Wild One: Book launch (Vancouver, BC)

Join debut author

Jane Whittingham

for the launch of her charming picture book

Wild One

Written by Jane Whittingham

Illustrated by Noel Tuazon

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-036-9

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

November, 2017

Reviewed here yesterday

on

  Saturday, November 4, 2017

1-3 p.m.

at

Book Warehouse

4118 Main St.

Vancouver, BC

There will be:

• activities for kids

• snacks

• prizes

• books for purchase

and

• author signing.

Wild One

Written by Jane Whittingham

Illustrated by Noel Tuazon

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-036-9

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

November, 2017

From morning to bedtime, this little girl is go, go, go!  She's not just a wild thing, she's the Wild One!

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham 

illus. by Noel Tuazon

The story of Wild One is told as a series of daily activities: going to the park, playing with friends, climbing monkey bars, swimming, running, eating and preparing for bed. On each page, front and back, the young girl is doing something that is then compared to an action of an animal on the opposite side of the page.  She stretches like a cat, hangs from the monkey bars like a bat, swims like a guppy but trudges home, reluctantly, like a snail.  Regardless of the animals she emulates during the day and evening, she is her parents' wild one to whom they affectionately say goodnight in the final illustration.

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham

 illus. by Noel Tuazon

Wild One is Jane Whittingham's first picture book and it's a charming recount of a child's day filled with play and activity. Kids love pretending that they are animals–how often do they imagine themselves to be bears growling or dogs barking or snakes slithering?–but here Jane Whittingham demonstrates, playfully, that we belong in the animal kingdom, sharing many attributes with animals far and wide.  (I know Wild One is not a commentary on animal classification or our position within it, but I think a wise teacher would find a way to incorporate Wild One into a great lesson about the characteristics of living things.)

Toronto artist Noel Tuazon may be a name unfamiliar to me but he has several books under his illustrating belt including picture books and graphic novels and does art for magazines, comics and Nelvana Studios.  His style here is appropriately light, subtle and simple, as complements the story of a preschooler's life.  The detail is unnecessary as the pairing of an activity with an animal is all that is needed, especially for the very young for whom this book is written. (Pajama Press' soft padded cover with rounded corners is perfect for them and those fortunate enough to hold it,)  It is only in the final illustration of the child sleeping in her room that we see the mayhem of a day well lived.

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham 

illus. by Noel Tuazon

Wild One may be about the little girl being one but the last words belong to the child's parents who bid her goodnight in a rhyme that resonates like a lullaby. After all, she is their wild one and loved no matter whether a cat, a bear or a snail.



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Check out tomorrow's post about the book launch for Wild One in Vancouver on November 4, 2017.

How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary

Written by Dawn Green

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-549-3

312 pp.

Ages 13-17

September 2017

The title How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary may sound tongue-in-cheek, but there's nothing whimsical about Dawn Green's newest young adult novel.  It's a serious look at how easily a world can go wrong because of the vision of its leaders and how a relative moderate can become a poster child for a resistance movement.

Told in alternating chapters of "Then" and "Now", How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary follows the story of teen Sam Smart who begins university, determined not to be distracted from her studies or soccer, and meets a guy named Brady Smith–that's the "Then"– and who is apprehended as a rebel leader of the Wright Resistance–that's the "Now."  "Then" was a time of political fervour as the election for the country's president pitted charismatic John King against more socially responsive Richard Wright.  Though light on platforms, King wins on a smear campaign and begins rampant changes to address significant issues of food, water and energy shortages, pandemics and terrorist attacks.  Sadly he also institutes a new King's Guard ostensibly to serve the community but which, under the leadership of King's key advisor, General Marcus O'Brien, joins with the police and the military and becomes a force to be feared.  Sam may want to keep out of these matters, especially as Brady's family is so pro-King and Brady is determined to appease his father, but Kayla, Sam's roommate and best friend, is an ardent support of Wright and encourages Sam to join her at protests and rallies.  

Sam, I want you to remember this––you can let the moments define you, or you can define the moments. (pg. 115)

The world is changing around Sam and she doesn't like what she sees in King's treatment of immigrants, restrictions, and favouritism for the Guard and allies.  Though it is starting to impact her life–a scholarship lost, Brady joining the Guard, TA friend Aaron heading west to work with Wright's Equality Organization–it's not until she and Kayla, who is being sought out after an incident at a peaceful protest turned ugly because of the Guard, attend a football game where shots are fired and bombs go off that Sam is seen as the face of the Resistance and a rebel by King and his Guard.

See, that's what's wrong with this society.  Giving hero status to a girl they don't even know, based on an inflated image with some catchy hashtag underneath. (pg. 158)

Although Sam has come from a difficult background and is fairly opinionated, courtesy of her grandpa, she does not throw herself into the Resistance like Kayla or speak out against Brady's indoctrination into the King politico machine.  Even a photo taken of her at the O2 attack at the stadium is not indicative of her leanings, only her concern for her friend and compassion for others.  That's when it all changes because it's what others see in her that determines her fate.  And yet, she's still the girl in love with Brady Smith.  How Sam, and ultimately Brady, resolve their relationship with their beliefs and their actions, is not straightforward.

Dawn Green, author of When Kacey Left (Red Deer Press, 2015), packs a lot of story into How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary and she tells it with daring. There is a love story, a message about absolute power, about action and inaction in the face of injustice, and how everything can change in a moment and put your life on an unexpected path.  It's also a statement about media and how the powerful may attempt to manipulate it but how others may find ways for the truth to be revealed. In our troubled times, How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary is a very telling tale of how things can go horribly wrong with those seeking absolute power.  Though Dawn Green doesn't give us a happy ending, she gives us hope that the story will continue. Sometimes that's even better.

Another Story Bookshop: 30th Anniversary & Author Event (Toronto, ON)

This year

Another Story Bookshop

turns 30!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

This independent bookstore

located at 

315 Roncesvalles Avenue

Toronto, ON

sells a broad range of literature 

for children, young adults and adults 

with a focus on themes of social justice, equity & diversity

and

it's celebrating with

a great line-up of author readings,

book giveaways,

and

20% off almost every book in the store!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

Tomorrow

Saturday, October 21, 2017

starting at 11 a.m.

check out these author readings:

11 am - Special children's book readings

Kyo Maclear 

Kenneth Oppel

S. Bear Bergman

Kelly Collier

Naseem Hrab

The other authors readings include:

1 pm:   Eva Stachniak,  Catherine Bush,  Carrianne Leung,  Martha Baillie,  Pasha Malla,  Sarah Meehan Sirk and Lillian Allen

3 pm:     Farzana Doctor, Maureen Hynes, Ishara Deen and Jenny Kay Dupuis

Jenny Kay Dupuis 

5 pm:     Alissa York,  Lauren MeKeon,  Bianca Lakoseljac and Ayub Nuri

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

Full details at http://www.blogto.com/events/another-story-bookshops-30th-anniversary-bash/

Shelter

Written by Céline Claire

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-927-3

42 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2017

When a storm hits, we all need shelter in which to take refuge.  But how many would be willing to share their shelter with strangers in need?  Shelter is a story for all times and for now, when there are those with so much and so many with so little.  Tragedy, as always, becomes the great equalizer.

From Shelter 

by Céline Claire 

illus. by Qin Leng

When the animals of the forest–foxes, rabbits, birds, squirrels, boars–learn of an upcoming storm, they prepare by gathering wood and food and taking cover in their homes.  They are fearful but safe inside.

From Shelter 

by Céline Claire 

illus. by Qin Leng

Then two strangers appear in the fog and go from home to home, asking for shelter or food or light from the hearth in exchange for some tea.  Sadly they are turned away from each with lies that the dwellers have none to share.  Only Little Fox pursues them to offer a lantern.  But when the fox family must escape their collapsing den, the two strangers, bear brothers, offer to share with them the shelter they've created in the snow.

From Shelter 

by Céline Claire 

illus. by Qin Leng

If ever there was a story that illustrates the wisdom and compassion of the Golden Rule, that story is Shelter.  It is an allegory for our times of those who will not share or provide refuge for those in need or to those whom they fear, yet hope that some kindness might be extended to them when in similar circumstances.  French writer Céline Claire's story is both tragic and hopeful but Qin Leng's illustrations provide the visual context for that tragedy and promise.  From indoor havens and outdoor scenes of purposeful work, Qin Leng captures the reassurance of lives lived well.  Then, with the wind and gathering storm, she gives her illustrations a shadowy tone that emulates the anxiety of the two bears and those disquieted by their arrival.  Finally, her pen and watercolour artwork brings lightness to a dark world.

May we all find shelter during the storms, whether they be personal, political or climatic, and, whenever we can, let us provide refuge to those who seek the same.

Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament

Written by Anne Renaud

Illustrated by Felicita Sala

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-619-7

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2017

Those delicious potato chips we purchase for their crispiness and salty goodness?  Seems they originated when a picky, picky patron of Mr. Crum's restaurant in the mid 1860s just could not be appeased.  Fortunately, the chef, Mr. George Crum, found a clever and tasty way to resolve a potato predicament.

From Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament 

by Anne Renaud 

illus. by Felicita Sala

Author Anne Renaud weaves a fictionalized account of the very real Mr. Crum, a Native American and African American, who loved to cook and opened a restaurant to which people flocked.  When a oddly dressed man named Filbert Punctilious Horsefeathers orders a "heaping helping of potatoes", Mr. Crum delivers up his traditional wedged potatoes that had been boiled, fried in lard and sprinkled with salt.  But Mr. Horsefeathers sends the food back, declaring the potatoes too thick.  A second helping is also deemed too thick and "bland as burlap."  This continues with Mr. Crum cutting his wedges thinner and thinner, and salting them more and more, until playfully exasperated he cuts the "thinnest, slimmest and trimmest of slices" and fries them so crispy that they crackle and drenches them in salt.  The picky Mr. Horsefeathers finally declares them to be perfection.

From Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament 

by Anne Renaud 

illus. by Felicita Sala

Quebecker Anne Renaud has written both children's non-fiction (e.g., Pier 21: Stories from Near and Far, Lobster Press, 2008 and The Extraordinary Life of Anna Swan, Cape Breton University Press, 2013) and picture books (e.g., Missuk's Snow Geese, Simply Read, 2008).  By blending the informational aspects of the story with a fictionalized context, Anne Renaud has created a revealing text that both entertains and informs.  Similarly, Australian illustrator Felicita Sala, who also illustrated Monica Kulling's On Our Way to Oyster Bay (Kids Can Press, 2016), capably imagines the people and places of the time with the details to entrance rather than just accurately depict.

Enriched with an author's note, photographs, and references, including newspaper articles, Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament pays tribute to the history of chef Mr. George Crum as developer of the potato chip, though the author acknowledges that others have laid claim to this invention.  Still, at a time when communications across a country were not instantaneous and communities were essentially isolated from hearing of new inventions, it's not surprising that the potato chip may have been developed at several locales at the same time.  As we know, potatoes are a staple in most households and trying to do something different with a common ingredient is not unusual.  What is unusual is that, in Anne Renaud's story, that need for innovation was at the behest of an unhappy customer who just thought potatoes should not be so thick or so bland.  The brilliant Mr. Crum found a way to appease that problematic customer and to retaliate for his seemingly ridiculous requests by inventing a food that has flourished for over 160 years.  That's a tasty example of serendipity.

From Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament 

by Anne Renaud

 illus. by Felicita Sala

The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain

Written by Carolyn Huizinga Mills

Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-395-2

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

October 2017

Mondegreens, the mishearing of a word or phrase, is typical with songs for which the listener does not see the words they are hearing.  It seems reasonable that the same could be applied to any repetitive rhyme that is misheard like the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep."  When little Sally hears her mother repeating that old English nursery rhyme to her baby brother, she is convinced that she hears,

"Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for my master.
One for my dame.
And one for the little boy...
Who lives down the DRAIN."

From The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain 

by Carolyn Huizinga Mills 

illus. by Brooke Kerrigan

No wonder her ears perk up.  And, boy, does she have a lot of questions about what's happening with that wool and about his living arrangements.  

From The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain 

by Carolyn Huizinga Mills

 illus. by Brooke Kerrigan

As a child who seems to be dealing with busy parents, a  crying baby, and twin sisters who won't let her play with them, Sally is in need of a little companionship and conversation.  That little boy who lives down the drain seems like a perfect friend.  At least, he's available, sitting down the very drain of the tub in which she takes her baths. 

From The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain 

by Carolyn Huizinga Mills 

illus. by Brooke Kerrigan

After the water lets out, Sally shouts down a cheery "Hello" to the little boy.  Her voice echoes and as she talks away about herself and her family, she envisions him using the wool to fish in the drain.  The little boy down the drain listens as she laments the attention she lacks and the annoyance of her brother and sisters.  When she can't hear his responses, she speaks more emphatically into the drain, telling him "I know you're probably trying, but you need to try something different!" 

What she hears back is the echo of her final words "Try something different" which gives her the courage to do just that with her family.  Her own words help bring some resolution to her issues with her family but the story doesn't end there.  You see, Sally eventually hears a different ending for the rhyme and interprets it in her own charming way.

The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain was just nominated yesterday for a Blue Spruce award.  That's high praise indeed for Carolyn Huizinga Mills' first picture book.  Sally is so spontaneous and sweet, honest and innocent, never assuming she's misheard the words.  She is determined to speak with the little boy who lives down the drain, and treats him with such reverence and curiosity.  There is a surprise ending here that will have readers laughing out loud with its simplicity and cleverness.  And Brooke Kerrigan, who has illustrated several Blue Spruce-nominated titles including Fishermen Through and Through (written by Colleen Sydor, Red Deer Press, 2014) and Kiss Me! (I’m a Prince!) (written by Heather McLeod, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2011) brings a sweetness to Sally and her bathtub antics, as well as to her efforts to engage her family.  Just like Sally, Brooke Kerrigan's illustrations have a guilelessness to them.  Her characters are so natural, her settings clean and subtle, and yet they are enriched with detail as appropriate. (See the illustration of Sally trying to get her busy family's attention in the illustration above.) Together Carolyn Huizinga Mills and Brooke Kerrigan have created a picture book about a little girl's naiveté but turned it into a lesson in empowerment.  For good advice about being empowered, you really must listen, like Sally did, to The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain.

🚰🚰🚰🚰🚰

To see a list of all the Blue Spruce nominated titles for the 2018 Forest of Reading® readers choice awards, including The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain,  go to my awards page here.