Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair

Written by Alice Kuipers

Illustrated by Diana Toledano

Chronicle Books

978-1-4521-5233-2

112 pp.

Ages 6-9

May 2019

Reviewed from advance reader's copy

Little Polly Diamond continues to find the magic in words and the writing she does in her turquoise notebook which she affectionately calls Spell. That's because each time she writes in this book, her magic book, it writes back to her–displayed as bold text in the book–and makes amazing things happen.

From Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair by Alice Kuipers, illus. by Diana Toledano

Polly's school is having a book-themed fair to support family literacy and she has lots of ideas. Pop-Open-A-Book-Corn popcorn, Cotton-Cloud-Candy, Book Carousel, Book-Face-Painting, and more. And as she comes up with ideas, she plays with similes, alliteration and synonyms and even creates her own words.

From Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair by Alice Kuipers, illus. by Diana Toledano

But Polly wants to make it even more special so it truly becomes the "stunning" and "spectacular" event she's looking for it to be. Popcorn popping out of books is one thing but requesting, of Spell, that the character face painting be realistic results in fairies zinging from the face of her toddler sister and Anna's own transformation into a fairy. Moreover, classmate Dawson becomes a dragon, a teacher becomes Merlin, and their babysitter Shaylene becomes a squirrel! Still Polly and her friends continue to enjoy the fair with its indoor roller coaster, carousel of book characters like the Cheshire Cat, and a magic carpet ride to London. However, mayhem abounds and Polly can't write it away because she can't find Spell.

     I love novels and poems and true stories and dictionaries.
     But in Spell, I can write anything. With my book, I can go anywhere. I can be anyone. Now Spell is lost. Disaster. (pg. 89)

It will take some detective work and a confrontation with a Puddle Monster before Polly can locate Spell and write a story about the end of the school fair to give it the happy ending it needs.

Alice Kuipers introduced readers to this young writer and lover of words in Polly Diamond and the Magic Book (2018), the first book in this early reader series. However, I believe that Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair is even more irresistible, like Polly herself, charming us with the magic of reading and books and words. This child knows the value of books and the power of words to enrich life and vanquish monsters. She's imaginative and creative and a wordsmith. She is certainly the darling that Spanish illustrator Diana Toledano has envisioned her to be. But in all that fun and festivity, Polly doesn't lose sight of the capacity for writing to make things happen and make things better. This is something older readers will know but it's a message that younger ones will be delighted to get after Polly casts her own spell upon them.

My Forest is Green

Written by Darren Lebeuf

Illustrated by Ashley Barron

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-930-3

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2019

Earth Day will be upon us soon and the wonders of the natural world will call. For some it calls from an apartment balcony while for others it's from the ground beneath a canopy of deciduous or coniferous trees, and for one little boy, it's both.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

A little boy looks out from a high-rise balcony over a forest, perhaps park or ravine or woodland green space. But he also has an inside forest of artwork depicting that world.  He has seen the contrasts of height and textures, size and sound, and colour, through different seasons and weather. He sketches it, paints it, collages it, makes cut-paper art, sculpts snow, takes photos, and combines mixed media to capture the essence of the forest.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

This is BC author Darren Lebeuf's first picture book and he gives life to a child's appreciation of the forest as the child uses all his senses to gather information about it before depicting it in his artwork. It's evident how much the child enjoys exploring the forest of his neighbourhood, seeking out the wonders above and below, from milkweed pods to resourceful ants, making bark prints and using rocks and leaves to create his own forest of art. The child accepts the dynamics of a world rich with life, plant and animal, and appreciates that his impression of the forest will change with its evolution.

My forest is so many things...
I can't wait to see what my forest is tomorrow.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

The child's art is all the more lavish because it is the artwork of Ashley Barron. Her cut-paper collages have graced many a picture book including Up! How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones (Owlkids, 2017) and Kyle Goes Alone (Owlkids, 2015), but now she goes beyond that style to show how a child interprets the natural world through his art. From his leaves taped to paper, or his sponge-painted moss and Polaroids, Ashley Barron brings his perspective to us, from a child's eye to a reader's. It's detailed and colourful, like nature itself, and takes us all on a walk into a forest that is mostly green but much more.

From My Forest is Green by Darren Lebeuf, illus. by Ashley Barron

The Cold Little Voice

Written by Alison Hughes

Illustrations by Jan Dolby

Clockwise Press

978-1-988347-11-0

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

February 2019

Listening or not listening to the voices in your head is a skill that we develop with time, practice and experience. Telling the difference between valuable instinct and unproductive doubts is crucial and The Cold Little Voice is all about helping children know how to silence a negative one.

From The Cold Little Voice by Alison Hughes, illus. by Jan Dolby

The purple-haired child in The Cold Little Voice could be any child. It's a child whose bad-tempered blue voice, like a black cloud raining on a child's joy, points out anything that might be perceived as a weakness.

It points out that I bite my nails, laugh too loudly, trip when I run upstairs, talk too much, blush, cry too easily, make smacking sounds when I chew, sing off-key, get the hiccups too often, and have sloppy writing.

From The Cold Little Voice by Alison Hughes, illus. by Jan Dolby

The child plugs their ears and tries not to listen but sometimes that voice is far too insistent.  In response, the child stops being who they are.

I become small and still and grey.
And not me.

Fortunately, a new voice, a warm voice of yellow is heard, encouraging the child to look for goodness in cuddles with creatures, in the sun in the blue sky and in a supportive community. And if that cold little voice tries to speak again? Well, the child pities it and soothes it until it can become a big, warm, kind voice that whisper-shouts affirmations and helps turn others' cold little voices into big warm ones too.

From The Cold Little Voice by Alison Hughes, illus. by Jan Dolby

Just like the warm voice that sends positive messages and encouragement, The Cold Little Voice, the book, is transformative, inspiring light from dark thoughts and support rather than isolation.  Alison Hughes, who has helped children deal with anxious thoughts in her picture book The Creepy-Crawly Thought (2019), recognizes that there are voices in most of us that tell us that we're not good enough as we are and that these voices prey on our insecurities and fears. But Alison Hughes doesn't just negate those thoughts. She helps transform them into positives and reassurances.

A voice that says:
"You can do it!" 
or "Who cares if it's silly – 
you're having fun!" 
or "Everybody makes mistakes!"

Similarly, Jan Dolby, who illustrated Lucky Me (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2018) and Gabby, Wonder Girl (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2016) among others, brings that metamorphosis to her artwork. From the sombre blues and greys of the cold, little voice to the yellows and lime greens and pinks of the warmth of good thoughts, Jan Dolby carries young readers from a dark place to one of hope.

Negative thoughts that become doubts and apprehension cannot always be silenced immediately. But The Cold Little Voice will be very reassuring to children as they learn that it is possible to influence those thoughts to becoming good ones that can boost not belittle.

From The Cold Little Voice by Alison Hughes, illus. by Jan Dolby

The Tallest Tree House

Written and illustrated by Elly MacKay

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-6299-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2019

Mip, the red mushroom-capped fairy, is a true kinesthete. She's always on the move, singing, flying and building. Her impetuousness has her challenging Pip, her book-loving, contemplative fairy friend to a tree house race after she sees him reading a book on architecture.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

Mip is all at it immediately, determined to make the tallest tree house ever and by sundown. Pip, on the other hand, sits on his rock among the Trillium, Erythronium and Aquilegia, and plans his build with precision and thoughtfulness.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

Slowly the two tree houses start to take shape, as Mip frantically and rather haphazardly builds and builds while Pip slowly but methodically creates his own.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

When "Gusts of wind send sprays of mist over the rocks" and "The leaves began to dance," Pip suggests Mip secure her tower. Of course Mip sees this as a ploy to slow her down and continues building. But when the wind and rain topple her tower into Pip's tree house and traps his wing, Mip comes to the rescue. Then, after the storm has passed, the two work together on a new tree house that incorporates both their structures into "a winning piece of architecture."

As her website's name and Twitter handle can attest, Elly MacKay truly creates theatre in the clouds. Through a laborious process that may appear to be like play–see full details at her website here–Elly MacKay blends inked figures and other structures cut from paper into a theatre in which she can manipulate the layers and lighting. It's a stunning blend of two-dimensional creations with three dimensions. Children are fascinated by the textures that come from her artwork and have been charmed by it in her picture books from If You Hold a Seed (Running Press, 2013) to her latter works including Butterfly Park (Running Press, 2015) and Red Sky at Night (Tundra, 2018). Couple that art with fairies and a competition that transforms into cooperation and partnership and The Tallest Tree House becomes a winner for all readers.

From The Tallest Tree House by Elly MacKay

The Pencil

Written by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-216-1

36 pp.

Ages 5-7

April 2019

Maybe you think a pencil is just a pencil, a utensil that is easily replaced and should be thrown away when it becomes too difficult to manipulate. But, for Susan Avingaq whose story this is, a pencil is so much more.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

When Susan's mother leaves their iglu to help a neighbour with a birth, she and her sister Rebecca and brother Peter are left in the care of their father. Play for the children includes having a jumping contest, a game of hide-and-seek and the two older girls practising their letters on the frost surface of the ice window. But when Ataata pulls out the pencil from the special box of Anaana's things, everything changes.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

The pencil is already very short from Anaana's writing of letters to people in other camps, using whatever paper she might save including from tea boxes and sugar bags, but it is still gold.

Anaana always said that we needed to be very careful with the pencil and that it wasn't a toy.

Ataata also gives Susan a piece of paper and suggests she draw pictures for her brother. Though nervous, she draws seals and caribou and her family. Then Rebecca practises her writing, and Peter draws some scribbles and their father draws different inuksuit.  The pencil gets shorter and Ataata has to sharpen it with his knife.

When their mother returns and is somewhat taken aback by their use of her pencil, she still cheers their efforts and is pleased that they'd had a good day.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

Susan Avingaq's reminiscence of that special day with a pencil is so charming. The children's reverence for that pencil is absolutely palpable. They know how important it is to their mother and that it is not a trifle. With every stroke of that pencil, they showed knowledge of their culture and respect for Anaana and her need to be frugal.  Together Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, who'd first collaborated on Fishing with Grandma (Inhabit Media, 2016) which was also illustrated by Charlene Chua, bring Inuit life on the land into a meaningful but genuine depiction in The Pencil. I have no doubts that Susan and her family, like many, had to be resourceful and careful with what they had and how it was used but The Pencil goes beyond a lesson in frugality and becomes a story of family, of play and of culture, which many children will appreciate. Charlene Chua, whose art has enhanced the stories of Akilak's Adventure (2016) and Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull (2017) among others, always finds a way to illustrate the love of family and the cultural wisdom of the storytellers.  Children will see the delight in Charlene Chua's characters when the pencil is brought out, when their father pretends to be a polar bear and the children's regret when their mother reminds them about using the pencil.

 "You know the reason we have to use our things very wisely is because they are quite difficult to get. We have only one pencil right now, and we won't be able to get another until we return to the trading post," she said.

A pencil may only be a pencil to many people, but it's an opening to a new world of connection to Susan and her family and deserving of being treasured.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

A Friend Like Iggy

Written by Kathryn Cole

Photographs by Ian Richards

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-084-1

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

April 2019

For children, new experiences would seem to be the norm. Meeting new kids, the first day of school, doctors' visits and such can cause anxiety and fear but children often become acclimatized to such events. But there are some experiences which children should never have to face but do. Such would be the turmoil of dealing with abuse and all its psychological and legal ramifications. Thankfully there are facilitator dogs such as Iggy.

A friend who helps small people feel bigger and big worries feel smaller. (pg. 6)

From A Friend Like Iggy by Kathryn Cole, photographs by Ian Richards

From an initial visit to meet Iggy and his handler, Maggie, a child is able to be comforted by the big dog, a cross between a Labrador and Bernese Mountain Dog, while going through the arduous process of investigation, trauma assessment, therapy and court preparation. If the child is being questioned by police and doctors or receiving support from other relevant personnel, Iggy is there too.

Iggy always listened and let me know he was my friend–no matter what. (pg. 16)

From A Friend Like Iggy by Kathryn Cole, photographs by Ian Richards

But, most significantly, Iggy is there in court when the child has to face "the person I didn't want to see or talk in front of." (pg. 19) Iggy's comforting demeanour and proximity can make all the difference in enduring difficult circumstances. Even after the formal process of investigation is officially completed, the child can still connect with Iggy with a keepsake photo and following him on social media.

From A Friend Like Iggy by Kathryn Cole, photographs by Ian Richards

Iggy is an accredited facility dog working for the BARK Program of Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre. Both programs provide innovative and worthwhile support to children dealing with abuse investigations. In an integrated approach, Iggy and another dog, Jersey, in the Boost Accredited Reliable K9s (BARK) Program, provide invaluable support as detailed by Kathryn Cole's straightforward text in A Friend Like Iggy. She takes the perspective of a child–Boost services children ages 3 through 17–and does not discuss the abuse, only what the child experiences with Iggy. It's what children feel and know and is appropriately told in Comic Sans font. Ian Richards's uncomplicated but informative photographs document all aspects of a child's interactions with Iggy, placing emphasis on the relationship rather than the circumstances which brought them together. 

A Friend Like Iggy, like the dog himself, will reassure and support and should be in all school libraries, hospitals, police stations, and medical offices. It might prompt a child to reveal truths they have been reluctant to speak while reassure them that there is support once they have.

Check out the BARK program at Boost at https://boostforkids.org/for-families/intervention-programs/bark-program/

Before You Were Born

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-082-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2019

Books are wildly popular baby shower gifts and Before You Were Born will be a hit with parents and children alike so consider it your future go-to book for celebrating an upcoming birth.

From Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

In gorgeous spreads of polymer clay illustrations by Suzanne Del Rizzo, animals including humans, foxes, bears, deer, whales and birds like the northern flicker are seen to make their homes but it's all about the anticipation of new arrivals. Deborah Kerbel begins to share the wonders that babies bring with her line, "Before, you were..." They are described as so many wondrous things, from "A song in our hearts" to "A star in our eyes" and "The sun on our faces." The lyricism begs to be put to music. 

From Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Then, the text moves forward with "You were..." and a host of heartfelt sentiments about "A whispered secret that only we knew" before "And now..." Here is the culmination of that anticipation, the birth of new life, and "A new family dawns in the glow of your  birth."  Oh my. Before You Were Born is a love poem to a child, a pup, a cub, a nestling, a calf... It's a song to a baby born in love.

From Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Whether a house overlooking an ocean, forests of conifers or white birch, or the ocean depths, Suzanne Del Rizzo takes us to where animals make their homes. I wish I could show you every image in Before You Were Born because the breathtaking detail in the deer hidden amongst the leaves, the mother bear and cubs in the trees or the girl in the meadow watching the whales are spectacular. And the magnificent skies of blues and creams and purple-pinks? Heaven-sent, just like the little ones celebrated in Before You Were Born.

From Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

This is the second collaboration for Deborah Kerbel and Suzanne Del Rizzo. Their first book together, Sun Dog (Pajama Press, 2018), is charming young readers as a Blue Spruce award nominee and Before You Were Born will undoubtedly captivate young children and the parents who adore them.

From Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Dedicate a new birth with Before You Were Born, a book that is born in a celebration of life.