How Nivi Got Her Names

Written by Laura Deal

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-137-9

32 pp.

Ages 5-7

April 2017

Naming children after their parents or grandparents in not unusual but the Inuit show great depth of respect and appreciation for their ancestry in the naming of their children, particularly those involved in the Inuit custom adoption, a profoundly generous sharing of children with those who do not have their own.

Adorable Nivi whose full name is Niviaq Kauki Baabi Irmela Jamesie is playing with her toys when she realizes that they each only have one name whereas she has lots.  How Nivi Got Her Names is the story of Mom explaining to her daughter, who came to them through the Inuit custom adoption, the origins of all her names.

From How Nivi Got Her Names 

by Laura Deal 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Niviaq means “little girl” and is the name her adopted parents gave her. Kauki was the grandmother of Nivi’s birth mother, and giving her that name allowed them to honour her and connect Nivi to her biological family.  Baabi was a special family friend who appeared in a dream and naming Nivi after him allowed his spirit and character to live on through her, as well as connecting the child to his family.  Mom explains that Nivi is named Irmela after her own grandmother Irma who was strong, resourceful and creative. Finally, the name Jamesie was to honour Nivi’s mother’s grandfather, a man with a generous heart and a loving spirit.

I wept with emotion for the words Nivi’s mother tells the child:

"We all love you, dear Nivi, for all that you are.  For the names that you have, for the character and traits we see in you, and the people we are reminded of when we are with you.” (pg. 22) 

From How Nivi Got Her Names 

by Laura Deal 

illus. by Charlene Chua

How Nivi Got Her Names may appear on the surface to be a parent explaining something to a child but it is more about providing context for the bonds and connections with those who are living and those who have passed. Giving a child a name for registration and for ease of communication is the norm but the Inuit tradition of naming is a means of “welcoming back a family member, a loved one, or a respected community member” (pg. 29)  and provide community for a child.  Nivi is Laura Deal’s own daughter, adopted through Inuit custom adoption and, though the author provides a glossary and extensive notes on Inuit kinship and naming customs, as well as bios on the individuals honoured in Nivi’s names, the gratitude and love with which the author infuses her story is very personal.  Even Charlene Chua’s art which is cheerful and playful, like Nivi and her daily routines, still pays respect to the practices described within, undoubtedly illustrating the individuals honoured in Nivi’s names with accuracy and dignity.

How Nivi Got Her Names may be an informative picture book about the Inuit tradition of naming and custom adoption but it is an intimate depiction of an admirable practice, one that provides an inheritance more valuable than anything normally pursued in western worlds.  How fortunate for young Niviaq Kauki Baabi Irmela Jamesie.

From How Nivi Got Her Names 

by Laura Deal 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Uncle Holland

Written by JonArno Lawson

Illustration by Natalie Nelson

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-929-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2017

Oh, Uncle Holland, he is a scamp! From the time he was a child (and not yet an uncle), Holland was always getting into trouble.  Seems Holland, one of three boys born to Palmer and Ella Lawson (note the last name connection to the author), liked helping himself to pretty things.  After being caught by the police for the thirty-seventh time (!), Holland is given the choice of jail or the army. Though his mother and brothers are devastated, his father "decided to spend the rest of this life watching his fish swim around in his fish tank" because "Fish can't disappoint me." (pg. 11) His mother takes some solace that her son, though a thief, was never a liar.  Holland chooses the army.

From Uncle Holland 

by JonArno Lawson 

illus. by Natalie Nelson

At the southern location to which Holland is sent, there are many splendid and tempting things like palm trees, parrots, flowers and exquisite fish but none he can slip into his pockets.  So Holland chooses to capture the beauty of the fish in paintings, even making some money selling this art. But when he sends money home, his parents are concerned about the origin of that money.  Fortunately, he is able to tell them truthfully that the money was not stolen but instead that he had learned that he could sell pictures of pretty things since "Not everything that's pretty can be stuffed in your pockets."(pg. 30)

You know there's probably more to this story than told here by JonArno Lawson, the author behind the wildly successful Sidewalk Flowers (illustrated by Sydney Smith; Groundwood, 2015), especially since his Author's Note explains that Holland was his Uncle Holland.  But Uncle Holland, the book, is still able to tell a story, caution children about stealing and telling lies, and provide reassurance that one can turn things around.  Okay, we know that you can't turn everything around (some illnesses, death, legal issues, etc.) but I think children would be comforted to know that sometimes you'll get a second chance (even thirty-seven of them) to make things right, though family might appear to turn their backs on you.

American illustrator Natalie Nelson's art, collages of mixed media, are both mischievous and sobering, not unlike Holland's situation.  There is gravitas associated with his infamous acts, often illustrated in neutral shades of black and greys, with only smidgens of colour in tears and fish in water.  Not until Holland is in the southern climes, witnessing beauty that must remain because he cannot squirrel it away, that the colours become vibrant and the art more playful.

From Uncle Holland 

by JonArno Lawson 

illus. by Natalie Nelson

Every family has a relative or two (or many) with incredible stories, some nefarious, some ridiculous, but we don't always like to share those embarrassing anecdotes.  That's unfortunate because they can be, like Uncle Holland, amusing learning and character-building opportunities. Thank you, JonArno Lawson, for choosing to share yours with young readers.

Happy Dreamer

Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Orchards Books/Scholastic

978-0-545-86501

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2017

Peter H. Reynolds’s earlier picture books (The Dot, Ish, Sky Color) have inspired children to be creative and be true to themselves while encouraging their parents and teachers to foster that creativity. Happy Dreamer takes that premise a step further by accepting the foundation that we are all dreamers in our own ways and should be allowed the freedom to dream.

The child in Happy Dreamer –girl, boy, does it matter?–acknowledges that they are a happy dreamer who is good at dreaming all kinds of dreams: daydreams, big and little dreams and creative dreams.  Though that dreaming isn’t always appreciated in schools and elsewhere, with the child being told to sit still or focus, they realize that their dreams “have a mind of their own.”  With that, this child speaks to their different dreamings, in terms of volume and colour and messiness. Profoundly they also acknowledge that there can be a loneliness involved in dreaming but that dreaming can also set you free, “plunging into amazing, delightful, happy dreams.”

From Happy Dreamer 

by Peter H. Reynolds

It’s all a question of being an individual and being allowed to be yourself.  And to that end, the dreamer who accepts themself as being okay, offers four glorious pages of illustrations of dreamers from which the readers might identify themselves.

From Happy Dreamer
by Peter H. Reynolds

Peter H. Reynolds, whose books repeatedly make the children’s book world stand up and pay attention, has done so again in Happy Dreamer. He states unequivocally on his website that he has a mission in his art and books:

“When I visit students in schools they ask me what my hobbies are. I say thinking, dreaming. If my art and stories can help inspire others to do the same, I'll feel my life had meaning.”

(Retrieved from http://www.peterhreynolds.com/mission2.html on April 4, 2017.)

His art of pen and ink with watercolour achieves that easily. There is an illuminating quality to Peter H. Reynolds’s drawings, even when emphasizing the ways in which we as teachers and parents attempt to subdue, even quell, that joie de vivre.  Still the overall message which Peter H. Reynolds upholds in text and art is that of accepting ourselves in terms of our dreams, whether they be wishes or desires or simply contemplations of what could be.  Peter H. Reynolds brings every young reader, and not so young reader, to a place of contentment for whom we are.

There’s only one question that needs to still be asked: What kind of a dreamer are you?

Triple book event: Blue Heron Books (Uxbridge, ON)

For animal lovers and those who love children's books

(today is World Children's Book Day)

think about attending a triple book launch 

this weekend

with authors

Jennifer Maruno

Rebecca Bender

and

  Suzanne Del Rizzo

for

their recently published books of youngCanLit 

Mooses's Roof

Written by Jennifer Maruno

Illustrated by Laurel Keating

Creative Book Publishing

978-1-771031004

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

March 2017

How Do You Feel?

Written and illustrated by Rebecca Bender

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-013-0

32 pp.

Ages 2-5

November, 2016

Reviewed here

My Beautiful Birds

Written and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-012-3

32 pp.

Ages 6-10

March 2017

Reviewed here

on

  Saturday, April 8, 2017

from 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

at

Blue Heron Books

62 Brock St. West

Uxbridge, ON

Waiting for Sophie

Written by Sarah Ellis

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-020-8

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

April 2017

Waiting can be so hard for little ones, especially when it's for a baby sister who is taking her time being born and growing up so you can play with her.  And this waiting is just about killing little Liam.

"Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. I waited through half of kindergarten.  I waited through my birthday." Liam bounced on the bed. "Waiting is my worst thing. I want to jump on waiting and smash it to smithereens and flush it down the toilet." (pg. 8)

Fortunately Liam's Nana-Downstairs is adept at keeping him occupied with all kinds of "being bad" to pass the time: wearing pajamas all day, eating marshmallow sandwiches, painting Liam's bedroom door with purple polka dots and hurling playful insults at each other.  Finally Baby Sophie arrives in the world and is brought home and Liam thinks she is practically perfect.  

She had toes like peanuts and ears that the sun shone through.  The top of her head smelled especially nice.  (pg. 14)

From Waiting for Sophie 

by Sarah Ellis

illus. by Carmen Mok

For weeks, Sophie's big brother delights in making her laugh and stopping her from crying and getting her to burp.  But he wants more, hoping that the day when Sophie can walk and talk comes sooner than expected, since waiting can be so tiresome.  After months of more waiting, Nana-Downstairs, a handy person, has a new idea, and helps Liam create the G. O. F. (Get Older Faster) machine, an spectacular box of dials and screens and fancy pasta.  And though it doesn't seem to work on Sophie, it does seem to have an impact on Nana-Downstairs and on Liam's stuffie Lelefant and even on helping Liam grow up enough to help his father out. But will Sophie ever grow up?

From Waiting for Sophie

by Sarah Ellis 

illus. by Carmen Mok

I suspect Sarah Ellis is the indomitable Nana-Downstairs (who bears a striking resemblance to the author) who recognized the heartbreak of a child's waiting and possessed the unique imagination to create magic for her grandson to help ease that relentless waiting.  And even though it only appeased the waiting temporarily, Nana-Downstairs was able to provide him with skills that would serve him well for a long, long time.  

Sarah Ellis gives Liam a voice that is so filled with hope about his new sister and the promise of having a familial playmate that even his frustrations are natural and unfeigned.  He speaks with his heart, never with meanness or anger, though he acknowledges the annoyance of biding his time.  Sophie has a great big brother. And, although Waiting for Sophie is an early reader, rather than a picture book, the illustrations by Carmen Mok augment Sarah Ellis’ story with the innocence and family that the author’s words already convey.  

Young children being challenged to read their first chapter books will appreciate this early reader as it will undoubtedly speak to them.  So many know the anguish of waiting, whether for a new sibling to be born or some other significant life event, and will easily put themselves in Liam’s shoes.  Maybe they’ll undertake their own DIY project, with a little help from an adult, or maybe they’ll find their own coping strategies but you can be sure that they’ll appreciate Liam’s story of Waiting for Sophie and the fun that can be had with it.

A Horse Named Steve

Written and illustrated by Kelly Collier

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-736

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2017

Steve is a horse who wants to be exceptional.  When he finds a golden horn in the woods, he attaches it by string to his head, convinced it will make him very special. As Steve parades it in front of his miscellaneous animal friends, cooing about how fancy he is and how ordinary everyone else is, the horn begins to slip from his head until it’s hanging around his neck.  As the other animals begin attaching random embellishments like a branch, an acorn, a mushroom, or a leafy twig to their own heads, Bob the raccoon reveals to Steve that there is no beautiful gold horn on the horse’s head.  Steve starts to panic, searching everywhere and crying despairingly.  When he is convinced that his horn has fallen into the water, Steve demonstrates the lengths to which he’ll go to be considered distinct, revealing more about his desire for individuality than it does for his need for celebrity.

From A Horse Named Steve 

by Kelly Collier

There is definitely a Mélanie Watt Scaredy Squirrel tone to A Horse Named Steve, primarily because of Kelly Collier’s ridiculously self-absorbed horse, sidebar comments throughout the multi-fonted text, and the awkward relationships between Steve and his cohorts.  But A Horse Named Steve is as unique as Steve himself wants to be.  Few characters are a blend of Steve’s ludicrousness and wretchedness so evident in his pursuit, especially since he is convinced that a golden horn will fulfil that need.  But Steve is more childish than mean, craving attention and not knowing how to get it in a positive way.  Kelly Collier’s story reminds us how much the world is driven by individuals desiring fame and celebrity when their uniqueness would serve them better in highlighting their exceptionalities.

A Horse Named Steve is a quirky story about a horse who doesn’t realize how original he already is, and Kelly Collier’s illustrations are as eccentric as he is.  With simple lines and very few colours (black and white with beige), Kelly Collier both pokes fun at her characters, whose distinct facial expressions share hidden meaning, and society in general while amusing young readers with the absurdity of Steve’s passion for a distinction he already has.  They’ll laugh at his silliness but I hope they’ll appreciate his differences as hallmarks of extraordinariness.

From A Horse Named Steve 

by Kelly Collier

Breaking Faith: Book launch (Burlington, ON)

Join

E. Graziani

author of

War in My Town

(Second Story Press, 2015)

for the launch of her new young adult novel

Breaking Faith

by E. Graziani

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-024-7

248 pp.

Ages 13-17

March 2017

Review here

on

Sunday, April 2, 2017

2 p.m.

A Different Drummer Books

513 Locust St.

Burlington, ON

In addition to a book reading and signing, 

youth mental health expert Dr. Vimala Chinnasamy will give a talk.

From Second Story Press' website about the book:

Faith Emily Hansen just wants to be loved and to live without the weight of addiction. But the lure of drugs is strong. The relief that she gets from being wrapped up in the cozy little cotton ball of heroin is impossible to ignore.

Faith’s story starts in her earliest days, before drugs, before her family falls apart. Before her mother leaves. Before her sister betrays her, taking away Faith’s last connection to home. She eventually becomes consumed by the need to “chase the dragon” – the heroin addiction that seems to keep the Darkness at bay, but leads her to live on the street. The determination to find love and comfort that lures Faith to drugs is ultimately the same stubborn force that can drive her to recover.

Retrieved from https://secondstorypress.ca/teen/breaking-faith on March 13, 2017.