All Our Love

Written by Kari-Lynn Winters

Illustrated by Scot Ritchie

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada) 

978-1-4431-9880-6 

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

January 2024 

 

We know that families come in so many configurations but do all children know that? All Our Love shows one wonderful family that may be just right as it is but will become even more right with a new baby.

From All Our Love, written by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Sofia and her two dads are anticipating the arrival of a new baby. As Dad builds a crib, Sofia works on a welcome letter for the baby. But she has so many questions! When will the baby arrive? Will it want her as a big sister? Will it change their family from being "just right" which her dads said their family became when Sofia came along.

But Sofia is also incredibly excited. When her dad finally arrives at school to tell her that it was time to go to the hospital, she thinks about all she's written "To the new baby." She mentions what Dad likes and does, while Daddy does other stuff. And she speaks about having a Dad and a Daddy because "We're just lucky, I guess!" Finally, after masking up and joining Daddy at the hospital, the family of four heads home, with the letter, now addressed to Oliver, being read, and signed off with "All our love."

From All Our Love, written by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

There is so much love in this household. Sofia knows she is loved, and she wants the baby to know they are loved too. So, all the things that her dads show her that prove their love for her, Sofia shares with the baby. She talks of Dad picking her up from school, and making pancakes for dinner on Tuesdays, and Daddy telling jokes and kissing boo-boos from falls. This child knows love. 

 

Kari-Lynn Winters can give us funny (e.g., What If I'm Not a Cat? and Bad Pirate) but there is always a degree of tenderness in her stories. Her books like French Toast and Gift Days remind us that there are things which children may think about that may be surprising or different but they are legitimate questions and challenges that children may be experiencing. In All Our Love, while Sofia wonders what the new baby will mean to their family, her welcome letter suggests that she knows that they might wonder about a family with two daddies. This question may have been posed to Sofia herself and her answer acknowledges that she and the baby may have a different family than others but that's what makes it more special. Though Kari-Lynn Winters's dedication suggests that the story is inspired by one particular family or two, All Our Love really speaks to every family, whether with two dads, two moms, only a mom or a dad, or both a mom and a dad, or no moms and dads. If there is love, it is a family.

From All Our Love, written by Kari-Lynn Winters, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Scot Ritchie, illustrator of countless books of his own (e.g., Federica) as well as those of others (e.g., Zander Stays), has an art style that is soft in line and colour and tender in its spirit. As All Our Love comes from the perspective of Sofia writing a letter to her new sibling, Scot Ritchie has given the illustrations a sweet, anticipatory feel. From Sofia thinking and writing about what this new change will mean, to the family that feels the stars of a birth's magnificence, Scot Ritchie's art takes us on their journey from waiting and hoping to welcoming and celebrating.

 

I hope that young readers will see this as a story of two dads and their children but will also recognize that it goes beyond that because of the love that comes with family. With all that love, this family will be just right, no matter its composition.

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.