The Wise Pickle

Written by Sarah Howden

Illustrated by Sabina Hahn

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-698-4

40 pp.

Ages 4–8

June 2026 

 

When is a pickle more than pickle? In Sarah Howden and Sabina Hahn's picture book, it's more than a pickled vegetable when it falls from the sky and imparts wisdom to those who seek its knowledge of life. 

From The Wise Pickle, written by Sarah Howden, illustrated by Sabina Hahn

When a pickle lands next to a dry cleaner and begins to speak, recognizing that it had lived a lot of life, it is overheard by a rat. Surprised by a talking pickle, other animals, including a small bird, a worm, a chipmunk and a mouse, gather. But it's the pickle that starts the discussion with, "You might ask me, What do you have to say, pickle, that's so important? Why do you think you're so wise?" (pg. 10)

From The Wise Pickle, written by Sarah Howden, illustrated by Sabina Hahn

As the animals ask about its life, there is a deep discussion of purpose, journey, and choices. The animals provide a pillow, food—unnecessary—and even summon a dog to ultimately eat the shrivelling pickle, thereby fulfilling its métier to provide food. But fate—or was that a gull?—intervenes, and the wise pickle's end is deferred with a new pathway to be taken.

 

If Sarah Howden's story tells readers anything it's that things can always change. You might see yourself on one path, when something changes, sometimes without personal liability, and a new path opens up. It may lead to the same outcome, but maybe not, and being flexible helps to see the positives in the new direction. 

From The Wise Pickle, written by Sarah Howden, illustrated by Sabina Hahn

But Sarah Howden doesn't just give us a deeply philosophical look at life's journey—there's also a look at who we revere and why. She also tells her story with a dry humour, which is bolstered by NYC's Sabina Hahn's pencil and watercolour art. Sabina Hahn keeps the humour, claiming she used pickle brine in her illustrations. Still, it's the starkness of her art that elevates Sarah Howden's story from cute to meaningful. There's a pickle that expresses itself with only its eyes, animals that show concern and reverence for the brined cucurbit, and connection between all of them.

 

Looks like there's a new guru in town—by way of falling off of someone's plate—and it has some life lessons to share. I will still enjoy my garlic dill pickle, but I may never look at it the same way, thanks to Sarah Howden and Sabina Hahn.

Spark

Written and illustrated by Ani Castillo

Megan Tinsley Books (Little, Brown and Company)

978-0-316-42465-3

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2021

Ani Castillo charmed me and other readers with Ping (2019), her picture book about an amorphous being who had a message about communication and connecting with others. In Spark, a different entity akin to a child in a snowsuit delights in the spark that is life.

The story begins with a question.

What is this magical thing...

to be alive?

It's a big question. What does it mean? From the coming together of individuals who fall in love is created their little bundle of blue who revels in all that they can do: touch, smell, tell, cry, sleep, dance, love, give, share, make...There is so much for which to be thankful. 

From Spark by Ani Castillo

But more than the now is the anticipation of what can still be, in places to be explored, in lives to be touched and in letting the spark shine. And even with cold, rain and darkness, the gift of that spark of life endures. 

From Spark by Ani Castillo

Though I could see Spark being a great book for very young children to understand the concept of life–getting life, living life, and appreciating life–I think that it's really about the gratitude we should have for the lives we have. Not always perfect, sometimes totally disheartening, and often messy, but still there is a spark that persists as long as we're alive. And the spark isn't there because you have the most expensive toys or are the most famous or the wealthiest. It's there by virtue of the life spark within. Ani Castillo shows us that simplicity of idea in her text and her art. There are no superfluous words to cloud the message. There is just life lived in its most basic forms. Similarly Ani Castillo's art of pencil and watercolours extends this message of modesty and openness. We are all these beings, both shapeless and distinct, human and not, but all with life that is recognizable. 

As long as there is the spark of life, there is something worthwhile to hold onto and for which to be grateful.

From Spark by Ani Castillo

Inuit Spirit: A Colouring Book

by Germaine Arnaktauyok

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-126-3

48 pp.

Ages 7+

December 2016

This may be a colouring book and I know the expectation is that pencil crayons will be taken to the black-and-white line drawings, but it almost seems sacrilegious to mar Germaine Arnaktauyok’s stunning illustrations.  Perhaps this reverence is essential for all who behold this book as it will ensure that, even if you do take on the near impossible task of bringing new life to Germaine Arnaktauyok’s outlines, you do so with respect, care and an authentic appreciation for her images of traditional Inuit life.

From Inuit Spirit: A Colouring Book 

by Germaine Arnaktauyok

There are twenty-nine different line drawings that may be coloured, from the title page to Neil Christopher’s introduction and the author’s page, though the emphasis is definitely on the 26 drawings set up in double spreads opposite explanatory text about the art.  Some of the art focuses on the natural landscape of the North like the numerous drawings of the tundra plants including willow, lichens, saxifrage, bilberry, and its inhabitants such as the Arctic char, plankton, sea mammals, ptarmigan and gulls.  Other drawings feature characters  from traditional Inuit stories such as the very creepy mahahaa, the taliillajuuq, the qallupilluit, the nanurluk and Sedna, the mother of the sea mammals, as well as scenes from these tales. (See reviews of Way Back Then and Those That Cause Fear by Neil Christopher (Inhabit Media, 2015 and 2016, respectively) for original illustrations by Germaine Arnaktauyok for these and similar stories.) There are also several line drawings of Inuit dress and activities such as drumming.

From Inuit Spirit: A Colouring Book 

by Germaine Arnaktauyok

The text is informative, bringing a knowledge of Inuit life and traditions to help clarify the black-and-white artwork. While the snippets are generally quite brief, the text teaches while helping the reader/colourist discern the elements of the drawing and selecting colours.

Inuit Spirit may not be graced as completely as it could be with Germaine Arnaktauyok’s own colouring version of pointillism–though there is a lengthy discussion of her style being based on squiggles of varying densities–but this colouring book brings an interactive element to her remarkable illustration and to the book’s aim of bringing the art of Inuit life to those beyond the northern areas.  Perhaps by doing rather than just seeing, readers of Inuit Spirit will achieve a new appreciation for Inuit life in general and Germaine Arnaktauyok's art specifically as defining of the northern experience.