Do You Wonder?

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Imprint of Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-8276-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

September 2022

We all wonder and ask questions. Sometimes it's about the small things like what we'll have for dinner that night or sometimes it's about bigger things like whether we're making the right decisions. And occasionally some of us ask the really monumental questions about the universe. Regardless, they are all important because these questions make us mindful of what we and others are experiencing which can only lead to greater compassion, understanding and creativity. Award-winning author and illustrator Wallace Edwards guides us through some important questions to reveal what it is we may be wondering about.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

In a series of single-page and double-page spreads, Wallace Edwards tells young readers some of the things he has wondered about. 

Sometimes I wonder about the mysteries of the sky. 

Sometimes I wonder why some songs make me happy.  

Sometimes I wonder how to join the conversation.

These ponderings are all ones that we have. But then Wallace Edwards takes on bigger inquiries.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right puppet show. 

Sometimes I wonder who was here before me.  

Sometimes I wonder if I really see what I think I see.

The depth and breadth of his meditations run the gamut from the playful (e.g., Sometimes I wonder where the banana went) to those of self-awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder if I can finish what I've started) or global awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder who decides what is important). His thoughtfulness is profound and I stopped on many pages to ponder the answers. I often had none but the wondering was sufficient. It required a focus to the question and a mindfulness of all that it encompassed. The answer was not necessary; what was important was the curiosity and the inquiry.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Ah, but this is Wallace Edwards, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Illustrations and numerous other picture book awards, so the text is married to extraordinary artwork, rendered here in pencil, watercolour and gouache. Even without the text, the art would be sublime, detailed in its depictions of animals that range from a barn owl, alligators, a rhino and elephants to a variety of bird species, as well as in the scenes filled with balloon animals, ice cream, vegetation and ornate furniture. There is so much to look at and to delve into. (Check out the faces in the forest on the cover of Do You Wonder? for a sampling.) But it's not "just" the art. It's the way Wallace Edwards's words are interpreted in his art. For example, the text "Sometimes I wonder why some things seem so difficult" is paired with a porcupine struggling to create balloon animals, having popped numerous balloons that hang off of his quills. Readers can think about challenges in their own lives, whether a struggle with school or with friends and family or even with health. But the artwork asks young readers to look beyond themselves and recognize that others too have challenges that may not be obvious until they are exposed. Of course a porcupine would struggle with balloons! But until I saw that illustration, it never occurred to me.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Thank you, Wallace Edwards, for helping us see ourselves and others and beyond ourselves. Thank you for inviting us into your considerations and encouraging us to do the same. And thank you for reminding us that there are somethings, like love, that never need to be questioned.

The Deepest Dig

 

Written by Mark David Smith

Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-419-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2021

What can come from a little curiosity and some brain power and brawn? A whole lot of treasure. Even if no one believes, at first.

From The Deepest Dig by Mark David Smith, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Caden is a child with a curious mind. When he and his dog find something poking out of the backyard, he eliminates all the things it is not: not a root, not a post, not a stone. His neighbour Martha encourages him to dig deeper. His scientific brain asks questions and considers his options. While he does ask his parents as he proceeds to dig, they both dismiss his inquiries.

From The Deepest Dig by Mark David Smith, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

First shovelling and then with the use of Martha's truck winch, bits and pieces are excavated. Even when he tells his teacher what he'd found, Caden is dismissed (later compelling Mr. Clerkson to eat his words, or rather his hat). Because Martha recognizes that, "It's only a treasure if it's put together," Caden gets to work. 

 

From The Deepest Dig by Mark David Smith, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

This time when his parents see his efforts, they have a lot less to say–they are speechless–and it's Caden who puts together what the next steps should be to get the woolly mammoth skeleton witnessed by all.

It's been awhile since I've reviewed a story by Mark David Smith. I'd been quite impressed by his middle-grade novel Caravaggio: Signed in Blood (Tradewind, 2013) and still am but now also with a picture book that promotes curiosity and endeavour. Of course it's a child who discovered a skeleton. They're the ones who aren't focusing on their bills and their work and household chores. Mom or Dad probably had already rolled over it or around it with their lawn mower, oblivious to its importance. Caden, on the other, got down and looked at it. Really looked at it. This is scientific inquiry at its best. In order to see more, he makes a plan and digs it out. Then putting together what he learns in class and through his own efforts, he assembles a find worthy of a museum. (That's where it ends up according to the newspaper article that concludes the story.) Martha and his parents may have had to be there to get him further along in his inquiry but it was all driven by Caden, and his efforts should be applauded.

From The Deepest Dig by Mark David Smith, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Lily Snowden-Fine, whose artwork I only recently reviewed for the first time (Kimmy & Mike, 2021), uses vibrant colours and scale to emphasize the daring and magnitude of Caden's endeavour. Readers are taken from the outdoors where the tree, red truck and bushes are large to when they are overshadowed by the skeleton Caden puts together. It's quite incredible but Lily Snowden-Fine makes us feel the enormity of what he has accomplished. Moreover, her diversity of characters will let all children imagine that they too could dig up a dinosaur.

The Deepest Dig encourages children to dig deep, whether it's into their curiosity, science, research or any passion. They may not always get the support they deserve at first but perseverance and determination can go a long way to unmasking a hidden treasure. Ask Caden. He did.