Do You Know...Dinosaurs? Hyenas? Komodo Dragons? Praying Mantises?

Young readers of French non-fiction have been lucky to have Savait-tu...? books (from Éditions Michel Quintin) available since 2001 with at least 50 different titles available.  But since 2013, Fitzhenry & Whiteside has been publishing the series in English, called the Do You Know...? series, with the same authors and illustrator together.  I reviewed the first in September 2013 but here are volumes 9-12 and I'd like to remind readers about these non-fiction gems.  Non-fiction can be so...o...o dry but there are only a few authors that consistently present it in informative and entertaining formats.  Some key youngCanLit authors of non-fiction include Elizabeth MacLeod, Monica Kulling, Susan Hughes, Rob Laidlaw, Bill Swan, Keltie Thomas and Helaine Becker with each having their own specialty. History, biography, animal rights, justice, sports and trivia are usually well-covered but the trio of Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar bring a refreshing perspective to animal non-fiction and young readers love it. I'd love to get more teacher-librarians, teachers, parents and readers as excited about this series as I am!


Do You Know Dinosaurs?
Written by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar
Illustrated by Sampar
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
64 pp.
Ages 7-11
May, 2014

Do You Know Hyenas?

Written by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar

Illustrated by Sampar

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

64 pp.

Ages 7-11

May, 2014

Do You Know Komodo Dragons?

Written by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar

Illustrated by Sampar

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

64 pp.

Ages 7-11

May, 2014

Do You Know Praying Mantises?

Written by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar

Illustrated by Sampar

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

64 pp.

Ages 7-11

May, 2014

From Do You Know Hyenas?
by Alain M. Bergeron et al., 2014

The integration of key facts about the animal within a double-spread illustration of a humourous situation depicting that fact works so well for both verbal and visual learners who will remember that information better for that pairing. For example, in the illustration to the right, the hyena's very thorough feeding on a carcass is depicted by the few bits left over for the vulture who sarcastically thanks the hyena for, like, nothing! Eating habits, morphology, reproduction, behaviour, mobility and more are covered within these graphics. And, as a teacher, I appreciate the subtle humour that provides me with a perfect vehicle for looking at inferencing skills.

Don't read these because of their educational value, though it is there.  And don't purchase them because they're new and unlikely to be in school or children's collections.  But do purchase them for their unique presentation of information and the laughter that will have your little ones easily remembering and sharing what they've read with pleasure.

Winter Moon Song

by Martha Brooks

Illustrated by Leticia Ruifernández

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-320-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

August 2014

Embed a story about the rabbit in the moon within the narrative of a young bunny's questioning about the magic of life and winter, then add the sweetness of a traditional song and illustrate with tender watercolours by Spanish artist Leticia Ruifernández and, like magic, you have Martha Brook's first picture book, the heartfelt Winter Moon Song.

Accompany a little rabbit "not so small as to be a still-doted-upon baby, yet not big enough to be noticed in any significant way" as he makes his way home from a choir practice of the ancient piece "Winter Moon Song".  In the stillness of the winter cold, he contemplates the upcoming gathering, the aging singers in the choir and the rabbit in the moon, and asks his mother how the rabbit got there.

After his mother shares the legend of another young rabbit's sacrifice to the Great Mother, Creator Rabbit, the bunny of our story recognizes that the "Winter Moon Song" can be "a magical path lighting the darkest month" and he sets about to make it so.

Winter Moon Song is as magical as the song within, lyrically written by Martha Brooks and set to the music of cool colour washes by Leticia Ruifernández.  As refreshing as it is share this picture book now, I encourage lovers of youngCanLit to purchase it and reread it with family and children during the dark months of winter when Winter Moon Song will truly raise its voice.

The Night is Found: Book Launch (Halifax)

On 

Saturday, July 26, 2014

1-3 p.m.

join

author

Kat Kruger

for the release of

The Night is Found

Fierce Ink Press

978-1-927746-57-8
978-1-927746-59-2 (epub)
978-1-927746-60-8 (Kindle)

301 pp.

Ages 14+

 the final book 

in

The Magdeburg Trilogy

at 

Indigo Chapters

Bayers Lake Power Centre

188 Chain Lake Drive 

Halifax, Nova Scotia 

902-450-1023

Read my review here and see why you really should attend!

Haunted Canada: Ghost Stories

by Pat Hancock and Allan Gould

Illustrated by Andrej Krystoforski

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-2894-0

172 pp.

Ages 8-13

2014

Though most readers would think this a perfect read for Halloween (and I will be sure to add it to an October post on spooky youngCanLit reads), ghost stories are also the perfect choice for an end-of-night campfire, when the darkness has settled in, the quiet is heavy in the warm humid air, and the company is just a little wary of occasional unfamiliar sounds and shadows.  That's the time to bring out one of Scholastic Canada's Haunted Canada series books, like their newest Haunted Canada: Ghost Stories.

While all the stories include supernatural or paranormal elements, the basis for the tales are quite varied.  Some warn, some entertain, some explain, some scare. Many of the stories, like "The Sleeping Boy" and "Golden Eyes", have ghosts that appear for the purpose of keeping others safe, whether from fire, an avalanche or a flash flood.  In "Robber's Reward", a young girl helps to right an injustice.  Several provide cautionary themes against bullying and gossiping, such as in "A Boy's Best Friend" and "Spellbound".  And the final story in the book, "Life Guard", is truly frightening or would be if a boy hadn't been an attentive big brother.

The fifteen stories within are a little scary but not horrific, not the nightmare-inducing tales that teens and adults might enjoy.  These stories read more like retelling of eyewitness accounts, the kind that one person might tell by beginning with, "Did you hear that...?" and you might believe they actually happened.  Mind you, with ghost stories, how do you know they didn't? Something to think about when settling into that warm and cozy bed and you hear something go bump in the night. 

The Boundless

by Kenneth Oppel

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-443410328 

336 pp.

Ages 10-16

April, 2014

"ALL ABOARD... The Boundless for a mesmerizing adventure of historical proportions, with death-defying leaps of faith, Sasquatch encounters, illusions of the fourth dimension and murderous employees looking for the gold after death.  Leaving now for its first journey. Get on board now to be one of the first to enjoy this newest series by award-winning author Kenneth Oppel."

Life changes for Will Everett and his family after Will helps in the hammering of the last spike of the CPR railway in British Columbia and his father saves the life of Cornelius Van Horne, president of the CPR, in an avalanche.  Three years later James Everett is in charge of the Boundless, the seven-mile long train of spectacular design created by Van Horne, who is now ensconced in a secured and guarded funeral car near the front of the train.  And, on its maiden voyage, Will is enjoying the amenities of first class and looking to reacquaint himself with a young wirewalker/escape artist, Maren, travelling with Zirkus Dante, the circus of Mr. Dorian, the man who'd captured a young sasquatch after that avalanche years earlier.

Beyond the incredible opportunity of travelling on the longest and most powerful train in the world, essentially pulling a city of nine hundred and eighty-seven cars, Will enjoys the opportunity to experience the towns of vendors that arise to service the train's passengers, the wilds of the Canadian landscape with its supernatural creatures including the muskeg hag, the Wendigo and the sasquatch, and convince his father that he should be allowed to attend art school in San Francisco.  But Will places himself in a dangerous position when, at a stop, he recovers a key dropped by the funeral car's guard moments before the man is stabbed by a man Will recognizes.  Barely catching the caboose at the end of the train, Will must use all his skills and wits and trust a few new friends if he is to stay alive and find his way back to his father in the locomotive.

The Boundless is an endless adventure of hopping train cars, outsmarting murderous fiends, marvelling at unforeseen inventions, surviving encounters with mythical creatures and trusting some and not others, including a first love.  Never does Kenneth Oppel make you believe that Will can easily survive this drama.  Readers will be holding their breaths wondering which fall will kill Will or leave him in the Boundless' wake. Or whether Mr. Dorian's plan will save him or put others in jeopardy.  Or whether every brakeman on the Boundless is a threat.  Or whether Will's father, miles away at the front of the train, knows anything of the goings-on in the funeral car and beyond.  And I'll be surprised if you don't start wondering which pieces of Canadian history are valid and accurate. Cornelius Van Horne, Sam Steele, Simon Fraser and Donald Smith and others make appearances in The Boundless, though they are legitimate characters who helped in the making of our nation.  But what of the golden spike?

Yep.  The Boundless has all that and more. And only reading Kenneth Oppel's newest steampunk will allow you some opportunity to answer those questions or at least make an attempt at it. So get on board with reading The Boundless, a phenomenon of engineering and text, courtesy of the imagination and pen of one of Canada's finest writers for young people. 

Eden Mills Writers' Festival 2014: youngCanLit authors

Interested in listening to some of Canada's finest authors read their work? Want to get an autographed book for a Christmas gift for your favourite young reader?  Love learning about new writers in a spectacular outdoor setting?

Then set aside

Sunday September 14th, 2014

12 noon – 6pm

to join us at

The Eden Mills Writers' Festival

in the village of Eden Mills

(15 min. south-east of Guelph, Ontario)

Details about the schedule will be up in August, and other FAQs about prices, adult authors, the poetry slam, and other events can be read at http://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/web/

Children's Authors and Storytellers

Jo-Ellen Bogart

Hélène Boudreau

Zachary Collins

Retrieved from http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/
nine-year-old-guelph-author-selling-book-
for-charity-1.1495355#

Lisa Dalrymple

George Murray

Patricia Storms

Janet Wilson

Brad Woods, storyteller

Authors of Young Adult Books

Patrick Bowman

Wesley King

Maureen McGowan

Emily Pohl-Weary

Morgan Rhodes

Richard Scarsbrook

Jocelyn Shipley

Michael F. Stewart

____________________________

See you at the EMWF!

You'll come for the words 

but you'll stay for the experience!

____________________________

Bear on the Homefront

by Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat

Illustrated by Brian Deines

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-13-2

32 pp.

Ages 5+

September 1, 2014
For sale August 19, 2014

Anyone who minimizes the value of a toy during stressful times needs to read Bear on the Homefront, as well as its prequel A Bear in War (Stephanie Innes et al., 2009), not to mention the recently reviewed Soldier Doll.  In fact, any object that can lend emotional support to both children and adults during times of war is more than a toy–it's a treasure. 

Teddy Bear, CWM 20040015-001
Image from http://www.warmuseum.ca/
cwm/exhibitions/guerre/
children-war-e.aspx

This little teddy bear had its simple beginnings as a good luck charm and keepsake that Aileen Rogers sent her father Lt. Lawrence Browning Rogers in 1916 when he was fighting in France.  Though her father did not return home, Teddy did, having been found in her father's jacket when he died at Passchendaele.

Now Aileen Rogers is grown up and a nurse, contributing to efforts in World War II to keep British children safe by evacuating them to Canada. The story is told by Teddy who is Aileen's keepsake now, speaking to her from the pocket of her uniform, as she accompanies children across the ocean and then to find their way to their transport and chaperones.  

Upon their arrival at Halifax, Aileen introduces herself to two of the smallest children, Grace and her five-year-old brother William, who look lost and afraid. To reassure small William, Aileen lets Teddy keep him company as they begin their train journey to Winnipeg.  Unlike many children who seem to enjoy the freedom and adventure of their travels, Grace and William quietly endure the experience, worrying about their future home.  Not surprisingly, upon their arrival and introduction to Mr. and Mrs. Dent, whose farm they would stay at, William is reluctant to leave.  But Aileen compassionately bestows Teddy on the little boy, instructing him to take good care of the children.

Fortunately, there is a happy ending for all, though five years of war keeps them separated from those they love.  Inspired by events recounted in Aileen Rogers' diary, Bear on the Homefront takes Teddy out of the war zone but still working to comfort those impacted by war. And by giving Teddy a voice, Stephanie Innes (the great niece of Aileen Rogers) and Harry Endrulat have endeared the little bear with even more heart than his simple form may suggest.  His longing for Aileen and his honest reflections are not dissimilar to the children's own, though they all recognize the value in perseverance, even if it is difficult.  

The text and atmospheric oil on canvas illustrations of Brian Deines lend an authenticity to the memories held within Bear on the Homefront.  Teddy has an important story to tell, and his voice and demeanour are appropriately not the cutesy, anthropomorphized bear of so many upbeat picture books, though the book's message is heartening. For his heroic efforts in comforting and giving voice to others when their own words and thoughts probably failed them, Teddy is now safe and treasured at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.  So, Bear at the Homefront gives us one more happy ending from a time when there weren't many.