Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There

Written by Judith Henderson

Illustrated by Sara Sarhangpour

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0842-0

40 pp.

Ages 5–7

June 2024

 

Willa is an ostrich and Wade is a penguin, and though they are both birds, neither can really fly though they would really love to. So, they ponder "the distance between the here and the there." (p. 6) And since they seem to have a good grasp of basic science of flight, they consider what it would take to set themselves aloft.

From Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There, written by Judith Henderson, illustrated by Sara Sarhangpour

First, Willa considers the concept of lift, while Wade wonders about velocity. How to get lift? How to ensure speed? They try ballet because ballet makes you light on your toes. No luck with flight. Then they try pogo sticks but it wasn't until sliding downhill that the two experienced a brief lift off the ground.

From Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There, written by Judith Henderson, illustrated by Sara Sarhangpour

Next, they consider liftoff. That requires them to jump off a cliff. Of course, they become airborne, but it is, of course, temporary. It's not until they apply some scientific principles to their problem solving and engineer something that the two feel the magnificence of the way-up-there.

From Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There, written by Judith Henderson, illustrated by Sara Sarhangpour

Judith Henderson, who has given us stories including the Big Words Small Stories series and This is a Dog Book!, knows how to give us the subtle humour with understated plots. Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There is sweet and playful and emphasizes determination and camaraderie without flagrant slapstick humour or irreverence. Instead, Judith Henderson tells a story that invites early readers to think outside the box when problem solving. With digital illustrations by Toronto's Sara Sarhangpour, Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There keeps its light tone and the focus on the two friends. Because everything is so understated, from the text, the art, and the messaging, young readers will just be entertained, pleased with their ability to read a book that is a step up from picture books–in their estimation, anyway–and still be given the opportunity to think about how they approach a dilemma or question that doesn't have an obvious answer. And it might also make them think about flight and concepts like lift and speed.

The way-up-there that Willa and Wade aspire to enjoy is not unlike the many ambitions we all have and, if two flightless birds can find a way to fly, then we can do our best to aim high and find solutions too.

 

Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull

Written by Nancy Mike

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-166-9

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2017

When her father Livee brings home a baby seagull, seven-year-old Elisapee adopts it, calling it Naujaaraq or Nau for short.  She adores the little bird, caring for it as a mother would: making a soft bed for it and gathering sculpins and other food to feed it.  As Nau grows and begins to accompany Elisapee outdoors, they realizes they must encourage Nau to learn to fly.  After a few attempts, Nau takes to the air and even joins other seagulls, returning nightly.  Giving Nau a pink ribbon for her foot, Elisapee is delighted to be able to pick out Nau amongst the other gulls. And then a few days pass and Nau never returns.  Learning about loss is a hard lesson for Elisapee but one she accepts, rich in memories and understanding for the wildlife of the Arctic.

From Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull 

by Nancy Mike 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Only in the Arctic, a world of sculpins and krill, tundra and brilliant northern lights, could the story of Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull be as real as it is.  Most children will have brought home a found animal or injured bird to tend at home until time to let it go but Elisapee with the help of her little brother Jimi extends her care for Nau beyond the norm.  She gathers food along the shore, she draws pictures of the seagull, and she doesn't squirrel it away in her house to ensure it never leaves her, as some children may be want to do.  Elisapee is a mother in spirit and action, knowing the time would come for her little one to leave the nest, and, though it saddens her, she accepts it as a part of life.

This is Nancy Mike's first picture book and it is based on a childhood experience in Nunavut.  Her devotion to Nau and delight in her is palpable, raising the story from one about removing an animal from its habitat, as might be the case here in southern Ontario, to one of fostering a little one until it is ready to leave the nest and be with its own kind.  Charlene Chua, who illustrated previously-reviewed Akilak's Adventure (2016) and Fishing with Grandma (2016), brings that wide-eyed wonder and adoration to life in her artwork.  She also embeds the story in an Arctic environment and Inuit culture, making it all the more authentic.  

The beautiful spirit that Elisapee remembers as Nau is there in the story too.  It is the spirit of childhood and home, all the more memorable for being shared with the feathered and non-feathered.

From Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull 

by Nancy Mike 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Icarus Down

by James Bow

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-3913-7

374 pp.

Ages 12+
September 2016

Icarus Down may be science fiction but it is truly a cautionary tale of environmental destruction, colonization, genocide and cultural discrimination.  Their world, or rather planet, may be foreign to our 2016 one, but it’s what happened on Old Mother Earth that resulted in this new world.

After the Extinction Wars which took place following the Great Warming, the Icarus, a colonizing spacecraft, travelled 25,000 light years into the darkness, spending 72 years looking for a new planet to inhabit.  They called the planet upon which they crashed and settled Icarus Down, a web-like world of thirteen cities tethered by cables to anchors in cliffs far above the fog forest and the ticktock monsters below.

Simon Daub, who begins the telling of Icarus Down, is on his maiden flight as an ornithopter pilot with his older brother Isaac, a senior pilot and all-around golden boy.  Shortly after Isaac reveals to Simon that he believes their mother was murdered, not as a result of jumping to her death, something goes awry with the battery and Isaac, attempting to repair it, is burned to death by the powerful sun.  Simon manages to parachute out but he is badly burned and scarred.  Nathaniel Tal, chief of security for their city of Iapyx and older brother of Mayor Matthew Tal, questions Simon about the “accident” and Grounders, those supporting the move of the colonies into the foggy land below.  His questions make Simon begin to wonder whether Isaac and perhaps his mother had been Grounders themselves.

When lights start flickering, and steam-pipes burst, and message canisters travelling by pneumatic tubes are misdirected, the troubles are attributed to  Grounders terrorism.  Simon, having met with Grounders via Isaac’s betrothed Rachel, suspects the sabotage is being used to discredit their movement and he begins to investigate.  Suspecting Nathaniel Tal of the sabotage, Simon gets in a little too deep and, after witnessing the actions that would result in the inevitable destruction of their city, Simon and Rachel jump into the oblivion beyond Iapyx, hopeful of safety, fearful of death.

Our second narrator in Icarus Down is a human girl known as Small, Fierce-Hearted One to her people, which sounded like Ek-Taak-Tock-Taak in their language.  When she goes in pursuit of revenge on the invaders who destroyed her people and now reside in the air, she is witness to the literal fall of Iapyx, and discovers Simon, injured but alive.

I did not know what I had expected after travelling nine dozen sleeps to one of the invaders’ giant metal hives, but surely not to have it fall and almost crush me.  one of my dreams of revenge were so large. (pg. 163)

Simon, or Silly Strange Boy as she thinks of him, and Ek-Taak-Tock-Taak whom Simon eventually calls Eliza, must find a way to communicate and trust each other in order to survive and attain that which each seeks: justice or revenge.

This is but a slice of James Bow’s complicated story of conflict and colonization and conspiracy.  Though an unfathomable world of tethered cities and planetary travel and lizard-like creatures, the worlds of Icarus Down are reflective of the atrocities perpetrated here on earth in the name of exploration and colonization with the usurping of land and culture for our own purposes.  The truth is out there in Icarus Down but, like with all conspiracies, it is hidden away from those who might demand change.

“If I didn’t do something, this would stay a lie.” (pg. 272)

Icarus Down is about the clash of cultures, invader and indigen, so seemingly different in dress, manner and language at first encounter but who find a way to work together and appreciate their commonalities.  By creating a cosmological allegory of settlement and occupation, with a thrilling adventure of intrigue and treachery, carried out by good guys and bad guys and a few playing both sides, James Bow has made Icarus Down a turbulent bit of travel into an unsettled future, perhaps a little too much like some historical disgraces from which we’ve yet to learn.

Me & Mr. Bell

by Philip Roy

Cape Breton University Press

978-1-927492-55-0 (pb)

978-1-927492-57-4 (eBook)

140 pp.

Ages 9-13

2013

For Alexander Graham Bell, his vacation home at Baddeck, Cape Breton is his retreat and inspiration for his many ideas.  For the residents of Baddeck in 1908, Bell is the smartest man in the world and worthy of their awe and respect for his privacy and that of his family. Not surprising that everyone regularly shows up to welcome the family when they return and to witness any demonstrations the great man chooses to share publicly. Sadly, ten-year-old Eddie MacDonald who still cannot read or write bungles a message about the Bells’ return time and angers his father so much that the man deems Eddie only good enough to be a farmer and nothing else.  Chastened, Eddie accepts himself as the “learning cripple” his family and teacher believe him to be, even introducing himself as “Nobody” when he accidentally meets the famous Alexander Graham Bell.

Though no one believes that the boy has met the great man, Eddie begins to see Bell more regularly, even being invited to Bell’s home, meeting Helen Keller, and receiving mail from the man when away.  With a few revelations and much determination, Eddie learns to see himself and others in a new light, courtesy of his friendship with the elusive inventor.

In a straightforward but rich story, author Philip Roy intertwines the lives of a brilliant innovator with an unassuming boy, emphasizing their common bonds and the opportunities that can be lost when judgements override all else.

For teachers who are always looking for great historical fiction, especially for the middle grades, I would enthusiastically recommend Me & Mr. Bell.  By integrating information about a great scientist and Helen Keller (there's biographic tie-ins here) with the history of flight (another curriculum topic), simple machines and innovation, the geography of Nova Scotia, and character education (determination, perseverance and imagination), Me & Mr. Bell has it all, and at an appropriate reading level.  And it's youngCanLit which we should be supporting in all our book choices.  Perfect package for everyone!