Jackie's Drawing

Written by Andrew Katz

Illustrated by Tony Luzano

CrackBoom! Books (An imprint of Chouette Publishing)

978-2-898025679

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

May 2025 

There have been more than several novels, picture books, and short story collections that have been based during in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns (stay-at-home orders) and other measures. Though never mentioning the pandemic, Jackie's Drawing sees a child's perspective on the resulting isolation and a rebound to normal in terms of nature's response and her own inspiration for creativity.

From Jackie's Drawing, written by Andrew Katz, illustrated by Tony Luzano

Jackie's story begins with a rusty haze befalling her community. This haze forces everyone to stay indoors and to isolate from everyone and everything, including the mountain she'd often visit for inspiration for her art. At first, Jackie is still able to draw, gathering ideas from memory and her own experience. But, with time, it becomes more difficult as she had "lost the heart to do anything."

From Jackie's Drawing, written by Andrew Katz, illustrated by Tony Luzano

But one day a flash of silver in the canal beneath her window gets her attention. An unexpected dolphin has appeared, and with it a menagerie of other animals, from a bald eagle to moose and deer and foxes who have begun to make their way onto the streets, into the air, and into the water where only people had ventured. Jackie is enthralled and takes up her drawing pencils, determined to draw them all.

From Jackie's Drawing, written by Andrew Katz, illustrated by Tony Luzano

But as she draws them all, a wonderful dragon with antlers, a tail fin and feathers appears and transports her to the mountain where her drawing inspiration always lived.

From Jackie's Drawing, written by Andrew Katz, illustrated by Tony Luzano

While Jackie's Drawing speaks to a child's loss of enthusiasm for her drawing with her separation from nature, Andrew Katz's note at the conclusion of the story reminds us that the natural world too responded to the pandemic or could have. So, as Jackie had lost her creative muse the longer the "haze" drenched her community, the animals who normally would have been relegated to outside that community were able to find their way onto the quiet waterways, skies and land within. And for Jackie to find that nature was coming to her to awaken her imagination was a lovely positive during a dark time. Of course, it is still Jackie's imagination that helps her create a chimera–Andrew Katz discusses this in his appended note too–of the animals she sees, allowing her to travel in a flight of fancy to her beloved mountain to re-experience the joy of drawing outdoors.

 

Andrew Katz and Tony Luzano have previously collaborated on a picture book, I Want to Be Super!, so there seems to be a harmony of styles that works. Jackie's Drawing is again about an imaginative kid and Tony Luzano's digital art reflects every nuance of a child who is enthusiastic but then loses that enthusiasm when troubled with isolation and then finds a way to regain that passion for her art. His use of bold colours and distinct animals places the emphasis on the wonders outside and in Jackie's artwork, not on the grim haze that permeates their world for such a long time. He finds the light for her and for the reader to get beyond that haze of bleakness. 

The first year of the pandemic was especially difficult for many people but for children whose creativity was stifled, it might have been more challenging. Finding new things to do helped many but only coming after feeling the loss of their routines and familiar activities. Finding their new normal involved grief, courage, and imagination. Thankfully for Jackie, she found her ability to express herself from the very same source of encouragement she'd always relied upon, just in a different configuration.

If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 inspiring individuals found their dream jobs

Written by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac

Illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-228-8

64 pp.

Ages 8-12

October 2022 

 

Although I could see teachers using If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It as a nifty catalogue of possible careers, this non-fiction book is more inspiration, depicting those who have dreamed big and followed those dreams to success.

From If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac, illus. by Scot Ritchie

Authors Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac have highlighted 26 individuals who have followed their dreams and achieved their dream jobs. From author to chief medical officer and smokejumper to play-by-play commentator, a wide variety of jobs in the creative arts, sports, trades, sciences, education, tech and more are covered. For each individual (and one pair) showcased, the authors have included a bio, a list of spin-off jobs, and young people inspired to follow a similar path.

From If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac, illus. by Scot Ritchie

Some of the individuals highlighted will be recognizable, such as author David A. Robertson (Sugar Falls, On the Trapline, When We Were Alone), Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Medical Officer, and Stephanie Harvey, pro gamer missharvey while others do their jobs with passion but without celebrity. Learning how they achieved their dream jobs, often through hard work, relevant education or experience, and perseverance, and how young people can try things to see if it's a path they'd like to follow are all included in each double-spread exposé. 

From If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It by Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac, illus. by Scot Ritchie

The completeness of this collection will be a worthwhile reference for career counsellors and kids thinking about where their passions may lead them, but it's also just a well-organized collective biography that informs and celebrates. From info boxes and a glossary, as well as a listing of types of skills needed as a foundation for those jobs, Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac cover all the bases in a comprehensive and captivating format. And with Scot Ritchie's playful cartoons reflecting the diversity and abundance of people and jobs showcased, If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It becomes less instructive and more colourful.

 

With a little bit of everything and everyone, Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac, with Scot Ritchie's illustrative additions, take us into the studios, schools, labs, and outdoors to meet the doers who endeavoured to find their dream jobs and now enrich our world in countless ways.

• • • • • • •

 

If you're fortunate to be in Winnipeg or thereabouts this week, Colleen Nelson and Kathie MacIsaac will be launching their new book on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at 7 PM at McNally Robinson Booksellers, in Grant Park in the Atrium, Winnipeg, MB. It will also be  Streaming on YouTube, if you can't attend in person. Full details here.

Can You Imagine?

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-7043-7

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October 2021

From the brilliant artistry and imagination of the author-illustrator of Governor General award-winning Alphabeasts (2002), Once Upon a Line (2015) and What is Peace? (2016) comes a new picture book of wild artwork and inventiveness about inspiration and creativity.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

Faced with a blank canvas, an artist goes in search of ideas, heading out on a journey in hopes of inspiration. The plainness of his house, bicycle and surroundings emulates the blankness of his creative spark. But, it doesn't take long before everything changes around him and ultimately inside him too.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

His home's natural surroundings may be filled with grassy meadows and only a few straggly trees but there is a single flower with hummingbird and caterpillar promising more growth and vitality. Soon the artist is travelling in his red and white sportster through the woods teeming with colour and complexity and life. There are mega-flowers, parrots and a lion. There is a jester and Humpty Dumpty on his wall and faces hidden in trees and greenery.

From Can You Imagine? by Wallace Edwards

As he travels further in, his red-and-white car becoming snazzier with each page, he notes a bunny behind a bush and other travellers. But the illustrations tell us more. The rabbit, wearing a red coat and drinking tea, is 4-5 times larger than the bush and he's watching a violin-playing mouse accompanying a singing carrot. The travellers are a rolling robot, a frog on a turtle, a fish on a penny-farthing and a tiny rabbit in a tailed carrot car. Similarly a stop at a pond to hear small fish jumping seems pleasant and innocuous but Wallace Edwards shows us there is far more behind the scenes: a crowned toad, a mermaid and a surprised squid. As the artist continues on, he enters a busy city, so bustling that he seeks quiet in a desert which leads him to a mountain and a return home by air and unicycle.

But, home is now transformed. The flower has opened, the caterpillar is a butterfly and the grass is lush with flowers. Colour abounds now as does real life and inspiration for the artist. Still what he paints after all his travels is a lot closer to home than he could have anticipated.

Wallace Edwards is certainly a wizard with his pencil, watercolour and gouache, transforming landscapes of flora and fauna into surreal scenes of vibrancy and movement. That same complexity which he has imbued much of his art is prevalent in the views the protagonist visits in his ever-evolving transport, of which there are at least twenty red-and-white versions. The imagination can take you everywhere and anywhere and Wallace Edwards demonstrates this with zeal. But the storytelling of Can You Imagine? is what really transforms the art from incredible to superlative. That story is not told so much in words–there are fewer than 100 words of text–as it is in the melding of those words with the art. Like Wallace Edwards's message about finding inspiration and gaining new perspectives on familiar circumstances, Can You Imagine? inspires us to look and really see, to experience more from less, and to be mindful of the moment. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz who found the best at home only after an incredible journey, the artist in Can You Imagine? gains his own inspiration and perspective by the pencil and paint travels from his own wizard, Wallace Edwards, and offers us encouragement to do much the same to bolster our own creativities.

Be You!

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchard Books (An imprint of Scholastic)

978-1-338-57231-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2020

With words and art, Peter H. Reynolds is an inspiration of compassion, self-acceptance and living a good life well. In Be You!, which opens with a dedication to Stephanie Germanotta, the song queen of being yourself, Peter H. Reynolds will touch young readers with the positive message to be their best selves.

From Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds

My wish for you –
no matter where your journey leads –
is for you to always...
Be YOU!

In a series of simple directives, Peter H. Reynolds implores the reader to Be ready...to take that next step toward being an amazing human being and to be curious, adventurous, connected, persistent, different, kind and understanding, and brave. He encourages and empowers and accepts that everyone needs different things at different times. It could mean spending time alone, or asking for help, or being patient, because good things take time. 

From Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds

With that openness to possibilities and self-acceptance, he assures that there will be love and you've got this one.

You are ready.
So...go ahead. BE YOU.
Be very, very YOU!

I know that Be You! is a children's picture book but it's actually an empowering and meaningful self-help book for all. Peter H. Reynolds reminds us to be hopeful and accepting of ourselves, knowing that, with time and effort and affirmation, being oneself is pretty good. His illustrations, which rely heavily on watercolours, gouache and ink (though I've read he will use tea and other liquids too!), are emboldening in their colours and line. Life is not for the faint of heart and Be You!'s illustrations remind us to be present and live boldly, even if quietly sometimes. Reading his books–I have reviewed Happy Dreamer (2017), The Word Collector (2018) and Say Something! (2018) here–have always touched me with their compelling but simple messages of goodness. For anyone who needs reminders that it's good to just be yourself and be hopeful of the outcomes, Be You! does that.

From Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds

Say Something!

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchard Books (Scholastic)

978-0-545-86503-6

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

February 2019

In his extraordinary way of blending message with art, Peter H. Reynolds, creator of The Dot (2003), Happy Dreamer (2017) and The Word Collector (2018), brings young readers to speak from the heart and make the world a better place for all.

From Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds

In a series of double spreads, children are encouraged to speak from the heart "with words, with action, with creativity" when they spot a lonely person or someone being hurt, or when they see an empty canvas or lot that could blossom to life, or when there are ideas and beauty to be shared.

From Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds

From Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds

It's about being yourself and being your best self, helping everyone to understand and to say something too.

Sometimes you'll say something

and no one will be listening.

But keep saying

what is in your heart ...

... and you will find someone who listens.

Keep saying it ...

... and you may be surprised 

to find the whole world

listening.

Peter H. Reynolds encourages all to say something in their own way, recognizing that some have strong voices that are easily heard and others are quieter, imparting their messages through poetry, art, fashion and science. This acknowledgement of differences, including in our ways to communicate, makes Say Something! relevant and accessible to all.

From Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds

As a bonus, there's a wonderful activity pack available free from Scholastic that includes a heart-shaped card that would be perfect for a Valentine's Day class activity. Check it out at https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/scholastic/kids/pdf/say-something/Scholastic_SaySomethingActivityPack.pdf

Say Something! says loads about standing up, sitting down, speaking out and stepping forward. It's inspiring and motivating and empowering. Thank you, Peter H. Reynolds, for cheering those who've led by saying something and encouraging all of us to do the same.

💬💬💬💬💬💬💬💬💬💬

For more inspiration and to see more illustrations from the book, check out the official trailer posted by Scholastic on YouTube.

Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds | Official Trailer

Posted by Scholastic on February 1, 2019 

at https://youtu.be/1QfcXz4F0Qc

Happy Dreamer

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchards Books/Scholastic

978-0-545-86501

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2017

Peter H. Reynolds’s earlier picture books (The Dot, Ish, Sky Color) have inspired children to be creative and be true to themselves while encouraging their parents and teachers to foster that creativity. Happy Dreamer takes that premise a step further by accepting the foundation that we are all dreamers in our own ways and should be allowed the freedom to dream.

The child in Happy Dreamer –girl, boy, does it matter?–acknowledges that they are a happy dreamer who is good at dreaming all kinds of dreams: daydreams, big and little dreams and creative dreams.  Though that dreaming isn’t always appreciated in schools and elsewhere, with the child being told to sit still or focus, they realize that their dreams “have a mind of their own.”  With that, this child speaks to their different dreamings, in terms of volume and colour and messiness. Profoundly they also acknowledge that there can be a loneliness involved in dreaming but that dreaming can also set you free, “plunging into amazing, delightful, happy dreams.”

From Happy Dreamer 

by Peter H. Reynolds

It’s all a question of being an individual and being allowed to be yourself.  And to that end, the dreamer who accepts themself as being okay, offers four glorious pages of illustrations of dreamers from which the readers might identify themselves.

From Happy Dreamer
by Peter H. Reynolds

Peter H. Reynolds, whose books repeatedly make the children’s book world stand up and pay attention, has done so again in Happy Dreamer. He states unequivocally on his website that he has a mission in his art and books:

“When I visit students in schools they ask me what my hobbies are. I say thinking, dreaming. If my art and stories can help inspire others to do the same, I'll feel my life had meaning.”

(Retrieved from http://www.peterhreynolds.com/mission2.html on April 4, 2017.)

His art of pen and ink with watercolour achieves that easily. There is an illuminating quality to Peter H. Reynolds’s drawings, even when emphasizing the ways in which we as teachers and parents attempt to subdue, even quell, that joie de vivre.  Still the overall message which Peter H. Reynolds upholds in text and art is that of accepting ourselves in terms of our dreams, whether they be wishes or desires or simply contemplations of what could be.  Peter H. Reynolds brings every young reader, and not so young reader, to a place of contentment for whom we are.

There’s only one question that needs to still be asked: What kind of a dreamer are you?

The Stone Thrower

Written by Jael Ealey Richardson

Illustrated by Matt James

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-752-8

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

For release May 2016

Though The Stone Thrower only came out this month, this picture book that honours Jael Ealey Richardson's father, Chuck Ealey, a famous African American football player who was undefeated in his home country but made a name for himself in the CFL, will surely become earmarked for booklists of significant youngCanLit for February, Black History Month.

Thoughtfully illustrated by Governor General award-winning artist Matt James, The Stone Thrower is “a story about a kid who lived in hard times, a kid who had a big dream that seemed almost impossible.”(pg. 2) It’s the story of Chuck Ealey, beginning with his birth to a poor, hard-working mother in 1950 Portsmouth, Ohio where segregation and racism would seem to be the norm. Though her own education was minimal, his mother ensured that her son understood that, like the trains that ran through their neighbourhood, he shouldn’t stop until he got where he was going, and that was out of the North End and completing his education.

These same trains became a source of victorious inspiration to him as he regularly tossed stones at the cars, aiming for the large letter N on the side, practising over and over again until he could always hit his target. Applying this same determination, focus, and practice at school and at football, Chuck was able to see beyond the hardships he and other African American youth faced at the time and was able to achieve great things, including winning every game as quarterback for his high school.

Jael Ealey Richardson may tell more about her father’s story in the note at the conclusion of the picture book, as she does in her adult book The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lessons, A Father’s Life (Thomas Allen, 2012), but The Stone Thrower focuses on but a snippet of Chuck Ealey’s successes in meeting the challenges of being a black youth. By setting a goal and aiming for it repeatedly, even when faced with cruelty and disrespect, Chuck Ealey achieved much.

From The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson, 

illus. by Matt James

Matt James, whose artwork has enhanced his own Northwest Passage (Groundwood, 2013) and I Know Here and From There to Here by Laurel Croza (Groundwood, 2010 and 2014, respectively), sets a gritty tone to The Stone Thrower, with his roughened outlines and coarse watercolours. There’s nothing saccharine about this story or the art and that’s the way it should be. Both emphasize the hardship and the courage, strength and perseverance, and the achievement. The Stone Thrower is a story of grit, visual and inspirational, in its truest form.

Me & Mr. Bell

by Philip Roy

Cape Breton University Press

978-1-927492-55-0 (pb)

978-1-927492-57-4 (eBook)

140 pp.

Ages 9-13

2013

For Alexander Graham Bell, his vacation home at Baddeck, Cape Breton is his retreat and inspiration for his many ideas.  For the residents of Baddeck in 1908, Bell is the smartest man in the world and worthy of their awe and respect for his privacy and that of his family. Not surprising that everyone regularly shows up to welcome the family when they return and to witness any demonstrations the great man chooses to share publicly. Sadly, ten-year-old Eddie MacDonald who still cannot read or write bungles a message about the Bells’ return time and angers his father so much that the man deems Eddie only good enough to be a farmer and nothing else.  Chastened, Eddie accepts himself as the “learning cripple” his family and teacher believe him to be, even introducing himself as “Nobody” when he accidentally meets the famous Alexander Graham Bell.

Though no one believes that the boy has met the great man, Eddie begins to see Bell more regularly, even being invited to Bell’s home, meeting Helen Keller, and receiving mail from the man when away.  With a few revelations and much determination, Eddie learns to see himself and others in a new light, courtesy of his friendship with the elusive inventor.

In a straightforward but rich story, author Philip Roy intertwines the lives of a brilliant innovator with an unassuming boy, emphasizing their common bonds and the opportunities that can be lost when judgements override all else.

For teachers who are always looking for great historical fiction, especially for the middle grades, I would enthusiastically recommend Me & Mr. Bell.  By integrating information about a great scientist and Helen Keller (there's biographic tie-ins here) with the history of flight (another curriculum topic), simple machines and innovation, the geography of Nova Scotia, and character education (determination, perseverance and imagination), Me & Mr. Bell has it all, and at an appropriate reading level.  And it's youngCanLit which we should be supporting in all our book choices.  Perfect package for everyone!