Sky Pig

Written by Jan L. Coates

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-98-9

32 pp.

Ages 4–7

April 2016

Ollie is a little pig with a big dream and, though he doesn’t speak (he is after all a pig and pigs can’t talk), his friend, Jack, a boy with a big heart and a bigger imagination, tries to help Ollie achieve his dream.

Ollie from Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates,

 illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

First Jack fastens leafy branches onto Ollie’s back and they climb to the top of a very high hill. Even though a fast run and a jump has Ollie believing that he’s flying, an “Oooooomph!” and a “Plop!” make it evident he did not.  Having Jack create a kite with some garden stakes, twine, a feed sack and scraps of fabric is Ollie’s next plan to become airborne.  A couple of oinks and another “Oooooomph!” and “Plop!” again foretell the futility of their endeavour. Finally, taking their cues from the geese, chickens and other birds, Jack fashions a set of wings for Ollie. Made from an assortment of papers, including maps and wrapping paper featuring airborne creatures, and miscellaneous gears and leather, Ollie takes to the sky like a kind of steampunk flyer.  Alas, that flight ends similarly.  Even a Mary Poppins-like contraption of umbrellas is unsuccessful.

It’s only when the two make use of an already-tried-and-true flying machine that Ollie is able to stay aloft and experience the joys of floating in the sky, even if only for a short time and at a cost of $5.

Dreamers can dream but, with a friend like Jack, Ollie’s dream that a pig could fly comes true.  It takes a little determination, a lot of imagination and being in the right place at the right time but Ollie’s dream, courtesy of Jack’s friendship and piggy bank, becomes a reality.  Jan L. Coates’ story is uplifting like much of her previous work including A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk (Red Deer Press, 2010), The Power of Harmony (Red Deer Press, 2013), and The King of Keji (Nimbus, 2015), and even more so with Suzanne Del Rizzo’s spectacular art, previously enjoyed in Skink on the Brink (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2013) and Gerbil, Uncurled (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015).  The doughy art (plasticine with polymer clay) with mixed media collage features adds the textures and colour to elevate the story even higher.  Beyond the cuteness of Ollie and Jack is a rich landscape of green pastures and trees, chickens and groundhogs, and flowers and dandelion fluff and sweet details of a chicken protecting her egg in a life-vest or basket and thwarting a mouse that tries to get too close.   There’s so much more to Sky Pig than making a pig fly and young readers will love going along for the ride.

From Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

_________________________________________

There will be two great opportunities to check out Sky Pig with author or illustrator.

Illustrator Suzanne Del Rizzo will be participating in the I Art Books Exhibit and Sale of Children's Book Illustration on April 30, 2016 at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge, ON. Details here.

Author Jan L. Coates will be launching Sky Pig on May 7, 2016 at The Box of Delights Bookshop in Wolfville, NS. Details here.

The Hill

by Karen Bass

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-002-4

256 pp.

Ages 12+

March 2016

Karen Bass, the award-winning author of Graffiti Knight (Pajama Press, 2013) and Uncertain Soldier (Pajama Press, 2015), takes writing flight with The Hill, a chilling tale of endurance in northern Alberta, blending a survival story with the supernatural of Cree legends.  It’s hauntingly gripping YA and I think it's her best story yet.

Privileged Jared Frederickson is going to spend a mandatory three weeks with his dad when his dad’s private plane in which the teen is travelling from Edmonton to Yellowknife crashes in a mosquito-infested swamp in the northern Alberta bush.  He and the unconscious pilot are discovered by Cree teen, Kyle Badger, who was nearby at their moose camp with his Kokum (grandmother), Moshum (grandfather) and little brother Sam.   Jared and Kyle, both fifteen, are so different in their attitudes, physiques, and family that it’s not surprising that they disagree as to the best course of action.  Sadly, Jared is determined that if he climbs to the top of the adjacent hill he could get cell reception and call for help.  Though Kyle thinks they should stay at the accident scene, especially since his Kokum had always warned him that “no Cree, no person evers walks on that hill” (pg. 20), he follows Jared knowing that his Kokum would be ashamed of him for not helping the boy.

So begins a treacherous journey both onto the ominous hill and into the supernatural world.  After a night on the hill where, of course, cell reception is non-existent, the two return via Kyle’s notched-tree path to the swamp where everything is different: the jet is gone, the mosquitoes are gone, the swamp is smaller as in drier years, and there is a forest fire in the area.  Kyle is obviously freaked out–“Sometimes scared is the smartest thing you can be” (pg. 29)–though Jared, with his better-than-anyone attitude, ridicules Kyle for not knowing where they are.  Returning to the moose camp, the two see Kyle’s Kokum, as if behind a grey curtain of fog, praying for him and then warning them to run.  Kyle believes that they’ve entered the spirit world and, based on the stories he’s been told, that they’ve woken up Wîhtiko, the monster of Cree legends who craves human flesh.

The two boys must now work together, no easy feat for a spoiled rich kid who’d always gotten his way and knows nothing of the outdoors and for a hulky First Nations teen who refuses, admirably, to be a lackey to anyone but learned well from his grandparents of respect and integrity and perseverance.  Outrunning Wîhtiko is just the beginning of their foray into the supernatural world and one which they must survive if they are able to return safely to their own corporeal one without bringing harm to others.

In addition to a gripping action-rich plot of frightening circumstances, getting the voices of Jared and Kyle and the tone of the story right are Karen Bass’ greatest strengths in The Hill.  She balances the heart-pumping pace of a looking-over-your-shoulder chase with the antagonistic sparring between Jared and Kyle.  The two are so different in what they have, what they know, and who they are that it’s only fate in the form of a plane crash that could bring the two together. Though it is evident that Kyle has much to offer in the way of outdoors experience and familial grounding, Jared learns that he too has some value and can be integral in their escape.  Fortunately for them, and those who read this story, Karen Bass demonstrates that even the most of awkward of allies can achieve great things when they work together, whether it is to outsmart a blood-thirsty monster or finding your way home.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tomorrow 

April 12, 2016

from 7-8:30 p.m.

author Karen Bass

will be reading and signing copies of

The Hill 

at 

Owl’s Nest Books 

815A 49 Ave SW

Calgary, AB 

(403) 287-9557

 It's a great opportunity to get a signed copy and hear a reading of The Hill from the author who made it so frightening.

2016 CBC Shakespeare Selfie Writing Contest: April 11-29

CBC Books is once again offering its Shakespeare Selfie Challenge for students of Gr. 7-12 who are Canadian residents.  The challenge is to write a modern-day monologue or soliloquy by a Shakespearean character based on a news event that took place between April 2015 and April 2016.

The judge will be none other than one of our favourite youngCanLit authors, Kenneth Oppel, whose award-winning books include Silverwing, Airborn, Half Brother and The Boundless.

Details for the Challenge can be found at CBC Books website here including:

• a list of possible topics;
• the rules and regulations;
• discussion and videos differentiating between soliloquies and monologues;
• the link for submitting entries as of tomorrow, April 11, 2016, 

Here's what students and teachers need to know:

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?
Write 200-400 words as a modern-day soliloquy or monologue of one of Shakespeare's characters as he/she would think aloud to himself/herself or speak to another character about a prominent news event that took place between April 2015 and April 2016. Students can submit as many different soliloquies or monologues as they choose to write.

WHEN DOES IT TAKES PLACE?
Monday, April 11 at 9 a.m. ET to Friday, April 29 at 6 p.m. ET. 

WHO CAN ENTER?
Two separate age categories of students who are Canadian residents will be judged:

• Grades 7-9
• Grades 10-12 

WHAT CAN BE WON? 

• An iPad mini for each category's grand prize winner.
• The school library of each grand prize winner will receive 50 YA books from Canadian publishers Penguin Random House, Groundwood Books, Scholastic Canada, Raincoast Books, Great Plains Teen Fiction, HarperCollins Canada, Arsenal Pulp Press, and Simon & Schuster.

This is a fabulous opportunity for young people to get into some purposeful creative writing (something teachers are always eager to present to their students).  Don't miss out!

Morrow will soon be upon us

I prithee, do not tary

Draw paper and ink

And starteth writing!

Festival of Trees 2016: Scheduled events

This month, young readers are voting for their favourite books in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading program, and next month these readers' choice awards will be announced at Festival of Trees celebrations in London, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto.  For those whose children are voting but haven't committed to attending one of the ceremonies, rethink that decision with this listing of workshops by youngCanLit authors and illustrators.  What a phenomenal opportunity for young people to meet and learn from our outstanding contributors to young CanLit.  Full details are available at the website Forestfestivaloftrees.ca/festivals/

Awards Ceremony 10-11a.m.

Workshops 11:15-11:45 a.m.

• Janet Wilson, author/illustrator of Our Heroes: How Kids are Making a Difference
• Emil Sher, author of Young Man with Camera
• Kevin Sylvester, author of Baseballology: Supercool Facts You Never Knew

Workshops 12-12:30 p.m.

• Lorna Schultz Nicholson, author of Fragile Bones: Harrison and Anna
• Liam O'Donnell, author of Tank and Fizz: The Case of the Slime Stampede
• Wesley King, author of The Incredible Space Raiders from Space!

Workshops 12:45-1:15 p.m.

• Karen Bass, author of Uncertain Soldier
• Joel Sutherland, author of Haunted Canada 5: Terrifying True Stories
• David Skuy, author of Rocket Blues

Workshops 1:30-2:00 p.m.

• Charis Cotter, author of The Swallow: A Ghost Story
• Jennifer Mook-Sang, author of Speechless
• Kathleen Cook Waldron, author of Between Shadows
• Eric Walters, author of Hope Springs

Awards Ceremony 10-11a.m.

Workshops 11:15-11:45 a.m.

• Kevin Sylvester, author of Baseballology: Supercool Facts You Never Knew
• David Skuy, author of Rocket Blues

Workshop 12-12:30 p.m.

• Alma Fullerton, author of In a Cloud of Dust

Workshops 12:15-12:45 p.m.

• Eric Walters, author of Hope Springs, Walking Home
• Joel Sutherland, author of Haunted Canada 5: Terrifying True Stories

Workshop 12:45-1:15 p.m.

• Daphne Greer, author of Jacob's Landing

Workshops 1:15-1:45 p.m.

• Janet Wilson, author/illustrator of Our Heroes: How Kids are Making a Difference
• Elly MacKay, author/illustrator of Butterfly Park

Workshop 1:30-2:00 p.m.

• Natalie Hyde, author of Glow-in-the-Dark Creatures

White Pine Award Ceremony 10-11 a.m.

Workshops 10:30-11 a.m.

• Eric Walters, author of Walking Home
• Susin Nielsen, author of We Are All Made of Molecules
• Sharon E. McKay, author of Prison Boy

Workshop 11:15-11:45 a.m.

• Sandra Bradley, author of Henry Holton Takes the Ice

Workshops 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

• Elly MacKay and Claudia Dávila, author/illustrators of Butterfly Park and Super Red Riding Hood
• E. K. Johnston, author of The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim
• Jeyn Roberts, author of The Bodies We Wear

Red Maple Award Ceremony 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Workshop 12:15-12:45 p.m.

• Alma Fullerton and Sangeeta Bhadra, authors of In a Cloud of Dust and Sam's Pet Temper

Workshops 12:30-1:00 p.m.

• Don Aker, author of Delusion Road
• Jennifer Gold, author of Soldier Doll

Workshop 12:45-1:15 p.m.

• Caroline Pignat, author of The Gospel Truth

Blue Spruce Award Ceremony 1-2 p.m.

Workshop 1:15-1:45

• Lorna Schultz Nicholson, author of Fragile Bones: Harrison and Anna

Workshops 1:30-2:00

• Karen Bass, author of Uncertain Soldier
• Allan Stratton, author of The Dogs
• Emil Sher, author of Young Man with Camera

Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award Ceremony 10-11a.m.

Workshops 10:15-10:45 a.m.

• Eric Walters, author of Hope Springs
• David Skuy, author of Rocket Blues
• Alison Hughes, author of Lost in the Backyard
• Wesley King, author of The Incredible Space Raiders from Space!
• Chris Earley, author of Weird Frogs
• Sharon E. McKay, author of The End of the Line
• Joel Sutherland, author of Haunted Canada 5: Terrifying True Stories
• Margriet Ruurs and Elizabeth McLeod, authors of A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison and Colossal Canada: 100 Epic Facts and Feats

Silver Birch Fiction Award Ceremony 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Workshop 12-12:30 p.m.

• Sue Carstairs, author of Saving Turtles: A Kids' Guide to Helping Endangered Species

Workshops 12:15-12:45 p.m.

• Kallie George and David J. Smith, authors of The Magical Animals Adoption Agency: Clover's Luck and If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers
• Liam O'Donnell, author of Tank and Fizz: The Case of the Slime Stampede
• Kevin Sylvester, author of Baseballology: Supercool Facts You Never Knew

Workshop 12:45-1:15 p.m.

• Charis Cotter, author of The Swallow: A Ghost Story

Silver Birch Express Award Ceremony 1-2 p.m.

Workshops 1:15-1:45 p.m.

• Kathleen Cook Waldron and Jennifer Mook-Sang, authors of Between Shadows and Speechless
• Gordon Korman, author of Masterminds
• Jordan Stratford, author of The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Moonstone

Workshop 1:30-2:00 p.m.

• Caroline Fernandez and Natalie Hyde, authors of Boredom Busters: 50+ awesome activities, recipes, experiments, and more and Glow-in-the-Dark Creatures

Author Kevin Sylvester hosting an awards ceremony

Cérémonie de remise des Prix Tamarac 10-11 a.m.

Atelier 10:15-10:45 a.m.

• Katia Canciani, Le voyage en Chine
• Alain Raimbault, Idées de génie - tome 1 - Championne d'Expo-sciences?
• Andrée Poulin, Un bain trop plein

Atelier 11:15-11:45 a.m.

• Nadya Larouche, Comme un tour de magie
• Joannie Beaudet, L' île de Cosmo le dodo: La potion magique
• Dominic Langlois, Le trésor de Memramcook
• Jennifer Couëlle, L'homme sans chaussettes
• Caroline Merola, Ça commence ici!

Cérémonie de remise des Prix Tamarac Express 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Atelier 12-12:30 p.m.

• Dominique de Loppinot, Les vers de terre d'Ester
• Danielle Verville, La fée des poils
• Renée Robitaille, Douze oiseaux
• Jean Beaudry, La Gang des hors-la-loi
• Sylvie Roberge, Le vol TS-236

Atelier 12:45-1:15 p.m.

• Karine Gotton et Mathieu Lampron, Les Mutamatak -tome 1 - Les superhéros
• Marie-Andrée Arsenault, Les souvenirs du sable
• Rhéa Dufresne, Un clic de trop

Cérémonie de remise des Prix Peulplier  1-2 p.m.

Atelier 1:30-2:00 p.m.

• Lydie Colette, NOA - À la rencontre des enfants du monde!
• Laurent Chabin, La momie du Belvédère

The Finding Place

Written by Julie Hartley
Red Deer Press
978-0-889-95533-2
244 pp.
Ages 10-14
September 2015

Thirteen-year-old Kelly, the narrator of The Finding Place, knows only that she’d been found outside a village school in Yangshuo, China before she’d been taken to an orphanage from which her parents adopted her at a few months of age. Other than being Chinese by birth, Kelly knows little of her beginnings and herself.  But this was always okay with her, until her dad leaves.  Not knowing why he left, where he was, and if he was coming back, Kelly is left filling in the blanks of that story with various possibilities, all that make her mom the bad guy.  Moreover, Kelly is starting to feel lost, unaware of who she truly is.

My Canadian identity came from my parents but, with Dad gone, how much of that was left? (pg. 44)

Like a typical teen, Kelly lashes out at her mother, Auntie Lou and best friend Raziel whenever they question her about what she’s thinking or doing.  Not surprising that Mom wants to find a way to connect with Kelly, so she plans a March break trip to China, hoping that it will help Kelly clarify some things about her birth place and ultimately herself.

But Mom’s debilitating headaches often leave Kelly alone and exploring–without permission–outside the hotel.  At times, she feels Chinese, empowered by trying out her Mandarin and being understood, and participating in a Tai Chi activity in a park.  But then the confusion returns.

Back in the lobby of our hotel, I stood for a moment among the American business peple and the western tourists with their cameras slung around their necks, and I thought, where do I belong? Here, where everyone except the desk staff looks like my parents, but thinks and speaks the way I do? Or out there in the real China where everyone looks like me, even though I can’t understand a single word they say? (pg. 110)

Her mom’s annoyance and anger with Kelly reveals her plan to move them from Toronto to Brantford to live with her Auntie Lou, giving them a fresh start.  Kelly is devastated, believing that her father would never come home then, disregarding the countless emails she’s sent him without response.

Their arrival in Yangshuo, ever closer to her finding place i.e., the spot where she’d been abandoned, brings them in contact with other parents picking up their adopted children, including a Toronto woman Clare whom Kelly met at the Bejing hotel and was adopting a child from the very orphanage that Kelly had resided in before her own adoption.

But, just like life, things do not run smoothly. Clare’s baby, Phoenix, is ill and may be kept from adoption; Mom did not apply for permission to visit the orphanage; and Kelly, who’d been convinced that her mother had been keeping her dad away, learns the real reason for his absence.  A life-threatening situation finally helps Kelly realize what she has in the way of an identity and that what seems like an end might just be a beginning.

I have always believed that every child should be able to see themselves somewhere in the books, hence the push for diversity in literature.  The Finding Place opens up that door to children who became part of new families through international adoption, here specifically from China.  Kelly’s story and perhaps that of Clare and Phoenix may or may not be similar to those of other girls adopted from China but it provides a starting place for filling in the blanks of their adoption and heritage.  Julie Hartley’s rigourous research (an interview with Julie Hartley at the end of the book will attest to this) provides a more complete background for Kelly’s story, though The Finding Place is still much more than a story of a child’s adoption.  It’s her story, absolutely, but it’s of finding herself: her beginnings, her place as a daughter, friend and niece, and as a part of a broken family.  Her struggles with self-determination and self-acceptance are the greater story of The Finding Place, though China does become the finding place by definition in a far greater manner than mother and daughter probably could ever have imagined.

Go Home Bay

by Susan Vande Griek

Illustrated by Pascal Milelli

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-701-6

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

April 2016

Groundwood Books was recently honoured by being named the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and Go Home Bay is another title in its worthy collection,  demonstrating why Groundwood Books received this award.

From Go Home Bay
by Susan Vande Griek and Pascal Milelli

Go Home Bay, the story, is loosely based on the events that took place during the summer of 1914 on Go Home Bay in Georgian Bay.  Canadian artist Tom Thomson, who became one of Canada’s best-known artists, was invited by a patron, Dr. James MacCallum, to stay at his cottage.  While there, Thomson taught MacCallum’s young daughter, Helen, to paint.  This is their story.

In expressive free verse, as redolent as Pascal Milelli’s illustrations are of Thomson’s own artwork, Susan Vande Griek shares the arrival and introduction of the artist to the young girl, who watches his outdoor routines of campfire cooking, fishing, canoeing and, of course, painting with quiet appreciation.  Then, one day, he encourages her to paint with him: wildflowers, a rowboat, his canoe, Go Home Bay, a pine tree.

Wild the west wind blows. 

“Quick!” Tom calls.

“Let’s paint a pine." 

And down by the shore, 

clothes flapping, as we go.

Dark clouds cluster,

The air blusters and puffs. 

Tom points and shouts,

“See how the branches 

sway and bend.” 

So we paint them out over the water,

west wind sent,

trees that are forever

west wind bent. (pg. 22)

This extraordinary summer of Tom Thomson guiding Helen’s eyes to see and her hands to paint was immortalized in several of his key artworks, including The West Wind and Boathouse, Go Home Bay, but the experience and memories with which Helen MacCallum was left were far greater than just the painting he gives her. 

From Go Home Bay
by Susan Vande Griek, illus. by Pascal Milelli

What an experience to have learned to paint from one of the greats of the Canadian art world and to have listened to patron and benefactor discuss art and other important issues of the day.  Susan Vande Griek tells of that summer with the transcendent calm of a respite at the cottage when time is endless and warmth is embracing.  A time of inspiration and inspiring.   The text is replendent in colours and textures, much like Pascal Milelli’s bold, homagic illustrations evocative of Tom Thomson’s own style of painting.  Pascal Milelli’s art, already recognized with an Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, is rich in earthy greens and terra cotta, turquoises and blues of expansive water and sky.  Like Tom Thomson, Pascal Milelli uses of ribbons of colour to produce layering within the landscape and its components, creating softness and movement.  The illustrations paint a serenity and a magic of a time and place long gone but ever remembered.

Go Home Bay is an auspicious addition to my recent Art in youngCanLit booklist, joining its sister book by Susan Vande Griek and Pascal Milelli, The Art Room (Groundwood, 2002), as an important children's picture about an legendary Canadian artist.

Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me

Written by Danielle Marcotte

Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-201-2

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2016

Instil a love of reading with award-winning author Danielle Marcotte’s Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me, whimsically illustrated with Josée Bisaillon’s collage art.

The story may be called Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me but it is more a young boy’s compendium of reading.  It includes everyone who partakes in the pleasure and value of reading, and the reading of everything from novels to sheet music and cookbooks, as well as the sky, the future, signage and body language.  The young boy, who starts with listing who reads in his family–his parents, grandparents, uncle and auntie–also makes note of who can’t read, like his little brother Buddy, Toto the fish and Gracie the cat.  Then he ventures further afield to those who must read the weather, thermometers, tarot cards and more as part of their vocations.  Finally, he speaks to the emotions that books can evoke, from laughter to tears recognizing that,

Thanks to books,
I find balance,
I climb high,
I follow new roads,
and I move forward.

From Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me
by Danielle Marcotte, illus. by Josée Bisaillon

This is a dream book for every parent and teacher and librarian who would like to delight a young reader into the appeal and importance of reading while permeating that lesson with an appreciation for the many versions of literacy out there.  Danielle Marcotte imparts an important message in an inviting story, all the better communicated with Josée Bisaillon’s collage artwork.  The textures are both intense and subtle, as the illustration necessitates, and colour combinations evocative of busyness or calm, as appropriate.  Text and art come together strikingly in Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me to become a book that all literacy advocates i.e., everyone, should be sharing with the very young, those who can read and those who can’t, yet. 

From Mom, Dad, Our Books, and Me
by Danielle Marcotte, illus. by Josée Bisaillon