The Great Gathering Place

Written by Naomi McIlwraith

Illustrated by Onedove

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1010-2

32 pp.

Ages 4–8

June 2026 

 

We all need safe places. Whether it's a place to gather with others, to teach and learn, or to celebrate or honour our ancestors, a gathering place can be that safe place for Indigenous peoples. It enables connection with community and culture both spiritually and earthly. This is the story of The Great Gathering Place.

From The Great Gathering Place, written by Naomi McIlwraith, illustrated by Onedove

Naomi McIlwraith, a Métis educator and writer, invites readers to join her to "meet our friends and relatives, and we'll visit and talk for hours and days, just as the breeze and the leaves talk for hours and days." (pg. 4) They'll travel by a big red canoe to visit and give thanks, to feast, to share lessons, and to be kind.

From The Great Gathering Place, written by Naomi McIlwraith, illustrated by Onedove

At the Great Gathering Place, there are opportunities to look back and forward. It's about recognizing those like Grandfathers, Sky and Buffalo; Grandmothers, River and Antelope; Cousins Moose and Sturgeon; and River and Fire. It's looking at learning from each other, even if it means disagreeing, but always with gentleness, kindness, and love. 

From The Great Gathering Place, written by Naomi McIlwraith, illustrated by Onedove

The Great Gathering Place may be a concept of Indigenous cultures, but it is one that we all could recognize in our own ways. It's appreciating that which gave us life and which guides us. It's about lessons learned and still to be learned, and about gratitude which needs to be expressed. Naomi McIlwraith makes the journey to this safe spot accessible for all, even including Cree translations (with pronunciation guides) of key ideas. Her rhythmical text, though not rhyming, reflects the flowing nature of water and the heartfelt thankfulness for everyone and everything that impacts our lives. Naomi McIlwraith makes it seem very natural and yet gloriously profound.

 

The art by Onedove, a Cree and Métis illustrator, may have been created digitally but it feels traditional. I wouldn't have been surprised to read they'd used oil or acrylic, or gouache and watercolour. Onedove takes us to the rivers, lands, and skies where the Great Gathering Place brings people together. Their landscapes are rich in natural elements and colours, with much in reds and oranges, and their people are of diverse backgrounds. Inclusiveness through Onedove's art and Naomi McIlwraith's text is evident.

 

The Great Gathering Place may be a state of mind where we connect with others, but it's more than that. It is a place of safety where we can find ourselves, and others, and bring about healing, learning, and spiritual renewal. It's a place that makes us more of ourselves.

Circle of Love

Written by Monique Gray Smith
Illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt

Heartdrum (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-307870-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

Releases March 12, 2024 

 

Indigenous writer Monique Gray Smith and artist Nicole Neidhardt take us into the heart of an intertribal community center where all are welcome, making for a richer kinship with diverse persons and where family extends beyond blood.

 

tawâw
(nêhiyawêwin: "there is always room")

Molly, her sibling, and her parents are joining their family and community for a feast at their local center. As they partake in the various activities, whether dancing, singing, reading, eating, or storytelling, Molly is bursting with feeling. She frames her experiences with her emotions, and by doing so Molly is mindful of the moment and what she is feeling. When Molly's Kôhkom and her wife, Kôhkom Raven, sing a welcome song, Molly feels connected. When she reads books to the little ones, she feels kind. When her sibling plays their fiddle, she is energized. Everything makes Molly feel something, and she always sees the positives, whether nourished, honoured or awed. And always there is love. And love is love, regardless of its form, of those who feel it, of  those who give it, and of those who need it.

From Circle of Love, text by Monique Gray Smith, art by Nicole Neidhardt

Moreover, everywhere there are reminders that this is a center based in Indigenous culture, whether it be the beading the children do, the sweetgrass burning, an elder smudging, traditional jingle dance, the beating of a drum, or a Métis sash. Everyone is welcome and there is room for all. 

From Circle of Love, text by Monique Gray Smith, art by Nicole Neidhardt

The lovely sense of community is unmistakable in Circle of Love. Diné (Navajo) illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, who came to Victoria BC from Arizona and New Mexico, ensures that her digital images depict everyone, showing different expressions of gender, family, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Like the food at their table, there's a bit of everything and everyone, making their community vibrant and strong and satisfying. 

From Circle of Love, text by Monique Gray Smith, art by Nicole Neidhardt

Monique Gray Smith is a two-spirit writer of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish heritage whose picture books, novels, and non-fiction have been fueled by her ancestry. She writes for the very young and young adults, about traditions, residential schools, and reconciliation, and she writes of empathy and love. Circle of Love, like My Heart Fills with Happiness and You Hold Me Up, reminds us of the good that comes with building relationships, of being mindful of the moments that give our lives meaning, and of remaining grounded in our belonging to family and community. Monique Gray Smith honours those who are like her and not like her. She celebrates everyone by including them and recognizing their contributions to the community. With comprehensive notes appending her story, Monique Gray Smith ensures that, in this circle of love, everyone is welcome.

From Circle of Love, text by Monique Gray Smith, art by Nicole Neidhardt

We Need Everyone

Written by Michael Redhead Champagne

Illustrated by Tiff Bartel

HighWater Press

978-1-77492-011-4

40 pp.

Ages 6-8

January 2024

 

Belonging is such an important emotional need for children and for all. But too often we compare ourselves with others and see their gifts and accomplishments as greater than our own, worrying that we don't belong or aren't good enough. Community advocate Michael Redhead Champagne will help children see that they all belong because we need everyone.

From We Need Everyone, written by Michael Redhead Champagne, illustrated by Tiff Bartel

We Need Everyone's book character Michael, easily recognizable by his bouncy asymmetrical hair, speaks to everyone about gifts. 

Gifts are skills and talents we share with others. Every gift is different, and every gift is special.

For many children, recognizing their own gifts may be a challenge, so Michael takes them through a series of steps to finding their gifts. These include making lists of what they like to do as well as what they are good at doing. If they have difficulties identifying those, they can always ask for help. Then it comes down to practising those gifts.

From We Need Everyone, written by Michael Redhead Champagne, illustrated by Tiff Bartel

But there is more to having a gift if we are to share them and build strong communities. Michael Redhead Champagne equates building community with activism and speaks of all those who help make our communities richer: artists, athletes, chefs, gamers, storytellers, and friends.

When you share your gift, you give strength to others. Even if you feel too small, too young, or too quiet, your gift is too special to keep to yourself.

Michael Redhill Champagne speaks from a place of knowing. He is Ininew (Cree), having been raised in Winnipeg's North End with his family from Shamattawa First Nation in northern Manitoba.  He knows what it means to belong to a community and to make a community. He shares his inspiration through public speaking and writing, hosting media events and telling of stories. We Need Everyone, his debut picture book, continues his message of empowerment and influence by helping kids see that they all have superpowers that are their gifts, and that these gifts, though not always easily identifiable, are what will help make our communities stronger. 

From We Need Everyone, written by Michael Redhead Champagne, illustrated by Tiff Bartel

Winnipeg artist Tiff Bartel ensures that the illustrations in We Need Everyone reflect Michael Redhill Champagne's message that everyone is needed. She includes children of all skin colours, sizes, and abilities. She shows a girl in a hijab cooking, children gardening, a child playing sledge hockey, another signing "I love you" and others painting. Some are active, some are quiet, some are sharing their cultures, and many are learning. And they are engaged joyously and vibrantly in ways to enrich their communities and acknowledge their own gifts.

We need everyone, and by sharing their gifts of storytelling and art, Michael Redhead Champagne and Tiff Bartel will give children strength and inspiration to see themselves as needed and belonging too.

 • • • • • • •

A free teacher's guide, titled Teacher Guide for We Need Everyone:
Empowering Students to be Active Community Members Through Indigenous Perspectives in Primary Classrooms and Beyond  is available from HighWater Press (Portage & Main Press) here.

The Three Little Mittens

Written by Linda Bailey

Illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-011-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2023

 

This story may start with "Once there were two little mittens..." but I can assure you that this is not a story of "once" but of "often" or "always" as winter sets in and we scramble to find our mittens and gloves. This is a story that has played out many times and will continue to play out wherever hand coverings are needed. For this one time, there is a very happy and inclusive ending.

From The Three Little Mittens, written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili

Dotty and Other Dotty are two fluffy, pink, cozy mittens with yellow dots, and they are identical. Stripes is another mitten, but Dotty and Other Dotty give her the cold shoulder for not matching anyone and reminding her that the Little Girl will never wear her. Stripes is devastated by her loneliness, trapped in a pocket, unable to touch a dog or make a snowball.

 

And then Other Dotty is abandoned in the snow. Suddenly Dotty and Stripes are forced to become partners when the Little Girl decides to wear them together.

And here's the surprise. As they got to know each other, they began to like each other. In fact, they almost became friends.

But then Other Stripes reappears after having been dragged under the couch by the dog.  Now together, the two Stripes reject Dotty since she doesn't match them. In a surprise, the Little Girl overhears their discussion and wonders why they have to match, because "There's always a mitten who doesn't match."

From The Three Little Mittens, written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili

With that, she excavates the box of mittens and discovers a brilliant assortment of colours, patterns, sizes, and shapes, freeing everyone with the opportunity to be worn and get out. From then on, she wears unmatched mittens every day, giving all mittens a turn. Better than just getting out and about and serving a purpose again, the mittens find themselves making new friends and having fun.

From The Three Little Mittens, written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili

But, like all great ideas, the Little Girl's equity in mitten-wearing is noticed and appreciated by her school mates and soon they too are wearing wonderful mixed-up mittens. Imagine what will happen when the socks hear about this! 

 

I love how Linda Bailey has taken a familiar circumstance i.e., missing mittens and having a collection of mismatched ones, and given us a heartfelt story of acceptance and inclusiveness. In The Three Little Mittens, what starts as animosity and discrimination, becomes friendship and support, with all the mittens belonging, and, even better, being welcomed as part of  a new configuration. 

England's Natalia Shaloshvili creates acrylic paintings that are as warm and fuzzy as the mittens and children she includes in The Three Little Mittens. The softness of the edges reflect the linty nature of the woollens and other fabrics, but Natalia Shaloshvili extends that to the kids' hair and even a wheelchair, giving the story the fluffiness of snowflakes.

From The Three Little Mittens, written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili

Linda Bailey has given us so many wonderful picture books over the years, from her award-winning Stanley books (like Stanley's Party) to her recent picture biographies (like Arthur Who Wrote Sherlock), that it's impossible to label her stories in any way as anything but her own. And now she's given us one with an important life lesson. With The Three Little Mittens, Linda Bailey, with much graphic support from Natalia Shaloshvili, has now taken us to the global closet to see that all mittens belong and can get along with everyone else. Who knew we could learn so much from three (or thirteen) little mittens?

My Words Flew Away Like Birds

Written by Debora Pearson

Illustrated by Shrija Jain

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0318-0

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2021

There are all kinds of fitting in. But when you're new to a country with a new language, it is especially hard. Not only are you missing your old home with its familiar people and places, you're in a new place where communication is near impossible. For the child in My Words Flew Away Like Birds, she is completely unprepared for the vacuum of language with which she and her parents must endure.

That was my world 

back then.

This little girl remembers the trees, the noisy market, her grandfather's bakery, and her friends. In preparation for their move, her mother teaches her some rudimentary phrases that should help break the ice, like "Hello, how are you?," and "It was nice to meet you." 

From My Words Flew Away Like Birds by Debora Pearson, illus. by Shrija Jain

The words felt strange 

and lumpy 

in my mouth.

But, though she is amazed by the things she sees, like snow and a dog in a coat and booties, everyone speaks so fast in her new country and she cannot grasp the words or their meaning. She tries desperately to watch and listen but she feels so lost. 

From My Words Flew Away Like Birds by Debora Pearson, illus. by Shrija Jain

It's not until the next spring when she helps a little girl who falls off a playground swing that she can use one of her learned phrases, experiment with echoing the other child's words, and finally make the connection that makes her feel she belongs.

Many of us know what it's like to travel to new places where different languages are spoken. If we're considerate, we try our best to communicate in their language but appreciate it when the locals help us out by speaking in ours. But for immigrants, immersion in a new culture with a new language is undoubtedly daunting. Not only do they have to navigate bureaucratic and new cultural norms, they often must do so in a new language. For children who are desperate to make connections at school or in their neighbourhoods, how do they do this without words? Fortunately, what the child in My Words Flew Away Like Birds realizes eventually is that kindness and play have no language barriers and learning only happens when mistakes are made. These are both simple and complex messages and Debora Pearson shares them with a convincing text rich in auditory embellishments and striking dialogue, emphasizing what is most important to the young child. She'll remember the sounds she hears and the muffled vocalizations, hand-lettered for emphasis, until they can become words to her, words that don't fly away but instead are ones she can grab hold of.

From My Words Flew Away Like Birds by Debora Pearson, illus. by Shrija Jain

Artist Shrija Jain's pen and ink illustrations, which were coloured digitally, underscore the importance of the words and the connectivity between child and place. Using only pastel shades of blue, rose, purple and orange to offset the vivid black details of hand-lettered words, the immigrant family and those with whom they interact, and sparse landscape elements, Shrija Jain demonstrates what is truly important: connection through communication in all its forms and efforts.

This child may feel like the words of her first language flew away but she does find some new words and is delighted to move forward and recognize that "these words are here to stay." As with much learning, it happens with time and practice, and that includes mistakes, and the making of connections to make that learning worthwhile.

This is a Dog Book!

Written by Judith Henderson

Illustrated by Julien Chung

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0493-4

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

June 2021

Gertrude Stein may have written that "A rose is a rose is a rose" but this bunny is working very hard to convince a community of dogs that he isn't. Isn't a bunny, that is.

From This is a Dog Book! from Judith Henderson, illus.by Julien Chung

From the outset, a red stripe-shirted rabbit is told by an enormous dog who spans most of a double-spread that he cannot be part of this book because it's a book about dogs and he is a bunny. And so, the bunny begins to try to convince an assortment of dogs that he is a dog. Though they enjoy the biscuits he brings, they decide to test his doggy-ness.

From This is a Dog Book! from Judith Henderson, illus.by Julien Chung

He is asked to prove he can run and catch a ball, wag his tail, and put on the puppy-dog eyes, performing admirably. And though he gets waylaid with thoughts of treats like lettuce, cauliflower and brussels sprouts, he's always ready to distract his investigators with biscuits.

Ummm...Do you mind if we come back to that question later?

 

In the meantime, may I interest you in a cookie?

From This is a Dog Book! from Judith Henderson, illus.by Julien Chung

Despite his reluctance to undertake in the important doo-doo test, the bunny passes, especially after answering one critical question about being a friend. 

 

Montrealer Judith Henderson, best known for her Big Words Small Stories series, uses dry humour to poke fun at a familiar need to fit in and be included. This bunny just wants to be part of the dog book and proving he's a dog is the only way. While the dogs may have him jumping through hoops–it's only a pun–to prove himself, This is a Dog Book! speaks to our common inclination to be part of a community and participate in that community with others. It also speaks to the efforts many will go to in order to become accepted and the anguish of not being so. This singularity of purpose focuses the story and the art.  So it's not surprising that Julien Chung, also from Montreal, keeps his illustrations, which were rendered digitally, very economical. Except for a few splashes of red, as in the bunny's shirt, a ball, and a biscuit box, the book essentially comprises of black-and-white illustrations of the dogs and a bunny. (Oh, there is one more animal that shows up, still black-and-white though.) Yet, Julien Chung allows us to see a rich and diverse community of dogs: large ones, fuzzy ones, and short-legged ones. Even with few lines, it's evident there's a poodle, a dachshund, and a Shar-Pei. So while the bunny fits in physically–he's just an animal with a small tail, large feet and long ears–he's still seen as a different species. That is, until he isn't. Judith Henderson and Julien Chung let us see that it's not our differences upon which we should focus, it's our similarities that will ultimately unite us.

Now, about the cow...

Going Up!

Written by Sherry J. Lee

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0113-1

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2020

In a jubilant story of inclusivity, diversity, and friendship.  Going Up! ticks all the buttons for a joyous read about making friends in an apartment building and accepting everyone as neighbours.

From Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee, illus. by Charlene Chua

Sophie and her dad are invited to Olive's birthday on the 10th floor of their apartment building. They bake cookies and take the elevator onward to the party. But getting to the party seems to be half the fun, because the elevator stops at every floor, taking on residents also invited to the party. There's the Santucci brothers–who look tough but are bedecked with cat and knitting trim–and Vicky and her partner Babs and dog Norman; Mr. and Mrs. Habib and grandchildren Yasmin and Jamal; Mr. Kwan; the Flores family; Vi Tweedle and her Chihuahua Minx; musicians Grace and Arnie; and finally Nori.

From Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee, illus. by Charlene Chua

As they take on new guests at almost every floor, the fit on the elevator gets a little more crowded but somehow there is always room to include everyone on the party elevator.

From Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee, illus. by Charlene Chua

When they finally arrive, the guests tumble out of the elevator in a glorious double-spread fold-out of colour and shape and spirit to wish poodle Olive, with her human mom, a happy birthday.

Going Up! will easily lift the moods of anyone who feels a little low. Whether on floors nearer the ground or the higher ones in this apartment building, there is much to elevate hearts and attitude. In fact, I suspect many people are currently relying on the same activities demonstrated as the apartments' residents–baking, gardening, knitting, pets, music, costumes and food–to help. We may not be able to all get together right now and celebrate birthdays in person, but Sherry J. Lee gives us the opportunity to see how we can revel in life with simple gifts of self. This is Toronto author Sherry J. Lee's debut picture book and its upbeat nature and depiction of inclusivity of all neighbours in an apartment building is a rousing kickoff.

From Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee, illus. by Charlene Chua

Charlene Chua, whose artwork I have enjoyed and reviewed numerous times (e.g., The Pencil, 2019; Akilak's Adventure, 2016; and Fishing with Grandma, 2016), brings that festivity to each one of her illustrations, which are rendered in watercolour, watercolour ink and coloured pencils before digitally completed with Photoshop.  She doesn't miss a detail, keeping Sophie and her dad's baking low-key and comforting in golds and greys, and amping up the colours and animation as the elevator travels up from floor to floor. Even the art that Charlene Chua uses on the copyright page reveals a little something of each apartment's inhabitants while the ubiquitous orange tabby cat enjoys some fish garbage.

From Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee, illus. by Charlene Chua

Going Up! cheers and rejuvenates, helping us all remember the joys of celebration with everyone, excluding no one, but also reminds us that there are ways to celebrate in which we might all partake alone. In tone and art, Going Up! raises all our spirits.

What If Bunny's Not a Bully?

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Christine Battuz

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0055-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2020

Kitty from Lana Button and Christine Battuz's My Teacher's Not Here! (2018) is still learning to navigate school and to be a part of a peer group. But she's a clever kitty and when she's told about Bunny being a bully, Kitty is determined to understand.

From What If Bunny's Not a Bully? by Lana Button, illus. by Christine Battuz

Elephant tells all the others that Bunny is a bully because she is mean and will make them sad if she gets mad. But Kitty wants to understand so much about Bunny being a bully.

...did she start out friendly,
a kid like you and me,
but ran into a bullybug
whose stringer makes you mean?

She has questions about how Bunny became a bully, whether she will always be a bully, and even whether it's contagious.

From What If Bunny's Not a Bully? by Lana Button, illus. by Christine Battuz

But when Kitty worries that she could become a bully and too be left out, Elephant reassures her that they would never leave her out because then they would be the mean ones. That's when Kitty recognizes that maybe Bunny is not the bully she's assumed to be and they need to change something to make things better.

Lana Button has a keen sense of how young children think and feel. Like many young children, Kitty will tend to follow when she feels that others know a situation better, like the elephant seems to know from experience with Bunny. But Kitty also has an empathetic heart that makes her think about the big picture and discover when that picture may be skewed. From her innocent worries about a contagion to visualizing an elderly Bunny still being shunned by Kitty's peers during a game of croquet, Kitty sees beyond what they are being told and the hurt some of them feel.

From What If Bunny's Not a Bully? by Lana Button, illus. by Christine Battuz

Christine Battuz's illustrations emphasize that innocence of perspective in her use of colour and shape, placing her very softly rounded animals in familiar school yard scenes. Her stylized landscape of patterned balls on trunks for trees, and red flowers dotting the yard, with birds throughout is as the very young often depict their surroundings. Yet there's so much to see in the expressions of Christine Battuz's characters, from discomfort and bossiness, to confusion and surprise, that What If Bunny's Not a Bully? could be an anchor book for lessons about feelings.

For young children, lessons in getting along with others and creating inclusive communities can be challenging. Their needs are often so immediate and egocentric. But what Lana Button and Christine Battuz have done is brought these lessons to their bubble of experience and helped guide them to seeing outside of themselves to understand what others may be experiencing. A valuable lesson for all of us.

•••••••••••

Today 

Monday April 27, 2020

at 2 p.m. EST

listen 

to a reading

by author Lana Button

of

What If Bunny's Not a Bully?

and

 to a conversation about pro-social behaviour in primary grades.

as part of the #CanadaPerforms live presentations.

Just go to Lana Button's Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/lana.button.5

••••••••••• 

What If Bunny's Not a Bully?: Book launch (Burlington, ON)

Join author

 Lana Button 

for story time fun at the book launch 

of her latest picture book

What If Bunny's Not a Bully?

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Christine Battuz

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0055-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2020

on

Sunday, March 1, 2020

11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

at

A Different Drummer Books
513 Locust St.
Burlington, ON
L7S 1V3

From publisher Kids Can Press: 

Ideas about bullies (and how we define people) are turned on their heads in this playful rhyming story that questions why a child is being labeled a bully.

Gertie the elephant says everyone on the playground should stay far away from Bunny because she's super mean. But Kitty has questions: How did Bunny become a bully? Was she born that way? Was she stung by a bullybug? Or maybe she caught the bully flu? Wait, does that mean bullying is contagious? And if it is, couldn't the other animals catch it, too? But ... then no one would play with them either, and that doesn't seem fair. Is it possible that Bunny is sorry? Should they give her a second chance?

Not your typical bullying story, Lana Button's fresh take flips the focus from the child being bullied to the one being called a bully. In cadenced rhyming text, the compassionate and insightful Kitty leads children through a series of questions that get at the core of the assumptions we make about others and how it feels to be on the other side of name-calling. Christine Battuz's expressive illustrations use tenderness and a touch of humor to complement the emotional level of the text. Altogether, this is a perfect child-level exploration of empathy. It would be an excellent choice for discussions about bullying, or more broad issues of social development. It also works for character education lessons on empathy, compassion, fairness and inclusiveness.

Retrieved from https://www.kidscanpress.com/products/what-if-bunnys-not-bully on February 10, 2020.

The Banana-Leaf Ball

Written by Katie Smith Milway

Illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-331-8

32 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2017

Most picture books are thirty-two pages in length but packing a story that includes escape from war, near starvation, separation from family, life in a refugee camp, and troubles with gangs into those few pages is an accomplishment.  The Banana-Leaf Ball’s story has all of that and even reconciliation and hope for the future.

From The Banana-Leaf Ball 

by Katie Smith Milway 

illus. by Shane W. Evans

When Deo Rukundo and his family are driven from their farm by war in Burundi, the child becomes separated from them.  Rescued by a fisherman, Deo is taken to Lukole, a refugee camp in Tanzania.  The camp which is not dissimilar from a village with a marketplace and school also has limited resources like water and food and the presence of gangs.  Deo tries to avoid Remy, a gang leader, who steals and bullies but especially after Remy  steals some of Deo’s carefully worked banana twine for the banana-leaf ball he makes and hides away.  When a man arrives with a coveted leather soccer ball and puts the teams into Shirts and Skins to encourage a game,  Deo is made a captain and Remy is on his team.  With a little teamwork and a lot of encouragement, all the boys, Deo and Remy included, are able to put away their differences and learn a bit about playing soccer, making banana-leaf balls, and becoming friends.

From The Banana-Leaf Ball 

by Katie Smith Milway 

illus. by Shane W. Evans

The Banana-Leaf Ball is Kid Can Press’ newest addition to its CitizenKid series of books and Katie Smith Milway’s fourth book in the series. Like its predecessors, it’s a story of empowerment that comes from dire circumstances but told in terms of the children who rise above.  Though most young readers will have no first-hand knowledge of being driven out of their homes by war and separated from family, as well as living in a refugee camp, many will understand the conflict with a peer that pervades daily existence.  The message that play and sport can override that conflict and provide the basis for inclusiveness is a positive one that children the world over need to know.  To further that message, The Banana-Leaf Ball includes notes about the real Deo and an amazing section called “How Kids are Learning to Trust and Include Others” which includes links to relevant organizations and descriptions of games to foster working together.

From The Banana-Leaf Ball 

by Katie Smith Milway

 illus. by Shane W. Evans

Award-winning American illustrator Shane W. Evans (Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom, We March, and The Way a Door Closes) who primarily works in pen and ink and oils with computer lends a simple power to the story.  The illustrations are weighty but energetic with the strife of escape and bustle of life in a refugee camp.  Colour and shape and even size help convey Deo’s situation, dark and shadowy when escaping and isolated, while bright and larger, coming to life when playing soccer.

Through words and art, The Banana-Leaf Ball continues to fulfil CitizenKid’s mandate of inspiring global citizenship but, by basing it on a true story, it also demonstrates the potential for good to come from bad and the importance of empathy, teamwork and resilience to further that good.


••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Check out Kids Can Press' book trailer for this new book:

The Banana-Leaf Ball - A New CitizenKid Book

Uploaded to YouTube by KidsCanPressMovies on March 28, 2017.

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