UN's International Day of the Girl: October 11, 2012

Salute, applaud and stand up for girls with LitWorld's Stand Up for Girls campaign.

Let us stand together to champion the right of all girls to be Fierce, Fearless and Free.

From http://litworld.org/standupforgirls 

on October 3, 2012. 

In aid of the United Nation's International Day of the Girl, October 11, support the goal of literacy for girls world-wide with phenomenal reads from Canadian authors.  In a series of posts for International Day of the Girl, I will focus on picture books, fiction, young adult, non-fiction and series that send the message, "You go, Girl!" Help all children understand the inequities and hardships experienced by many girls solely because of their gender by exposing our Canadian children to the rich CanLit that advocates for girls to be...

   Fierce       Fearless      Free   

Picture Books

The Boy Who Ate the World (and the Girl Who Saved It)
by Don Gillmor
Illustrated by Pierre  Pratt
North Winds Press
2008 

Earth to Audrey
by Susan Hughes
Illustrated by Stéphane Poulin
Kids Can Press
2007

My Name is Elizabeth!
by Annika Dunklee
Illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
Kids Can Press
2011

The Paper Bag Princess
by Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press
1999

The Remarkable Maria
by Patti McIntosh
Illustrated by Tara Langlois
Maggie and Pierrot
2005

Splinters
by Kevin Sylvester
Tundra Books
2010






Suki's Kimono
by Chieri Uegaki
Illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch
Kids Can Press
2005






Virginia Wolf
by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press
2012






Willow's Whispers
by Lana Button
Illustrated by Tania Howells
Kids Can Press
2010

When Stella Was Very, Very Small
by Marie-Louise Gay
Groundwood Books
2009

Vikki VanSickle's Book Trailer Contest now open!

To herald the February release of her newest book

Days That End in Y

Scholastic Canada

978-1443124324

240 pp.

Ages 10-14

February 1, 2013

Vikki VanSickle

author of  

Words That Start with B (Scholastic Canada, 2010) and

 Love is a Four-Letter Word (Scholastic Canada, 2011)

has announced a

 BOOK TRAILER CONTEST

 Just create a fun video, no longer than two minutes in length, 

celebrating the Clarissa and Benji book series

Grand Prize

• your video posted to the author's and Scholastic Canada websites

• a school visit from the author, including a fun writing workshop

• a library of Scholastic books, valued at $100.00, for yourself

• signed sets of the series for your classroom and school library

Three Runners Up

• video posted on the author's website

• prize pack from Scholastic Canada, valued at $25.00

Contest runs from October 1 to January 15

Winners announced on February 1, 2013

For rules and regulations and 

information about submitting your video,

contact Vikki VanSickle at Vikki.vansickle@gmail.com

More details can be found at author Vikki VanSickle's blog at http://vikkivansickle.wordpress.com/book-trailer-contest/

Governor General's Literary Awards 2012: Finalists

The Governor General's Literary Awards were announced today on the Canada Council for the Arts' website.  Of the seven awards, the two related to children's book text and illustration are described here on the CanLit for LittleCanadians Awards site.

#CanLit Choices: "Maniac Magee" Alternatives

Maniac Magee

by Jerry Spinelli

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

978-0316807227

184 pp.

Ages 8-12

RL 5.2

1990

Typically read in Grade 5, Maniac Magee, winner of the 1990 Newbery Medal, tells the story of Jeffrey Lionel Magee.  Orphaned at the age of three and enduring misery with his aunt and uncle until he runs away, Jeffrey "settles" in the town of Two Mills, a town racially divided between the predominantly black East End and the white West End.  By virtue of his incredible athleticism and extraordinary feats of compassion and bravery, Jeffrey makes both friends and enemies, earning himself the moniker of "Maniac." Always looking for a place to call home, Jeffrey bounces from one temporary home to another, on both sides of town, trying to keep the part of him that is Jeffrey Magee. 

Two prevalent themes in Maniac Magee are:

• homelessness; and
• discrimination.

 

The following youngCanLit all include storylines involving homeless persons and discrimination, based on race or other attributes.  Each would serve well as updated and alternative novels to Maniac Magee.  For each, I have looked at the two themes emphasized in Maniac Magee in terms of the youngCanLit selections.

Heck, Superhero
by Martine Leavitt
Red Deer Press
144 pp.
Ages 9-13
2004

• Homelessness: Thirteen-year-old Heck finds himself alone on the street after he and his mom are evicted from their apartment and she takes off.

• Discrimination: Heck denies to himself that his mother has a mental illness, instead pretending that he is a superhero and that all is well.  Heck's subsequent friendship with Marion, a mentally-ill boy, makes him realize that he cannot and must not ignore the nature of his mother's illness.


I Am a Taxi
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
205 pp.
Ages 10-13
2006

• Homelessness: Twelve-year-old Diego lives with his Mamá and 3-year-old sister Corina in the San Sebastian Jail for Women in Cochabamba, Bolivia after coca paste, used to make cocaine, was found under their seats on a public bus.  Diego runs away with the aim of making money for his family but ends up homeless and far away from them.
 
• Discrimination: The people of Bolivia who consider the leaves of the coca as having cultural and sacred importance are discriminated against by the authorities who criminalize all those involved with the coca plants. 

I'll Be Home Soon
by Luanne Armstrong
Ronsdale Press
200 pp.
Ages 10+
September, 2012

• Homelessness: When her mother goes missing, Regan finds herself scrounging for food and staying under the radar of the authorities.  She finds help amongst the homeless in a tent city and a street busker who looks out for her, sharing his squat and limited resources.

• Discrimination: Though apprehensive of the homeless, Regan finds herself leaning on them for help and seeing beyond their lack of houses.

Looking for X
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
132 pp.
Ages 11-13
1999

• Homelessness: Eleven-year-old Khyber who lives with her mom and autistic twin brothers in Toronto's Regent Park befriends a homeless woman, X, who becomes her alibi.

• Discrimination: As Khyber lives in poverty with her mother, a former stripper, and her two autistic brothers, she has had to endure much taunting, but being accused of vandalism forces her to stand up for herself and look for a way to clear her name.

The Maestro
by Tim Wynne-Jones
Groundwood Books
223 pp.
Ages 10+
1995, 2004

• Homelessness:  After running away from his abusive father, Burl heads to the wilderness for relief and a home.  Ultimately though, he needs shelter and food and finds it with an eccentric maestro.  Even after the Maestro returns to the city, Burl looks for a way to keep himself from becoming homeless again.

• Discrimination:  Although the discrimination in The Maestro is not significant, seen only in the Maestro's reluctance to take Burl in, preferring his solitude, and Burl unable to trust anyone with his secrets, the perceived inadequacies of the characters' by others could be seen as discriminatory.  And I really wanted to include this award-winning book (Governor General's Award for Children's Literature; Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children Award) in this list!

The Royal Woods
by Matt Duggan
Key Porter Books
218 pp.
Ages 9-12
2007

• Homelessness: When Sydney, 12, and her brother Turk, 9, find the farm they've run away to gone and replaced by a housing development, the Royal Woods, they find innovative ways to meet their needs for shelter, food and such.

• Discrimination:  Although they find friendship and assistance from Shep McPharlain, an unusual homeless man, and Kumar, a kind illegal immigrant, not everyone sees the goodness in the group, including some locals and the Royal Woods Love, Friendship and Improvement committee!

Sketches
by Eric Walters
Puffin Canada
226 pp.
Ages 12-16
2007

• Homelessness: Fourteen-year-old Dana leaves an abusive home situation and ends up on the streets of Toronto, eventually teaming up with other homeless youths and finding some safety at Sketches, an art drop-in centre.

• Discrimination:  The street youth are often "seen" in terms of their homelessness, even by Dana at first, instead of their capabilities or intentions.


A Tinfoil Sky
by Cyndi Sand-Eveland
Tundra Books
216 pp.
Ages 11-14
2012

• Homelessness: Mel is only twelve but she has endured an entire life of bouncing from homelessness to minimal housing, and even the promise by her mother that they are finally going home proves uncertain when Mel's grandmother refuses to take them in and Mel's mother leaves.

• Discrimination:  Regardless of Mel's mature and caring nature with regards to their situation, her grandmother judges her daughter and granddaughter through her anger and disappointment, rather than what is in evidence.

Additional books that may be used, depending on your students' reading and interest levels, include:

Libertad
by Alma Fullerton
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
215 pp.
Ages 10+
2008

No Ordinary Day
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
978-1-55498-108-3
159 pp.
Ages 9-12
2011




Secret Signs
by Jacqueline Guest
Orca Book Publishers
140 pp.
Ages 9-11
2006

Theories of Relativity
by Barbara Haworth-Attard
HarperCollins
199 pp.
Ages 14+
2003

Mr. Zinger's Hat

by Cary Fagan

Illustrated by Dušan Petričić

Tundra Books

978-1-77-49-253-0

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

August 2012

Yep, under the hat is a story.  First it's under Mr. Zinger's Hat, the hat that old Mr. Zinger wears when he walks around the courtyard making up stories that he publishes.  And Leo's mom always tells him not to disturb Mr. Zinger when he is thinking. But when Mr. Zinger's hat gets carried off by Leo's errant ball and then miraculously lands on Leo's head, they look inside the hat for some explanation. 

As Mr. Zinger looks within his hat, he prompts Leo to share details about the story trying to get out: the character, his problem, what he does to solve it, and finally the ending.  Leo is very eager to help fill in the blanks of the story within the hat, and he seems to have all the answers, as well as a fertile imagination!  Ah, the sights that can be imagined and the sounds that can be heard from that hat are astounding.  When Mr. Zinger declares it is time to return to his desk, he vows that he will not write down that story, as it belongs to Leo.  Subsequently when Leo finds a new playmate, he tells her of a story inside his baseball cap, allowing her to help provide the details this time.

The magic of discovering a story from within - within a hat, within a heart, within one's imagination - is extraordinarily fulfilling, as Mr. Zinger knows, sharing that knowledge with Leo, who in turn shares with Sophie.  There is no pulling or prodding to reveal the story; the story is naturally drawn out, as natural as a conversation in one's imagination.  Cary Fagan has Mr. Zinger effortlessly converse with Leo as if they were old friends - no judgements, no manipulations, no expectations.  And the story comes as it comes and it is real and relevant and inspiring.  Mr. Zinger becomes the iconic storyteller (looking and sounding all too similar to Canadian children's author and storyteller, Aubrey Davis!), surprised and impressed with his own story, and sharing that astonishment with his listeners.  How could Leo help but be mesmerized?

Award-winning illustrator Dušan Petričić, who has collaborated with Cary Fagan on several picture books including My New Shirt (Tundra, 2007) and Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Tundra, 2009), does profound credit to Cary Fagan's story, capturing Leo's awe with the light touch of one who knows this boy well.  I fully expect to see Leo playing ball outside the local school in the city.  Readers may notice that when Leo is formulating his story (from Mr. Zinger's hat), Dušan Petričić's illustrations change from his rich, highly-textured water-coloured images to the simple, two-dimensional drawings of a less sophisticated artist, say a child.  Obviously Dušan Petričić also knows whose story it is and is able to help young readers see it as well.

I may have found Mr. Zinger's Hat on a shelf, not under a brim, but I am absolutely delighted that Cary Fagan was able to see beneath some hat and then invite Dušan Petričić to use his high-powered vision to discern the textures, colours and shapes that must have lain hidden within as well.  That's some special headgear and insight, as special as Mr. Zinger's Hat.

A Sea of Sorrows: The Typhus Epidemic Diary of Johanna Leary, Ireland to Canada East, 1847

by Norah McClintock
Scholastic Canada
978-1-4431-0710-5
175 pp.
Ages 9-12
September 2012

Norah McClintock, three-time Arthur Ellis award-winning author for Best Juvenile Crime Book, surprising treats readers with this first foray into historical fiction.  However, this should not be surprising as Norah McClintock graduated with a degree in history from McGill University and shows great skill in bringing the past in Dear Canada's newest title, A Sea of Sorrows, to reside comfortably amongst her more contemporary award-winning volumes.

A Sea of Sorrow follows the story of thirteen-year-old Johanna Leary and her family from the blight-ravaged potato fields of Ireland to Canada in 1847.  Sorrows will plague the Learys, Ma, Da, fourteen-year-old Michael, Johanna and baby Patrick, each step and nautical mile of their journey from the hunger and poverty of their homeland to the farm of Da's brother, Liam, in the New World.  From their long walk to Dublin to catch a steamer for Liverpool and then boarding the sailing ship for Canada, the journey is arduous, sorrowful and forlorn.

Although never recognized at the time, the ships carrying the Learys and other families became known as coffin ships for the rabid spread of cholera and typhus that claimed the lives of young and old alike.  By the time the ship comes into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, Johanna's family has lost little Patrick, and Connor Keenan, a young man who'd disguised himself as a girl to evade arrest for threatening and robbing some landlords, has lost his father, sister Colleen, and brother Kevin.  But arriving in Canada does not lead to landing and disembarking in Canada, as the countless line of ships anchored in the harbour indicate.  Those who are deemed ill, including Ma and Mrs. Keenan, are sent to the hospital on Grosse Isle.  The others must remain on the ship in quarantine to contain the spread of the disease.  Not surprising that during their days in quarantine, without fresh food or water, and waiting for medical inspection, even more people fall ill.

Following ten days in quarantine, only Da, Michael and Johanna with Connor and his little brother Daniel, are sent by steamer to Montreal. Again, the sorrows of separation and loss overtake the joys of officially arriving in Canada, as Da, who is ill, is taken away to the immigrant sheds, and Johanna and Daniel are taken with all the girls and youngest boys to an orphanage to be cared for by nuns.

And so, for the Learys, their new life in Canada alongside Uncle Liam has dissolved with each death and separation, just as it did for so many who travelled from Ireland at that time.  The mass exodus contributed to the horrific conditions on board the ships, which in turn led to illness and death.  Unfairly, the Irish immigrants were seen as bringing disease with them and became a spectacle and deemed worthy of prejudice and discrimination from the Canadians.  Even their starvation was twisted to be indicative of laziness by some.

A Sea of Sorrows is not a happy story, although Norah McClintock's epilogue offers some tidbits of happiness for some characters. But, it is a dramatic glimpse into the ghastly situations many Irish immigrants experienced circa 1847, leaving one horrific situation of poverty, starvation and discrimination for another that offered a glimmer of hope but within similar circumstances.  And Norah McClintock never sugar-coats Johanna's accounts, just as the girl would not have been able to do so; there was no sweetness to spare for her tale.  As rotten as the potatoes they fled, many of the Learys' lives festered along with numerous of their countrymen, with only the occasional murphy or Leary able to survive, albeit scarred.

A powerful telling of a historic tragedy. 

Lumpito and the Painter from Spain

Written by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Dean Griffiths

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-00-2

32 pp.

Ages 5+

Release date October 15, 2012

Reviewed from unbound copy

Lump, German for rascal, is a darling dachshund who lives with David, a photographer, in Rome.  Unfortunately, there's also Big Dog who makes life less than pleasant for Lump.  But, when David has to travel to the south of France to visit the artist Pablo Picasso, Lump is fortunate to find himself David's only companion.

At the villa, a big dog, Yan, wants to be friends with Lump, and even the goat, Esmerelda, is welcoming.  But, Lump is especially drawn to the man with the strong, dark, warm eyes who affectionately calls him Lumpito.  And Picasso, drawn to the little dog, treats him to belly rubs, shares treats from the dinner table, designs a special plate just for him, and proffers late night contemplations.  Not surprising that, when Picasso hears that Lumpito is not happy at David's, the artist is delighted to make a home for Lumpito with his family. 

Lumpito and the Painter from Spain is based on the true story of Picasso and the little dachshund who stole his heart, captured in the above photo by David Douglas Duncan, Lumpito's original care-giver.  Just as Lumpito inspired Picasso (see the copy of Picasso's Le Chien below), Monica Kulling's text and Dean Griffith's illustrations inspire anyone in a difficult situation that there is hope for joy and devotion.  Lumpito's eyes tell it all: they're bright, hopeful and kind. It's not surprising that Picasso found such an inspirational model in this little fellow, and it's so fortunate that Monica Kulling found this inspiring story and told it so simply and beautifully.

Read a little more about Picasso and Lumpito in the April edition of AnOther Magazine's Arts & Culture section here.