The Rock from the Sky

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-1563-2

96 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2021

 

With his characteristic grim humour and understated but commanding illustrations, Jon Klassen returns with a new extended picture book (96 pages) to take on a story of fate, pride and connection. It is both of our world and not.

 

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

In a series of five separate stories, each numbered and titled, Jon Klassen chronicles the interactions between a turtle, an armadillo, a snake and a rock. In the first, The Rock, the hat-wearing turtle–Jon Klassen does like his hats– has positioned himself at his favourite spot beside a rose-coloured flower. Though the reader can see, in the next double-spread, a massive rock suspended in the air, Turtle is oblivious. When Armadillo, in his own bowler, comes along and gets a bad feeling, he checks out a spot farther away beside a leafy stem where the beret-wearing Snake joins him. As Turtle shouts at them that his spot is better, approaching them to be heard, the massive rock drops onto Turtle's favourite spot.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

In The Fall, Turtle has climbed up upon the rock and fallen off onto his back. As can happen to any turtle, he is stuck, but he refuses to acknowledge to a concerned Armadillo that he had been climbing or that he had fallen. Moreover, he refuses the very help he requires.

I never need help.
OK.

What are you doing?

I came to take a nap.

It is nice under here.

You can take a nap

too, if you want.

There is just enough 

room for two.

No. I am not tired.
OK.

As such, the two acquaintances remain in place, with Turtle wide awake and stuck on his back, and still stubbornly refusing help, while Armadillo naps.

 

The third story, The Future, has contemplative Armadillo thinking about the future and what might grow and become of the area around the rock. But his imagination reveals a one-eyed, multi-legged creature as tall as the rock, sending out laser waves and blasting a flower into a charred mess before Turtle decries that...

I don't want to imagine into the 

future with you anymore.

Ever pensive, Armadillo ponders the beauty of the setting sun when Turtle approaches him and Snake in The Sunset. Shouting from far away, Turtle demands to know what they're doing. Of course, he cannot hear their responses so he just comes closer and closer until he misses the sunset completely, never stopping to notice it.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

Feeling disregarded by the sleeping Armadillo and Snake in No More Room, the final chapter in The Rock from the Sky, Turtle leaves, affronted by their apparent rejection. Turtle suggests that perhaps he will go away and never come back, shouting at them to ensure they hear him. Thinking they still cannot hear him, he approaches while repeating his message. However, Armadillo and Snake are quite awake now, seeing the strange creature behind the oblivious Turtle. Once again, Turtle has no idea what a close call he's going to have.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

Though there is much simplicity in the dialogue between Turtle and Armadillo–Snake does not speak–Jon Klassen uses subtle distinctions to embed more meaning in the story of the three acquaintances, perhaps even friends, who are as different in attitude and intention as a turtle, an armadillo and a snake might be. Through font colour and capitalization, Jon Klassen differentiates between his characters and the nature of their voices. He portrays Turtle as a proud and even tedious character who sees little beyond himself, never wanting to look anything but capable. Armadillo, on the other hand, is imaginative and attentive, both insightful and considerate while never arrogant. And Snake? He just is, taking things at face-value. Armadillo is the quiet leader, Snake the congenial follower, and Turtle the naive but self-important simpleton. Their fates and their connection with each other are what give The Rock from the Sky their stories.

Of course, Jon Klassen's distinction is in his artwork, having won the Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration, as well as the prestigious Caldecott and Kate Greenaway Medals. The Rock from the Sky is no less distinguished than his earlier award-winning books, especially those whose stories he penned like This is Not My Hat. The art, created digitally with watercolours, is authoritative. It is both organic, in line and shape and most definitely colour, but also otherworldly, importing the surreal or perhaps alien, to help us see better how things truly are.

I know many people think picture books are only for children but The Rock from the Sky is so sophisticated in its art and wry storytelling that I encourage it be read by all. It has a wicked tongue-in-cheek story about seeing what is in front of you, or above you, and ahead of you, and about listening to make sure you don't miss the obvious. I hope I was able to see and hear adequately to experience the true nature of Jon Klassen's extraordinary tale.

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I'm so excited to announce that tomorrow I'll be posting an interview I had with author and illustrator Jon Klassen about The Rock from the Sky. It was a thrill to get his perspective on his inspirations for The Rock from the Sky and to learn more about the process by which he created his new book. Do check back tomorrow for this special posting.

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No Help Wanted!

Written and illustrated by Ruth Ohi

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-6360-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

July 2019

Posy would be considered a keener, though in the adult world we might think of her as a bit of a control freak. She insists on taking control of any situation regardless of the efforts others make to share and support. So when Posy is tasked with the classroom job of taking care of their fish Bluey, Posy is all in. She feeds him, reads to him, sings to him and presents him with popsicle-puppet performances. (There are free downloadable pdfs of the jellyfish and fish shapes used, as well as a mask.) But when others offer to join in with their own puppets or play vet, Posy's signs of "Private" and "Keep Out!" make it clear that she is all Bluey needs.

From No Help Wanted! by Ruth Ohi

But, when Bluey starts to look unwell, regardless of Posy's extraordinary efforts, including a full-scale–love the pun!–fish-themed musical, Posy hides his fish bowl behind books, thinking that everyone would blame her.  It's not until she see Bluey resting at the bottom of the bowl that Posy recognizes the need to ask for help. With kindness, the kids ask "What can we do?" and "How can we help?" and come to Posy and Bluey's rescue.

From No Help Wanted! by Ruth Ohi

While Ruth Ohi's artwork was first introduced to youngCanLit readers via the text of others, I'm so glad that she has been writing her own picture books for many years now. From her Chicken, Pig, Cow series, or Fox and Squirrel books, or her many stand-alone picture books, Ruth Ohi always blends important messages about teamwork, compassion, and friendship with text and illustrations that are designed for young, young readers. These stories could be the basis of any character education program. Moreover by ensuring that there is no hyperbole or exhaustive language that reaches beyond the reading abilities and comprehension of her readers. Ruth Ohi sees and tells the story from the perspective children need in order to appreciate the message. As adults, we recognize Posy's enthusiasm for Bluey as somewhat high-handed but young children will just see it as bossy. What they will also see is that bossy kids need to learn how to work with others and that a little help is always welcome and not always a condemnation of efforts made.

From No Help Wanted! by Ruth Ohi (Image retrieved from http://www.ruthohi.com/books-recent#/no-help-wanted/)

Though her text is faultless, precise and communicative, it's still Ruth Ohi's illustrations that will draw children into the story. They will see themselves among the many children of different skin tones and hair types, of different abilities and personalities. One boy is in a wheelchair, a girl wears glasses, and some are shyer relative to Posy's exuberance. In fact, the class itself could be any class from kindergarten with its role-play props, or a Grade 1 or 2 class with numerous books and kids who can read and write. Moreover, by choosing a palette of pencil crayons and watercolours that are light and soft, Ruth Ohi makes sure that the message is swimming in subtlety and far more peaceful than one emboldened in colour and text.

There are many ways to send a message to children and No Help Wanted! finds an affable way in words and art to demonstrate that everyone at one time or another needs a little help and it's okay to ask.

From No Help Wanted! by Ruth Ohi

Giraffe and Bird Together Again

Written and illustrated by Rebecca Bender

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-051-2

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2018

Friends don't always see eye to eye, or nose to beak. But, sometimes it's because of these  differences that the friendship is made even more special. Little ones who know Rebecca Bender's other books in this collection, namely Giraffe and Bird (DCB, 2010), Don't Laugh at Giraffe (Pajama Press, 2012) and Giraffe Meets Bird (Pajama Press, 2015), already understand the basis for this extraordinary friendship. And, even with a plot that has Bird missing, you know Rebecca Bender won't disappoint her readers. She helps the two find their way back to each other.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

Bird loves adventures, Giraffe does not. But when Bird is absent for awhile, Giraffe begins to worry that something has happened to Bird and decides to follow the feathers. Even when he gets tangled in vines when searching through a dark forest, Giraffe is compelled to go on. Even when Giraffe goes up a craggy mountain upon which he tumbles backwards and needs the help of a couple of mountain goats, he is determined to find his friend. From his high vantage point, Giraffe glimpses a shiny sign and "a small and beaky someone next to it." Finding Bird stunned from a collision with the sign, both are happy to be reunited. Unfortunately, Giraffe fails to notice the quicksand nearby. Now it's Bird turn to help out. By distracting his friend and enlisting the help of others, Giraffe makes it home safely.

Everyone loves Giraffe and Bird. The two animals are so different yet so understanding and accepting of those differences. Giraffe stretches beyond his comfort zone to help his little friend, and Bird recognizes when Giraffe may be in need of help. Even in the end, the two find a compromise to help them continue to be friends and honour those differences. 

Bird will wander a little less...

if Giraffe will explore a little more.

 

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

One of the best elements of Giraffe and Bird Together Again is the artwork. Rebecca Bender's use of colour to place the reader in the forest, on the mountain and looking out over the plain is extraordinary. It's warm and rich in tone and evocative of a setting many of us in Canada will never experience. But, of course, it's her characters that draw the reader back every time. Generally using only body language and eyes, Rebecca Bender lets the reader see what Giraffe and Bird are thinking and feeling. Frustration, joy, distress and relief are all there in those few elements. It's impossible not to fall in love with Giraffe and Bird. Moreover with details like Bird hiding under a traditional Canadian work sock or Giraffe in knee pads and helmet or the weird assortment of detritus lodged in the quicksand, kids will seek and find and laugh.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

Rebecca Bender's Giraffe and Bird was recently honoured as the selection for the 2018 TD Grade 1 Book Giveaway. That means every child in Grade 1 in Canada should have received their own copy of that special first book (unless their school board sadly opted out of the program). The enduring affection between these two unlikely friends continues to endear them to young children, perhaps seeing something of themselves in Giraffe or Bird. Whether sensitive to teasing, or homebody or adventurer, there is something of everyone in these two characters, and we're so glad that Giraffe and Bird are together again.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

An Inheritance of Ashes

by Leah Bobet
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
978-0544281110
388 pp.
Ages 12+
October 2015
Reviewed from advance reading copy

An Inheritance of Ashes is a dark tale.  A dark, dark tale. And, though it has supernatural elements, An Inheritance of Ashes is a familiar tale of fears and love and heroes and isolation and pride, and family.  And it has a force within.  A force that good may come from evil.

The emptiness grew, and split, and ate the whole world in its wake.  It was never going to be all right again. (pg. 126)

Hallie, 16, and her sister, Marthe, 26, both inherited Roadstead Farm from their abusive father, and now run it–raising barley, goats, poultry, etc.–with Marthe’s husband, Thom Clarlund, or they did until Thom went to war against the Wicked God and his general and prophet Asphodel Jones and army of irregulars, and their creatures, nay monsters, everyone calls Twisted Things.  Though the two young women are cautiously hopeful of Thom’s return, now that a man named John Balsam who “by magic, skill or cunning killed the Wicked God” (pg. 23), Hallie and Marthe take on a vet named Heron for whom “No one’s waiting for me to turn life normal again” (pg. 13) to help with the harvest and running the farm.  

But things are far from normal at the farm. Twisted Things begin to appear, one here, another there, killing the air, burning whatever they touch, contaminating the remnants of their lives.  And Hallie worries that the Great Army, desperately searching for John Balsam, will quarantine the farm, if not take it away from them.  Though Hallie is reluctant to ask for help, Heron and their neighbours, the Blakeley’s, come to their assistance.  Moreover, even though Hallie recognizes that, because of the abuse of their father, “We were ruined for loving people.  We were ruined for being loved” (pg. 244), Tyler Blakely who has his own war ghosts begins to court her and, with his sister Nat and Heron, help her recognize that she doesn’t have to take on the evil alone, or hide or run from that which seems too much. “We made each other less alone.” (pg. 272)

There are things not of our world in An Inheritance of Ashes, and there are things that were never of their world either, including a Wicked God that is more storm than substance and bird- and lizard-like creatures that burn and kill that which they touch, and a violent purple and green world that is evident only through a hole in the air.  But fighting evil and finding strength with others and holding onto that which is everything–a home, family, friends–are our world, and Leah Bobet easily supplants readers from their comforts into the darkness of Hallie’s world.  Rife with atmosphere and Hallie’s longing for rightness, An Inheritance of Ashes demonstrates that what we get from family is not always what is expected.  If might be an inheritance of a family farm, or of fear, or isolation, but it can be the fortitude to continue on, when all expect failure to reverberate.  And, with powerfully evocative text, Leah Bobet allows Hallie and others in An Inheritance of Ashes to sift through the cinders and residue after a horror and find something worth keeping.

Dojo Daytrip

by Chris Tougas

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-142-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2015

They may be ninjas but they are still children:  boisterous, inquisitive, energetic and rowdy.  And a field trip with Master to a farm doesn't do anything but fuel their fires!  Remember Chris Tougas' six little ninjas from Dojo Daycare (Owlkids Books, 2014)?  Well, they're back and as effervescent as a newly opened pop bottle.

And Master must feel the same way as the six ninjas–never named but each unique and recognizable by hair or lack thereof–explode off the bus and begin to explore and cause ninja mayhem! But, it's Master who continues to find himself in buckets of awkwardness: falling in the pigs' trough, or running from a bull, or spooking a horse.  The little ninjas have just not been paying attention, distracted by the chicks, or other farmyard entities, and

It's a big barnyard disaster!
No one's there to save the Master.
The ninjas all forgot their creed:
Always help someone in need.

But after a few "Yikes!" and "Yee-ow!" moments, the ninjas realize the Master needs help and they jump in to make things right.  It's a full day of activities and activity and rhyming and word play, and it's not surprising that the little ones seem tired on the road home, though a taurine stowaway suggests more mayhem is in their future.

Dojo Daytrip is a fun romp at the farm with Chris Tougas' agile ninjas and their adult wrangler, reminiscent of many school field trips with their "if something can do wrong, it will" moments.  But Chris Tougas twists that story line by having the Master at the heart of the craziness and allowing the little ninjas to solve the problems and go beyond the call of duty.  The Master may be harping on the little ones forgetting their creed but they're just too busy having fun.  Chris Tougas' words are light and rhythmic and work so well with his bold characters and sparse settings.  It's a fast read, perfect for a read-aloud before a school trip, but take the time to notice all the details like the red scarf that riles the bull, or the one farting ninja, or the little chicks that wave good-bye, or the ninja teddy-bear.  There's a richness of details and facial expressions and such that add so much to the simple story of helping out those in need that Dojo Daytrip will be a fun keeper to use in the classroom for field trip prep, for rhyming exemplars and for a pastural past-time without getting on a bus.

Itty Bitty Bits

by Anita Daher

Illustrated by Wendy Bailey

Peanut Butter Press

978-1-927735-01-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October, 2013

Every parent will be familiar with a common refrain of children and the first words of Itty Bitty Bits: "Not fair!"

This is young Molly's response to her mother's insistence that she clean her room before she can have her friend Yen over for a sleepover.  As Molly seeks help from her sister, brother, father and even their dog, Indiana Bones, she learns that everyone has work that they must address, whether they be models, homework, gardening or looking for a lost toy.  But, it is only as she watches an ant successfully carry off a partial sandwich, bit by bit, that Molly understands that "I can do it, yes I can!" And so, she shares her new-found wisdom with each from whom she'd asked help, and consequently helps herself in the end.

Great Plains Teen Fiction editor Anita Daher knows her way around engaging text, contributing to the success of much young adult CanLit.  So, Itty Bitty Bits has all the right bits for a delightful and significant picture book.  Molly could have been a whiny child, going from one to another, asking for help and having a tantrum because no one would help her.  The opening image of this little one is the face of a child that is frustrated but also one that takes the time to look for a solution.  Even though she may seem to be having little success at assistance, the opening end papers have a continuous message of "You can do it, yes you can!" so the reader can be assured that a positive message will ensue. And with that solution comes the effervescence with which illustrator Wendy Bailey has imbued the young Molly.

The positive message of perseverance and taking little steps to accomplish a big job is an important one for children to hear and to accept as they navigate the many obligations of everyday life.  Not everything will come easily or straightforwardly and without some disappointment.  But, as long as the child understands the need to accept responsibility for their own tasks and show the determination that the job will get done, Anita Daher and Wendy Bailey have done their job and surprisingly well in Itty Bitty Bits.