A Starlit Trip to the Library

Written by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel

Illustrated by Joseph Sherman

CrackBoom! Books (Chouette Publishing)

978-2-898023217

44 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2022

 

A trip to the library is always special but a starlit one is even more so. 

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Camping out on an island near her home, Julia spends time with her forest buddies from How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read: Frieda the skunk, Abigail the groundhog, and Scotty the squirrel. But, just as she's about to start storytime, Julia is disappointed to find her storybook missing from her backpack. Fortunately, their bear friend, Bertrand, arrives via houseboat, and invites them to join him on a book-scavenging adventure to the "perfect place to dig for page-turners, sublime rhymes and other treasures."

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Using the stars to guide them, the reading adventurers head to town and to the library. But, because it's late and not all of them are permitted to have library cards, the group heads behind the library. There they meet up with the night librarian, Olga the owl, who shows them the many boxes of donated books which she organizes.

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Olga offers assistance in finding just the right book but it's a tall order as they all want something specific in the book, something that reflects their own lives. Of course, like the wonderful librarian that she is, Olga finds the perfect story to make everyone happy.

From A Starlit Trip to the Library by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, illus. by Joseph Sherman

Readers know the joys of connection that come with finding the right book and sharing that reading with others. In both their Julia books, Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel focus on books and the richness that comes with the reading. They show us the inspiration that comes with connecting with others, or seeing oneself reflected in the stories, or learning new things, or getting lost in new worlds. But this time, Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel also highlight the library and librarians and the bounty that comes from engagement with both. Reading is paramount but only if you have the book that fits your needs at that time. Thankfully, there are loads of books available at our public libraries, and school libraries too, and qualified staff to advise, recommend, listen, read and share their expertise with readers of all ages.  And Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel celebrate them and their readers both in A Starlit Trip to the Library. (And if that's not enough, there's also notes about animals in the constellations and a very catchy song, sung by JUNO Award-winning Taes Leavitt of Splash’N Boots.)

 

Joseph Sherman, a Gemini Award-winning animation designer as well as illustrator, uses colour and shape to bring that celebratory luminosity to A Starlit Trip to the Library. Though the setting is night, the stars are out in the sky and there's a brightness to the characters and their landscapes. Illumination, through books, stars and constellations, and friendship, is aptly evoked through Joseph Sherman's artwork.

There's magic in books, as every reader knows. There's the magic of searching for the right book, of sharing a story with friends, and of the adventure that comes from within. Julia and friends find their newest bit of magic under the stars and behind a library and, by telling us their story of A Starlit Trip to the Library, Andrew Katz, Juliana Léveillé-Trudel and Joseph Sherman get to share some of that allure with us.

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Julia’s Song (from the book A Starlit Trip to the Library)

          Music and lyrics by Andrew Katz

          Produced and engineered by Peter Katz

          Performed by Taes Leavitt

Posted on Bibliovideo on February 24, 2022 at YouTube.

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Tomorrow I interview co-author (and songwriter) Andrew Katz about A Starlit Trip to the Library, so look for that here.

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Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917428

44 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2021

Mr. Beagle first sniffed out a mystery in Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown (2020) and brought his community of Rabbittown together in one of acceptance for diversity. Now Mr. Beagle is visiting his cousin Georgie in the neighbourhood of Georgestown and there's another mystery to solve. 

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Enjoying a walk in the neighbourhood, Georgie tells Mr. Beagle of a spate of break-ins around Georgestown. But the cat burglar wasn't stealing valuables like money (piggy banks, actually) or art; they were taking storybooks. The residents of Georgestown were waking up to emptied bookshelves, saddened to realize there would be no more relaxing reads or bedtime stories for little ones.

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Mr. Beagle puts his head to work to finding the cat burglar, looking throughout the community for possible suspects, from renovators and painters to line workers adept with tall ladders. But it's not until the cat burglar makes their way to Georgie's one night that Mr. Beagle realizes how wrong he was about the who and the why of the burglaries and helps makes things right for the neighbourhood.

From Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery by Lori Doody

Lori Doody consistently presents readers with important messages in quaint stories with playful settings and characters. She gives us the colour of a Newfoundland community with a diversity of characters–dogs, cats, rabbits, foxes, etc.–and reminds us not to judge too quickly. The end-papers (I used them as background for the book cover above) celebrate the diversity of individuals in Lori Doody's story, always reminding us that differences bring richness to a community. And that community is what is key to Lori Doody's stories. Here, not only does Mr. Beagle solve the mystery of the thefts, he finds a way to turn things around for the thief, get the books returned to their rightful owners and create a neighbourhood meeting place where books might be shared and celebrated by all. With the whimsy of its bold lines and shapes and the vibrancy of its colours and characters, Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery gives readers a lesson in ignoring appearances and stereotypes and celebrates the benefits of embracing all for the betterment of all. I'd say that's another victory and mystery solved for Mr. Beagle.

 

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Author-illustrator Lori Doody talks about her new book in a short video posted at https://youtu.be/eoNVwoxLcNI by publisher Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides.

 

Uploaded by RunningTheGoat on June 28, 2021 to YouTube.

The Librarian's Stories

Written by Lucy Falcone

Illustrated by Anna Wilson

POW! Kids Books

978-1-576879450

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

February 2021

 

Though many young readers will recognize the name L. M. Falcone as the writer of supernatural mysteries like Walking with the Dead (Kids Can Press, 2005), Lucy Falcone has recently pursued writing emotionally-charged picture books like I Didn't Stand Up (Clockwise Press, 2018) that remind that what really counts, like justice and compassion. In The Librarian's Stories, it's humanity and literacy.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Though life in this town was once a typical one for children of play and birthdays, the greyness of war settles over the community in which a library is destroyed, scattering pages, words and letters out and away. Life is now one lived in fear, of long lines for water, of cold rooms without electricity, and sparse food availability.

 

Then one day there are spoken words sprinkled in the air from the local square. Papa may call the librarian who sits there reading aloud foolish but they stop to listen.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Without much food and only the cold and grey as backdrop, the child joins others watching from their own windows and tucked into doorways and against walls, all listening.

Her words carry me back...

Briefly, the boy remembers his birthday, with balloons and kites and even birds flying.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

But even as he and other children and adults listen, the reality of their lives, from the danger of standing in open windows, tanks in the streets, barbed wire and marching soldiers, encroaches back in. Still the librarian returns and reads aloud.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Eventually the soldiers are gone and the town repairs itself, including the child helping by reading aloud himself. But the best thing to help the goodness return is the rebuilding of that library.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

War and conflict bring hardship and destruction but it is often seen in terms of shortages, deaths and injury, and the ruination of structures. But Lucy Falcone reminds us that the extinguishing of hope offered through literacy can be just as traumatic. The librarian knows the power of words to renew and enliven, and her perseverance and determination herald the new spirit for the town. By choosing to show us what is impactful for a child, Lucy Falcone gives a perspective that is elementary but profound by contrasting the darkness of conflict with the light of literacy.

 

New Zealand illustrator Anna Wilson similarly accentuates the anguish of a community in strife with the brightness of children and the luminosity of stories. In The Librarian's Stories, she gets the tone right for transitioning the story from one of the grim reality of war to one of hope and brightness, and her depiction of darkened letters fractured from the library's ruins and of blue or white words wafting from a reading are especially telling.

 

Most readers know the healing capacity of books and words but The Librarian's Stories reminds us that they can do much to restore communities from trauma as well.  Without words, without stories, without reading, we are all desolate.