Sam & Eva

Written and illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

978-1-4814-1628-3

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2017

Young artists Sam and Eva may create in different media–she uses paint, he uses chalk–but it's all about the art.  That is until Sam's velociraptor goes after Eva's marmot.  Then it's "game on" between the two creative children as their artistic creations battle it out for wall space and story dominance.

From Sam & Eva

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

The story starts with Sam busily creating when Eva offers to collaborate with him, though she mistakenly calls his velociraptor a pony.  Oops.  Needless to say, Sam is not impressed and declines her offer and erases her contribution. But then she paints her own creature, a marmot, which he identifies as a cat and allows his hungry velociraptor to attack.  

From Sam & Eva

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

But, with a duelling paintbrush, Eva creates a friend for her marmot which comes to its defence.  Not to be outdone, Sam adds an ominous companion of his own.  Then as each changes their artwork and adds new components to outdo the other, the artwork gets away from them both.  It is only with a little cooperation and teamwork that Sam and Eva can escape the mayhem and start a new artistic course.

From Sam & Eva

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Oh, Sam and Eva, you little darlings! They're friends but they want to be independent and creative and, like play can do, it gets a little out of hand.  I'm sure there's an adult somewhere who would love to declare, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!" Or a velociraptor goes after a little marmot.  And, even though the text is subtle and the dialogue effective in drawing the two together and apart, Sam & Eva is so well illustrated that it could work as a wordless picture book. 

I first reviewed a book illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi five years ago (I'm Bored, written by Michael Ian Black, Simon & Schuster, 2012) and was charmed by her creations.  She was able to create a potato with attitude!  Though I would never consider the children to have attitude, Sam and Eva are emotive in their play: happy, pleased, proud, startled, distressed, angry and frustrated.  And Debbie Ridpath Ohi conveys that with just the slightest of lines and shape.  Even the flowers have facial expressions. It's wondrous!

From Sam & Eva

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

(Book jacket)

Be sure to pay attention to details in Debbie Ridpath Ohi's illustrations.  Look for the chuckling monsters and the monster with scissors or the one grabbing Eva's hat.  Even the endpapers tell a story. The front endpaper is a blank wall awaiting work by chalk while the back endpaper is a kaleidoscope of colour from both paint and chalk.  

We know that art brings joy and that happiness is multilayered when it comes from children learning through play and cooperation and from the artistry of Debbie Ridpath Ohi.  Enjoy and learn.

Sam & Eva sticker from Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Mine!: Book launch (Waterloo, ON)

Please note: This event was postponed on November 3 by the author.  I will update when I have details.
•••••••••••••••••
Join 

 fiction and non-fiction author

Natalie Hyde

for the launch of her new middle-grade novel

MINE!

Written by Natalie Hyde

Scholastic Canada

9781443146609

240 pp.

Ages 9-12

September 2017

on

Saturday, November 4, 2017

at

1-3 p.m.

at

Earth Sciences Museum

University of Waterloo

(Map at https://uwaterloo.ca/map/pdf/map_bw.pdf 

shows the Earth Sciences Building 

and parking lots, 

including free parking in X Lot or $5 parking in Q)

Three will be:

• a book reading

• Q & A

• book signing

• light refreshments

• gold panning (!)

• Mine Tunnel tour

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Like her previous middle grade fiction Saving Armpit (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2011) and I Owe You One (Orca, 2011), Natalie Hyde is putting her humour to work!  And this time it's about a gold claim in the Yukon and saving a family's reputation.


If it weren't for bad luck, Chris Dearing would have no luck at all. 

Chris Dearing comes from a long line of losers. Bad luck has plagued the Dearing family for generations. Now his dad's about to lose everything, and Chris's only hope lies in the wild rivers of the Yukon. What is up there other than moose snot and mosquitos the size of bats? Gold! Specifically, a gold claim Chris’s grandfather was swindled out of years ago. 

With the help of a tough-talking biker and an ex-con muffin baker, Chris is in a race against time to claim the long-forgotten family fortune. Will he strike out like the rest of his family, or will he strike gold and finally get a chance to rewrite Dearing history?

The stakes are high and the hi-jinx even higher in this laugh-out-loud novel from acclaimed author Natalie Hyde!

 (Retrieved from Scholastic Canada website at http://www.scholastic.ca/books/view/mine)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Details about this event are available at

 https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/events/mine

(including a lovely picture of Natalie Hyde panning for gold!)

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.



🐕🐈🐻🐟🐌🐇🐋🐋

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.