Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides, Inc.

978-1-998802234

44 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2025 

 

If it's a picture book by Lori Doody, you know it's time for another visit to Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, Lori Doody invites us to revisit her character Mr. Beagle, whose nose for mystery helped him solve the local cases in Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown, Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery, and Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill.  This time, Mr. Beagle heads to the charming neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi in St. John's, Newfoundland and discovers a new mystery to solve.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

While making a delivery from his store, Mr. Beagle's Convenience, he notices that folks in the neighbourhood are looking a little sad and seem to be having a hard day. He learns that their stuffed teddy bears have gone missing. "It was unbearable!"

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

He walks through the neighbourhood, talking to people and visiting the fish and chips stand and the one selling pupsicles before heading to the wharf. As the locals and tourists, all donning colourful sweaters and hats, scarves and bottoms, meander the wharf, shopping, taking boat rides, fishing, watching artists and more, Mr. Beagle has his beagle eyes open and his sniffer on the scent. With observation and insight, he catches the culprit whose plight compelled him to theft.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

But identifying the thief is just part of Mr. Beagle's talent. As in his earlier stories, Mr. Beagle finds a way to help the offender and in turn enrich the community in a novel way. And for Quidi Vidi, there's going to be a new attraction.

 

With a plethora of pun and subtle charm, Lori Doody has Mr. Beagle solving a mystery and helping the neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi. The mystery he tasks himself to solve may not be a heist of incalculable wealth, but it is a grab at the most precious and comforting of possessions for many: a beloved teddy bear. So, he takes his task seriously and just apprehending the culprit is not enough. Mr. Beagle needs to know why the theft took place and what could be done to resolve this for both thief and victims. In doing so, he institutes a form of restorative justice whereby both victim and perpetrator can find healing.

 

That's a big message for a little story about a dog who solves the mystery of the disappearing teddy bears, but St. John's printmaker Lori Doody keeps the lightness and brightness of the story in her art. From the bold colours of the sea, sky and land to the myriad of characters that populate the community, Lori Doody takes us to a neighbourhood that is unique and rich in spirit. And with another mystery solved, Mr. Beagle has strengthened another Newfoundland community and revitalized its residents through humanity.

 

Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown (2020)

Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery (2021)

Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill (2022)

Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper (2025)

 

No Purchase Necessary

Written by Maria Marianayagam

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7261-6

256 pp.

Ages 9–12

January 2025 

 

Ajay Anthonipillai and his parents and sister Aarthi recently moved to Bridge Creek to be closer to some family and save money. It's now a three-hour commute for Appa to the city where he is studying for his master's in civil engineering, but the Tamil Sri Lankan family understands the sacrifices that must be made to succeed. While understanding that money is tight and that his parents have very high expectations for him, Ajay really wants to fit in. And so, when taunted by alpha classmate Jacob Underson to steal a Mercury chocolate bar in Scary Al's convenience store, Ajay does it. This one mistake changes everything for Ajay.

 

Jacob refuses the chocolate bar since Ajay hid it in his pants, so Ajay eats the chocolate himself. "It tasted like bliss and guilt." (p. 25) But there's more than candy in the package. There's also the message on the wrapper that tells him he's won Mercury's $1 million Grand Prize. He knows all the good that money would do his family, including helping his aunt's family in Sri Lanka but Ajay knows he doesn't deserve it. In fact, if he hadn't taken it, his classmate Mindy Yu would've won it, grabbing the next bar after him. 

What to do? He has learned much from karate about integrity and respect, as he had from attending Catholic Church with Father Freddie, so Ajay is torn about what to do. Return the wrapper to Scary Al? Give it to Mindy? Confess to his parents? Cash in the ticket? Even as Ajay vacillates between all his options–not unlike Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" for an assignment with which Ajay is struggling–he ends up working for Scary Al at the store, becoming friendly with Mindy who helps him with his English assignment, and fighting and then collaborating with his tormentor Jacob. 

But lies have a life of their own. Some lies beget other lies. Or the lies morph into something completely different. And they can always be exposed. Whether it's because someone lets something slip or the liar is overcome with guilt or because the truth was known all along, lies do unravel, and for Ajay, it's just a question of when and how, not if.

 

Maria Marianayagam, herself a Sri Lankan-Canadian, undoubtedly drew from her own cultural experiences to give life to Ajay and his family. The high regard for education and family and hard work are evident, all solid foundations for Ajay and Aarthi. But these same values are challenged when they intersect with the culture of their new home, in which kids defend themselves when bullied, do extracurricular activities, and try to fit in with their peers. The balancing act of being different people, one at home and both a peer and your parents' child at school is a precarious one and one that challenges Ajay. Maria Marianayagam does not make Ajay a perfect kid who handles it all. She makes him real, struggling with himself and others, trying to do what's right though it might make life harder, and wishing for a break occasionally to just be himself. When Ajay and Aarthi can finally unmask themselves to their parents, it's both refreshing for all and illuminating.

 

Winning a million dollars seems like a dream but for Ajay it becomes a nightmare of conflict between honour and want. Thankfully, the rules of his family and those of the dojo and his faith help guide him to make the best choice and ultimately to enrich his life in unforeseen ways.

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.

 

📗📘📙📕📗📘📙

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 Case of the Burgled Bundle (A Mighty Muskrats Mystery, Book 3)

Written by Michael Hutchinson

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-166-4

208 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2021

The four cousins from the Windy Lake First Nations, who were first introduced in The Case of Windy Lake which was Michael Hutchinson's award-winning entry in Second Story Press's 2018 Indigenous Writing Contest, are back to solve a mystery at the National Assembly of Cree Peoples.

The week-long event begins with the handover ceremony during which the kids' grandfather, the head of the Windy Lake Elders Committee, receives the pipe from the Elder from last year's host, Butterfly Narrows. But this auspicious event does not go to plan when the ceremony is held under cover of Butterfly Narrows's teepee, excluding the majority of event participants, and Grandpa makes a joke that annoys their Elder Eugene Lone Man. 

The lands of Butterfly Narrows have taught them to hold tightly to what they have, to protect what they haven't yet lost. (pg. 19)

Grandpa is ever respectful and circumspect about this slight and invites Elder Leon Shining Deer and Mrs. Shining Deer a.k.a Aunt Dee as Bundle Holders to share the bundle for Treaty 12 and the stories that are linked with it in hopes of easing tensions. Following the protocols associated with the bundle, Elder Leon conducts a welcoming ceremony to which all are welcome. But, though the bundle is guarded all night long in the Butterfly Narrows teepee, it disappears. Worried that his own misstep of toppling the Elders' pipes accidentally during the meal may have damaged the ceremony, Otter and his three cousins, Chickadee and brothers Atim and Samuel, help their Uncle Levi of the RCMP to investigate.

Though The Case of the Burgled Bundle is a great middle-grade mystery with a host of suspects and red herrings to confuse the young investigators, it's the lessons about treaties, treaty bundles, ceremony and customs that gives the story its unique perspective and opportunities for learning. Michael Hutchinson, a member of the Misipawistik Cree Nation, has not just told a story about a stolen item. He has taken us to an assembly of Cree Nations, each different in their histories, their needs and their expectations.

"Grandpa says, you are the land you live on. And the Cree people are spread across some pretty different landscapes." (pg. 8)

There is an appreciation for the differences between First Nations and the treaties they made (Treaty 12 is a fictional treaty), including how they were made and the responsibilities involved with them. Though the components of the bundle are never revealed in detail, its presentation provides the memories of its creation and the importance of guarding it and the stories for all time. With that and a culprit not easily deduced by the reader–the Mighty Muskrats are far more savvy than this reader–The Case of the Burgled Bundle has given us a whodunit rich in relevant Indigenous lessons of history, culture and people.

• • • • • • •

 

The Mighty Muskrats Mystery Series

The Case of Windy Lake (2019)

The Case of the Missing Auntie (2020)

The Case of the Burgled Bundle (2021)

I Want My Hat Back

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-0757-6

40 pp.

Ages 3-8

New edition for release March 2019

With the release of this new board book edition of Jon Klassen's award-winning I Want My Hat Back, I am pleased that I can review this gem and introduce new readers to this delightful story. Originally published in 2011, a year before I started this blog, I missed out on reviewing Jon Klassen's first picture book, though I remember well sharing it with little ones.

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

A bear has lost his hat and seeks it by asking a fox, a frog, a rabbit, a turtle, a snake, and an armadillo, "Have you seen my hat?" Their answers are varied, some confused, some preoccupied, and some defensive but all are negative. Ever polite, even helping a turtle to climb a rock, the bear often replies with a "Thank you anyway."

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

It's not until a deer asks the bear what the hat looks like that he realizes he did see his hat. Mystery solved but what will bear do to get his hat back?

From I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

Those who've read this book will all remember the twist that I Want My Hat Back takes and those who have not are in for a surprise but one that requires little ones to read the clues. From a series of repetitive enquiries to the revelation of the theft and finally the bear's response, both evident and not, I Want My Hat Back propels the reader from beginning to end, with subtle but dark humour that suggests consequences for actions.

In I Want My Hat Back, as well as in its sequels This is Not My Hat (Candlewick, 2012) and We Found a Hat (Candlewick, 2016), Jon Klassen beguiles with his simple but characteristic illustrations of animals and their landscapes. But the simplicity is hardly unsophisticated. It may be more reminiscent of folk art with its clarity of line and austere backgrounds but the art is punchy, just like the story. Bear may get his hat back but it's not a happy ending for the rabbit. Be prepared. Life is like that. And isn't grand that there are those like Jon Klassen who recognize that children's books don't need to be sugar and unicorns to be exceptional and appreciated?

Jon Klassen's hat trilogy

Elijah of Buxton

Written by Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic Press

9780439936477 

288 pp.

Ages 9-12

2007

Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman is the first free child born in Buxton, Ontario, a town of slaves who have escaped from the United States.  His days are filled with fishing by throwing stones, going to school, staying away from snakes (of which he is deathly afraid) and continuing to run into the Preacher, a sweet-talking but manipulative man, who gets Elijah involved in more than one of his schemes. But when the Preacher steals all the hard-earned money that Mr. Leroy was saving to buy his wife and two children out of slavery, Elijah, a boy of innocence and a strong sense of fairness, finds himself heading across the border and into the world of slavers and those seeking freedom in Canada. His ma might call him "fra-gile" but Elijah proves that he is anything but.

Though Elijah of Buxton is a book of a harrowing journey into America by a black youth looking to right a wrong, it only becomes a perilous adventure in the last third of the book.  Christopher Paul Curtis takes time to set the stage for that venture, establishing his characters and cultural landscape through the complexity of voice and atmosphere.  Elijah's interactions with others in his community, both peers and those "growned-up," speak to the changing times, when racism could be overt or concealed and the divide between the United States and Canada was both conspicuous and subtle.

Elijah of Buxton begs to be read aloud to get the full nuance of language and tone that Christopher Paul Curtis instills in the narration and dialogue, just as he has in The Madman of Piney Woods and The Journey of Little Charlie.  The dialect can seem confusing at times but read aloud the text becomes rich and flavourful.

There are many difficult moments in Elijah of Buxton, times when my heart broke and I struggled to read on.  Not because the book wasn't an outstanding piece of literature but because of the injustices and horrors endured.   Mind you, even Christopher Paul Curtis's ending left me sobbing and still hopeful for a baby, for Elijah and for all. Christopher Paul Curtis had just set up the “most beautifullest, most perfectest” story he could.

••••••••••••••••••

Though I rarely review books not published in the past year, my recent review of The Journey of Little Charlie compelled me to review Christopher Paul Curtis's earlier books that reference the town of Buxton, The Madman of Piney Woods and now Elijah of Buxton.  These books are not a series, though Buxton is mentioned in each.  Please read them all.

Me (and) Me

Written by Alice Kuipers

HarperCollins Canada

9781443448826

288 pp.

Ages 14+

April 2017

Lark Hardy’s seventeenth birthday should’ve been a fun day, and it had begun that way, a first date with Alec Sandcross canoeing at Pike Lake.  But one moment changes everything.  As the teens are about to embark on some swimming, a cry from Suzanne Fields, the mother of five-year-old Annabelle whom Lark had babysat, draws their attention to the child face down in the water. Alec dives in but hits his head and starts going down.  And as Suzanne yells at Lark to do something, the teen hesitates, not knowing whom to save.  So begins a novel split in two voices, both Larks and both Lark’s.

The first Lark begins to describe the days after the near drowning in which Alec has been saved and Annabelle lays in a hospital bed in a coma. Alec and Lark’s new relationship is blossoming, and he begins to teach her how to do parkour, climbing, running and jumping across obstacles such as buildings and bridges. Becoming so entwined with the attentive and charismatic Alec, Lark starts blowing off best friend Lucy and bandmates Nifty, Reid and Iona to spend time with Alec.  When she starts getting weird messages on her phone about Alec not being saved, Lark is disconcerted but has no answers. But when she visits Annabelle in the hospital, and hallucinates that she’s drowning in water and then glimpses a girl who is but isn’t her, Lark starts to think she’s going crazy.

In an alternate voice and chapters, a second Lark, one who cuts her hair short and dyes it red, recounts those same days, but ones in which music exec Martin Fields and wife Suzanne are ever grateful to her for saving their young daughter while Alec’s family sits by his hospital bedside, contemplating turning off the machines that are keeping him alive.  Lark still harbours much anger about her mother’s passing and translates that anger into petty shoplifting of items she doesn’t even want.  But though this Lark is starting to connect with bandmate Reid, she too is baffled by freaky messages including those of a not-hospital bound Alec and an intimate relationship with him.

Lark, whether the long- and dark-haired one or she of the red hair, have similar circumstances: a musical mother who has passed; a dad with heart issues; best friend Lucy; a passion for writing songs; and playing with bandmates Reid, Iona and Nifty.  She is also starting to suspect she’s losing it, seeing things like imaginary water near drowning her and disappearing messages.

The linchpin for Lark becomes the lyrics her mother started penning before her death.

Perhaps you see it differently
You and me
It’s just a case of who tells the story
Perhaps you see it differently. (pg. 86)

Showering her intense text with astounding lyrics, Alice Kuipers  brings both Larks together to juxtapose the parallel lives they lead after the near drowning at the lake.  Confused by grief, fears and even guilt, both girls (or are they really two?) attempt to make sense of a world in which their own choices for actions have consequences that they wish they could undo.  They are two halves of the same whole, different but similar. They are Me (and) Me.  (There’s even a crazy moment when the two face off and shout, “Who even are you?” “Who the hell are you?”; pg. 240) It’s hard to say whether the two will come together equally, though Lark recognizes that,

I have to stitch myself back together.  I have to make myself whole. (pg. 270)

or whether Lark will become more of one than the other.  However, it’s clear that Alice Kuipers in her daring storytelling and almost maternal concern for her characters wants to help keep Lark together. Life is hard enough without questioning your decisions, especially those made under pressure, and when literally being torn apart by them.  I can’t tell you how it ends (you’ll see when you read Me (and) Me) but I can tell you that the story comes full circle, secured in its own way, though not tied up as you might expect.

Check back tomorrow for my Me (and) Me blog tour stop with a guest post by author Alice Kuipers.  Ever enlightening, Alice Kuipers speaks about why she writes YA.

Uncle Holland

Written by JonArno Lawson

Illustration by Natalie Nelson

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-929-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2017

Oh, Uncle Holland, he is a scamp! From the time he was a child (and not yet an uncle), Holland was always getting into trouble.  Seems Holland, one of three boys born to Palmer and Ella Lawson (note the last name connection to the author), liked helping himself to pretty things.  After being caught by the police for the thirty-seventh time (!), Holland is given the choice of jail or the army. Though his mother and brothers are devastated, his father "decided to spend the rest of this life watching his fish swim around in his fish tank" because "Fish can't disappoint me." (pg. 11) His mother takes some solace that her son, though a thief, was never a liar.  Holland chooses the army.

From Uncle Holland 

by JonArno Lawson 

illus. by Natalie Nelson

At the southern location to which Holland is sent, there are many splendid and tempting things like palm trees, parrots, flowers and exquisite fish but none he can slip into his pockets.  So Holland chooses to capture the beauty of the fish in paintings, even making some money selling this art. But when he sends money home, his parents are concerned about the origin of that money.  Fortunately, he is able to tell them truthfully that the money was not stolen but instead that he had learned that he could sell pictures of pretty things since "Not everything that's pretty can be stuffed in your pockets."(pg. 30)

You know there's probably more to this story than told here by JonArno Lawson, the author behind the wildly successful Sidewalk Flowers (illustrated by Sydney Smith; Groundwood, 2015), especially since his Author's Note explains that Holland was his Uncle Holland.  But Uncle Holland, the book, is still able to tell a story, caution children about stealing and telling lies, and provide reassurance that one can turn things around.  Okay, we know that you can't turn everything around (some illnesses, death, legal issues, etc.) but I think children would be comforted to know that sometimes you'll get a second chance (even thirty-seven of them) to make things right, though family might appear to turn their backs on you.

American illustrator Natalie Nelson's art, collages of mixed media, are both mischievous and sobering, not unlike Holland's situation.  There is gravitas associated with his infamous acts, often illustrated in neutral shades of black and greys, with only smidgens of colour in tears and fish in water.  Not until Holland is in the southern climes, witnessing beauty that must remain because he cannot squirrel it away, that the colours become vibrant and the art more playful.

From Uncle Holland 

by JonArno Lawson 

illus. by Natalie Nelson

Every family has a relative or two (or many) with incredible stories, some nefarious, some ridiculous, but we don't always like to share those embarrassing anecdotes.  That's unfortunate because they can be, like Uncle Holland, amusing learning and character-building opportunities. Thank you, JonArno Lawson, for choosing to share yours with young readers.

Blood Brothers

Written by Colleen Nelson

Dundurn

978-1-459737464

216 pp.

Ages 12-15

February 2017

Reviewed from advance reading copy

"...just cuz we share blood, doesn't make us brothers." (pg. 208)

Brothers are born and brothers are made through commonalities in purpose and temperament.  But does one kind of brotherhood surpass the other? How do you weigh what one brother means to you against another?  These are the questions being asked throughout Colleen Nelson's new work of young adult fiction as two fifteen-year-old boys steer through life, amidst the poverty and violence of a tenuous world and one of apparent opportunity for better.

Jakub Kaminsky admits that he has a sad little life. His parents emigrated from Poland for a better life before his mother died giving birth to him.  An injury at work left his devout father with a mangled leg and unable to work.  Now the two live in a rooming house on the West Side and attend and volunteer at St. Mary's, the parish of Father Dominic.  Jakub works hard at school and gets good grades, but he's truly alive when he's tagging as Morf.

Lincoln Bear may live with his mother and father and younger brother Dustin, for whom he tries to be an attentive big brother, but his home life is hardly comfortable, emotionally or financially.  When 21-year-old brother Henry returns from eighteen months in prison and promptly reestablishes his connection to the Red Bloodz gang, Lincoln is pulled in, hopeful of reconnecting with his brother and making a better life for himself. But restoring that relationship entails Lincoln becoming involved in jacking cars for a chop shop the gang runs which leads to more dangerous and illegal activities.

Jakub knows Henry is using Lincoln but he has no defence when he himself is involved in illegal tagging, especially after Lincoln takes the fall when they are almost caught by the police.  With Jakub starting as a bursary student at the prestigious St. Bart's school, and Lincoln falling deeper under the thumb of his violent brother, it becomes evident that the friendship between the two teens is at risk.

The survival of their friendship ends up being the least of their worries, though it is a driving force, when Lincoln becomes involved in a murder, and Jakub finds a very public but dangerous way of revealing the perpetrators. Blood Brothers culminates with a violent struggle between brothers of different kinds and very real consequences for all involved in desperate ventures.

"It's too late, I want to tell her.  It's like when water gets sucked down a drain.  Stuffing a finger in to stop it won't do any good.  The water still slips away." (pg.161)

Colleen Nelson leaves no time or breath of respite for the reader who is thrown from one harrowing situation to another, as both Jakub and Lincoln attempt to create lives that matter for themselves.  Yet, with all the poor choices the two make–and there are many–they are guided by a desire to be part of something good whether it be family, friendship, church or school. They want to be persons of consequence, because of their art or their presence or their actions.  They want what everyone wants: to matter.  Whether that happens depends on where you start and where you go and all the steps you take in between.  For Jakub and Lincoln, whose voices Colleen Nelson asserts both honestly and compassionately through those strides and missteps, it's their brotherhood that walks with them, leaving its own footprints.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Be sure to check out Dundurn's book trailer for Blood Brothers at https://youtu.be/k026kfO89L4.

Uploaded to YouTube by Dundurn Press on November 24, 2016. 

The Alphabet Thief

Written by Bill Richardson

Illustrated by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-877-8

40 pp.

Ages 5-9

March 2017

An alphabet thief is on the loose and she is creating mayhem with every letter she sneaks into her sack.  Bill Richardson, Canadian humourist and writer for all ages, tells a story of words ridiculously transformed with the loss of a letter, as depicted in the illustrations by Vancouver artist Roxanna Bikadoroff.

The Alphabet Thief stole all of the C’s,
And a cloud became loud in the sky.
My chair wasn’t there–it was turned into hair
And all of the spices were spies.

From The Alphabet Thief 

by Bill Richardson 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Oh my.  As a little bespectacled girl and her dog Bill witness the thefts, beards become bears, horses become hoses and artists’ paints become pants.  But the young child who wears a beret or sometimes a deer-stalker is on the case and it’s up to her to make sure the thief is caught and the world of words is made sane again.

A new book from award-winning author and humourist Bill Richardson is always a joy to behold but the publication of The Alphabet Thief is even more notable because it’s for children.  Bill Richardson’s humour which has earned him four nominations for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (he won in 1994 for Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast) has the right touch for evoking subtle humour while giving young readers light but powerful wordplay to contemplate.  I wish I were in a classroom again so that I might do a sophisticated alphabet game of illustrating words that have lost certain letters.  The kids would laugh themselves silly with crops transformed into cops, soaps developing into saps, and brothers becoming bothers (though that last one is hardly a stretch)! Moreover, Bill Richardson writes this early reader in an entertaining rhyming text conducive to an imaginative wordplay that teachers and students and all readers will appreciate.

Roxanna Bikadoroff must have laughed her way through the illustration process, creating wild scenarios like a café scene in which bowls become owls, the dog Bill becomes ill and a brat walking by on his cellphone turns into a rat.

From The Alphabet Thief 

by Bill Richardson 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Her pen and ink drawings with only hints of colour have a light and rushed feel to them, perfect for a book that portrays the mad antics of a thief.  Still the art of of Roxanna Bikadoroff, who has won awards for her magazine illustrations, tells the story of The Alphabet Thief with the silliness Bill Richardson’s rhymes evoke.

Do get The Alphabet Thief for your classroom or child’s library, and not just because of its possible lessons in the alphabet since the thief does take the letters in order, except for the tricky QU combo which disappear together.  Get the book because you’ll have fun reading the rhymes and picking out the transforming words via the art and don’t we all need a little more fun in our lives? Thanks Bill Richardson and Roxanna Bikadoroff for bringing it.

From The Alphabet Thief 

by Bill Richardson 

illus. by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Weerdest Day Ever!

First there was the Seven Series.

Then came the Seven Sequels.

Today the long-awaited Seven Prequels launches! 

Get a taste for the Seven Prequels with my review of  

Richard Scrimger's contribution to the series here.

Written by Richard Scrimger

Orca Book Publishers

9781459811553

216 pp.

Ages 9-12

September 2016

Reviewed from advance reading copy

Weerdest Day Ever! is a story that Bunny (Bernard) is writing for his Grade 10 English class about a camping trip with his Grampa and brother Spencer.  It begins with an “Oops. Sorry.” that is pure Bunny.   But as weird as his tale might be, he makes a point of clarifying that it is essentially true, though knowing Bunny, he does tend to misinterpret much since he often takes things literally and at face value.

This story is true–mostly its true.  You wont think so but it is.  Like the war. Yah there reely was a war. Or the cow.  Or the hollow tree. Or what happened to the 1 arm man. (pg. 3)

Since I know he’s got you hooked with that beginning, his story is off to a great start.  And, if I were his teacher, I could easily disregard his spelling mistakes because the content of his story is so engaging.

Grampa doesn’t tell them much about the trip except that there will be surprises at the park that weekend.  His only rule is that, if they go out on their own, that they must stay close and check in.  When Spencer loses his new and distinctly yellow-cased smart phone, Bunny goes exploring by himself and discovers some guys in blue jackets and white pants and tall hats armed with guns that looked longer and fancier than rifles he knew.  He meets two kids, Beth and her quiet brother Tyler, both dressed in fringed leather clothing and with makeup, sneaking through the woods.  Beth tells them they are with the British and those men in blue are the Americans and there would be in battle tomorrow.  Beth then introduces Bunny to their father, Tecumseh, a general with an impressive sword, at a community of tents, wagons, horses and a log house in a large open area.

Most readers would get that what Bunny is witnessing is a re-enactment from the War of 1812 but Bunny truly believes a war is about take place and feels he must warn his Grampa.  But, Bunny knows how to recognize a bully and, when a blue-coated, one-armed man comes by and taunts Beth’s father and uses discriminatory and rude words like "savages" and "red skins", Bunny calls him out on it, making an enemy of the “reactor” (i.e., re-enactor) whom they learn is an American called Brasher.  Later when Bunny and the silent tracker Tyler go snooping and Bunny sees Brasher with Spencer’s distinctive cell phone, Bunny’s mission becomes two-fold: warn Grampa about the war, and get Spencer’s phone back.  Along the way, though, Bunny and his new friends have another mystery to solve, that of the theft of Tecumseh's sword, solved all the more easily because of Bunny's astute observations.

I can’t possible go into all the layers of Richard Scrimger’s plot but it does encompass a war, a one-armed man, a cow, as Bunny mentions at the onset, but also Laura Secord, a sword, a phone, horseback riding, a re-enactment, budding romances for all three campers, an elderly woman with hearing issues, antagonism with Americans, meaningful ice-cream, a hollow tree, a bully, and a familial rivalry.  It must have seemed like the “weerdest day ever!” for sweet and trusting Bunny who spends most of the weekend worried.  He’s worried about Spencer and his lost phone; about a war they may lose and who might get killed; about Beth and a horse-handler named Clod; about the mean bully named Brasher; and more. But even with all these worries, Bunny’s perspective allows him to see circumstances with wisdom and the humour with which Richard Scrimger’s writing is always imbued.

     “What if we lose?” I said. “What then?”
     Wuld we become American? And what would that mean–being American?
     If I was American Id have a different anthem. O say can you see.  I didnt know it all but I knew that part.  No more standing on gard.  If I was American Id have a president.  My capital city wuld be Washington.  Id have green money. (pg. 104)

How can you not love Bunny?  He may have spelling challenges and trust others too quickly, but he is wise beyond his years (he’s in Grade 6 when the camping trip takes place), recognizing that the only rule he needs to live by is you should do what you want unless it hurts somebody.  

It’s very satisfying to learn a bit about Bunny’s earlier story, as well as get hints of his grandfather David McLean’s covert and romantic entanglements, in this book of the Seven Prequels.  I suspect readers of the remaining Seven Prequels will feel the same after learning a bit more about Spencer, DJ, Webb, Adam, Rennie and Steve.  I can only reiterate what we have said all along about the Seven series, the Seven Sequels and now the Seven Prequels:  read them in any order, just read them.

Be sure to check out all the blog stops on the Seven Prequels tour to launch the series, starting today:

• Norah McClintock at Lost in a Great Book

• Richard Scrimger here at CanLit for LittleCanadians

• Eric Walters at Literary Treats

• John Wilson at teenreads

• Ted Staunton at Young Adult Books Central

• Shane Peacock at MrsReadsBooks

• Sigmund Brouwer at Lost in a Great Book

AND

Check back tomorrow for my own blog tour stop for the Seven Prequels, my interview with author Richard Scrimger.

Scam

by Lesley Choyce

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-1174-4

113 pp.

Ages 12+

RL 3.2

April 2016

At 15 short chapters and a mere 113 pages, and a story plotted by Lesley Choyce (see my reviews of Jeremy Stone and Into the Wasteland from Red Deer Press, 2013 and 2014 respectively), Scam is a valuable addition to Orca Book Publishers' Orca Soundings series of hi-lo books for teens with a story that explores the resiliency of youth.

Scam begins with sixteen-year-old narrator Josh Haslett dealing with the death of his mother.  Josh has always thought of himself as a “good cover-up artist”  (pg. 3) as he had taken care of the household after his dad left and mom had continued to party and do drugs and he had kept social workers oblivious to their situation.  But on the way to his mom’s funeral, as arranged by social work, Josh is scammed of his paltry wallet by a beautiful teen named Lindsey.  Frantic, he chases after her and gets his wallet back but she insists on going to the funeral with him.

As Josh is taken into a group home with other male teens, he continues to meet up with Lindsey who involves Josh in a number of scams, including the theft of wedding gifts, while insisting that she can teach him how to take his own efforts of working the system to the next level.  But Josh knows the difference between survival and cheating others, and he is as uncomfortable with her scamming as much as he is drawn to her.  After helping out at a camp for disadvantaged kids and providing Lindsey with the emotional support she needs after a death in her own family, Josh realizes that somethings that seem very tenous can be very real, even if fleeting.

Lesley Choyce capably gets into the heads of young people, whether they be dealing with dysfunctional families, drugs, mental health or just growing up.  In Scam, Lesley Choyce takes on the issues of grief and trust, and demonstrates that we all need a little help sometimes and that the help can come from the unlikeliest of sources, even those in which we don’t always have confidence.

West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Snack Snatcher

by Liam O'Donnell
Illustrated by Aurélie Grand
Owlkids Books
978-1-77147-069-8
128 pp.
Ages 7-10
October, 2015

It's evident from page one that Myron is a little different from most third graders.  With a new baby in the household (OK, Sofia is 8-months-old but that's pretty new still) and the move to a new neighbourhood and a new school, West Meadows Elementary, Myron is apprehensive.  Unlike his Gr. 8 sister Alicia who makes friends fast and embraces newness, Myron acknowledges that he does not like new.  However, he does like solving mysteries and his analytical mind and natural super powers are going to come in very handy.

No one can ever smell things I do.  Just like they never hear the things I hear.  Mom says I have superpowered senses.  I can hear what radio station the neighbour three yards over is listening to on a sunny day.  I can tell when Sofia needs her diaper changed even if she's in the other room.  As far as superpowers go, I would rather have X-ray vision. (pg. 24)

Within minutes of entering Room 15, a special class Myron will attend mornings with Mr. Harpel, Myron is drawn to a crisis in the school kitchen where Mrs. Peterson, the chef, discovers a huge mess and the theft of the school's morning snack.  Myron's strong sense of smell leads him to a licorice-snacking girl named Hajrah hiding in the closet.  Hajrah, one of Mr. Harpel's four students, instantly insinuates herself into Myron's "investigation" and declares them to be the West Meadows Detective Agency.

Myron suspects a number of students in the thefts, including Hajrah, another Room 15 classmate Glitch who was known for thefts the previous year, and Smasher McGintley, the cousin of a bully from Myron's old school. But can Myron sift through the evidence before Mr. V, the custodian, starts cleaning up each mess?  And is there any relationship between the storm that took down a massive tree and damaged the school?  The solution may have been obvious to this reader but I suspect that early readers will enjoy solving the mystery alongside Myron.

Liam O’Donnell has become a mystery-writing aficionado starting with his Max Finder mysteries in Owl Magazine.  While he has capably relayed that prowess into his Graphic Guide Adventures and Tech Tales, these series are better suited for the middle-grade reader.  West Meadow Detectives is perfect for a slightly younger audience, hence Myron’s Grade 3 status, and these younger readers will appreciate both the writing, the thinking and the humour found within this first book in the series.  Moreover, they will appreciate the diversity of characters, both in their ethnicity, their strengths, their quirks and their experiences, ensuring that every reader will find themselves relating to the story easily.

I suspect that younger readers will also appreciate the black-and-white illustrations provided by Aurélie Grand and the quirky footprint page dividers that break up the text while still providing readers with an authentic novel of greater length in which to immerse themselves.  The font is large, the story is brisk and the graphics help  bring readers into solving the mystery alongside Myron.  Liam O’Donnell, a teacher as well as a writer, has penned The Case of the Snack Snatcher at a perfect level for young readers and has gotten all the elements right for engaging and entertaining them through text.

The Legend of Lightning and Thunder

by Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt

Illustrated by Jo Rioux

Inhabit Media

978-1-927095-7

40 pp.

Ages 6-8

2013

Taking a story that is typically told orally and transforming it into a text can be difficult but also disastrous.  The oral storytelling tradition relies heavily on the storyteller's craft: of rhythm, intonation, pacing and dramatic effects, all with the aim of interacting with the audience.  Attempting to harness those key features in text, without making that text cumbersome or awkward, and still retain the essence of the story, is a craft in itself.  Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt, whose bio indicates she is from Baker Lake, Nunavut, has obviously learned well from her grandmother and other elders in her community, but she has demonstrated a strong skill in putting her traditions to paper, penning a strong and accessible origin story with a twist here in The Legend of Lightning and Thunder.

During a festival when Inuit from far and wide come together to celebrate the beginning of spring, an orphaned brother and sister are turned away.  Secretly the two children steal some caribou meat and hide away to consume it.  When finished and still hungry, the two search through the belongings of visitors, looking for more food.  When they find no food, they try to distract themselves with play.  The sister finds a dry caribou skin which she waves in the air and bangs with her hand, while her younger brother uses a rock and a piece of flint found near a tent to create sparks and hopefully fire.  But when the night begins to fall, the children find a way to hide, convinced that they will be punished for their thefts.

Although the story explains how the two orphans ran away to hide in the sky and thus create thunder and lightning whenever they are bored or lonely and in need of play, the culminating message is far more broad.

"So, you see, because two orphaned children were neglected and ignored, we now have lightning and thunder in the world." (pg. 33)

I could hardly begin to understand the depth of the Inuit mythology which The Legend of Lightning and Thunder reveals but the clarity and richness of Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt's story easily and eloquently tells the legend.  Jo Rioux's illustrations, in blacks and grays, with the tints and shades of oranges and browns, and few inclusions of blue or red, match the desperation of the children's situation and the actions they choose to take.  Though generally an illustrator of graphic novels, Jo Rioux's drawings capture the spiritual and supernatural elements of the story well, and I look forward to enjoying her artwork in more youngCanLit.  In fact, pairing Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt and Jo Rioux again to bring more Inuit stories to book form would be a promising endeavour and an enriching one for all young readers.

The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls

Written by John Lekich

Orca Book Publishers

978-1554699780

280 pp.

Ages 11+

2012

Reviewed from ebook 

978-1554699803

If I had to be the victim of a crime, I'd hope to be burgled by a thief like fifteen-year-old Henry Thelonius Holloway. Even though he knows how to pick a lock and the other arts of thieving courtesy of his Uncle Andy and cronies, Henry would probably only borrow the car (and return it with gas), steal food only to prevent starvation, never steal anything of great sentimental value, and even tidy up my breakfast dishes. After all, how many thieves do you know who, rather than take a wad of bills from an envelope earmarked for a graduation gift, add a couple of bucks to increase the fund? Exactly. Henry is one of a kind. He's very principled, neat, and compassionate, even if he is a thief.

Unfortunately, Henry is also young and an orphan. After his mother died from cancer when he was nine years of age, he lived with his Uncle Andy and then Uncle Andy's friends when Uncle Andy went to prison. But when everyone who could care for him is also in prison or has taken off, Henry finds the means to live in a treehouse, supplementing his meagre existence with visits to his regular "benefactors" for food and such. It's only when Henry slips up in a ruse to reassure his uncle (who keeps tabs on him from prison) that he is alright that Henry is sent to Snowflake Falls' Second Chance program.

Placed in the care of the Wingates, Henry becomes part of a chaotic family of oddities.  Harrison Wingate is the very particular owner of Wingate's department store, desperate to keep the store from going under, courtesy of Biggie's Bargin Barn. His wife, Theodora, tirelessly and unobtrusively, works to keep the family happy and the surfaces of their home scrubbed from Oscar's markings. Oscar, not yet three, is known as a screamer and is delighted to share his voice with his new roommate (until the renovations on the guest room are completed). Finally, there is eleven-year-old Charlotte, a brilliant and big-hearted manic talker who is anxious to do good for others, including sharing her budding hair-cutting skills on Henry.

With his schedule of an early morning paper route (shamelessly conducted on Charlotte's small pink bike), work at Top Kow Burgers as the Grease Pig, volunteering (not) to read to Mr. Harley Howard, the near-blind and elderly richest man in town, and regular visits for counselling by Ms Penelope Pendergast, the Home Economics teacher, Henry should have no trouble keeping out of trouble. And, with so many people involved in his life now, including the friendly strangers of Snowflake Falls, Henry can't seem to find the means or heart to escape, yet.

Compelled by Henry's letters, Uncle Andy heads to Snowflake Falls when released from prison, and everything changes. Joining thieves Cookie Collito and Wally Whispers, Uncle Andy plans on one last job, with Henry's help: robbing the whole town. With so much of himself invested in his new town (and so many in Snowflake Falls invested in him), Henry finds himself looking for ways to avoid hurting those for whom he cares. By breaking his rule about forming attachments with people or places, he has put himself in an awkward position. Prison would have been so much easier.

John Lekich's characters in The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls are the treasures that readers look for in great fiction. They are unique and true to themselves, good or bad, and evolving.  Oscar may have been the downfall of the Second Chancers that came before Henry, but the little guy melts Henry's heart (or maybe he just shattered it with his excessive decibel output, snore or scream). Charlotte verges on being an annoyance but she is desperate to seem normal and be accepted, the humble goal of many of us. It's similar for George who believes acceptance will come through distinction. Theodora, Harrison, Harley and the others are more of the people with whom we share our lives, just quirkier and more of themselves. As for Henry, our seemingly self-assured teen, he has been a work in progress from the time before his mother became ill. He's astute enough to recognize what pleases others and what disappoints them, whether it is his mother, his uncle or the Wingates. Henry's compassion, though often masked, makes him heroic, enduring the loneliness of losing his mother and being untethered, while still able to see the emotional needs of others often before his own physical needs. Perhaps as his uncle proclaims, "Puzzles are a lot like life.  Once everything fits into place, there's nothing left to discover."  That's why Henry is still a work in progress.  While I had been hopeful for Henry to accept Snowflake Falls as his home, rather than his prison, John Lekich chose an alternate ending. Appropriately, even as The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls ends, I wonder how much of Henry is still to be discovered.

Accomplice

Written by Valerie Sherrard
Dundurn Press
978-1554887644
142 pp.
Ages13-16
2011

Dundurn's newly established Keystone Hi-Lo series hits the mark with Accomplice by Valerie Sherrard, enticing readers with a cover suggestive of a female criminal, a less likely combo than you might expect.  Our covergirl, fifteen-year-old Lexie Malton, starts her story with her arrest, and spends the remainder describing the circumstances by which she ends up nestled in a sheriff's van.

The story is fairly simple: Lexie gets her boyfriend, Devlin, to go to a party where she is enticed into trying heroin and encourages the reluctant Devlin to follow.  Unlike her, Devlin becomes addicted, eventually ending up on the street.  Though Lexie eventually moves on and starts going out with Oscar, her overwhelming guilt at her role in turning a great guy into a junkie continues to compel her to get what little money she can for Devlin whenever he calls.  Regardless of Devlin's insistence that he's going to stop the drugs and get clean, even returning to rehab, he thoughtlessly wrenches Lexie into a brutal situation that results in a death and Lexie marked as an accomplice.

The mandate of Hi-Lo books, i.e., grabbing the reader with its engrossing plot without dissuading reading with challenging vocabulary, can result in uninspired writing around a weak storyline.  However, in the hands of an accomplished writer such as Valerie Sherrard, most recently winner of the 2011 Geoffrey Bilson Historical Fiction for Young People Award for The Glory Wind (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2010), there is no chance of mediocrity.  Accomplice presents a straightforward but not light-weight plot involving common teen trials dealing with curiosity about drugs, discriminating between right and wrong, dating and communicating, and accepting responsibility.  More than just a hi-lo read, Accomplice provides a glimpse into how innocent errors in judgement can produce unfathomable consequences.