rude query about which of the children were "her real children."

"Oh, I don't have any imaginary children," Mom said.  "All my children are real." (pg. 28)

Though I know, and children do too, that not all families are perfect or happy or supportive, Sara O'Leary's book celebrates families in all their forms–big, small, alike, different, blended, separated, adopting, fostering–as worthy of note, eclectic as they may be.  Her narration is a universal one of acceptance and appreciation for families of all kinds.  The sweetness of her message is matched page by page with Qin Leng's illustrations of children and parents of assorted colours and shapes, economic backgrounds and interests. The lightness of Qin Leng's lines and the whimsy of her colour and shape help portray a diversity of families that are as fluid as they are depicted.  After all, families can and do change over time, even if a new baby isn't the result of mom ordering him online, as one little girl suspects.  A Family is a Family is a Family is a book in which every child will find themselves, I hope, as Sara O'Leary and Qin Leng have diligently tried to include everyone in an assortment of situations that honour families at their best.

From A Family is a Family is a Family

by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng