My Grammie's House

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Skye Ali

Tundra Books

978-1-774880784

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2024

 

Over the holidays, many children will have visited the home of their Grammie or Grandpa, Baba or Opa. Hopefully, with those visits came many great memories. But what if Grammie is no longer there? What happens to those memories? For this child, those memories are still intact and significantly linked to their Grammie's house.

As a couple drive up to a house for sale, they are met by a child who has lots to tell them. 

You're going to love my Grammie's house.

You'll love every single thing about it.  

From My Grammie's House by Lana Button, illustrated by Skye Ali

So begins the most personal house tour ever. The child takes them through the house and yard, showing them everything that they did with their Grammie and how Grammie lived there. (Skye Ali's illustrations brilliantly depict what had been in place, now gone, with light pink sketches of plants and picture frames, lamps and furniture.) The house hunters learn how the kitchen floor is great for skating, where Grammie used to sit to do her sitting exercises, and where the cranberry juice and cereal were kept, and where Jethro, the cat, likes to hide.

From My Grammie's House by Lana Button, illustrated by Skye Ali

They find Grammie's old sweater, and they play in Grammie's yard on the old swings and in the climbing tree. There is nothing this child doesn't about this house.

 

Even with all the attributes of Grammie's house laid out to them–the child calls it, "The best house ever. You are so lucky!"–there is still one thing they'll need and the child is happy to fill it.

From My Grammie's House by Lana Button, illustrated by Skye Ali

For many children, visiting a grandparent at their home will be as much about the place as it is the person. Their memories are what they saw and did there are as crucial as the feelings evoked by the grandparent. For this child, Grammie's house is a bundle of memories of food and smells, activities and sounds. Grammie may no longer live there, whether by a move or a death, but that house is still filled with her and continues to evoke wonderful memories for this child. Better yet, Lana Button does not convey any sadness or anger from the child at other people moving into Grammie's house. She tells it as the grandest of all welcomes, a sharing of memories and an invitation of appreciation. Lana Button makes this child the best real estate agent on the planet. (No surprise how the story ends.)

From My Grammie's House by Lana Button, illustrated by Skye Ali

Skye Ali, an American illustrator who works in gouache and coloured pencils, keeps the house tour by the child bright and inviting, using bold colours and lines that evoke movement and expectation. As they walk (or run) room to room and outside, Skye Ali brings us with them to experience a shag rug, cold water out of the hose outdoors, and flying to the clouds on a swing singing, "Weebly Womp. Weebly Womp."

Though Grammie no longer lives in this house, she still lives in this child through their memories of the time spent in Grammie's house. The connection of child and grandmother with place is almost tangible, palpable in the cookies that were eaten, the texture of the flooring, the warmth of the sun through a window, and the comfort of a climbing tree. This was and always will be Grammie's house, with or without Grammie.

BTW we need the recipe for those scotch cake cookies. The child promised to share.

Misadventures in Ghosthunting

Written by Melissa Yue

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7091-9

367 pp.

Ages 8-12

Releases August 27, 2024

 

Life had done nothing to prepare me for what to do if a ghost was trying to burn your house down. Even worse, I'd got no advice on what to do if your entire family didn't believe you could see ghosts but Grandma snuck you protective talismans like it was a black market dealing. (p. 19)

Emma Wong thought her greatest worry was the D she got on her Grade 9 math exam. But when a ghost of a young man shows up, calling her Lin Wai–her Chinese name is actually Yan Ling–and threatening to expose her exam if she didn't go with him, things get a little dicey. When she doesn't, Ghost Boy uses a calligraphy brush to write something in the air and starts a fire on the family's ancestral altar. She tells her family about the ghost-like boy but, for a family who doesn't believe in ghosts, she gets no support. Fortunately, best friend Michelle Zhang knows that Emma can see ghosts and wants to help. 

 

It's also fortunate–or is it?–that Emma meets Leon, a boy in a long peacoat with a messenger bag who claims to be a guardian whose job it is to help maintain stability in the world by monitoring ghosts in the Mortal Realm and he's there to help her. He confirms that she has the Sight i.e., the ability to sense ghosts, seeing them and getting physical sensations like headaches and nausea when they are near. He warns her about geoi hau gwai or hungry ghosts who were ungenerous mortals who search the Mortal Realm for offerings to sustain themselves. When Ghost Boy returns–his name is Henry–Emma unwittingly sends him back to the Underworld by striking him with a paper talisman her Mah Mah had always given her. Surprisingly Leon confirms that Emma is using a ghosthunting tool. 

Emma is so confused. Her family does not believe in ghosts and yet her grandmother always gave her protective talismans to ward off evil at entrances to buildings. Now she has Leon who is trying to protect her from Henry, a ghost hunter of the Underworld who works for one the Ten Lords there and whose job it is to rein in unruly ghosts who cause trouble. But why pick on Emma?

With Leon's protection and direction, Emma learns more about her family history and her own abilities, all with the objective of helping her much-loved grandmother and ultimately making things right for spirits in the Underworld.

 

I wish I could tell you everything that happens in Melissa Yue's debut novel but Misadventures in Ghosthunting is a big story. It's a story of family, familial expectations, and a grandmother-granddaughter relationship. It's one of Chinese culture and superstitions and the Ghost Festival and magic and glorious food. It's one of history, including a love story. And it's about making things right, even when you aren't responsible for making them wrong. Oh, and there's a splattering of robotics too. As I said, it's a big story, with layers in the present and in the past, in the Mortal Realm and in the Underworld, in the mundane teen world of school and parental expectations and in one of needle-mouth ghosts and immortals. And Melissa Yue tells it with humour, cultural respect, and familial devotion. 

A family is built from shared memories. (p. 342)

Through all her characters, mortal and not, Melissa Yue embeds us in their stories, finding goodness in some that might appear evil and flaws in some that are generally good. All her characters are fully developed. They make mistakes, take chances, have weakness and lack in confidence. They also do their jobs, even unusual ones, make connections with others, have pasts, and always look for something more. They are human, even if they're immortal.

 

It's hard to parse out everything in Misadventures in Ghosthunting because there is so much but Melissa Yue gives middle-grade readers a story that is full and intricate with characters and subplots and history and that little bit of magic. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, you'll cheer for Emma and her allies in their attempts at righteousness and for the defeat of evil. I don't know if anyone was celebrating the Ghost Festival just over a week ago but honouring the dead with offerings sounds like a wise rite to observe, especially when the consequences of not doing so could be overwhelming. Emma knows.

• • • • • • •

 

Look for my interview with author Melissa Yue tomorrow here on CanLit for LittleCanadians. She reveals much about her writing and the story, as well as some important background about the cultural traditions and framework used as a basis for Misadventures in Ghosthunting.

Naaahsa is an Artist!

Written and illustrated by Hali Heavy Shield

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-346-0

24 pp.

Ages 6-8

October 2023 

 

Hali Heavy Shield's story, the winner of the Second Story Press Indigenous Writing Contest, is a special one for the depth of the child-grandmother relationship, but it is given life, colour, and texture through the author-illustrator's artwork.

From Naaahsa is an Artist!, written and illustrated by Hali Heavy Shield

A child recalls spending time with her grandmother, whom she calls Naaahsa, an artist. Naaahsa doesn't just babysit her grandchild. She opens doors for creativity and connection to culture, always encouraging the child to try her best. They bead together, sing together, draw together, cook, and paint, and more. They take walks to inspire them, with Naaahsa telling stories in Blackfoot, especially meaningful for her as she had been prohibited from using her language when forced into residential school. Now Naaahsa makes art to help her feel better.

From Naaahsa is an Artist!, written and illustrated by Hali Heavy Shield

Her art is healing but it extends beyond herself, earning her accolades and a show at the National Gallery. She shares that experience with her grandchild, the two travelling by plane to Ottawa. The child hears the praise for Naaahsa, proud of her accomplishments and the recognition she deserves, but it's the little things like her hugs and her inspiration that mean all the world to this child.

Hali Heavy Shield is a member of the Blood Tribe of Southern Alberta and the daughter of an acclaimed sculptor and installation artist. Perhaps Hali Heavy Shield took seeds of her story from life with her mother or a grandmother or someone else but what parts of Naaahsa is an Artist! are true or imagined is irrelevant. (We never see the grandmother's artwork.) What is important is the connection the child has with her Naaahsa that inspires her to do her art, and perhaps fuels the author-illustrator in her own artwork.  Naaahsa was able to use her art to heal and live beyond the tragic circumstances of the residential school experiences, and find work and joy in her art, while imparting those important lessons onto her grandchild.

Art is a language everyone understands.

From Naaahsa is an Artist!, written and illustrated by Hali Heavy Shield

Hali Heavy Shield is a multidisciplinary artist who has used digital media here to evoke both the simplicity and the intricacy of this grandmother-grandchild relationship. Their togetherness may be set on a grassy lawn or against the important Chief Mountain, in a kitchen or in a hotel room, but those landscapes are austere to keep the emphasis on the two as they paint, or walk, cook, or travel. The economy of Hali Heavy Shield's art helps us see the patterns in the child's dresses, the love in their eyes, and the enormity of the world beyond them. They are in their own bubble of love and art. They are, in fact, both artists who create with the inspiration of the other and more.

 

There is more than a story here. There is storytelling. But it goes beyond words and is firmly planted in the artwork of Hali Heavy Shield. There is a new voice and artistry with Hali Heavy Shield's debut picture book and I look forward to seeing more of it,

• • • • • • •

 

The dual-language (Blackfoot and English) edition, translated by Norma Jean Russell and Faye Heavy Shield, is also available as Naaahsa Aisinaki! / Naaahsa is an Artist!

A Green Velvet Secret

Written by Vicki Grant

Tundra 

978-0-7352-7012-1

256 pp.

Ages 10–14

March 2023

Twelve-year-old Yardley has a rather original family, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Her grandmother and best friend Gidge, a retired fashion design teacher, lives her life to the fullest, dressed and accessorized to the nines. Yardley's parents, Pa and Mima, run The Hoof & Mouth Theatre, along with performing in its productions. They all offer Yardley opportunities to be creative and independent and inventive in her dress and activities, though they wish she'd make friends with kids her own age. And then Gidge drops the bombshell that she has terminal cancer and is thrilled that she has been "given the chance to go out in my own perfect way." (p. 6)

Yardley is angry at her grandmother's attitude but agrees to help Gidge "get her karma in order." (p. 8) Two important tasks Gidge undertakes are the writing of numerous cards and letters, some to be sent immediately, others after her death, and sorting her diverse wardrobe for donation and consignment. With that intent, they head to the Over Easy Vintage Emporium, the shop of a former student, Conrad Kim. In between running errands that include chemo, Gidge and Yardley help out at Over Easy, along with Con's twelve-year-old nephew, Harris, a sullen boy who spends his time working on puzzles.

 

Then "Gidge's big day" comes, as she has elected for medical assistance in her dying. Her death hits Yardley especially hard, and she works at honouring Gidge's directive to "make the most of each glorious moment." (p. 75) Yardley continues to help out at Over Easy, feeling a special closeness to Gidge there, through her clothes, including a long green velvet dress which Gidge had said did not bring out the best in her. When an older woman, Mrs. Margaret Johnson, comes to the store saying she'd won a prize, and she's given the green dress, everything goes awry. Mrs. Johnson says the dress was hers and she doesn't want it; Yardley is convinced Mrs. Johnson is Gidge reincarnated; and Harris gets caught in the middle, even more so when he tries to hide a small ballerina that had fallen from the dress.

For a book about a death from cancer, A Green Velvet Secret is surprisingly light-hearted but that's because it's about life and living life and make the most of life. Vicki Grant always, always, always finds a way to put a light touch to her stories, whether they are dealing with hoarding (Betsy Wickwire's Dirty Secret), scammers (Short for Chameleon) or unknown heritage (Small Bones), finding a way to show compassion and affection and even humour in challenging situations. Like Gidge who takes a graceful approach to her cancer diagnosis and the opportunity to orchestrate her own death and tie up any loose ends she has left, Vicki Grant takes an elegant way to telling Yardley and Gidge's story, and even that of Harris whose own secret causes him shame and a disconnect with his family. Vicki Grant finds the colour in the greyness of death and, though Gidge couldn't make it all right in her lifetime, Vicki Grant helps make it all right for her and Yardley and even Harris, without giving us a predictable ending and the happily-ever-after that rarely happens.

My Baba's Garden

Written by Jordan Scott

Illustrated by Sydney Smith

Neal Porter Books (Holiday House)

978-0-8234-5083-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2023

 

When writer Jordan Scott and artist Sydney Smith collaborated on their first picture book, I Talk Like a River (2020), a powerful storytelling partnership was created. In a subtle and nuanced story of a child who stuttered, Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith gave us a beautiful and unusual perspective. Much the same way, they take a grandmother (Baba)-grandson relationship with elements that some may see as peculiar and make them heartfelt and moving and fully synergistic.

From My Baba's Garden, written by Jordan Scott, illus. by Sydney Smith

Based on his own experiences with his Baba, his grandmother who emigrated from Poland after World War II, Jordan Scott speaks of a boy who was driven daily in the early morning to her renovated chicken coop home. There she feeds him, takes him to school, and then picks him up to babysit him. But it's more than babysitting. She is his Baba, a woman who speaks little English, suffered greatly during the war, and who shows him love with her food, her caring, and her teachings.

From My Baba's Garden, written by Jordan Scott, illus. by Sydney Smith

Her home is filled with food: preserves, dried, stored from the harvest, and cooking. Her wartime experiences compel her to ensure there is plenty for those she loves and to not waste anything. Even a drop of food that slips from his spoon is picked up, kissed, and returned to the bowl. And, when they walk in the West Coast rain, she gathers worms and places them in a jar of soil she keeps in her pocket. After school, she and her grandson deliver those worms to her garden.

From My Baba's Garden, written by Jordan Scott, illus. by Sydney Smith

Then his Baba must leave her home and move in with the child and his family. Things change, but the child has learned well.

I must admit that I cried with the telling of My Baba's Garden. I met my own Ukrainian Baba only once when she came for a visit, but I know the importance of food from my father who immigrated to Canada after the war. Food was significant to him, and he was determined to ensure that there was always enough and that those he loved, family and friends, never went hungry. His garden was extensive, and he grew tomatoes, garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, cucumbers (for pickling), and we visited friends' orchards and farms to ensure a wealth of preserves for the year. With her food, her garden, and her actions, this child's Baba showed love too. And she does so with little spoken language but great communication, teaching her grandson an appreciation for food that is grown, food that is offered, and a garden that provides. (Jordan Scott's note "My Baba" mentions that he and his children still pick up worms.) Their relationship is based on caring and compassion, and, whether at her chicken coop house or at his family's home, that relationship was solid. Jordan Scott's words are so emotive, as a child speaks of his grandmother, recognizing that she gives him everything and with few words.

There's so much to see, so much to smell, too much to eat.

That little boy and Jordan Scott honour their Babas.

Sydney Smith, award-winning illustrator of Sidewalk Flowers, Small in the City and Town by the Sea, consistently tells the story from a child's perspective. This boy sees his grandmother and appreciates what she does in a greater context, including one of love for him. He does not ridicule her for her life, her intentions, or her actions, understanding far more than many would. Sydney Smith shows us a child in a bright yellow rain slicker who brings her a picture he has drawn of them. He shows a Baba taking pleasure in that artwork, in that child: she strokes his cheek, she kisses his food, and she holds his hand as they walk. Sydney Smith makes sure that we see them. His watercolour and gouache illustrations take us into that garden and house, to sit with that child as he eats breakfast, to return worms to the soil, and to trudge through the rain to school. The art is filled with love and quiet understanding.

His Baba's garden and her home were places of love and learning. Under her watchful eye, this child learned to see and to feel beyond the obvious, and to appreciate love given through food and actions. Like his Baba's, Jordan Scott's words say much, even if limited, and with great heart, and Sydney Smith brings the colour, the context, and even more feeling to them. It was a pleasure to visit My Baba's Garden and partake in this repast of intergenerational tenderness.

Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock

Written by Dallas Hunt

Illustrated by Amanda Strong

HighWater Press

978-1-55379-779-1

28 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2018

There may be a grandmother, a basket of good food, and a walk through the woods, but this is no Little Red Riding Hood. It's Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock and this little girl is delivering the bannock from her Kôhkum when the animals of the forest come to her rescue.

From Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt, illus. by Amanda Strong

On her way to deliver her Kôhkum's world-famous bannock, Awâsis's walk takes a turn when the playful girl drops the bannock. It falls into the water to be picked up by a bear. In tears, Awâsis is approached by Sîsîp (duck) who reassures the crying girl by offering tohtosapopimehkan (margarine) which is needed to make bannock. Similar encounters with Wâpos (rabbit), Ayîkis (frog) and Ônô (owl) yield her gifts of askipahkwesikan (flour), sîwinikan (sugar) and sîwihtâkan (salt), as the bear watches covertly.

From Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt, illus. by Amanda Strong

When Ônô suggests that she might have all the ingredients for the bannock, she runs home and explains to her Kôhkum what has happened. All that is missing is the tohtôsâpoy (milk) which is then hand-delivered by Maskwa (bear).

From Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt, illus. by Amanda Strong

Complete with an easy-to-follow recipe for "Kôhkum's World-Famous Bannock" and a glossary of Cree words with a pronunciation guide, Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock becomes less story book and more revitalization of language and fairy tale. Although it may caution children to be a little less exuberant in their play when undertaking a task–though exuberant play for play's sake is always recommended!– it also shows that there are solutions for anxiety-causing dilemmas and sometimes they come from unlikely sources. Winnipegger Dallas Hunt, member of Wapisewsipi (Swan River First Nation), keeps the tone light, perfect for a joyful child who chats with talking animals on her outing.  Still, though Awâsis's anxiety for her plight is apparent, through both her actions and her words, the reassurances of the animals are filled with compassion and encouragement.

Artist Amanda Strong, probably better known for her Indigenous filmography, brings an organic feel to Dallas Hunt's story. Outlining many of her illustrations' components in white borders, which I had never seen before in a children's book, gives Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock the innocence of a colouring book while overriding that simplicity with textures similar to cut paper collages. As such, the depth of the story is augmented by Amanda Strong's intriguing illustrations.

Take a walk with Awâsis as she plays and chats with her animal friends, learning their names and greetings in Cree, knowing that Dallas Hunt and Amanda Strong will tell a clear story with ease while ensuring depth and naturalness of message in their words and art.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A video uploaded by publisher Portage & Main provides a useful pronunciation guide to the Cree words highlighted in Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock.

Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock Pronunciation Guide

Uploaded to YouTube by Portage & Main Press
on November 20, 2018.

Ebb & Flow

Written by Heather Smith

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-838-2

232 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2018

If you've been reading this blog for a number of years, you'll know what a fan I am of novels in verse. These are stories told in free verse form and the authors who do it well are highly accomplished at writing with impact and few words.  I can now add author Heather Smith to that very short list of accomplished writers of novels in verse.  And she is extraordinary.

Ebb & Flow is the story of twelve-year-old Jett who has been sent to spend the summer with his Grandma Jo. Though he has been sent to stay with her because of a troublesome year, Jett is happy to see Grandma, having many positive memories about her before his move with his mother to the mainland.

I remembered

hugs that were big for her size,

her arms growing

like expandable straws. (pg. 9)

Wordplay is the dialogue between the two who love talking in puns, with Grandma telling her story as if she were a character in a series of anecdotes.  Sadly, because of the mistakes he made over the past year, Jett sees himself as the villain of his stories, deserving of little goodness, including his grandmother's love. Even away from the negative influence of Junior Dawson, a bully and angry classmate, with whom Jett teamed up, the boy cannot shake the bad thoughts about people and the anger he harbours about his own actions.  

In titled chapters of only one or two page verses, Heather Smith subtly reveals Jett's history and the events that led to his relocation for the summer.  In fact, Jett's character development is so subtle that the change in Jett from angry and confused boy to responsive and responsible is as inconspicuous as the tides that come in and go out.

Grandma?

Yes?

Why can't things just stay the same?

Because life is like the tides.
In, out.
Back, forth.
Push, pull.
High, low.
You just have to go with the flow, you know?

Yeah...
(pg. 177)

The reader will sense Jett's progression in increments, as slow as when he and Grandma Jo creep along the beach looking for sea glass, and then he's there, asking to visit his father and telling his own story to his grandmother.

Ebb & Flow may refer to Jett's responses to the ever-changing circumstances that impact him, including his own choices and mistakes, but the book makes a powerful statement about resiliency and the power to ride the tidal motion of life. Sometimes you need a little help, like Jett gets from Grandma Jo who never pushes her grandson to come to an epiphany, though she helps him get there with her love and guidance. Ebb & Flow makes it clear that, with forgiveness to others and self, people and relationships can be salvaged and, like sea glass, taken from sharp edges to soft gemstones.

In Grandma's hand,
five pieces of sea glass –
two white, two green,
one red.

I didn't find anything, I said.

You will.
(pg. 26)

Breaking Faith

Written by E. Graziani

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-024-7

328 pp.

Ages 13+

March 2017

Reviewed from advance reading copy

For most people, turning points help define them in terms of before and after.  They are sparks of tragedy or ecstasy that depress or elevate, twisting the trajectories of lives onto paths unpredicted.  For Faith Emily Hansen, her turning points began with those of her mother, Lacey, but when her own begin to accumulate, they lead her down paths that are both random and dangerous, and sadly all her own.

Life for Faith’s family has never been easy.  Her mother had been devastated when her husband Simon had died, leaving her with a two-year-old daughter Constance.  She tried to get on with her life, moving back in with her criticizing and argumentative mother Dot, and even getting involved with two different men and having Faith a year later and Destiny two years after that.  Still Lacey’s life is tenuous at best, and out of control at worst.  Although her love for her children is evident–including coming to Faith's rescue when the four-year-old becomes an innocent victim in a horrific act of violence–she leaves them when Faith is just seven, moving to Toronto and making promises she'll never keep.

When Constance moves in with her other grandmother, the affluent Josephine, Faith is left to mother her younger sister and navigate her own Darkness, ever difficult as she is overwhelmed with sadness and anger, hurt and loneliness.  And she is just a child.  As they all deal with Lacey’s spiral into drug use, Faith yearns for normal but is unable to make choices that support that.  Even some counselling and making friends with Norma and Ishaan in middle school can't keep Faith from eventually breaking and heading to a life on the streets of Toronto and into using heroin, eventually hitting rock bottom.

"And my soul was broken–I'd lost Faith.  Lost hope. Lost my belief in my own destiny." (pg. 264)

The story that E. Graziani tells with heart-breaking power and poignancy is devastating in its sadness and bleakness.  Though Faith's reactions are her own, the circumstances of her life were thrust upon her by a mother with her own addiction and mental health issues, by a random act of violence and by familial circumstances which burden her and for which she, as a child, was unprepared emotionally and physically.  Even happiness was a burden.

"And the feeling of constantly being on edge, walking on eggshells, and feeling guilty (though outlandish as that may seem) if I felt a positive emotion." (pg. 17)

But, though Faith sees little positive in her life, she is the poster child for the Bob Marley quote she repeats throughout: "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice."
The reader may be hopeful that, since it is a nineteen-year-old Faith who is writing about the events and conditions that led her to a point where she needs to be rescued, Breaking Faith must have a happy ending i.e., she survives to write her story.  But I don't think there are any happy endings here.  As the Afterword by psychiatrist Dr. Vimala Chinnasamy states, Faith's story is not an uncommon one, one in which mental illness and addiction are perceived as emotional weaknesses and for which inadequate support, both within the family and outside, is provided, thus contributing to the tragedy.  And Breaking Faith is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.  The only saving grace is that Faith survives these chapters of her life and that E. Graziani provides a deep look into a life we need to witness so that we might walk with the Faiths of this world before we need to pull them up and rescue them or worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out the next post for details of the book launch for Breaking Faith this Sunday at A Different Drummer Books in Burlington, ON

Fishing with Grandma

by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-084-6

32 pp.

Ages 5-7

2016

The beginning of the year is a wonderful time to catch up on hidden gems that I missed last year, especially ones that were released at extraordinarily busy times or at incongruous times, like a winter book in the spring.  To that end, I am so pleased to review Fishing with Grandma, a marvelous picture book that provides a glimpse into Inuit traditions of fishing and food and the important role of female elders in the family and community.

A young boy and his sister go to visit their grandmother, Anaanatsiaq, in search of an adventure.  With the house smelling of bannock, the children playing string games, and their grandmother sewing a sealskin, with her ulu on the ground beside her, the setting will be familiar to many Inuit but eye-opening for many others.  The children ask their anaanatsiaq to take them jigging for fish, a type of fishing the uses a jig or a lure. Their grandmother instructs them how to dress appropriately for the outdoor activity and then loads up the ATV with the appropriate equipment and they're off. While teaching her grandchildren how to test the ice for walking, how to make holes in it, and the movements of the wrist necessary to entice the fish, Anaanatsiaq introduces them to tools such as a tuuq, an ice skimmer, a jigging stick and an ice probe.  But it's the excitement of the sounds of the ravens and other fisher people jigging from their mats and of the sights of fish swimming by, as well as the thrill of the catch that elevates the outing to an adventure.

From Fishing with Grandma 

by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula 

illus. by Charlene Chua

The story of Fishing with Grandma balances the blending of old and contemporary cultures with a special intergenerational relationship, making it a wonderful story for teaching acceptance and cultural competence. I love the children's grandmother, wise in tradition and facility, knowing the right thing to do and with the right tool.  I suspect that Nunavut author Susan Avingaq learned from her own grandmother just as she now would take her own grandchildren fishing and camping to teach them important land skills.  Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula's text of Fishing with Grandma is like Grandma herself, forthcoming without preaching, modelling acceptance and wonder and a joie de vivre.  Illustrator Charlene Chua, whose artwork in Akilak's Adventure (Inhabit Media, 2016) drew much attention, keeps the children's admiration and fascination for their grandmother and the adventure elevated as she does for young readers of the story.  Most importantly, the essence of being Inuit, from going jigging and sharing their catch with the community, is always uppermost in the story's text and illustrations, both teaching and entertaining readers of all cultures.

From Fishing with Grandma 

by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula 

illus. by Charlene Chua

My Two Grandmothers

by Diane Carmel Léger

Illustrated by Jean-Luc Trudel

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-400-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2016

How fortunate these children are to have two grandmothers! Two grandmothers who are incredibly different-one Acadian, the other Scottish–and living in villages separated by the world's second-longest covered bridge.  Two grandmothers who are also so similar, connected by that same bridge and bonded by their love for their grandchildren.

From My Two Grandmothers

by Diane Carmel Léger, illus. by Jean-Luc Trudel

On one side of the Rockland bridge lives Mémére Hermance whose grandchildren call Grandmother Sun or Mémére Bee who lives her life with vitality and joie de vivre. She is a "very chic Acadian lady."  Nannie Henrietta, their Grandmother Moon or Nannie Hen, is a "calm and modest Scottish lady." What they offer their grandchildren in the way of treats, experiences and life lessons are very different but equally fulfilling.  Whether they get bonbons or toffee, or go to the beach or listen to a blethering brook, celebrate Réveillon or Christmas with Scottish cookies, the children, called petits escrables and wee lumbers, are loved, scolded, taught, protected, and entertained by their two grandmothers.

My Two Grandmothers is a captivating story of differences and similarities in a loving and lovely Canadian context, though Canadian and non-Canadian readers will both benefit from the glossary of French and Scottish vocabulary. (A listing of how to say "grandmother" and "grandfather" in over 20 languages is also included.)  A made-for-TV movie would have undoubtedly played up the differences between the two grandmothers making it into a competition but Diane Carmel Léger's My Two Grandmothers demonstrates how much the two older women are adored by the children who appreciate their distinct personalities as adding richness to their lives.  Illustrator Jean-Luc Trudel offers up flavourful portraits of both women, and their grandchildren, without stereotyping either.  By choosing to differentiate them both in their forms and the colours that surround them, Jean-Luc Trudel has created two contrasting but similarly soft and strong women.  As a child who grew up without grandmothers around, I would have been delighted to have had a Nannie and Mémére in my life.  For me and for those who are fortunate to have grandmothers in their lives, My Two Grandmothers will delight. And for those whose children are fortunate enough to have a French or Acadian grandmother, you might consider acquiring Mémère et Nannie, the French edition and co-publication by Bouton d'or Acadie.

From My Two Grandmothers

by Diane Carmel Léger, illus. by Jean-Luc Trudel

Malaika's Costume

by Nadia L. Hohn

Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-754-2

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2016

Bring in the sunshine of the islands and the colours of Carnival and Trinidad and Tobago with Malaika's Costume which launches tomorrow in Toronto.

Young Malaika is anticipating her first Carnival without her mother who has moved to Canada to make a better life for Malaika and Grandma.  She is hopeful that her mother will be sending money for a costume, as promised.  But a letter arrives that has Grandma pulling out a “tired costume. It smell funny and it dusty.  The costume squeeze my belly and some of the sequins fall off.  I feel hot and itchy.”  Distraught, Malaika runs through the familiar streets of her community until a kaiso song reminds her of her grandmother and that being poor does not mean being without dignity.

With donated scraps of fabric from Ms. Chin the tailor lady and Grandma’s help, an astounding peacock costume of red, blue, jade and purple, with gold and more is created, ultimately bringing the Carnival to her mother in Canada.

Nadia L. Hohn has given Malaika’s Costume a rhythm that evokes the busyness and warmth of a community that nurtures and supports.  Even the young girl’s initial disappointment is tempered with the affection of her Grandma and the realization that she has so many good things in her life.  And the text, rich with dialogue of patois, ensures that the atmosphere was created for the ear as well as the eye.  Irene Luxbacher, whose own Mr. Frank (Groundwood, 2014) introduced the illustrator’s collage artwork, complements that text with brilliant and bold art that bombards the senses.  The colours are lush, the textures surreal and the balance of characters and setting make Malaika’s Costume as much a place to visit as a story to be told.

From Malaika's Costume by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Missing Nimâmâ

Written by Melanie Florence

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Clockwise Press

978-0-9939351-0-7

32 pp.

Ages 8+

October, 2015

Missing Nimâmâ is a stunning accomplishment in story telling, though a story that shouldn’t have to be told because no mother should go missing and be lost to a little girl who would grow up without her.  Reading Missing Nimâmâ (nimâmâ is Cree for my mother) is like exposing an wound and it hurts.

Missing Nimâmâ is told in two voices,  distinguished both on the page and with the font.  The first voice is that of Kateri, a young girl, who lives with her nôhkum (grandmother) and dreams and longs for nimâmâ who is one of the lost Indigenous women whose disappearances have been shamefully ignored.  The second voice, in italicized text, is an ethereal one, that of Kateri’s mother, who calls her daughter kamâmakos, her beautiful little butterfly, and who watches over her as she goes to school, is loved by her nôhkum, grows into a young woman, marries and becomes a mother herself.  With every milestone, Kateri wishes for her mother to be with her, occasionally sensing her spiritual presence, while her mother appreciates all that her daughter has become, reassurring her that,

“I’m here, kâmamakos.

I’ve never left you. 

When you feel me with you, I’m there. 

You’re never alone.

Your mother is still watching over you.”

(pg. 17)

But like far too many of the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women, Kateri’s nimâmâ is only a spiritual presence in her daughter’s life and it will be years before Kateri will get the phone call telling her of her mother’s fate.  It is not a happy ending, and there are no happy endings for these women or their families.  But Melanie Florence still allows for Kateri and vicariously for her mother to find some happiness.

Missing Nimâmâ is heartbreaking.  It’s soulful and breathtakingly painful, and all the more so because of Melanie Florence’s free verse text. Never have I read free verse so aptly applied in a picture book.  Melanie Florence, an Indigenous writer, has demonstrated a powerful skill at creating rhythmic emotions with words.  The tugs at the heart are aching for the story they tell and the artistry with which François Thisdale tells it.

The matching of François Thisdale’s art with Melanie Florence’s text is wondrous.  As poignantly as he used mixed media (digital and drawn images) in earlier texts (The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012; That Squeak by Carolyn Beck, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015), François Thisdale fluidly bridges the concrete world of a little girl and her nôhkum with the ethereal one of her mother.  His choice of colours and the ability to enrich stark outdoor scenes of yards and forests and simply furnished indoor rooms create ghostly landscapes that epitomize the shadows of a girl's longing for her mother, a mother lost but never, never forgotten.

Missing Nimâmâ is a haunting story of lives lost and lived and shared, beautifully rendered in words and art.  Expect to see this one on award lists in the near future.

250 Hours

Written by Colleen Nelson

Coteau Books

978-1-55-5—641-9

152 pp.

Ages 12+

September 2015

“I don’t want to set them. But it’s like if I don’t do it, something worse will happen.  Watching something burn means I’ve saved a different bad thing from happening.”  He knew it sounded crazy, but maybe she’d understand because there was hurt inside of her too. (pg. 68)

And Jess Sinclair is right.  The hurt that compels him to set fires, hence his 250 hours community service, is also in 18-year-old Sara Jean whose grandmother’s garage is being cleaned out by Jess.  But, while both deal with abandonment issues–Jess by his father eight years earlier and Sara Jean at two months of age by her mother–and have significant relationships with their grandmothers, Jess’s hurt is wrapped up in living with the double-edged discrimination of being Métis as Sara Jean deals with being shackled to small-town life as primary caregiver to her 450-lb. grandmother, Gam.

While the two teens attempt to accept their responsibilities to their families and communities, they yearn to become independent of the hurts that define their lives, and they find themselves drawn to each other, particularly after Sara Jean discovers memorabilia of her Grandpa’s teaching at the local residential school.   But everyone seems to be keeping secrets and the discrimination Sara Jean detects from her boyfriend and his family, her own Gam and Aunt Mim towards Jess and Aboriginal People compels her to learn more, especially after she finds a small pair of moccasins that, unbeknownst to her, Jess is convinced his kokum had made.

Colleen Nelson tells another powerful story (see my review of The Fall, Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013) in 250 Hours, but focuses on small-town mindedness, the injustice of the residential schools, and family expectations in such a way that the reader will sympathize for Jess and Sara Jean who feel trapped by the stifling suffocation of their histories.  How do you break free to make a new life for yourself when there is so much holding you back?

There’s always a reason to stay.  I guess there has to be better reasons to go. (pg. 69)

Don’t be surprised if you feel enraged by the injustices perpetrated against these young people and against Aboriginal people.  That’s good because we all should be.  I suspect that 250 Hours is a truer reflection of life for many who experience blatant discrimination, whether wholesale as evoked by the residential school situations or  randomly by ignorant individuals, and for youth limited by the influence of family and peers.  Not surprising that everyone seems to know what's best for others. Thankfully, Colleen Nelson makes sure that Sara Jean's and Jess's stories are told, albeit in a fictionalized tale, to give them voice, freedom and limitless possibilities to be themselves.  It’s a powerful story of redemption where none seemed possible.