Small in the City

Written and illustrated by Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-198-6

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2019

On October 2, the Canada Council for the Arts announced its finalists for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Awards, and Small in the City was one of the nominated titles for the English-language children's book illustration. This is Sydney Smith's fourth nomination–he and JonArno Lawson won in 2015 for Sidewalk Flowers (Groundwood, 2015)–and this one is all the more distinct as Small in the City is his first picture book as author and illustrator.

From Small in the City by Sydney Smith

Though the cover makes a young child who looks out of a streetcar window larger than life, minimizing the buildings reflected in the glass, Sydney Smith's illustrations show a child peripheral to the city. They look out over the streets of people doing and buildings standing. When they leave the streetcar, they are dwarfed by everything in the busy city. People march past looking at their feet or their phones. Sounds of taxis and car horns and construction and sirens are loud and scary. It's almost too much.

From Small in the City by Sydney Smith

But as the child ventures through the cold streets and snowflakes begin to fall, they know how to be a part of that city. They know which alleys to avoid and wonderful places to hide or climb or enjoy the steam from a dryer vent. As they walk from the busyness into a neighbourhood of trees and yards, local stores and houses, and a park, this child gives advice about where safety can be found. Soon enough the reader will observe that the child has posted salmon-pink notices to posts and fences and doors. The child may be small in the city but a lost cat is even smaller. Still, with the flurries becoming snow squalls with near whiteout conditions, the child reaches home, convinced that "You will be all right."

From Small in the City by Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith's artwork, created with ink, watercolour and gouache, journeys with the child from a dark-toned city centre through neighbourhoods infused with colour to a home blanketed in the lightness of peace and contentment. It's a Toronto of commerce and community, movement and stability, and this child lives in it and of it. They may be small but they are not insignificant and as they walk closer and closer to home, their presence becomes more meaningful.

Being small in the city is a perspective most adults have forgotten. It's seeing the heart of the city as it is, free of interpretation and expectation but infused with perception. As such, Small in the City is a story of a child for children and most certainly for those who have ever lost a pet. This could have been a sad story of loss and fear but Sydney Smith makes it one of resilience and hope, expectation and common sense. It's seeing shelter and warmth, food and comfort where adults might only see trees and shrubs, a dryer vent, the fishmonger and a church ledge. It's perspective as perception that makes Small in the City effusive in community and family and takes the reader from the obscurity to the light of home with its happy ending.

Greetings, Leroy

Written by Itah Sadu

Illustrated by Alix Delinois

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-760-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2017

Greetings, Leroy is one long email from a new Canadian boy named Roy to his friend Leroy in Jamaica, telling about his new life and first day at school.  But as the young boy tries to connect with his friend, missing so much of his Jamaican home, it becomes evident that his new life in Canada is already rich with Jamaican connections.

From Greetings, Leroy 

by Itah Sadu

illus. by Alix Delinois

Roy looks a little saddened sitting at his computer, trying to get a response from his friend Leroy, one of the many Roys on his soccer team.  There’s Iroy, Delroy, Uroy, Stedroy, Buckroy, Royson and, of course, Leroy.  With all the Roys back home in Jamaica, it’s no wonder Roy feels left out.  And it’s no wonder he’s nervous about the first day of school in Canada when his peer support system isn’t with him.  

But the day brings warm surprises of reminders of his Jamaican home, from his father playing Bob Marley and the Wailers, and their neighbour Ms. Muir giving him a Bob Marley button.  

I puffed out my chest big, big and grinned from ear to ear, because Bob Marley was Jamaican and I am Jamaican, too. (pg. 8)

At school, the principal has a picture of Bob Marley playing soccer and his new class greets him with “Welcome, Roy, one love” (pg. 13) channelling Marley’s song, “One Love.”  But when Roy realizes that he’s lost his Bob Marley button after showing it to the principal, it becomes a frantic search that ends happily, just as Roy’s email to Leroy does.

From Greetings, Leroy 

by Itah Sadu 

illus. by Alix Delinois

Storyteller Itah Sadu, much loved for her book Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room (re-released in 2006 by Scholastic Canada) and known for her bookstore A Different Booklist in Toronto, creates effortlessly the voice of a young boy bridging two worlds: his former life in Jamaica and a new one in Canada. (Born in Canada but raised in Barbados and then returning to Canada, Itah Sadu would have first-hand knowledge.)  Greetings, Leroy is a story about moving and moving on, respectful of the two worlds from and into which Roy will grow.  Itah Sadu makes it clear that the two worlds are not separate entities but rather interconnected parts of Roy’s world, bringing him joy and memories and opportunities.  

Haitian-born artist Alix Delinois has already made a name for himself as the illustrator behind Muhammad Ali:  The People’s Champion (Walter Dean Myers, 2016), Eight Days: A Story of Haiti (Edwidge Danticat, 2010) and Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence (Gretchen Woelfle, 2014), all stories that celebrate Black culture and history. With Greetings, Leroy, Alix Delinois is able to apply his bold artwork to a similarly relevant story, though here focusing on a Jamaican boy’s new life in Canada, and honouring Itah Sadu’s story with pride and festivity for an old life lived and a new life’s promise.

As a story of immigration, of new experiences and first days at school, Greetings, Leroy may take many back to those uneasy days of newness but reminds us that, as Bob Marley sang, everything’s gonna be alright.  

From Greetings, Leroy 

by Itah Sadu 

illus. by Alix Delinois

A Harbour Seal in Halifax

by Doretta Groenendyk

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-414-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

2016

On March 5, 2015, a young harbour seal found itself lost on land in the city of Halifax, confused by the textures of the city and looking for the water of home.  This is his story.

Told in bold lines and colours of a cold, winter’s night, Doretta Groenendyk shares the harbour seal’s trek through Halifax, confused by the lights and buildings and the lake of water, taking refuge under a car.  The owner of the car, startled by the seal, enlists the help of two police, Officer and Constable, who locate the roaming seal and return it to its watery home.  This simple story gains depth with Doretta Groenendyk’s approach of seeing the situation from both the perspective of the seal, unfamiliar with his surroundings and people, and the police, unfamiliar with the seal’s natural behaviour and viewpoint.  Together the three unlikely compatriots find a way to make things safe for all concerned.

From A Harbour Seal in Halifax 

by Doretta Groenendyk

A Harbour Seal in Halifax is a delightful story based on a true event that will charm readers with its happy ending and message of doing good for others.  It may not have a complicated plot but A Harbour Seal in Halifax tells the story well and with illustrations that will delight and transport readers to a cold wintery night when something unfortunate could have ended in tragedy but instead resolves with a feel-good finish.

From A Harbour Seal in Halifax 

by Doretta Groenendyk

Little Fox, Lost

by Nicole Snitselaar

Illustrated by Alicia Padrón

Translated by Erin Woods

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-004-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2016

This is certainly a week for Pajama Press on CanLit for LittleCanadians with Little Fox, Lost being the third book from this publisher that I've reviewed in the past 4 days.  That says a lot about Pajama Press's releases. Except for review copies, which I get from many publishers, I receive no renumeration for any reviews. I just review those books that I believe need to be read and Little Fox, Lost is such a book.  Written by French author Nicole Snitselaar and illustrated by Venezuelan Alicia Padrón, and translated by Pajama Press’s own Erin Woods, Little Fox, Lost is a beautiful, soft book in textual sentiment and physical texture (it has that wonderful cushioned cover) with illustrations evocative of the majesty and solitude of a forest in winter.

After a brilliant snowfall, Mama Fox takes Little Fox out of their den for a walk.  Though cautioned to stay close, Little Fox becomes distracted by his paw prints in the snow while his mother chats away with Mrs. Gray Fox.  It doesn’t take long for Little Fox to realize that he’s gone a little deeper into the forest than he’d planned.  He can’t even retrace his steps which run in every direction.  Fear overcomes Little Fox who starts to cry.  Even when an old owl tries to reassure Little Fox and suggests leading him out of the forest, Little Fox recalls his mother’s wise words:

"If ever you are lost, my child,
Don’t let a stranger guide you.
Be still, and I will search the wild
Until I am beside you." (pg. 20)

From Little Fox, Lost 

by Nicole Snitselaar 

illus. by Alicia Padrón

Even better, Little Fox begins to sing his mother’s rhyme aloud, with the owl’s help, hoping to draw his mother to him.  With the help of some other animals who are also drawn to the singing, Little Fox is reunited with Mama Fox.

From Little Fox, Lost 

by Nicole Snitselaar 

illus. by Alicia Padrón

Little Fox, Lost has a happy ending to a fearful situation for both parent and child, and I suspect that the rhythmic verse in Little Fox, Lost could become a go-to teaching tool for telling a child what to do when lost.  If there is a tune with it, that verse could become widespread in child safety measures.  But, in the meanwhile, read Little Fox, Lost with your children at home and at school to inform them about what to do if lost and reassure them that they will be found.  Because of Alicia Padrón’s stunning artwork, children will lulled into the story and captivated by her delicate creatures and expansive landscapes. There’s a softness and quiet that comforts and envelops the reader in a blanket of safety and support, and even have you looking forward to winter and snow. (I just wish my scanner could depict more accurately the colours within.)

Everything about Little Fox, Lost is sublime, from the lyrical text and its message, to the artwork, the cover, the framing of the words on the page, and the endpapers. Little Fox, Lost is lovely, through and through, and deserving of appreciative readings, over and over.

Mister Got To Go, Where Are You?

Written by Lois Simmie

Illustrated by Cynthia Nugent

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-490-8

32 pp.

Ages 4+

June 2014

Mister Got To Go, resident feline of the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver and star of Mister Got To Go: The Cat That Wouldn't Leave (2003) and Mister Got To Go and Arnie (2012), is back in his newest story, Mister Got To Go, Where Are You? from Lois Simmie and Cynthia Nugent.  This time, Got To Go is missing.

After nine years enjoying life at the Sylvia Hotel, Got To Go truly appreciates all the little perks, so it's hard to believe that Got To Go would just leave.  While Mister Foster, the hotel manager, has never thought the cat appropriate for the hotel, hence his name, Mister Got To Go's absence is of great concern to everyone at the hotel, including Mister Foster.

Got to Go hadn't planned to leave when he jumps into the leaves in the back of a gardening truck.  But when he jumps off, he doesn't know how to get home.  He makes a quick friend in Jim, a homeless man who shares his fish and chips and cardboard box in the park with Got To Go.  However, after three days, homesickness sets in. But how is he going to get home when he can't even smell the sea?  Poor Got To Go endures hardship upon hardship as he looks for any signs of home.  He gets wet in the rain, cuts his paw on something sharp, is chased by a dog, fights with another cat,  and goes hungry. But when he finally smells the sea again, Got To Go knows the direction he has got to go.

It's delightful to see Mister Got To Go again and in a story in which he is able to find a happy ending, i.e., his home at the Sylvia Hotel.  Lois Simmie's text doesn't anthropomorphize this special cat but rather gives words to the thoughts he must have when lost.  His demeanour is one of calm and quiet determination, coupled with resolve that he will get home, and it's this that will have little ones cheering for him.  Cynthia Nugent gets him right every time, whether he is curious, wet, scared or content. He may not do the big goofy grins of a Cheshire Cat but he is everyone's cat, the cats we love, worry over, spoil, and treat like family.  Maybe that's why we love Mister Got To Go: his story is the happy ending we wish for all the homeless, feline and otherwise.  As much as some may scoff at their contributions to our lives, they are all worthy of our care.  Lois Simmie and Cynthia Nugent get that right in Mister Got To Go, Where Are You?

Just as an aside, the endpapers of the book show Got To Go's extensive travels both from the hotel (front endpaper, below) and back to the hotel (back endpaper) and are a delightful means to track his journey.  Although the maps are reader-friendly, I suspect those who have been to Vancouver and specifically to the Sylvia Hotel will be particularly enamoured.