Snow Days

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Illustrated by Miki Sato

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-135-9

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

November 2020

In modest rhyming text and textured paper-collage artwork, Deborah Kerbel and Miki Sato invite young children and their families to join them outdoors to celebrate and explore the snow of winter.

From Snow Days by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Miki Sato

First snow, surprise snow:

Nature's sparkly magic show

Deborah Kerbel begins her story with the delight of children taking in the first snow of the season. With arms upraised and mouths agape, perhaps to catch a few of Miki Sato's extraordinary snowflakes, the warmly-dressed children revel in the splendour of the snow. Of course, in Canada, there will be more snow days, and the next brings a little more that accumulates and allows for snow angels, both of the two-legged and four-legged varieties.

From Snow Days by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Miki Sato

There's skating and watching snow fall from the warmth of inside, shovelling and building snowmen, sliding down banks and throwing snowballs. And always,  Deborah Kerbel shines some attention on the different kinds of snow. Whether it be powder snow or packing snow, blizzard snow or Christmas snow–a particularly special kind– or even frozen snow and slush and sleet, Deborah Kerbel invites little ones to savour each as a sensory experience of touch and feel.

From Snow Days by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Miki Sato

But winter always comes to an end.

Last snow, tame and shy,

Winter's quiet wave goodbye

With the receding snow allowing snowdrops and the first crocuses to shoot, Deborah Kerbel lets us see the turnover to the next season, resplendent in its own emerging glories.

Miki Sato's three-dimensional illustrations, created with cut-paper collage, reflects Deborah Kerbel's textured text, making us feel the iciness of packed snow and the dampness of mittens, amidst the piles of different snows. Just as each snow day is different, Miki Sato's children and landscapes are as varied and diverse. Who interacts with the snow are a few adults but mostly children of all ages, colours, and abilities, including a young child with skates on the wrong feet and one with glasses. As for the snow itself, it blankets parklands and backyards, congests driveways and brings Christmas to dense housing divisions.

 

With our own snow days upon us, enjoy Deborah Kerbel and Miki Sato's exploration in words and art and even consider the handful of experiments for very young children suggested at the end. It may be a little cold and get a little wet but the adventure will be worth it.

All the World a Poem

by Gilles Tibo

Illustrated by Manon Gauthier

Translated by Erin Woods

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-009-3

32 pp.

Ages 5+

August 2016

The title All the World a Poem, taken from a poem "The Great Voice" by American professor of horticulture Liberty Hyde Bailey, launches an ardent tribute to both poetry and the natural world by award-winning author Gilles Tibo and rising star Manon Gauthier whose artwork recently  enriched the text of Elliot (Julie Pearson, Pajama Press, March 2016).

All the World a Poem is a lyrical odyssey examining the richness of poems in shape and content, place and time, purpose and destination. According to Gilles Tibo’s dreamy text, poetry can be anything and everything, filled with grace and love, both reverent and impassioning.

A poem has fallen from the sky,
slipping from a cloud.
A second has sprouted from the earth
like a rainbow flower.
A third floated in from the sea,
bobbing at the end of the big pier.
I gather up the three poems
and hold them to my heart.
Then I continue my journey
toward the endless country
of verses yet to come. (pg. 14)

From All the World a Poem

by Gilles Tibo, illus. by Manon Gauthier

The translation from Gilles Tibo’s French Poésies pour la vie (Isatis, 2015) is beautifully rendered by Pajama Press’ own Erin Woods, who also capably gave English voice to Elliot (Pajama Press, 2016).  The text is sublime, a celebration of sounds and rhythms and expressive verse.  And Manon Gauthier again creates her distinctive illustrations of paper collage art that gives texture and whimsy a totally unique look.  The luxuriance of the words and the art is almost overwhelming in its intimate beauty.

All the World a Poem has the lightness and spiritual delicacy that suggests it could take flight. Fortunately, readers will discover that All the World a Poem has effortlessly become tethered by heart strings to our glorious world.

From All the World a Poem 

by Gilles Tibo, illus. by Manon Gauthier

Kyle Goes Alone

by Jan Thornhill

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Owlkids

978-1-77147-075-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August, 2015

Kyle is a three-toed sloth and he’s used to his mother taking him down from the top of the rainforest canopy all the way down to the ground for his once a week toileting.  But his mom decides that he’s old enough to go alone.

“You can do it, “ said his mom.
“I’ll be right here if you need me.”

And slowly, the way sloths always move, Kyle makes his way down , always wondering if he should turn back.  Except he really has to go.  And, even though he can’t always see her, she’s watching him from between the leaves, reassuring him that he’s doing well.

But, Kyle looks around and feels alone in that ominous way that only a child who has always clung to his mother can feel.  “But I’m all alone!” cried Kyle, repeatedly, and surprisingly he is always answered with, “No, you’re not.”  First, it’s a beautiful red-speckled parrot.  Then, further down, it’s a green and yellow whipsnake, and then a tiger-legged monkey tree frog and a leaf-cutting ant.  By the time he reaches the bottom and “goes”, Kyle is smiling, proud of himself for what he has accomplished.  And finds out his mother is still there for him when he needs her, regardless of the fact that Kyle Goes Alone now.

If this was a YA book, it would be considered a coming-of-age story because that’s what it is for Kyle: he’s coming of an age when he needs to become independent of his mother.  It just happens that this independence is related to toileting!  And there’s lots to learn about it from Jan Thornhill, whose wealth of non-fiction attests to her scientific knowledge.  So in addition to this charming story that parents will want to share with their children, especially those who are being toilet-trained, Jan Thornhill provides “The Poop about Three-toed Sloths” as well as about “Camouflage: Hiding in Plain Sight.”  Read, learn, enjoy.

But wait until you take in Ashely Barron’s breath-taking paper-collage illustrations that pop from the page.  I am red-faced that I’d missed including this talented artist in my posts about youngCanLit illustrators. Her ability to create textured rainforests and colourful creatures from cut-paper is astounding.  If you check out Ashley Barron's blog at https://ashleybarron.wordpress.com, you can watch her create Kyle.  While her workmanship is astonishing, her choice and creation of colourful papers is just as dazzling.  You'll see Kyle’s expresssion change from fearful grimaces to proud grins as he travels down the tree, but so too do the colours of the landscape change from the cool colours of fear to the sun-dappled greens and turquoises of hope and success.

Kyle Goes Alone is an triumph of storytelling, blending scientific non-fiction, collage artistry and sloth-pooping, thanks to Jan Thornhill, Ashley Barron and, of course, Kyle.