The Spirit Trackers

Written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Fifth House Publishers

978-1-92708-311-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

November 2017

It's been far too long since the CanLit world has welcomed a book from Jan Bourdeau Waboose, a First Nation Anishinaabe of the Ojibway Bear Clan of northern Ontario.  Adding to her stunning collection of picture books which includes SkySisters, Morning on the Lake and Firedancers, Jan Bourdeau Waboose's telling tale of Ojibway traditions and the relationship between children and their uncle is breathtakingly illustrated by François Thisdale, award-winning artist of The Stamp Collector, Missing Nimâmâ, and French Toast.  The Spirit Trackers is a magnificent story in words and art, melding together First Nations and an intergenerational relationship with legends and spirits and the wonder of children.

Illustration by François Thisdale 

used in The Spirit Trackers by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Two cousins are awed by the stories told by their uncle of their clan, the Moose Clan, and their heritage of extraordinary trackers but it's the story of the Windigo that truly captures their attention.  His story of the Wandering Night Spirit of Winter is a warning to the boys. 

"Watch out for the Windigo on a winter night.  It has a heart of ice, and its teeth are like steel.  It will eat anything in its way!" 

"Even the best Trackers disappear in Windigo's footsteps."

In the night, the boys are awakened by a Thump! Bang! and, upon seeing a black shadow cross the window, are convinced the Windigo has visited their uncle's house.  The next day, however, evidence in the snow and on a tree compel the two to put their tracking skills to work.  But far from the house, hearing a sad cry that "slices the air like a trapper's knife" the two are immobilized with terror.  It may not be the Windigo but the boys demonstrate the aptitude in tracking and their reverence for the natural world, especially for an animal they know to honour.

Jan Bourdeau Waboose infuses her atmospheric text with the companionship of family and an appreciation for traditions and legends of First Nations. Because of that, an occasion of storytelling becomes more; it becomes a lesson in caution and curiosity and heritage. Tom and Will are apt students at their Uncle's knee, listening, hearing and learning.  Resplendent in snow, the frigid medium of trackers, The Spirit Trackers is an appropriate visual and textual read for the winter season.  Artist François Thisdale makes sure that his illustrations transport readers to that frosty season and to a life of snowshoes, moosehide clothing, and ravens.  Combining photographs, drawings and paint with digital imagery, François Thisdale lends a supernatural essence to the story, perfect for a pair of boys already spooked by their disquietude about the Windigo but determined to follow the path of their tracker ancestors into the unknown winter stillness shattered by a haunting cry.

Illustration by François Thisdale 

used in The Spirit Trackers by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Whether you believe in the Windigo is irrelevant.  The boys believe, as does their Uncle, and in the stillness and cold of winter, it's a story, like The Spirit Trackers, that has much to teach.

❅❅❅❅❅❅

The illustrations included in this review are derived from illustrator François Thisdale's Facebook page at Thisdale illustration.

Tangled Planet

Written Kate Blair
Dancing Cat Books
978-1-77086-504-4
260 pp.
Ages 13+
October 2017

Four hundred years of ancestors have travelled on the ship Venture leaving behind Alpha Earth in search of a Beta Earth to colonize.  For seventeen-year-old Ursa, the ship has always been home.  As a junior engineer and daughter of a former captain, Ursa knows every control, vent and tech that keeps the Venture working, now in orbit above the planet being readied for full colonization. But there is silent dissension between those who want to embrace life on Beta fully and those who appreciate the safety and known entity that is the ship.

It smells right, here.  Not like the empty scent of Beta.
     It’s the smell of hundreds of years of skin cells, waste reclamation pipes, and generations of people stuffed in a cramped space. I never noticed it until we went to the planet, where the air is so clod and clear I choked on my first breath.  Here it’s rich and musky.  The smell of home. The Venture is cozy, human-sized, lived-in, unlike the muddy mess of the planet below. (pg. 23)

It’s astonishing, Ursa.  Just being here.  Humanity, stretching out into the stars.  We’re the dream Alpha Earth had so many hundreds of years ago. (pg. 65)

When Ursa  discovers the murdered body of Orion, the husband of her sister Celeste and of former friend Vega, planet-side, Ursa becomes a suspect, though she had observed a wolf-like creature hiding in the forest.  Because of her reluctance to spend much time on Beta and because no animals matching that description or DNA had been created or released onto the planet by the genelab, few believe her.  But then a second murder leaves the crew reeling and Ursa begins to investigate in earnest to clear herself and keep her family and those for whom she cares safe.

Much like Kate Blair’s debut YA novel Transferral (DCB, 2015), Tangled Planet is speculative fiction, asking a “What if?” question, here about inhabiting new worlds of space or on new planets.  It’s about choosing that which is familiar but limited over that which is unknown but holds much potential.  Kate Blair makes it clear that in this sci-fi setting, even with the development of astounding tech, genetic manipulation and more, people are still human, enduring grief and resentment, loss and jealousy, and making decisions that are both selfish and selfless, resulting in the murder mystery at the book’s heart.  In this well-plotted and suspenseful novel, belied by its unremarkable cover, it’s clear that for all its newness, Beta Earth is nevertheless being colonized by those driven by old hurts and fears and the future may still be determined by what has happened in the past.

(A version of this review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2018, January/February). [Review of the book Tangled Planet, by Kate Blair]. Quill & Quire, 84 (1): 48.

Totsapalooza 10 Festival (Toronto, ON)

presents 

Totsapalooza

the tenth anniversary of

its annual festival 

of

 picture books, indie rock bands and DIY crafts

 for kids aged 2-8  

on

Saturday, February 3, 2018

1 - 4pm 

at 

Revival Nightclub 

783 College St.

Tickets:

Limited number of Early Bird tickets:

 $12 Adults / $8 Kids 

After they are sold out:

 $18 Adults / $12 Kids

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/totsapalooza-turns-ten-tickets-41030174356

Authors in attendance include:

Dennis Lee

who will launch his new collection of poems for children, 

Good Night Good Night

and

lead a sing-a-long of his Alligator Pie 

Barbara Reid

who will read her latest book Picture The Sky 

and 

present Sing a Song of Mother Goose 

with musical support from indie-rockers

Nadia L. Hohn

who will launch Malaika's Winter Carnival,

the sequel to Malaika's Costume

Other in attendance will include:

Drag Performers JP (Fay Slift) and Kaleb (Fluffy Soufflé) who will read and lead an activity with children as part of Drag Queen Storytime;

Rock trio Communism;

The Woodshed Orchestra, a horn, rhythm and vocal ensemble, who will perform a mash up of classic dance styles from around the world;

Choreographer Ann-Marie Williams of Movement Lab who will get the kids dancing;

DJ Castlefrank (a.k.a. Matt Blackett of Spacing Magazine) who will keep the party going with kid-friendly beats;

and

Wanda’s Pie-in-the-Sky who will sell healthy, handmade snacks from their pop-up bakery.

Get your tickets online now 

and 

have something special to share at Christmas and then in February!

The Stone Heart: The Nameless City, Book 2

Written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Colored by Jordie Bellaire

First Second

978-1-62672-159-3

243 pp.

Ages 8-13

2017

Yesterday I jumped on The Nameless City bandwagon with my review of the first book in this trilogy (The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks, First Second, 2016) and am fortunate to have been able to read the second book The Stone Heart immediately. Now I just wish September 2018, the release date for Book 3 The Divided Earth, wasn't months away.

When we left the Nameless City in Book 1 of the series, Kaidu and Rat had helped save the ruler, the General of All Blades, and his son Erzi from assassination.  It is three months later and the General is proceeding with the plan of General Andren, Kaidu's father, to unite the factions of the Nameless City and beyond in one council.  Erzi believes the plan absurd but more so because he had always envisioned himself as the city's next ruler.

"You promised it to me." (pg. 19)

From The Stone Heart 

by Faith Erin Hicks

The secret of how the Northern People tunnelled through the mountain is at the heart of the power struggle and peace in the Nameless City and it seems everyone wants to learn all they can. There are legends of a great fire that could burn through rock and flesh but it is generally accepted that, even if the formula were discovered, perhaps hidden by the monks at the Stone Heart, no one now has the ability to translate their language.  Through back stories, we learn that Erzi's bodyguard, Mura, once lived at the monastery at the Stone Heart and was turned out after which she was rescued by Erzi.  She obviously harbours much bitterness towards the monks and this comes to play after Erzi becomes the new General of All Blades and the search for the formula drives them to storm the Stone Heart for answers.

From The Stone Heart

by Faith Erin Hicks

The clash of peoples who want different things for the Nameless City and for themselves is at the core of The Stone Heart.  Erzi's father is attempting to embrace all who live within the city and outside to help rule but Erzi will not have it, knowing the power he would lose.  How to balance the needs of a few over the greater good is key in The Stone Heart, and, needless to say, there is much violence, discrimination and power struggles as this balance is set askew. Faith Erin Hicks's story is both adventure and character study, a fine mix of "What's going to happen next? and "Did he really do that?"

It is only in The Divided Earth that we will learn how the Nameless City will be saved, and saved it will be surely with Kai and Rat at the front of the pack.

The Nameless City

Written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Color by Jordie Bellaire

First Second (Roaring Brook Press)

978-1-62672-157-9

232 pp.

Ages 8-13

2016

It's time for me to join the growing fan base of Faith Erin Hicks's The Nameless City graphic novel series before the final book, The Divided Earth, comes out in September 2018.  There is lots to applaud in this first book of the middle grade trilogy (and even more in Book 2, The Stone Heart, which I will review next), not least of which are its diverse cultural landscape and strong characters.  Oh, and did I mention Faith Erin Hicks's vivid artwork inked and coloured by award-winning artist Jordie Bellaire? 

The Nameless City, the place, is probably the most important character in The Nameless City, the book.  It is an incredible metropolis, albeit one akin to that of 13th c. China, that has many names but all those given by outsiders, hence its moniker by those in the know as the Nameless City. Because of a tunnel, created mysteriously by the long-gone Northern People, through the mountain to the ocean, the city has been conquered time and time again. For the past 30 years, the city has been dominated by the Dao whose warrior leader, the General of All Blades, rules over the city.  Kaidu, a thirteen-year-old boy from the Dao homelands, has just arrived at the city's palace to train as a Dao warrior along with other boys under the tutelage of Erzi, son of the General of All Blades, and Erzi's bodyguard, the strange Myra.

From The Nameless City

by Faith Erin Hicks

When Kaidu gets lost outside the palace, he meets Rat, a spry runner and roof-jumper who, in exchange for food, teaches him to race and climb. Rat, who lives at the monastery at the Stone Heart, harbours much anger towards the city's invaders but she warms to Kai and he to her as they attempt to find a way to bring peace to the city and its people.  Of course, there are plots emerging both to bring the city together and to tear it apart, including an assassination attempt on the General and his son, but Kai and Rat are at the heart of trying to make things right for all the inhabitants of the Nameless City.

From The Nameless City 

by Faith Erin Hicks

Faith Erin Hicks may have used ancient China as an informal blueprint for the setting of The Nameless City, but the book is its own story, both in plot and characters, though some scenarios are all too familiar.  The Nameless City may be rich in cultural diversity but, with the numerous groups within the city and outside vying for place, whether to dominate or to live amicably with others, there comes much intolerance and discrimination, mostly between the invaders and the conquered.

From The Nameless City 

by Faith Erin Hicks

Fortunately, Faith Erin Hicks has created a world of possibilities for peace and tolerance, and she's done it with flair and detail, illustrating a passion against bad and for good.  The Nameless City, nominated for a 2017 Silver Birch Fiction award, could promote itself as historical fiction with the credibility of place and time but, for young readers, it's the composite of story and graphics that have made it a hit which inevitably will sustain it through Books 2 and 3.

➣➣➣➣➣➣➣

Check back for my review of Book 2 in The Nameless City trilogy, The Stone Heart (First Second, 2017).

Birthdays Around the World

Written by Margriet Ruurs

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-624-1

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2017

Global perspectives are difficult concepts for very young children to grasp.  They are typically just learning about their own place, here and now, and understanding that there is much beyond that is challenging.  By focusing on a familiar and shared concept such as birthdays, Margriet Ruurs has found a way for young children to connect with those around the world.

From Birthdays Around the World

by Margriet Ruurs

 illus. by Ashley Barron

Birthdays around the world, boldly illustrated by cut-paper collage artist Ashley Barron, looks at children in 14 different countries around the world and tells about their family, birthday greetings, celebratory activities and food.  The children and countries depicted in each double-spread include:

• Arvaarluk from Canada (Nunavut, specifically)
• Alana and Kainoa  from the United States (Hawaii)
• Opal and Delroy in Jamaica
• Mercedes in Peru
• Ieva in Latvia
• Dmitry in Russia (on the border of Europe and Asia)
• Bram in Belgium
• Maame in Ghana
• Nthabeleng in Lesotho
• Ninoshka in India (Kashmir region)
• Shinobu in Japan
• Athom and Arunny in Cambodia
• Phúc Khang in Vietnam
• Thea on Norfolk Island, Australia

From Birthdays Around the World 

by Margriet Ruurs 

illus. by Ashley Barron

A mixture of boys and girls of different ages and living in different types of communities (big cities, islands, remote towns, rural areas) will ensure that young readers might see something of themselves in these children.  Some of their stories are presented by a sibling e.g. Athom speaks for baby sister Arunny.  Some are atypical celebrations that are held country-wide rather than commemorating the birth day of an individual. And, even though many of their celebrations will be foreign to young readers e.g. the dumping of flour on Delroy's head, there is much that they can envision, different as they may be.  Special foods and treats, good wishes and blessings, family and friends.  Whether they dress in a silk kimono, a palaka aloha shirt or a favourite outfit, these children know how special this day is for them and others to celebrate with them.

Margriet Ruurs does a stellar job of bringing the world in a little closer to home.  She always does (e.g., Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey, illus. by Nizar Ali Badr, Orca, 2015). In Birthdays Around the World, Margriet Ruurs has endeavoured to include all continents (except Antarctica) and cover the full range of birthdays, from simple days of food and family to elaborate days of military parades and more. Both secular and religious observances are included, as is appropriate, and Margriet Ruurs even helps direct discussions of the reader's birthday celebrations in an addendum called "Your Birthday" and provides activities for parents and teachers relating to the book's contents and more.  And everything is so much better for the unique art of Ashley Barron, whose cut-paper graced earlier works Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones (Susan Hughes, Owlkids, 2017) and Kyle Goes Alone (Jan Thornhill, Owlkids, 2015).  The cut-paper artwork adds astounding depth and clarity to the text, guaranteeing that Birthdays Around the World is a relatable and visually expressive children's book on the global perspective of birthdays.

From Birthdays Around the World 

by Margriet Ruurs 

illus. by Ashley Barron

Mermaid Warrior Squad

Written by Karin Adams

Illustrated by Janine Carrington

James Lorimer & Co.

978-1-4594-1146-3

150 pp.

Ages 7-11

August 2017

When Dylan meets the friendly Coral at art camp, the two eleven-year-old girls seem destined to become partners.  They both love oceans and know a lot about the sea animals, perfect for an art camp themed as "Art Under the Sea." Even better, they come into the camp with different strengths:  Coral loves to draw and Dylan likes to write.  In fact, both had already created mermaid characters: Coral's is a tough-looking mermaid she calls Crash, the Mighty Mermaid Warrior, and Dylan's is a mermaid renegade named Driftwood whose mission it is to protect the oceans.  The two decide to merge their ideas and collaborate on a comic book in which the two mermaids become the Mermaid Warrior Squad.

From Mermaid Warrior Squad 

by Karin Adams

 illus. by Janine Carrington

While the two girls work on their project, as depicted in illustrator Janine Carrington's graphic insets of the two mermaids, they are also dealing with getting to know each other and their fellow campers.  Dylan loves having a friend–she's obviously a bit of an introvert–but she's having difficulties dealing with Coral's exuberance and tendency to get carried away with her efforts, silliness and volume.  The other campers include Lynn, another quiet girl; Ben, the annoying prankster; Jade and Sarina, the trendy girls; and decent guys Ryan and Lamar.  From this crew, Dylan and Coral contrive new characters like a dolphin-mermaid hybrid, the villain Captain Fishhead, the evil Seaweed Sisters, and Shark Dudes.  Their story is evolving but so is their friendship as Coral decides unilaterally on their skit for the camp's culminating performance and Dylan is compelled to stand up for herself. Ultimately, though, their friendship means more to Dylan than sitting back and watching Coral be humiliated, and she's there to rescue her friend, even if it need happen on stage.

Karin Adams's story approaches multiple themes of oceans and creating art as well as clashing personalities with humour and much insight.  It's obvious that, as much as they have common interests, Dylan and Coral have very different personalities.  Overcoming these differences so that they might work together and be supportive of each other is a key element of Mermaid Warrior Squad.  Just like their mermaid characters, the two girls' efforts are more impactful when they work together than when they are at odds with one another.  This is an important lesson for children who are often forced to work together in school and extracurricular activities.  Not every child is a Coral who wants to be at the heart of the action.  Some need to quietly work at the side in order to reach their full potential.  Though most people, including teachers, are extroverts who don't see the harm done by expecting all children to love group activities or being part of the rah-rah crowd, Mermaid Warrior Squad recognizes that children will find their own ways to be true to themselves, taking risks as they choose, and still make friends with those unlike themselves.  Strength comes from both being yourself and working with others, whether you have a mermaid tail or not.

Whether a child is heading to camp, dealing with making and keeping friends, understanding their own personality or one who loves oceans or comic books, Mermaid Warrior Squad is an entertaining light read that will engage those who are beyond early readers but might find much middle-grade fiction more daunting.  It's a nice little package of humour and lessons for middle-graders.