Butterfly Sea

Written by Cynthia Mackey

Illustrated by Marie-Laure Couët

Tielmour Press

978-1-998426-22-5

42 pp.

Ages 4–8

January 2026

 

When a child takes her camera and heads out to photograph butterflies, she sees more than might be expected.

From Butterfly Sea, written by Cynthia Mackey, illustrated by Marie-Laure Couët

It's early morning. With a sea and grass and flowers nearby, there is lots to engage this little girl and her baby sister. While she patiently and quietly situates herself to watch for butterflies, the toddler becomes a side show of activity. But the toddler's play becomes visual poetry with every new permutation. She's a mermaid asking for ice cream when her teal blanket gets knotted into a tail, and then a pirate, and a shark. And while her older sister is tasked with watching her, ensuring she is safe and fed, the photographer does not lose focus.

From Butterfly Sea, written by Cynthia Mackey, illustrated by Marie-Laure Couët

Always mindful of her purpose, the young photographer watches and sees. But she sees with more than her eyes. She sees with her heart and her imagination. When the toddler appears swinging a branch, the photographer sees a pirate searching for treasure. She will "hand her maps and whisper golden secrets, promising riches and jewels on faraway beaches." (pg. 13)

From Butterfly Sea, written by Cynthia Mackey, illustrated by Marie-Laure Couët

With time and patience and dedication to both caregiving and observation, the child photographer gets what she'd waited for and enjoys a visual display for all the senses.

From Butterfly Sea, written by Cynthia Mackey, illustrated by Marie-Laure Couët

At first glance, the story of Butterfly Sea is a simple one of two children who've gone out to play, one hopeful of photographing butterflies. But the story is so much richer because Cynthia Mackey tells it with imagery and imagination that takes a simple story to one of pirates and sharks, kaleidoscopes and flowers. And it's told with lyricism that makes a simple outing into something magical.

 

The credits tell us that Marie-Laure Couët's art was created digitally, and I'm astonished as the textures of paper and paint suggests watercolour. How Marie-Laure Couët was able to achieve the subtle nuance of watercolour on textured paper, perfect for an adventure into nature, is beyond me. But the texture of that digital art mirrors the organic nature of the seaside and the meadows and everything else in between, and there is a sweetness there that reflects the relationship both between children and between children and nature.

 

This is the second book written by Cynthia Mackey that I have reviewed—If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe (2025) was the first—and I'm beginning to sense a theme. It might be the bewitching quality of insects, all around us but never really observed, or the power of the natural world to invigorate our lives, or the connection between species, or . . . maybe it's all of the above and none of the above. Maybe it's just the luxury of children at play, each in their own way, but told through the lens of fascination with observation.

Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure (The Secret Lives of Squirrels)

Written and illustrated by Nancy Rose

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-468-3

32 pp.

Ages 4–9

October 2025 

 

Nancy Rose has been telling stories with her red squirrel friends for almost a decade, with Oakley appearing about five years ago to help teach concepts of letters and numbers (Oakley the Squirrel: The Search for Z: A Nutty Alphabet Book [2021] and Oakley the Squirrel: Camping 1, 2, 3!: A Nutty Numbers Book [2023]). Now Oakley is ready to take on the country of Canada and see what it has to offer.

From Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure, written and illustrated by Nancy Rose

In defined double-page presentations of an illustration based on a photographed diorama opposite a page of text titled with the province or territory visited, a quaint verse about Oakley's experience, and an info box of additional details, Nancy Rose takes her sciurine friend cross-country. Readers are taken from east to west and then north to ensure all areas are represented.

From Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure, written and illustrated by Nancy Rose

Oakley visits tourist attractions like the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, and the Badlands of Drumheller. He builds an igloo in Nunavut, goes on a polar bear tour in Churchill, and hikes the trail in Cathedral Grove in British Columbia. He sees and does a lot, and young readers will learn about the diversity of landforms, flora, fauna, weather, and adventures to be had across Canada. But also important are the notes Nancy Rose always adds about the Indigenous Peoples of the province or territory, and some history of the land and its people. As an introduction to Canada, Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure is rich in content and curious in its presentation.

From Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure, written and illustrated by Nancy Rose

Often called "the squirrel lady" because of her viral photos of squirrels, Nancy Rose has segued that venture into telling stories with her elaborate outdoor dioramas. She creates them with found materials and entices her friend Oakley—earlier it was Mr. Peanuts from The Secret Lives of Squirrels (2016)—with peanuts. By blending her crafting and photography interests with the natural world, Nancy Rose has given us a series of whimsical stories and concept books that will attract young readers and, here in Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure, teach them about our country.

From Oakley's Great Canadian Adventure, written and illustrated by Nancy Rose

  

Sadia

Written by Colleen Nelson

Dundurn

978-1-45974-029-7

240 pp.

Ages 12+

February 2018

As I passed the classroom door, I caught sight of myself in the small pane of glass.  Was it the hijab that Mariam was running away from?  Seeing me must remind her of who she really was, who she'd always be.  I wished she'd realize that taking off her hijab wasn't going to change that. (pg. 82)

For Sadia's friend Mariam, de-jabbing i.e., removal of her hijab when at school and changing into more revealing clothes improper for a Muslim girl are the means to fit in and become recognized by athletic classmate Josh.  While Sadia would never contemplate doing the same, she tries to understand her friend's need to shed her headscarf and appreciate her perspective on being a Muslim girl in a Winnipeg high school.  And perspective is everything she and her classmates realize after their teacher—and also basketball coach—Mr. Letner gives them an assignment based on the premise of "If you give a kid a camera."  While Sadia and her classmates begin to take photos of their lives, they reveal much about what they experience at home and at school including family challenges, hidden passions and friendships lost and found.

While she undertakes her project, which evolves to include a passion project to help newly-arrived refugees, Sadia grapples with Mariam's de-jabbing and drive to fit in which becomes more complicated after Sadia is chosen for the school's All City Pre-Season Co-ed Basketball Team on which Josh plays.  Sadia is thrilled to be playing the game that her brother taught her and accepts the accommodations she must make to play–changing in private, covering up far more than her teammates, and wearing her hijab–but being on the team causes more friction with Mariam, especially after Josh's attentions are directed towards Sadia.  It all comes to a climax at the tournament when Sadia's hijab becomes a mobilizing force for family, friends, teammates and strangers.

Sadia addresses Sadia's honest acceptance of her Muslim culture but also how she finds the means to meld it with her love for basketball, rather than abandon one passion for another.  Sadia's self-acceptance is mature and extraordinary and she would be an impressive role model for Muslim girls trying to find their own way.  Without being deceptive or disingenuous, Sadia helps new Muslim girl Amira prepare for her new life in Canada and show Mariam that it is possible to be a practising Muslim and have fun.  Just like the photography assignment Mr. Letner gives his class, it is all about point of view.

Author Colleen Nelson continues to ramp up her writing, developing characters with whom all readers can identify.  From those dealing with bullying, guilt and grief (The Fall, 2013), or abandonment and discrimination (250 Hours, 2015), or with sexual abuse and drug addiction (Finding Hope, 2016) and poverty and violence (Blood Brothers, 2017), Colleen Nelson pens real characters whose decisions propel them into life-changing situations.  For the first time, Colleen Nelson has given Muslim girls a role model, a girl who recognizes that she has been accorded much attention and discrimination because of how others perceive her hijab, often incorrectly, but who appreciates what being a Muslim means and accepts those cultural traditions as the basis for whom she is.  Sadia does not struggle with wearing the hijab, as does her friend Mariam, but when thrust into the limelight where wearing the hijab might prevent her from playing basketball, she considers with great thought and insight what it means to continue wearing it.  Still she stays true to herself, empowered, not restricted, by her hijab or being Muslim.  For her, de-jabbing would be negating her true self, just as not playing basketball would.  In Sadia, being yourself is better than having it all and being Muslim is in itself empowering.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Check back tomorrow for Colleen Nelson's guest blog post titled "5 Things You Didn't Know about Sadia" and upcoming blog tour stops at Lost in a Great Book, MG Book Village and Dundurn Press.

Hannah and the Magic Eye

Written byTyler Enfield

Great Plains Teen Fiction

978-1-927855-68-3

165 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2017

“…taking her on a tour through the last three-thousand years of Israel’s major religions–from Judaism, to Islam, and lastly to Christianity–all of them locked together by a shared history in this solitary, enchanted city and a magical ring once worn by its wisest king.” (pg. 135)

Think The Da Vinci Code for middle-graders and you have Edmonton author Tyler Enfield’s Hannah and the Magic Eye.  Entombed in archaeology, a secret society and secret codes, it's a thriller which takes place in Jerusalem, one of the oldest and historically richest cities of the world.

Twelve-year-old Hannah travels from her home in Brussels, Belgium to visit her famed archaeologist grandfather, Henri Dubuisson, in Jerusalem.  When she arrives and Henri is not there to meet her, she only has a cryptic note he’d sent her to guide her.  She discovers a secret online message from her Grandpa Henri about a treasure beyond her wildest dreams and a secret society called the Cancellarii in search of the same treasure. Convinced Henri has been kidnapped and attempting to avoid several nefarious characters who attempt to follow her and grab her, Hannah, with the help of a Palestinian boy who likens himself to George Clooney, uncovers an ancient journal by ancestor Julien Dubuisson.  Hannah and Clooney must decipher the seven illustrations within, using a camera and a lot of ingenuity about historic sites in Jerusalem and environs, if they are to decipher the mysterious treasure map and discover a treasure that once belonged to King Solomon and save her grandfather.

No stops for deep breaths on this adventure.  Tyler Enfield has plotted a story so intricate and action-packed that young readers won’t have time to take breaks to learn about the historic details woven into the story (though they will surely be googling King Solomon, the different quarters of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock after finishing the book).  Clever Hannah is like a young Indiana Jones with her loyal sidekick Clooney who gets her both into and out of trouble.  With Hannah’s code-breaking skills and historic knowledge along with Clooney’s familiarity with their exotic location, Hannah and the Magic Eye is a thrilling course of intrigue that captivates and captures, inviting young readers to travel with Hannah and Clooney on their adventure, even on camel back. And judging by the conclusion of Hannah and the Magic Eye, they have a subsequent treasure hunt in Cambodia with Hannah and Clooney assisting Henri, all courtesy of Tyler Enfield's elaborate plotting and savvy for telling an exciting middle-grade story.

Photography in youngCanLit: A booklist for World Photography Day (August 19)

While numerous books, especially those of non-fiction, feature photographs,  there are many in which characters are engaged in photography or in which photographs move the plot forward.  Here, I've selected a list of picture books, fiction, young adult and non-fiction books in which photography or an image viewer (in the case of Super Duper Monster Viewer), and that includes still photography, digital and video, are key.  Each of these youngCanLit titles deserves to be recognized in this booklist in celebration of World Photography Day, August 19.

PICTURE BOOKS

Finders Keepers for Franklin
by Paulette Bourgeois
Illustrated by Brenda Clark
Kids Can Press
29 pp.
Ages 3-7
1997

Super-Duper Monster Viewer
by Kevin Sylvester
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2016

Willow’s Smile
by Lana Button
Illustrated by Tania Howells
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2016







FICTION and YOUNG ADULT

Barry, Boyhound
Andy Spearman
Knopf
230 pp.
Ages 9-12
2005

The Book of Spirits and Thieves
by Morgan Rhodes
Razorbill
358 pp.
Ages 12+
2015

The Darkest Magic (The Book of Spirits and Thieves, Book 2)
by Morgan Rhodes
Razorbill
448 pp.
Ages 12+
2016

Dying to Go Viral
by Sylvia McNicoll
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
251 pp.
Ages 12+
2013

Finding Grace
by Becky Citra
Second Story Press
195 pp.
Ages 9-12
2014

Ghosts of the Pacific
by Philip Roy
Ronsdale Press
251 pp.
Ages 11-14
2011

Grind
by Eric Walters
Orca Book Publishers
100 pp.
Ages 13-15
2004

The Journal
by Lois Donovan
Ronsdale Press
204 pp.
Ages 10+
2015

Jump Cut
by Ted Staunton
Orca Book Publishers
220 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

Leftovers
by Heather Waldorf
Orca Book Publishers
198 pp.
Ages 12-16
2009

Lights, Camera, Disaster! (Macdonald Hall #6)
by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Canada
232 pp.
Ages 8-12
2004

Lucky Jonah
by Richard Scrimger
HarperCollinsCanada
223 pp.
Ages 12-14
2016

Mission Mumbai: A  Novel of Sacred Cows, Snakes, and Stolen Toilets
by Mahtab Narsimhan
Scholastic Press
272 pp.
Ages 9-12
2016

My Life Before Me
by Norah McClintock
Orca Book Publishers
248 pp.
Ages 12+
2015

Nine Doors
by Vicki Grant
Orca Book Publishers
96 pp.
Ages 11-14
2009

Northern Exposures
by Eric Walters
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
208 pp.
Ages 8-12
2008

Picture This
by Norah McClintock
Orca Book Publishers
128 pp.
Ages 12+
2009

RanVan: Magic Nation
by Diana Wieler
Groundwood Books
229 pp.
Ages 13+
1997

The Rule of Thirds (A Pippa Greene Novel)
by Chantel Guertin
ECW Press
192 pp.
Ages 13+
2013

Depth of Field (A Pippa Green Novel)
by Chantel Guertin
ECW Press
208 pp.
Ages 13+
2014

Leading Lines (A Pippa Greene Novel)
by Chantel Guertin
ECW Press
216 pp.
Ages 13+
2015

Scarlet Thunder
by Sigmund Brouwer
Orca Book Publishers
172 pp.
Ages 12-14
2008

Scenes from the Epic Life of a Total Genius
by Stacey Matson
llustrated by Simon Kwan
Scholastic Canada
255 pp.
Ages 10-13
2015

Shooter
by Caroline Pignat
Razorbill Canada
320 pp.
Ages 12+
2016

Thirty-six Exposures
by Kevin Major
Delacorte
154 pp.
Ages 15+
1984

Young Man With Camera
by Emil Sher
Pictures by David Wyman
Scholastic Canada
218 pp.
Ages 13+
2015

NON-FICTION

Beyond Bullets : A Photo Journal of Afghanistan
by Rafal Gerszak  with Dawn Hunter
Annick
128 pp.
Ages 12-15
2011

Canada from Above: A Photo Journey
by Heather Patterson
Scholastic
30 pp.
Ages 9-12
2010

Fantastic Female Filmmakers 
by Suzanne Simoni
Second Story Press
122 pp.
Ages 9-13
2008

It's a Snap!: George Eastman's First Photo
by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by Bill Slavin
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
2009

Learn to Speak Film: A Guide to Creating, Promoting & Screening Your Movies
by Michael Glassbourg
Illustrated by Jeff Kulak
Owlkids
96 pp.
Ages 10-13
2013

Photographing Greatness: The Story of Karsh
by Lian Godall
Napoleon
96 pp.
Ages 11-14
2008







Readers of CanLit for LittleCanadians, please let me know of any titles I should add to this list. Thanks.

Ready, set, say Canadian cheddar!

Shooter

by Caroline Pignat

Razorbill Canada

978-0-143187578

320 pp.

Ages 12+

May 2016

Reviewed from advance reader’s copy

A whole lot can happen in one hour.  Ask those who tell Shooter’s story: Alice, Isabelle, Hogan, Noah, and Xander.  From the initial school lockdown at St. Francis Xavier High School which brings the five students barricaded together in a boys’ washroom to its dramatic, life-altering climax as the clock reads down to 00:00:00, Shooter is an unforgettable, heart-stopping story of heroes, written, read and made.

"This is real life. Not everything has a story."
Alice smiles. "But every person does."
I guess she’s right.  We all have one–even if it’s one we’d rather forget. (pg. 86)

There’s Hogan King, a hulking senior notorious for what he did to his older brother and who feels he is deservingly beyond redemption.  There’s Alice, another senior, who is an incredible writer–accepted to UBC’s prestigious Creative Writing Program–who prefers her position of invisibility which allows her to read life and care for her older autistic brother Noah. Uber-popular, egocentric and high-achieving Student Council President and go-to person for everything St. F-X, Isabelle Parks has her own issues, revealed in text messages with BFF Bri who is locked down in the office. And finally, there is the socially awkward Xander Watt, shooter of film images, who writes about himself as,

I think too much sometimes,
blurt the wrong things often, and
feel confused, always.” (pg. 48)

How these seeemingly incongruent characters come together, and together they do come, in a complex plot of action, angst, and deliverance makes Shooter the extraordinary story that it is.  And story-telling, or rather writing, is a key foundation for Shooter.  With several of the students classmates in Writer’s Craft, it’s not surprising that elements of writing–plot, hero’s journey, characters’ fatal flaws, resolution–become part of the story. (Caroline Pignat is herself a high-school teacher of Writer’s Craft.  Lucky students.)

I can’t possibly reveal the itricacies of the story and the role of each character in its resolution.  But suffice it to say, Caroline Pignat’s brilliant writing immerses the reader in the terror of a school in genuine lockdown and the anxiety of relating to those whose differences make you uncomfortable.  Beyond the drama, and there is much, Shooter is a story of empowerment, taken and accepted and relinquished, and a formidable tale told by one of Canada’s greatest writers.

Mission Mumbai: A Novel of Sacred Cows, Snakes, and Stolen Toilets

by Mahtab Narsimhan

Scholastic Press

978-0-545-74651-9

272 pp.

Ages 9-12

March 2016

Reviewed from advance reading copy

Dylan Moore, 12, has gone a long way to get away from the worries of his parents’ impending breakup in New York City after finagling an invitation to go to India for three weeks with best friend, Rohit Lal.  For Dylan, it’s all about the adventure, the new experiences, especially the food, and taking photographs, determined to win a National Geographic contest and show his dad that his hobby is a worthwhile endeavour.  Problem is that Rohit isn’t that keen on going back to India, having accustomed himself to the amenities of life in New York City, and his displeasure is evident in every interaction he has, most notably with his mother and his Bua (father’s sister) whom Dylan dubs Boa for her venomous attitude.  Sadly Rohit’s rudeness has Boa deciding that, since she has financed the family’s stay in the U.S. including Rohit’s schooling, Rohit needs some discipline and will remain to go to school in Mumbai.

Even with the boys’ worries, everything is thrilling, flavourful and photogenic for Dylan.

My life in New York was so predictable, and this was so exciting! It was almost like starring in my own Bollywood adventure. (pg. 28)

But Dylan is trying to balance being a good guest and being a supportive friend, while navigating a culture with which he is totally unfamiliar.   Not surprising, Dylan gets himself into quite a few scraps, not including a scandalous shooing of a sacred cow, a swim in sewage-polluted water, a bladder-stressed train ride, and getting them banned from a restaurant.  And Rohit, desperate for his mother to take him back to NYC asap, resents Dylan’s wanting to stay on and takes advantage of Dylan’s ignorance time and time again.

It’s adventure after adventure for the two boys, as they bicker their way through their holiday in India, each resenting their own family dynamics and envious of the other’s, not realizing how much they both have.  Their friendship is so honest and complex and simple and real that every reader will understand the ups and downs of it, all against the unique backdrop that is India.  Mahtab Narsimhan has demonstrated her ability to capture the essence of other cultures in multi-layered plots in her previous books which include the 2009 Silver Birch Fiction award-winning The Third Eye (Dundurn, 2007) and The Tiffin (Dancing Cat Books, 2011), reviewed here, but Mission Mumbai takes her writing into more humourous realms.  Think of the lightness of Gordon Korman’s books with the flavours of Rohinton Mistry for middle-grade readers.  It’s a dazzling combination of characters, atmosphere, plot and humour.

Kerosene lamps smoked, a temple bell at a roadside shrine tinkled, and the air was thick with smells–some good, some gross.  Rohit swore softly under his breath as the cab inched forward.  After being in the air-conditioned flat, the heat was borderline torture.  It was like being in a malfunctioning steam room with the temperature stuck on “cook”.  My face was burning witht the heat and probably beet red. (pg. 48)

Whether a young reader is like Dylan, new to Indian culture, or Rohit, for whom the culture is familiar, Mission Mumbai will engage, enthrall and entertain.  And I haven’t even mentioned the monsoon, the wedding, the fire at the theatre, the wise old woman who gives them shelter, the heat, the scooties, and the glorious food!  So much to delve into and it’s all sweet and savoury and spicy and wholesome.

Depth of Field: A Pippa Greene Novel

by Chantel Guertin

ECW Press

978-1-77041-183-8

208 pp.

Ages 13+

For release August, 2014

Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy

Sixteen-year-old Pippa Greene, introduced in Chantel Guertin's The Rule of Thirds (ECW Press, 2013), is off to New York City to attend the two-week Tisch photography camp, along with Ben Baxter, the guy at school whose deplorable actions almost cost her that opportunity.  And, though she's upset to be leaving her new boyfriend, Dylan, and agreeing to refrain from communicating with him by text, email or phone (apparently to make their reunion all the sweeter), Pippa is determined to take all she can from this learning experience.

Pippa becomes fast friends with her roommate, Ramona Haverland, which is helpful for assignment work since Pippa is very unfamiliar with NYC.  Unfortunately, she and Ramona find that working with Ben Baxter, whom Pippa has relegated to "Dead to Me" status, occasionally is helpful. And as awkward as their occasional encounters are, Pippa is beginning to understand his motivation for what he did to her, and even suggest ways to help him resolve his own father issues.

Pippa's own father issue stems from the amazing bond she had with her dad when he was alive and now following in his photographic footsteps.  Fortunately she has the opportunity to work with  famous photographer David Westerly, who was also her father's best friend in college.  With David as a mentor and a valuable source of information, Pippa decides the theme for her first week's assignment will be her father: what he liked to do in New York City; where he liked to go; how her dad and mom met; etc.  Surprisingly, Pippa's mom is less than enthusiastic about Pippa working with David, as is her Aunt Emmy who lives in Pippa's dad's old apartment.

While David can be a self-absorbed jerk, he does present Pippa with a host of opportunities to develop her photographic skills and creativity, as well as learn more about her dad and ultimately herself.

Chantel Guertin throws a number of twists into Depth of Field that readers couldn't possible predict, which is as it should be.  If everything was obvious and laid out in front for the reader, it would surely be a dull read.  Just like Pippa who seems to be observant enough to be a good photographer, the reader must look a little deeper, question a little more and not take everything as it is presented.  It's amazing what you can see when you look a little deeper.  The big revelations may not be climactic–after all, they've been there all along–but their effects may well be.  And yet Chantel Guertin still manages to keep the text light-hearted and hopeful, never wallowing in family issues.

I had no idea that Pippa Greene would be coming back for another adventure after The Rule of Thirds, but I am delighted by Depth of Field in its furthering of Pippa's story and look forward to Book 3.  Here is my plea to Chantel Guertin: "There must be a next book!  How else will we know how Pippa's latest choices play out?  And you know which specific one I'm talking about, right?"  Happily, readers, you'll need to find out for yourselves.