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.

 

Everton Miles is Stranger Than Me

I'm delighted to be posting today and tomorrow as part of Dundurn's blog tour for Everton Miles is Stranger Than Me. Check in tomorrow for my interview with author Philippa Dowding.

by Philippa Dowding

Dundurn

978-1-4597-3527-9

228 pp.

Ages 8-12

October 2016

Reviewed from advance reading copy

Time to take flight again with Gwendolyn Golden, who first learned that she was a Night Flyer in Philippa Dowding’s The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden (Dundurn, 2014).  Having taken her first flight, she has been given “The Complete  & Unabridged Version (Newly Updated!)” of “Your First Flight: A Night Flyer’s Handbook” which explains the basics about Mentors (hers is Mrs. Forest of The Float Boat candy store) and Watchers (hers is Mr. McGillies, a local hermit) and Spirit Flyers and more.  But it doesn’t prepare her fully for the dark, winged figure with glowing eyes that she hears calling her name when flying near the cornfields at Mr. McGillies's cabin.

Starting high school brings its own anxieties, particularly from bully Shelley Norman and from Martin Evells, with whom Gwendolyn had shared an awkward kiss (called “The Worst Kiss Ever”) last spring and whose mother had started a rumour that she was a drug addict (you'll definitely want to read The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden).  Circumstances at home are similarly tenous with her twin siblings, Christopher and Christine a.k.a. C2, who have been directed by their school to take part in family therapy which Mom and Gwendolyn must also attend.  But things become even more messy when she learns that Everton Miles whom she’d met at the Midsummer Party of Night Flyers a few months earlier has moved to Bass Creek with his older brother Emerson.  More handsome and grown-up than she remembers him, Everton warns Gwendolyn not to fly out to Mr. McGillies's alone anymore.

Who is he to tell her what to do when he's been seen with his arm around Shelley Norman?! But then Martin is continuing to show an interest in Gwendolyn and demonstrating how caring he can be, especially when she sees him out at Mr. McGillies’s cabin.  Wait. What?  And then Gwendolyn learns Martin and Everton have been working together out at Mr. McGillies's. OK, that's all weird but stranger yet, and darker too, is the Rogue Spirit Flyer who is trying to beguile her away from everything and everyone.  Did I mention that Everton has been working with Celestine, a Spirit Flyer, “a starshot immortal of light and air” (pg. 74), to hunt down this Rogue?

Everton Miles is a teenage Rogue-hunter with terrible taste in girls and a shimmering, underage Spirit Flyer for a friend. 

If I didn’t think so before, I do now: it’s entirely possible that Everton Miles is stranger than me. (pg. 77)

So amidst the typical and dreadful teen angst of boy-girl crushes, rivalries and friendships, and family frailties, Gwendolyn Golden is worrying about a scary Rogue that has targeted her.  Fortunately for Gwendolyn, Philippa Dowding has given her an all-star cast of supporters in best friend Jez, potential boyfriend Martin and fellow Night Flyer Everton, as well as in her hilarious siblings (their repartee is worth the price of the book!).  The secondary characters of Mom, Mr. and Mrs. Forest, Dr. Parks, Celestine and Mr. McGillies help round out the sharp edges of a life in upheaval.  And I haven't even mentioned the shocking revelations regarding Gwendolyn’s family that come to light.

Beyond the fantastical night flying, the aspiration of many a dreamer, Everton Miles is Stranger Than Me is firmly grounded in a coming-of-age story, one in which self-acceptance and forgiveness come from the ordinary.  The extraordinary is just in the way you see things, allowing the conventional to be seen from a different perspective. Whether spatially–above or below– or temporally–from before or after–perspective is everything, isn't it? 

Sky Pig

Written by Jan L. Coates

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-98-9

32 pp.

Ages 4–7

April 2016

Ollie is a little pig with a big dream and, though he doesn’t speak (he is after all a pig and pigs can’t talk), his friend, Jack, a boy with a big heart and a bigger imagination, tries to help Ollie achieve his dream.

Ollie from Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates,

 illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

First Jack fastens leafy branches onto Ollie’s back and they climb to the top of a very high hill. Even though a fast run and a jump has Ollie believing that he’s flying, an “Oooooomph!” and a “Plop!” make it evident he did not.  Having Jack create a kite with some garden stakes, twine, a feed sack and scraps of fabric is Ollie’s next plan to become airborne.  A couple of oinks and another “Oooooomph!” and “Plop!” again foretell the futility of their endeavour. Finally, taking their cues from the geese, chickens and other birds, Jack fashions a set of wings for Ollie. Made from an assortment of papers, including maps and wrapping paper featuring airborne creatures, and miscellaneous gears and leather, Ollie takes to the sky like a kind of steampunk flyer.  Alas, that flight ends similarly.  Even a Mary Poppins-like contraption of umbrellas is unsuccessful.

It’s only when the two make use of an already-tried-and-true flying machine that Ollie is able to stay aloft and experience the joys of floating in the sky, even if only for a short time and at a cost of $5.

Dreamers can dream but, with a friend like Jack, Ollie’s dream that a pig could fly comes true.  It takes a little determination, a lot of imagination and being in the right place at the right time but Ollie’s dream, courtesy of Jack’s friendship and piggy bank, becomes a reality.  Jan L. Coates’ story is uplifting like much of her previous work including A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk (Red Deer Press, 2010), The Power of Harmony (Red Deer Press, 2013), and The King of Keji (Nimbus, 2015), and even more so with Suzanne Del Rizzo’s spectacular art, previously enjoyed in Skink on the Brink (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2013) and Gerbil, Uncurled (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015).  The doughy art (plasticine with polymer clay) with mixed media collage features adds the textures and colour to elevate the story even higher.  Beyond the cuteness of Ollie and Jack is a rich landscape of green pastures and trees, chickens and groundhogs, and flowers and dandelion fluff and sweet details of a chicken protecting her egg in a life-vest or basket and thwarting a mouse that tries to get too close.   There’s so much more to Sky Pig than making a pig fly and young readers will love going along for the ride.

From Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

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There will be two great opportunities to check out Sky Pig with author or illustrator.

Illustrator Suzanne Del Rizzo will be participating in the I Art Books Exhibit and Sale of Children's Book Illustration on April 30, 2016 at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge, ON. Details here.

Author Jan L. Coates will be launching Sky Pig on May 7, 2016 at The Box of Delights Bookshop in Wolfville, NS. Details here.

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden

by Philippa Dowding
Dundurn
978-1-459707351
200 pp.
Ages 8+

January, 2014

"This morning I wake up on the ceiling." (pg. 9)

Between this first line and the book cover of The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, readers will tweak in pretty quickly what Gwen's "gift" is.  But, with all the weird things already happening in her life, mostly the supremely outlandish changes that puberty brings, Gwen's attitude is quite refreshing:

"So what's a little early-morning floating around your room compared to that?" (pg. 11)

Gwen doesn't tell her mother who has enough to worry about since Gwen's dad died seven years ago during a freak storm, just before the twins, Christine and Christopher, were born.  But a couple of peculiar questions from the elderly bottle-collector, Mr. McGillies ("How's flyin'?" pg. 25) and Mrs. Forest at The Float Boat candy store who knows that floats make Gwen sick ("Are you ready for a float?" pg. 50) has Gwen freaking out just a little.  When her foot starts floating upward during class and Gwen has to make a mad dash to a supply room to hide her new aerial buoyancy, she comes clean to her best friend, Jez, who is able to offer her some support and cover.

Courtesy of her Mentor, Mrs. Forest, and her Watcher, Mr. McGillies, Gwen learns that she is a Night Flyer, receiving a copy of  "Your First Flight: A Night Flyer's Handbook", the "Micro-Edition for the Less-than-Willing Reader".  She could certainly have used the extended version because Gwen starts going out on her own, taking chances and making some embarrassing choices, even getting in trouble with the law. But she's got some tough learning ahead of her if she doesn't want her flying to turn from a gift to a handicap.

Middle-grade readers will know Philippa Dowding's earlier books, including this year's Silver Birch Express nominee The Gargoyle at the Gates (Dundurn, 2013), and appreciate the humour and relaxed pacing of her stories.  The twists, the turns, the flips, the floats are all there to take the reader for a wonderful flight of fancy, and gently alight in Gwen's new reality and unfolding future.  With The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden hinting at an important choice that Gwen must make, readers may be able to share in that future.