Oddrey

by Dave Whamond

Owlkids
978-1-926973-45-6
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2012

Oddrey is not odd; she is exceptional! It's not that she's smarter (though she may be) or more creative (though she may be) or happier (though she may be) than her peers.  But Oddrey is certainly more enthusiastic about living her life to the fullest, regardless of how others, particularly her teachers, perceive her uniqueness.  

Like most kids, her peers tend to do their own thing, irrespective of others.  So they don't seem to mind Oddrey's individuality or her separateness, though it can make her feel a little lonely sometimes.  When her class prepares to perform a play, Oddrey's dreams of starring in the production are stymied with her assignment to play the role of a tree.  But Oddrey, true to her nature, is determined to be the best she can be, even if her enthusiasm and creativity are somewhat dampened when her teacher puts the kibosh on her ideas.  Regardless, in her inimitable way, Oddrey saves the production while encouraging her classmates to be their best, with her help.

Oddrey is not a prima donna.  She is a star: brilliant and illuminating.  She doesn't use her uniqueness to outshine her peers; she just does her best to be her best, and if a few others need her help to be their best, so be it.  Her clear eyes and simple smile are voluminous, like her spirit.  Her limbs always seem to be scurrying, gesticulating or creating.  She can even juggle soap bubbles!  And the flower (on a stalk) that springs from her hair reminds the reader that Oddrey is florescent, ever blossoming.

I was delighted when Dave Whamond's picture book My Think-a-Ma-Jink (Owlkids, 2009) won the Forest of Reading's Blue Spruce award in 2011, as I have always enjoyed his syndicated cartoon Reality Check for its quirky characters and whimsical word play.  Using mixed media, primarily pen and ink with watercolours, gouache and pencil, Oddrey is no less than a perfect addition to Dave Whamond's bibliography.  While Dave Whamond has excelled in illustrating books written by others (e.g., Secret Agent Y.O.U. written by Helaine Becker; Maple Tree, 2006; Hot Dog and Bob Adventure series written by L. Bob Rovetch, Chronicle Books; Justine McKeen series written by Sigmund Brouwer, Orca), I am delighted that he has shared his humour, in text and illustrations, with young readers again, this time with Oddrey, while still sending a powerful yet subtle message that being yourself is just grand.

The Geomancer's Compass

by Melissa Hardy
Tundra Books
978-1-77049-292-9
254 pp.
Ages 11-15
2012

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.  Alexis de Tocqueville

It's 2018 when thirteen-year-old Miranda's great-great-grandfather Charlie Liu, respectfully called The Grandfather, dies (choking on a moon cake!) and she first hears that her family has been cursed.  Her maternal grandmother, A-Ma, takes all the misfortunes that have befallen the Lius as evidence that evil spirits are plaguing the family.  And the evidence is striking: Miranda's father is debilitated after being struck by lightning; her mother suffers from excruciating muscle pain; her little brother Liam has life-threatening respiratory problems; her brother Sebastian is going blind; her Auntie Ev is now wheelchair-bound; her cousin Brian deals with ADHD and dyslexia; her Uncle Phil was killed when an icicle fell and pierced his jugular; her cousin Oliver suffers from agoraphobia and is at a private clinic; and her cousin Aubrey had an eating disorder that has put her in hospital again.

Three years later, germaphobic Miranda is attending St. Izzy's school for computer geniuses and interning at CanBoard, a company involved with augmented reality (AR) in Calgary when she is summoned home to Vancouver with the news that her dying A-Ma needs to see her.  A-Ma gives Miranda The Grandfather's geomancer's compass, known as a lo p'an, which is used by geomancers to identify and balance subtle energies in people's lives.  Miranda is instructed to safeguard the compass and to lift the curse from the family.  It seems that in the early 1900's The Grandfather's twin brother, Qianfu, was beaten to death in Moose Jaw for falling in love with a white waitress, Violet McNabb.  After burial, his bones went missing and were undoubtedly buried in a place with bad feng shui, resulting in Qianfu's rebirth as an e gui, a hungry ghost filled with pain and craving.  Miranda's mission is to travel with her cousin Brian (who can drive, is strong, is appreciative of the old ways, and can handle things Miranda is paranoid to touch) to Moose Jaw and help find Qianfu's bones.

So begins the mission of the two Liu cousins as they seek a part of their family's past while employing the futuristic tools of Miranda's techie passions.  In Moose Jaw, they take the tours of the underground tunnels, one focusing on the bootlegging gangsters and the other on the experiences of the Chinese immigrants such as The Grandfather and Qianfu.  Using a feng shui network and I-spex (to see computer-generated imagery), Miranda and Brian make contact with an avatar who is unquestionably The Grandfather.  The avatar elaborates on the tour guide's commentary about his business, the Azure Dragon Tea and Herb Sanatorium (still owned by the Lius because no one wants to buy a haunted property), and the prejudices leveled against the Chinese. Finally Miranda has an appreciation for The Grandfather and what he and his family endured.

"My life was incredibly easy compared to theirs; I owed them everything, especially The Grandfather.  Where I had seen a slightly smelly, possibly senile Yoda action doll, way past his expiry date, there had been nothing less than a giant." (pg. 116)

But it still takes some crafty problem-solving, a little golfing, and a porta-potty debacle, along with a little help from The Grandfather avatar and a homeless man, before Miranda and Brian can fulfill their destinies, even if circumstances are not as they expect.

Melissa Hardy melds the past and the future into an unexpected storyline in The Geomancer's Compass while enlightening readers about some Chinese traditions and concepts, including those unmindfully adopted by others, such as feng shui and chi.  While I had been under the mistaken belief that The Geomancer's Compass was a tool from medieval times (okay, I was wrong), I was delighted to realize the book bridged Canadian history (even if it isn't all flattering) with science and fantasy.  While many readers may not be as enamoured with history as I am, I was engrossed with details about Moose Jaw's underground tunnels, about the gangsters who established business in Canada during Prohibition and how Chinese immigrants braved their mistreatment.  Sadly, this is the history that "illuminates the future" (see the quote from Alexis de Tocqueville above).  Luckily Miranda is able to use her tech skills to help right the wrongs of the past, which consequently allows her to see beyond herself (her germaphobic nature definitely reflects her self-absorption) and appreciate her valuable heritage.  Just as a lo p'an is used to balance energies, The Geomancer's Compass capably balances the past and the future while harmonizing the Miranda's rich essences.

The Stamp Collector

by Jennifer Lanthier

Illustrations by François Thisdale

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-218-4

32 pp.

Ages 8+

2012 

"A darkly luminous tale about the power of stories, and the bonds of empathy they can weave." - Yann Martel

(cover blurb endorsement for The Stamp Collector)

There is an art to writing blurbs on books and Canadian author Yann Martel (Life of Pi, Vintage Canada, 2002) has produced the epitome of a succinct but comprehensive, precise and genuine book blurb for Jennifer Lanthier's first picture book, The Stamp Collector. It is as perfect as the book itself.

The Stamp Collector tells the story of two boys, ostensibly in China: one who grows up in the countryside drawing upon the richness of words in his reading and then in his writing; and the other who lives in the desolation of a neighbourhood in the shadow of a prison, enthralled by a found stamp that promises worlds and adventures beyond. When old enough, both boys take on jobs to help their families: the writer continues to write of the land dying and the need for change while he works in a factory, and the city boy takes a job as a prison guard. The factory owners, fearful of the writer's skill in promoting hope through action, enlist the help of "the grey men who run the village" and the writer is arrested and sent to the prison where the other young man works.

"The boy who became a writer" is prevented from writing and interacting with others, and knows nothing of the letters of encouragement sent to him from those touched by his writing. But "the boy who became a guard" is instructed to file the letters away, although he admires the beautiful array of stamps that "are like seeds blown by powerful winds from all corners of the world. Like wishes." Though he knows that he must not break the rules, the guard finds the means to offer as well as accept hope.

Jennifer Lanthier's previous novels (The Mystery of the Martello Tower, HarperTrophy Canada, 2007 and The Legend of the Lost Diamonds, HarperTrophy Canada, 2008) pegged her as a middle-grade mystery writer but The Stamp Collector has catapulted (emphatically, if one doesn't regard catapulting as definitive enough) her work into the realm of life-changing social justice writing. While some authors may seem restricted by the limited text of picture books, Jennifer Lanthier has found the means to extend her writing beyond the words themselves. Just as "the boy who became a writer" was able to exert his influence beyond but still from within his prison, Jennifer Lanthier writes between the lines, offering far more insight, empathy and compassion than suggested by the simple text. And with the enhancement of her text by François Thisdale's blended illustrations of drawings and paintings with digital imagery (see http://www.thisdale.com), the message that words have the power to offer hope and freedom is enduring.

Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure

Written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Simon & Schuster

978-1-4424-4288-7

352 pp.

Ages 8-12

October, 2012

In Kevin Sylvester's fourth installment in his Neil Flambé Capers, Neil Flambé has gone manga, courtesy of his cousin, partner and sous-chef, Larry, who has been collaborating online with illustrator Hiro Takoyaki. Their comic, The Chef, starring our young gourmet prodigy, has even been offered a book deal.  So Larry is off to Tokyo and leaves Gary, the shabby bike courier, as his replacement.

As unconventional and careless as Gary may be, his Aboriginal heritage helps bring the restaurant, Chez Flambé, a new reputation as the place to go for seafood cuisine, and Neil almost prefers Gary to Larry's antics.  But when news comes that Larry and Hiro have been killed in a storm at sea, Neil is devastated.  That is, until he notes an almost inconspicuous change in the online comic which Neil takes as a message that Larry is alive.  So Neil arranges to participate in a series of kitchen duels in Japan so he'd have an excuse to search for Larry.  Unfortunately, the kitchen duels in which Neil agrees to participate are organized by Matsumoro Nori, a heartless mega-billionaire who makes his money illegally, even peddling in endangered species. 

In Tokyo, Neil competes against Nori's enslaved chef, Kong, while risk-taking judges play Russian roulette with their own lives.  Between rounds of haiku deciphering, ingredient searching and death-defying cooking, Neil works with his friends detective Nakamura, Isabella Tortellini and her chaperone/bodyguard Jones to locate Larry.  Ultimately, the group must discretely unravel the puzzle of an ancient scroll, evade ninjas, and manoeuvre a submarine, all within the sensual experience that is Japan.  The spices, the scents, the landscape, the people, the landscape - all enrich the adventure and mystery in Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure.

If possible, Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure may be Kevin Sylvester's best yet.  And, considering the fact that the first three Neil Flambé books (Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders, Key Porter, 2010; Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction, Key Porter, 2011; Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse, Simon & Schuster, 2012) have all been nominated for Silver Birch Fiction awards, the first volume winning the award in 2011, that's astoundingly high praise.  Neil is growing into himself (that sounds rather painful, doesn't it?), becoming less arrogant and more compassionate, and Larry has become more sure of himself and even more prolific in his punny ways (earning this volume a place in my upcoming WordPlay book list).  And with the addition of quirky Gary and unethical gourmand Nori, Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure is a bountiful buffet where dessert is the main course.

Miss Mousie's Blind Date

by Tim Beiser

Illustrated by Rachel Berman

Tundra Books

978-1-77049-251-6

24 pp.

Ages 4-7

2012

"Spring is such a funny thing-

it wakes up all the plants

And makes our furry woodland friends

go cuckoo for romance.

And so it was, one day in May,

when stopping by the deli,

Miss Mousie's eye fell on a guy

who turned her knees to jelly." (pg. 2)

In its refreshing take on the theme of finding love where least expected, Miss Mousie's Blind Date starts with Miss Mousie spotting the debonair Matt LaBatt, the water rat, with his handsome looks and lemon yellow teeth.  Unfortunately Miss Mousie's attempts to attract his attention are scuttled when she hears him call her the "fat girl".

Such a blow to her fragile ego sends Miss Mousie to hide herself in her burrow to avoid further ridicule.  But an unexpected invitation to dinner and its surprising outcome leave Miss Mousie with her dignity restored and a quickening in her heart.

Tim Beiser and Rachel Berman's first collaboration, Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog (Tundra, 2009), resulted in nominations for the Blue Spruce Award, the Chocolate Lily Book Award, the Governor General's Award for Children's Fiction Illustration, and the CBA Libris Award for Children's Picture Book of the Year.  And the same sweet rhyming and endearing illustrations are evident in Miss Mousie's Blind Date, making it another charmed read.  

While romance may seem an unusual theme for readers of picture books, no young reader will see anything but lightheartedness in the soft, not fat, Miss Mousie in her adorable millinery and her hopeful expectations for possible love.  The perfect collaboration of Tim Beiser and Rachel Berman takes Miss Mousie from crushing on the handsome rat to despairing over his disregard for her and finally to delight, with an ending that will please even those too young to know the pangs of first love but will understand the value of being oneself.

A Tinfoil Sky

by Cyndi Sand-Eveland

Tundra Books

 978-1-77049-277-6

276 pp.

Ages 9-12

2012

"...everyone needs a little magic in their lives; it gives them hope." (pg. 201)

Melody Tully, twelve, needs a little magic in her life because hopefulness is definitely in shortage.  In the past four years, she and her mom Cecily have moved eleven times, and now Cecily has them running out on her drug dealer boyfriend Craig and dragging them to Cecily's mother's apartment.  But, even though Mel lived with her grandparents for the first four years of her life, Gladys doesn't welcome them into her apartment with its tinfoil-covered windows.  In fact, she yells at them through the door about Cecily's stealing, alcoholism and drug use.  So Cecily and Mel end up living out of their car, both singing on the street for money and visiting the soup kitchen.  When Cecily is arrested for shoplifting and sentenced to thirty days, Rose, a woman who works at the soup kitchen, helps find Mel and take her to stay at Gladys' until Cecily gets out.

Gladys is a bitter woman, rarely showing any kindness to Mel.  She even asks Mel to stay outside the apartment when she's not there, only giving Mel one key for her multi-locked door.  Mel just tries to stay out of Gladys' way, returning the key.  But Mel has no problems filling her days, spending hours at the public library and occasionally visiting with Ed Frohberger at his store to learn what she can of her late grandfather Tux.  But as she counts down the days until her mother's release from jail, Mel begins to establish her own life: visiting the library almost daily; making friends with the librarian Marilyn and Marilyn's son Paul; getting a part-time job at the library; talking to Mr. Frohberger; visiting the soup kitchen and Fearless, the kitten, who lives there; and enjoying the stability of her daily routines.  So, while Cecily enjoys change, Mel begins to appreciate the normalcy of her new situation, regardless of how temporary.

While Cecily seems to be the biggest impediment to their relationship with Gladys, without making any grandiose gestures, just trying to be inconspicuous and herself, Mel starts to see Gladys softening little by little.  The returned key, a white blouse abandoned at the dry cleaners, declining money Mel offers to repay what Cecily had stolen - Gladys begins to recall being a grandmother to her granddaughter, eventually removing the tinfoil from the windows and her heart to allow some light in.

Cyndi Sand-Eveland hardly makes the characters in The Tinfoil Sky likeable.  Mel is perhaps the most innocuous, keeping most of her thoughts to herself.  She works to please her mother and accept her weaknesses but Mel can see the consequences of Cecily's poor choices, regardless of how her mother tries to make things "fun".  As different as Cecily and Gladys are, they are truly mother and daughter, selfishly holding onto their bitterness and placing Mel in the middle.  It is only when Mel interacts with Gladys or Cecily one-on-one that their concerns for Mel are evident. Mel, Gladys, Cecily are real.  They are completely lacking in the family ties that create the saccharine families of TV sitcoms.  Instead Cyndi Sand-Eveland has created an authentic family with typically dysfunctional relationships that bind them together, willing or not.  And while I always am hopeful that most children have comfortable, loving families that help them become the best they can be, I know that there are those like Mel's in which children become amazing people in spite of their families, not because.

Goodnight, Canada

by Andrea Beck 

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)
978-1-4431-0782-2
32 pp.

Ages 3-7

2012

Goodnight, Canada follows a young boy's nightly ritual of adieus from coast to coast to coast, as he looks out his window at his country and wonders who else is going to bed.  Providing a double-page spread of provincial or territorial features for each Canadian region, Andrea Beck's whimsical illustrations show children in beds, in a boat, on a flower pot rock formation, in a sled, in a plane, and even embedded in an inuksuk.  And they're all comforted by playful bears, cats, dogs, birds, and even moose reminiscent of Andrea Beck's Elliot Moose series.

While many may see Goodnight, Canada as our own version of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon,  I believe Andrea Beck's newest picture book is more of a compendium of all things Canadian.  From our different landscapes (like the farm patchwork quilt on the P.E.I. child's bed), provincial and territorial birds, flowers, flags, and landmarks (like the CN Tower in Ontario) to iconic celebrations (e.g., the Calgary Stampede) and wonders (e.g., aurora borealis), Goodnight, Canada allows every child to see him- or herself and enjoy wondering about other children around our country.

It's unusual to find a sweet, rhyming picture book that can also work as an information book, here about Canada, but you can consider Goodnight, Canada an exemplar of one.  And consider this book as a perfect gift for a Canadian child in your life with whom you can curl up beside at bedtime to travel across our grand country in only 32 pages.