Every Space Between

Written by Naseem Hrab

Illustrated by John Martz 

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-710-0

48 pp.

Ages 3–7

March 2026

 

There are big, big moments in life that we can't help but acknowledge. For a child, it might be a special birthday, the first day of school, or a new home. Sometimes though big moments are not as positive. But they're all the kind of moments that children don't forget. But not everything is a big moment. And, in order to get the big moments, those other moments have to happen too.

From Every Space Between, written by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by John Martz

Every Space Between is less story and more insight. As two siblings, a younger sister and an older brother, go about their day, there are moments of heightened emotion and moments in between. We might recognize when we start something and anticipate how it will end but what of the space in between? From playing with her dog to reading to going out for ice-cream, this child's day is filled with moments: expected, unexpected, memorable, and forgettable. But there are also bothersome moments—a tuba mishap with the dog ball, a demolished house of cards, a tumbling ice cream—and will these calamities wash out the good?

Certain in-betweens

are as breathtaking

as the shift from

day to night

just before

the starts wake up

and the light scatters

and the sky glows . . . (pg. 46)

From Every Space Between, written by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by John Martz

Naseem Hrab, author of Weekend Dad (2020), Otis & Peanut (2023), and How to Be Brave Like a Snail (2025), takes an almost philosophical approach to the idea of moments in time and the circumstances of those moments. But, though it could be a heavy topic, Naseem Hrab just makes young readers think about those in-betweens. We all remember the great and the horrific moments, but they are rare when we consider all the time and experiences spent in between them. Although it's not a mindfulness practice, thinking about those in-betweens while we're in the in-betweens can give us a different perspective on the big moments and the beginnings and endings of experiences. It's actually insightful to have kids think beyond, or rather between, the occasions. Focus on everyday school work not the exam at the end. Enjoy the moments of camaraderie and comfort of team play rather than the outcome of the game. There is so much special in the in-betweens.

From Every Space Between, written by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by John Martz

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never reviewed a book illustrated by John Martz though his artwork has been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Eisner Award, and the Doug Wright Award. This Toronto cartoonist, illustrator, and writer creates digital art that is both simple and filled with details that may be ordinary but say a lot. Two kids reading on a couch is more because of the kiss on a forehead, a scratching of a knee, a hamster hiding, a stray playing card, and a dog and a cat napping. And every John Martz illustration makes the reader think about what is happening, what could happen, and what it all means.  

 

There's always more to life than the highlights that others or we remember. There's much more to this sibling relationship than some accidents and bickering. And Naseem Hrab wants us to see all those extras that aren't just in-between but rather the stuff that gives substance and content for the rest. 

Just a Minute!

Written by Josée Bournival

Illustrated by Luke Ives

CrackBoom! Books (Chouette Publishing)

978-2-89802-605-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2025 

 

How long is a minute? If you ask an adult, they will say 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour. But for children, it can be measured by what can happen in that time, good or bad. So, a minute can seem like an eternity or a flash, depending on how they are feeling.

From Just a Minute!, written by Josée Bournival, illustrated by Luke Ives

Josée Bournival, well-known Quebec radio and TV host as well as author of adult and children's books, examines the concept of a minute from the perspective of different children. As diverse as the children and the families is the variety of ways to see a minute. First she looks at times when a minute seems like a long time, from waiting in line for a washroom or being told to wait when wanting something from an adult or when you can't fall asleep.

From Just a Minute!, written by Josée Bournival, illustrated by Luke Ives

But then there are those times when a minute just isn't long enough, like when playing with friends or getting a cuddle from your mother or watching a sunset. In those cases, time just flies by.

From Just a Minute!, written by Josée Bournival, illustrated by Luke Ives

Finally, a minute can be long enough to do things like brush your teeth or walk across the road and even change your whole life, like the moment you meet a new baby in the family. Sometimes we lose minutes through anger and arguing, but also through daydreaming. Ultimately, though, "when we line them up, one after the next, minutes make up our lives."

Whatever you way you look at a minute, good, bad, or neutral, it's time that comes and goes and brings with it something from which we learn, gain comfort, emote, interact, and so much more, all of which go into making our lives fuller. Josée Bournival covers the concept of a minute not as a unit of time but as a dimension of living, never judging or grumbling about time spent in any activity and always recognizing the fullness of a life that is both brimming with moments of different qualities.

From Just a Minute!, written by Josée Bournival, illustrated by Luke Ives

Montreal's Luke Ives ensures that all those moments of minutes of play and affection, learning and stressing are included but always with gentleness and good nature. Even standing in a line for a portable toilet does more than draw attention to the uncomfortable child, showing us people living their lives in moments of biding their time, either patiently or impatiently. His cartoon images keep the message light and amusing, always familiar in their circumstances and recognizable in the children's sentiments.

 

It may take you more than a minute to read Just a Minute! but whether a young child reading for themselves or an adult reading aloud to a child, the minutes spent reading this picture book will be worthwhile and completely satisfying.

 🕐🕑🕒🕓🕔🕕🕖🕗🕘🕙🕚🕛

 

A French-language version, Une (petite) minute!, is also available.

Une (petite) minute!

Written by Josée Bournival

Illustrated by Luke Ives

CrackBoom! Books

978-2-89802-572-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2025

 

The Sun Never Hurries

Written by Roxane Turcotte

Illustrated by Lucie Crovatto

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-307-0

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

June 2024 

 

Just like each grain of sand, every moment of your day is precious. 

Little Charlie may be of a generation that wants to eat at restaurants or drive everywhere but a day with her grandfather, Papa Jo, teaches her the value of taking the time to savour every moment and experience, making for a far richer adventure.

From The Sun Never Hurries, written by Roxane Turcotte, illus. by Lucie Crovatto

Charlie's day with Papa Jo begins with him showing her an hourglass, explaining that it helps him remember that a day is an almost infinite number of moments to enjoy and cherish. At lunchtime, instead of heading to a restaurant, Papa Jo enlists Charlie's help to peel vegetables for a delicious soup. Afterwards, instead of getting in the car and heading to the village, they stroll together through wildflowers. An excursion to an island becomes a series of small adventures: in the rowboat, on the beach, watching birds and dragonflies, and more. When the day ends and time has drained from the hourglass, there is still one more encounter with that unhurried sun to cap their day together.

From The Sun Never Hurries, written by Roxane Turcotte, illus. by Lucie Crovatto

We should all be taking the time to appreciate every moment, from cooking a meal to reaching a destination, to being fully present. Too many adults rush here and there and multitask and worry about not getting everything done. Too many children are rushing from one activity to another, expecting instant satisfaction from people, food, and experiences. There is great value in being mindful of the moment, whether with another or doing mundane tasks or feeling feelings. Roxane Turcotte gives us the encouragement to stop and enjoy the moments with Papa Jo and Charlie, and step back from anticipating what to do next, or how quickly can we do it, or how much we've accomplished. Through Papa Jo's words and examples, Charlie and young readers will relax and pause a little more, and appreciate everything the sun, the outdoors, the world has to offer.

 

Quebec's Lucie Crovatto gives us the warmth and luxury of the sun in all her illustrations. Imbued with cheerful yellows and oranges, whether in the carrots and potatoes, Charlie and Papa Jo's outfits, or the sunshine and the sunset, Lucie Crovatto makes us feel safe and content. However, her palette is not restricted to these colours because she takes readers outdoors with her characters: to walk in colourful meadows, to row over pale green waters, or to sway on an elaborate branch swing in a lush forest. No matter the setting, the art embraces and soothes, reminding us to feel and see and listen and truly experience each moment.

From The Sun Never Hurries, written by Roxane Turcotte, illus. by Lucie Crovatto

As Charlie learns throughout her day with Papa Jo and especially when it comes to sunset, the sun never hurries, and neither should we.

 

• • • • • • •

The story is also available in its original French language edition, Le sablier de Papijo (Dominique et compagnie, 2022).

Last Week

Written by Bill Richardson

Illustrated by Emilie Leduc

Afterword by Dr. Stephanie Green

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-566-3

64 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2022

Last Week is a sombre little book. It is based on the last week of a child's grandmother, affectionately called Flippa, as she with her family prepare for her death via Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). It is sombre because of a child's recognition of time passing swiftly before that death in a week of six hundred four thousand and eight hundred seconds or in the seven chapter days.

From Last Week by Bill Richardson, illus. by Emilie Leduc

This last week begins with Monday and with a child and their father flying across the country to be with the parent's mother during her last week. The child recalls how Flippa used to swim every day in the sea, walking in her wet suit, goggles and flippers the three blocks to the ocean. But no more. Because Flippa always felt it was important to make every second count, the child does that with the seconds they have left with her, chatting while she rests in bed, trying to make her laugh, and more.

From Last Week by Bill Richardson, illus. by Emilie Leduc

Visitors come and bring food and stay to chat and cry and reminisce. When Flippa feels well enough to come out of her room, she recalls being there for the child's birth. Now they will be there for her, "For when I'm set free," she declares. A visit from the green grocer, Mr. Bark, has the two ribbing each other about the tomato plants she'd bought from him having not produced any tomatoes. It's all very low-key with everyone knowing that Flippa's end is near but rarely really discussing it directly. With Flippa's doctor scheduled to come Sunday at 11 a.m. and administer the trio of medicines, the conclusion of that last week is imminent, and the child finds a way to be with Flippa, connect with her and even share a good-bye gift.

From Last Week by Bill Richardson, illus. by Emlie Leduc

Bill Richardson has written a story of such elegance in Last Week. The death of a grandparent can be one of the first significant deaths a child can experience, except for that of a pet, but a scheduled death is a whole different issue. With that last week, the child understands the momentousness of that juncture while preparing for a loss, appreciating every moment and witnessing others' responses. Bill Richardson keeps the story from the child's perspective and what they see, feel, hear, and know. By doing this, it becomes the child's story, not about the death. In fact, Flippa's death is never revealed though readers will know it was impending and unavoidable. That inevitability permeates the story and the child's narration of it but this child does not manifest the same grief as their father or the other visitors. After all, grief for the dying or the dead is different for all. For this child, it's making those seconds count with support and love, easing Flippa through that last week in their own way.

From Last Week by Bill Richardson, illus. by Emilie Leduc

While it is an illustrated chapter book, Last Week is not awash in the colour or boldness of art. Emilie Leduc's illustrations are stark and hushed. The black, grey and white palette keeps the tone of the story soft and quiet. Even though Flippa's last week is busy with visitors and family, those moments are important but fleeting, not unlike the art. Both Bill Richardson and Emilie Leduc can do bright and cheerful, humorous and busy. (Check out Bill Richardson's The Alphabet Thief or Hare B & B and Emilie Leduc's All Year Round.) But they set the tone of the book with their words and art, making Last Week important in its dignity of story message –which includes an Afterword by Dr. Stephanie Green about assisted dying–while taking the opportunity to introduce young people to an important end-of-life discussion.

Weave a Circle Round

Written by Kari Maaren

Tor Books

978-0-7653-8628-1

367 pp.

Ages 12+

2017

After fourteen-year-old Josiah and adult (but not mother) Cuerva Lachance move in to the house on Grosvenor Street, everything in Freddy Duchamp's life goes topsy-turvy. That's saying a lot since life hasn't been that stable to begin with. Maybe Freddy has always been too sensitive–something she doesn't appreciate, knowing that "Sensitive people got stomped on by life" (pg. 12)–but with her parents' hostile relationship transitioning into divorce and her mother marrying Jordan Fukiyama whose irascible son Roland, also 14, seems to hate Freddy, the teen finds little solace anywhere or with anyone. She feels ignored at home (Mom and Jordan are essentially absentee parents) and at school (maturing friends Rochelle and Cathy have left Freddy behind). She's angry at Roland who's a jerk and gets special attention because of his hearing impairment and treats her like she doesn't belong in her own home. And she's frustrated with her brilliant younger sister Mel who gets along with Roland and is often involved in his role-playing games (RPGs).

Though Freddy clashes with the disagreeable Josiah, he seems to be the only one around actually being friendly to her. But Roland has a real problem with Josiah and Cuerva Lachance and warns Freddy and Mel to stay away from them, without any explanation. There are hints of chaos on the horizon: Cuerva Lachance aggravating all with her bizarre behaviour; Mel's surveillance of their neighbours revealing Josiah in two places at the same time; and Freddy and Roland's conflict escalating into verbal assaults and threats.

And then, without warning, Freddy is in 9th c. Sweden in the midst of a battle between feuding Viking families. Josiah is there, explaining that they have time-travelled and that no matter where or when they reappear in the past, Josiah will be there as himself, with Cuerva Lachance as a new character and a third person whom they call Three. Jumping from times that include ancient China, the Upper Palaeolithic, 18th c. England (where they meet Sam Coleridge whose poem Kubla Khan gives the line "Weave a circle round him thrice") and the future of the 32nd century, Freddy attempts to make sense of the dynamics between the three characters and her role while surviving abductions, battles, and Josiah's perplexing attitude.

Weave a Circle Round is all about the struggle between balance and chaos, with a choice that needs to be made as to which will override the other.  In the case of Josiah and Cuerva, the balance of power shifts regularly and Freddy is forced to look within and around her to make sense of the world, both in her personal timeline and in those of Josiah, Cuerva Lachance and Three. How it is resolved is all on Kari Maaren.

Short-listed for the 2018 Sunburst Award for excellence in Canadian literature of the fantastic in the YA category as well as the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, Weave a Circle Round has already made its mark for Kari Maaren who has blended a story that balances its own chaos with harmony and produced a tale of fantasy with complex characters seeking to fit in. They evolve, they mature, and they learn. From her protagonists Freddy, Roland, Josiah, Cuerva Lachance, and Mel, to her secondary characters like Freddy's mom and friends Rochelle and Cathy, all the characters in Weave a Circle Round are complex beings who are motivated by fear and uncertainty and follow their instincts, good or bad, to pursue becoming the characters they choose to be.

The writing is brilliant, both intricate and honest, giving voice to those who seek understanding of self and others.

As far as I can tell, crying about something you can't change is a slightly more sophisticated version of throwing a tantrum because the sun has melted your ice cream. (pg. 17)

And even through the complexities of time travel and the characters' personal development, there is humour.

"...and it doesn't really matter for me. I eat paradox for breakfast. I'm also fond of waffles." (pg. 131)

Weave a Circle Round is A Wrinkle in Time meets Dr. Who. It's a wonderful fabric woven of a fantastic plot and rich characters on a backing of science and history. The message is clear that all lives fluctuate between stable and chaotic, sometimes one more than the other, but the need for balance is irrefutable. And, with the introspection and problem-solving Freddy achieves via her time-travels and interactions with all, Weave a Circle Round becomes her coming of age story. She learns, a little later than sooner, that it's all about writing your own narrative and choosing the roles you'll play and that, if you want to see how things are going to work out, it's best to look where everything begins.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I'm pleased to announce that writer Kari Maaren will be joining YA authors Lesley Livingston and Natasha Deen on a speculative fiction panel at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on Sunday, September 9, 2018.  Do come out to hear these authors speak, to ask a few questions, and to get a book or two autographed.  It's a wonderful outdoor event to celebrate words.

Waiting for Sophie

Written by Sarah Ellis

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-020-8

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

April 2017

Waiting can be so hard for little ones, especially when it's for a baby sister who is taking her time being born and growing up so you can play with her.  And this waiting is just about killing little Liam.

"Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. I waited through half of kindergarten.  I waited through my birthday." Liam bounced on the bed. "Waiting is my worst thing. I want to jump on waiting and smash it to smithereens and flush it down the toilet." (pg. 8)

Fortunately Liam's Nana-Downstairs is adept at keeping him occupied with all kinds of "being bad" to pass the time: wearing pajamas all day, eating marshmallow sandwiches, painting Liam's bedroom door with purple polka dots and hurling playful insults at each other.  Finally Baby Sophie arrives in the world and is brought home and Liam thinks she is practically perfect.  

She had toes like peanuts and ears that the sun shone through.  The top of her head smelled especially nice.  (pg. 14)

From Waiting for Sophie 

by Sarah Ellis

illus. by Carmen Mok

For weeks, Sophie's big brother delights in making her laugh and stopping her from crying and getting her to burp.  But he wants more, hoping that the day when Sophie can walk and talk comes sooner than expected, since waiting can be so tiresome.  After months of more waiting, Nana-Downstairs, a handy person, has a new idea, and helps Liam create the G. O. F. (Get Older Faster) machine, an spectacular box of dials and screens and fancy pasta.  And though it doesn't seem to work on Sophie, it does seem to have an impact on Nana-Downstairs and on Liam's stuffie Lelefant and even on helping Liam grow up enough to help his father out. But will Sophie ever grow up?

From Waiting for Sophie

by Sarah Ellis 

illus. by Carmen Mok

I suspect Sarah Ellis is the indomitable Nana-Downstairs (who bears a striking resemblance to the author) who recognized the heartbreak of a child's waiting and possessed the unique imagination to create magic for her grandson to help ease that relentless waiting.  And even though it only appeased the waiting temporarily, Nana-Downstairs was able to provide him with skills that would serve him well for a long, long time.  

Sarah Ellis gives Liam a voice that is so filled with hope about his new sister and the promise of having a familial playmate that even his frustrations are natural and unfeigned.  He speaks with his heart, never with meanness or anger, though he acknowledges the annoyance of biding his time.  Sophie has a great big brother. And, although Waiting for Sophie is an early reader, rather than a picture book, the illustrations by Carmen Mok augment Sarah Ellis’ story with the innocence and family that the author’s words already convey.  

Young children being challenged to read their first chapter books will appreciate this early reader as it will undoubtedly speak to them.  So many know the anguish of waiting, whether for a new sibling to be born or some other significant life event, and will easily put themselves in Liam’s shoes.  Maybe they’ll undertake their own DIY project, with a little help from an adult, or maybe they’ll find their own coping strategies but you can be sure that they’ll appreciate Liam’s story of Waiting for Sophie and the fun that can be had with it.

Waiting for Snow

by Marsha Diane Arnold

Illustrated by Renata Liwska

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

978-0-544-41687-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

November 2016

Polish-born Calgary artist Renata Liwska may be the author-illustrator of her own picture books including the Governor General Award-nominated Red Wagon (Philomel Books, 2013) and Little Panda (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008), but she is best known for providing artwork for award-winning American writers such as Deborah Underwood (The Quiet Book, The Loud Book), Doreen Cronin (Boom Snot Twitty and Boom Snot Twitty This Way That Way), and Nina Laden (Once Upon a Memory).  In Waiting for Snow, Renata Liwska again provides the distinct landscape of art that takes Marsha Diane Arnold's words from story to showpiece.

From Waiting for Snow

by Marsha Diane Arnold 

illus. by Renata Liwska

Badger is desperate for snow to come.  He studies the sky, bangs pots and pans to wake it up, and follows his friends’ advice.  Rabbit recommends punching holes in the clouds with pebbles to allow the flakes to fall.  Vole suggests a snow dance. Possum proposes Badger wear his pajamas backwards.  His friends even use sugar to simulate snow when the winter flakes don’t appear.  But, just as Hedgehog in his cryptic way advises, the snow does come when it is time.

From Waiting for Snow 

by Marsha Diane Arnold 

illus. by Renata Liwska

Renata Liwska's pencil drawings coloured digitally effuse the story of childlike desperation with a tenderness and softness that materialize the animals from two-dimensional to stuffie.  Though you know that the fur of badgers and opossums may be more coarse in reality, Renata Liwska makes all her characters appear downy.  And her landscapes from outdoors to bedrooms and classrooms, both in daytime and night, are similarly relaxed and serene.  Waiting for Snow is for anyone who has ever waited for something or someone to come and been told that it will only happen in its own time.  It’s the old saying of a “watched pot never boils” acknowledging time as the truest measure of when something will happen.  No matter how much you crave it or are determined to make it happen, with snow dances or rituals or superstitions, time will be the determinant.

Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On

Written by Kari-Lynn Winters and Lori Sherritt-Fleming

Illustrated by Peggy Collins

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-307-5

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

January, 2015

Teachers and parents will always be clamouring for new and innovative ways to introduce math concepts, and Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On will surely work.  But forget the classroom and math instruction, or at least put them aside temporarily, and enjoy the rhyme and reason of the verses within and the varied illustrations of dragons, foxes, clockworks and race cars to add the jauntiness that numbers and operations and such can be.

You know that between the dramatic flare of Kari-Lynn Winters and the Tickle Trunk Players founder, Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On has that special something to add spice to early math literacy learnings.  From unique poems like The Balanced Bee with its zen-like insect, the banging of the drum in Patterns Rock! and The Spendosaur in which a dinosaur goes a little crazy spending his coins in a candy store, the math lessons are neither obvious nor necessary to appreciate the silliness of the rhymes.

The Balanced Bee

Three circles, tall not wide.

Six legs – three per side.

Two plus two wings, on its back.

Bands of yellow, white, and black.

Compound eyes to spy the view.

Antennae, not one – always two.

Now fold your paper.

It's plain to see.

Bees are balanced.

It's symmetry! (pg. 5)

Even a poem like Move Around The Clock, that borrows from nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, takes on a unique flair with an active mouse in a dress changing her movements with the time amongst the clockwork gears.

Whether you want your child to count the five groups of ten fire-breathing creatures in Rot-TEN Dragons or the abundance of heart-shaped treats (which look very familiar) shelled out amongst the cats in That Kitty Counts is irrelevant. Little ones will want to count the assortment of delectables, determine the banana leaves needed to cover the treasure and learn to skip count in 2s or 5s, especially with Peggy Collins' fun characters, human and non, to accompany them along the way.  Kids won't even know they're learning. That adds up to a book full of promise.

The Time Time Stopped

by Don Gillmor

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-0231-1

151 pp.

Ages 8-11

2011

Tristan Burberry has come to the conclusion that time is responsible for all his current miseries.  His family has moved and he's at a new school and not even at the beginning of the year when everyone is new.  He desperately wants to visit the zoo and his parents are always at work, having no time for him.  His twelve-year-old sister, Bella, lives for spending time at the mall.  And when he gets on the bus, there is only one seat available - the one beside Lump, the class bully, who threatens Tristan with "getting it" if he doesn't help him change the clocks so the teachers will let the students out early.  In a burst of frustration, Tristan pronounces his hatred of time and his wish for it to end immediately.  Coincidentally, the Time Keeper is walking by and, hearing Tristan, decides to quit his job, tired of all the complaints. 

If it weren't for the tongue-in-cheek humour, I might have wondered if Antoine de Saint-Exupéry had written a sequel to The Little Prince (1943) substituting the concept of time in his search for that which is essential.  Tristan and Bella, in search of the Time Keeper, visit a variety of locales, including the zoo, the mall and a small town, meeting a menagerie of characters, including the Time Bandits and the Thief of Time.  So, as Tristan and his sister look to bring the Time Keeper back from retirement, the Thief of Time with his Time Bandits is looking to possess his machine and go into business selling time.

Gillmor's ever-present wit reminds us of our powerful relationship with time: needing to make time for ourselves; watching time fly; having too much time on our hands; not having enough hours in the day; feeling time sneaking up on us; having no time for friends and family; knowing that time continues to march on; and always wishing for more time, particularly for those circumstances we enjoy.  But, through the puns and slapstick, it is evident that, although there may be a machine to make time,  making time requires experience, patience and judgement.  The book's poignant message in these times of overworked parents, over-scheduled children and a nebulous future makes it an exceptional nominee for this year's Silver Birch Express Award.