Alice & Gert: An Ant and Grasshopper Story

Written by Helaine Becker

Illustrated by Dena Seiferling

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-358-3

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2020 

There’s a reason that fables and parables are so timeless as literary vehicles: their messages are enduring. It doesn’t matter whether the fable is from Aesop’s time, as is the basis for Alice & Gert, or of a contemporary setting. The messages are strikingly worthwhile and sadly still needing to be reinforced.

 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

Alice is an ant and Gert, a grasshopper. It’s summer, with the lily of the valley out, and Alice is “ferrying bits of grain and seeds to her nest.” Gert, on the other hand, just thinks they should be enjoying the fine weather because “Winter is YEARS away.” In fact, Gert serenades Alice as she toils, recommending  through song that the ant should rest, laugh, play and sip tea. Even as Alice tells Gert that she’ll relax in January and continues to work, she finds herself humming Gert’s tune. Though she persists in her endeavours, she is charmed by Gert’s playing at pirate and a decorative pathway of flowers and leaves Gert makes for her. 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

But when fall arrives and Alice panics for Gert about the ever-nearing winter, Gert dances a sarabande for her. Of course, winter does come and Gert finally becomes unnerved realizing that there are no stores of seeds in her own nest. Although Alice does take a moment to remind Gert that she should have planned better, her compassion helps her acknowledge how Gert’s work of singing and dancing lightened her own efforts and the ant is pleased to repay the grasshopper’s kindness by sharing her own stores of food.

 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

Messages in books may sometimes become preachy if told in a heavy-handed way. Those is Alice & Gert are not. Written by award-winning author Helaine Becker, Alice & Gert is in no way moralizing or sanctimonious. Helaine Becker could have written Alice to be self-righteous, knowing that her hard work would allow her to survive the winter and Gert as flighty and irresponsible but she does neither. While Helaine Becker’s retelling of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" recognizes that hard work is beneficial to all and that responsibility is virtuous, she still acknowledges the worth of creativity.

Calgary’s Dena Seiferling, whose illustrations helped earn her first picture book nominations for the Marilyn Baillie and Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver awards, carries the two characters through the seasons with only slight changes in her palette, from the greens of summer to the browns and golds of fall to the greys, browns and white of winter. Her illustrations are as classic as the fable, having used her pencil to create profound scenes that are steeped in atmosphere and characters evocative with feeling. From the dramatic Gert who never looks silly as she enjoys her creative pursuits to the tireless Alice who takes the time, amidst her work, to feel, Dena Seiferling makes us appreciate the depth of the story through her characters and the setting.

Hard work may drive survival but creativity makes it endurable. Besides, with a dose of kindness, hard work and creativity can be balanced, as Alice and Gert learn.

The White Cat and the Monk: A Retelling of the Poem “Pangur Bán”

by JoEllen Bogart

Illustrated by Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-780-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March, 2016

At its foundation, The White Cat and the Monk has all the elements of a contemplative read: quiet, books, companionship, and a cat.  But, bigger picture, The White Cat and the Monk is an essay in study and reflection in one’s work and the importance of mindfulness.  JoEllen Bogart has taken the essence of Pangur Bán, a ninth century Old Irish poem, to its humble message and, with Sydney Smith’s austere but inspired illustrations, produced a masterpiece.

The story of Pangur Bán is a simple one.  A white cat treds a familiar path at night to the room of a monk who studies his manuscript, replendent in colour, while Pangur, the cat, waits and watches for a mouse.  Their tasks are intense and focused yet strangely companionably intimate and respectful.  Each appreciates the other’s need for quiet and concentration while providing an anchor for that isolation.

JoEllen Bogart has provided a lovely interpretation of the importance of work and the efficacy of mindfulness, and Sydney Smith has demonstrated again why he has won mutiple awards for his illustrations in Sidewalk Flowers.  In The White Cat and the Monk, Sydney Smith has emphasized the simplicity in the lives of the cat and the monk with the coarse lines and neutral palette of greys, taupes, beiges, golds and blacks, with colour only appearing in the nose of Pangur, the cheeks of the monk, the pages of the manuscript he reads and the few plants and flowers.  Yet the tones of the illustrations, like the text, are not sombre, just modest, as are the tasks upon which the two characters are concentrating.  The White Cat and the Monk is a brilliant reinforcement in words and art of the magnitude of focusing on just that moment and just that one task for life to be complete.  

From The White Cat and the Monk
 by JoEllen Bogart and Sydney Smith

Work: An Occupational ABC

by Kellen Hatanaka

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-409-1 (hc)

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

For release August, 2014

(My apologies to Kellen Hatanaka and Groundwood for the inability of my scanner to accurately reproduce the colours in the illustrations of the book.  Discrepancies are solely my own. So, readers, you'll need to get your hands on the actual book to fully enjoy the breadth and contrast of colours within.)

I'm sure a lot of readers will initially react to an ABC book with, "Not another ABC book!" and maybe some publishers react that way as well.  But I'm glad Groundwood Books didn't and I know that youngCanLit readers won't once they open the bold and inviting Work: An Occupational ABC from artist, now author-illustrator, Kellen Hatanaka.

As in all picture books, the text must work well with the illustrations as a cohesive entity, not just a bunch of words with a bunch of pictures in a 32-page format. (Sadly, there are books like that published daily.) Kellen Hatanaka has effortlessly partnered the names of a variety of occupations, both traditional and exotic, with his illustrations, providing graphic details of each occupation embracing the first letter of that occupation.  For example, the P for Postal Worker page (see above right) includes the postal worker carrying her stamped and string-tied letter P as a heavy parcel, with a rural mailbox and shrubbery and flowers scattered around. The emphasis is on: 1) the letter and 2) its association with the worker and 3) the name of the job. Here children will see 1) the letter P, 2) marked as a mailing and carried by 3) the postal worker.  For the very youngest, that's all that is needed. For children in Kindergarten and older, the details become a cache of hidden information.  And kids will always see these sooner than most adult readers, so let them discover and discuss and persuade you of their meaning.

The collection of occupations is broad and fascinating, undoubtedly leading to much discussion.  From the aviator, to the horticulturalist and the detective and oceanographer, and finally to the xenologist, yogi and zookeeper, readers will be intrigued by the possible careers out there. And look for Kellen Hatanaka's enigmatic details of each occupation in single sentence "Want Ads" at the conclusion of the book.  

But, as Kellen Hatanaka is first and foremost an artist and designer, I'd like to attempt (poorly, I'm sure) to describe the perfection of his graphics in Work: An Occupational ABC.  By using silk screen printing for the illustrations, Kellen Hatanaka has created unassuming images that ensure clarity, allowing young readers to identify elements easily.  From stylized flowers and trees, and faces lacking details, to a German shepherd  and a walrus, everything is identifiable and still encouraging of inquiry.  Moreover, the palette of rose, salmon, sea green, olive, with the occasional black and blues, feels like a colour embrace, completely non-threatening and absolutely calming.

Work: An Occupational ABC is both an informative and evocative ABC book, sure to lead children to consider new careers, but it is also a book of art that should be appreciated regularly. Hopefully the future will bring Kellen Hatanaka's artwork to more youngCanLit so that I may add him to our already impressive collection of youngCanLit's Who's Who of Illustrators. He will surely deserve a place there.

When Mama Goes to Work

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Illustrated by Jessica Phillips

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-34-3

32 pp.

Ages 1-5

October 2013

We know that, in these days of economic instability, many children are part of households in which parents are out of the house at work each day.  It doesn't matter whether it is a single-parent household, one with both father and mother, or even one with two mothers–bills must be paid, careers to be realized and passions to be developed, and contributions to be made outside of the home.  As adults, we understand why we go to work, but do children always understand this? 

In When Mama Goes to Work, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch ensures that they do understand, specifically that the days of working mothers and children are not that dissimilar.  Their days start the same, in preparation for the day: dressing appropriately, making lunches, tidying themselves, and packing their bags.  At work and school, the similarities continue, as they do when Mama and child are reunited.  Regardless of their day's activities, Mama and child know that they are each in the other's thoughts and hearts, and that when the "work" day is over, they will again be together.

This positive and reassuring message, which also communicates the variety of roles mothers may play within the community e.g., construction worker, medical professional, business person and care giver, is enhanced by illustrator Jessica Phillips' cheerful round-faced children and mothers.  All children will see themselves in her characters who range in their skin and hair colours, in gender, nationality, and activities.  When Mama Goes to Work is an inclusive story of everyday routines that may be unfamiliar and may seem mysterious but are reassuringly comparable and interconnected.

Itty Bitty Bits

by Anita Daher

Illustrated by Wendy Bailey

Peanut Butter Press

978-1-927735-01-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

October, 2013

Every parent will be familiar with a common refrain of children and the first words of Itty Bitty Bits: "Not fair!"

This is young Molly's response to her mother's insistence that she clean her room before she can have her friend Yen over for a sleepover.  As Molly seeks help from her sister, brother, father and even their dog, Indiana Bones, she learns that everyone has work that they must address, whether they be models, homework, gardening or looking for a lost toy.  But, it is only as she watches an ant successfully carry off a partial sandwich, bit by bit, that Molly understands that "I can do it, yes I can!" And so, she shares her new-found wisdom with each from whom she'd asked help, and consequently helps herself in the end.

Great Plains Teen Fiction editor Anita Daher knows her way around engaging text, contributing to the success of much young adult CanLit.  So, Itty Bitty Bits has all the right bits for a delightful and significant picture book.  Molly could have been a whiny child, going from one to another, asking for help and having a tantrum because no one would help her.  The opening image of this little one is the face of a child that is frustrated but also one that takes the time to look for a solution.  Even though she may seem to be having little success at assistance, the opening end papers have a continuous message of "You can do it, yes you can!" so the reader can be assured that a positive message will ensue. And with that solution comes the effervescence with which illustrator Wendy Bailey has imbued the young Molly.

The positive message of perseverance and taking little steps to accomplish a big job is an important one for children to hear and to accept as they navigate the many obligations of everyday life.  Not everything will come easily or straightforwardly and without some disappointment.  But, as long as the child understands the need to accept responsibility for their own tasks and show the determination that the job will get done, Anita Daher and Wendy Bailey have done their job and surprisingly well in Itty Bitty Bits.