Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game

Written by J. Torres

Illustrated by Tim Levins

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-2889-6

132 pp.

Ages 8-12

October 2020

After catching an edge, falling into the goalie and breaking his arm, Isaac is desolate about costing his team the hockey game. As he recovers, he gets into playing a multiplayer online game called SHOT a.k.a. Super Hockey Online Tournament at which he excels. However, months later, after he has recovered, Isaac refuses to return to hockey, gratified to reach the top of the online game's ranking as GOAT789. But the universe seems to have a different plan for Isaac.

From Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game by J. Torres, illus. by Tim Levins

As popular as hockey may be in Canada and elsewhere on our planet, it's also a favourite on Galaxia where its Supreme Leader, Emperor Mad Maroon, claims to be the self-proclaimed #1 hockey fan in the universe. But playing in the Galaxian Hockey League is intensive. Teams like the Streek, the Blast, the Muck, the Crag and the Stalks overwhelm the last place team, the Zeazide Pods, with their extraordinary speed, hitting and powers like electricity and the stink of gas. On a planet where the more hockey games you lose, the more taxes you pay, and the last place team cleans everyone else's gear, the Pods are determined to improve their chances. Unfortunately, paying so much in hockey tax, all they can do is purchase an outmoded robotic scout, SKOU7, that mistakenly captures Isaac and his new neighbour Lily to help out the team.

From Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game by J. Torres, illus. by Tim Levins

Lily, an extraordinary goalie, is happy to help out the Pods, sympathetic to their plight, though Isaac is reluctant, worried they'll learn he's not any good at playing the actual game anymore. But with Lily's enthusiasm and determination to help the Pods, and Isaac's finesse at online hockey which allows him to coach and play strategy, the teal-coloured and tentacled creatures with heart finally become stars of the game.

From Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game by J. Torres, illus. by Tim Levins

For kids who love a good hockey story and graphic novels, Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game is sure to score big. And for those who aren't big sports fans, it still has something that is in short supply nowadays and makes for an entertaining middle-grade read: humour. From an alien emperor who considers himself the Boss of Everyone (really) to the best hockey player who is actually a goat, not just the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), and hockey players called Crowsby, Grootzky and Stickenheiser, J. Torres will score giggles and snorts while sharing lessons in reaching beyond your fears and helping others, even aliens.

From Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game by J. Torres, illus. by Tim Levins

The fun is even livelier because of Tim Levins's illustrations, having created J. Torres's characters as "normal" humans and outrageous aliens of all shapes and colours. It's entertaining checking out every new element, like a flying ref with a red goal light, a colour commentator with the head of a microphone and arena snacks like Mackerel Jacks and rockcorn.

If you’re missing playing hockey or watching hockey, take in a game or two at Planet Hockey and find out who the First Star of the Game really is. (Hint: it’s not the goat.)

Duck Days

Written by Sara Leach

Illustrated by Rebecca Bender

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-148-9

120 pp.

Ages 7-11

November 2020

 

Third grader Lauren who is autistic is delighted to have a real friend in Irma, a little girl who'd arrived from Sweden the year before. Still, there is still some hesitation about her first time visiting Irma at her home. A lover of routines and the predictable, Lauren is reminded by her father to "go with the flow" (pg. 10)–which she visualizes with a hand gesture that looks like waves rippling on the water–when things might not necessarily go to plan. However, though Lauren and Irma have much in common, from their interests in insects to a love of reading and Swedish meatballs, a casual statement made by Irma that her neighbour Jonas is her friend sends Lauren's mind off into a tizzy.

 

From Duck Days by Sara Leach, illus. by Rebecca Bender

Lauren utilizes her strategy of focusing on things she likes and her square breathing to stop herself from overreacting but she still politely refuses to play with Jonas, a fifth grader, when he invites them to join him in bike riding and trying out his obstacle course of ramps. 

From Duck Days by Sara Leach, illus. by Rebecca Bender

When all the Grade 3 students learn that they will be participating in a day-long mountain biking event at school, Lauren is unnerved, embarrassed that she still uses training wheels and convinced that she'll never be brave enough to go without. Fortunately with some very gentle nudging from her parents and Irma, a new strategy from Jonas to think like a duck and let words flow off of her like water, Lauren is able to expand her friendships, face her fears about riding her bike with training wheels at school and trying new things.

Author Sara Leach introduced young readers to Lauren, a young child living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in Slug Days (2017) and Penguin Days (2018) and, with each new story we get to celebrate Lauren's successes in developing coping strategies that give her the comfort to endure typical childhood situations from school to spending time with relatives to making new friends and keeping them. Though it's evident that Lauren becomes uncomfortable with anything that detracts from her routines primarily as a result of her ASD, Sara Leach helps young readers see that anyone can use a little help when having a hard time. Most children do better with routines and the predictable and have worries about friendships and looking foolish. So while Sara Leach helps them understand some of the challenges faced by children with ASD, she also encourages them to find coping strategies, including visualization and focusing on breathing, to help get through uncomfortable or irregular circumstances.

From Duck Days by Sara Leach, illus. by Rebecca Bender

Accompanied by the charming pencil and digitally-rendered artwork of Rebecca Bender whose illustrations have graced her own picture books like Giraffe and Bird Together Again and How Do You Feel?, Duck Days will captivate early readers with both the familiarity and distinction of Lauren's circumstances and recognize that being brave is in everyone.

 

Alice & Gert: An Ant and Grasshopper Story

Written by Helaine Becker

Illustrated by Dena Seiferling

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-358-3

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2020 

There’s a reason that fables and parables are so timeless as literary vehicles: their messages are enduring. It doesn’t matter whether the fable is from Aesop’s time, as is the basis for Alice & Gert, or of a contemporary setting. The messages are strikingly worthwhile and sadly still needing to be reinforced.

 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

Alice is an ant and Gert, a grasshopper. It’s summer, with the lily of the valley out, and Alice is “ferrying bits of grain and seeds to her nest.” Gert, on the other hand, just thinks they should be enjoying the fine weather because “Winter is YEARS away.” In fact, Gert serenades Alice as she toils, recommending  through song that the ant should rest, laugh, play and sip tea. Even as Alice tells Gert that she’ll relax in January and continues to work, she finds herself humming Gert’s tune. Though she persists in her endeavours, she is charmed by Gert’s playing at pirate and a decorative pathway of flowers and leaves Gert makes for her. 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

But when fall arrives and Alice panics for Gert about the ever-nearing winter, Gert dances a sarabande for her. Of course, winter does come and Gert finally becomes unnerved realizing that there are no stores of seeds in her own nest. Although Alice does take a moment to remind Gert that she should have planned better, her compassion helps her acknowledge how Gert’s work of singing and dancing lightened her own efforts and the ant is pleased to repay the grasshopper’s kindness by sharing her own stores of food.

 

From Alice & Gert by Helaine Becker, illus. by Dena Seiferling

Messages in books may sometimes become preachy if told in a heavy-handed way. Those is Alice & Gert are not. Written by award-winning author Helaine Becker, Alice & Gert is in no way moralizing or sanctimonious. Helaine Becker could have written Alice to be self-righteous, knowing that her hard work would allow her to survive the winter and Gert as flighty and irresponsible but she does neither. While Helaine Becker’s retelling of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" recognizes that hard work is beneficial to all and that responsibility is virtuous, she still acknowledges the worth of creativity.

Calgary’s Dena Seiferling, whose illustrations helped earn her first picture book nominations for the Marilyn Baillie and Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver awards, carries the two characters through the seasons with only slight changes in her palette, from the greens of summer to the browns and golds of fall to the greys, browns and white of winter. Her illustrations are as classic as the fable, having used her pencil to create profound scenes that are steeped in atmosphere and characters evocative with feeling. From the dramatic Gert who never looks silly as she enjoys her creative pursuits to the tireless Alice who takes the time, amidst her work, to feel, Dena Seiferling makes us appreciate the depth of the story through her characters and the setting.

Hard work may drive survival but creativity makes it endurable. Besides, with a dose of kindness, hard work and creativity can be balanced, as Alice and Gert learn.

The 2020 First Page Student Writing Challenge

Art by Ben Shannon

Get your students in Grades 7 to 12 writing with

CBC Books'

2020

THE FIRST PAGE
STUDENT WRITING CHALLENGE

in which two winning entries

 (one for Gr. 7-9 and one for Gr. 10-12)

will be selected by

 

 award-winning author

David A. Robertson

 

The Challenge:  
• Write the first page of a speculative fiction novel set 150 years into the future imagining how current world issues and trends would evolve in the next century
• Write 300-400 words.  Be sure to give your "book" a title.

Eligible Participants:
• All Canadian residents who are full time students enrolled in Gr. 7 to 12 may enter.

Timeline:

• Submit here between November 4, 2020 and November 26, 2020

Selection:

• Author David A. Robertson will judge the entries based on the following criteria:

•     creativity;
•     critical thinking; and
•     quality of writing
  

• Shortlists of 10 entries per grade category will be selected from which the winner will be chosen.

Prizes:

• One year subscription to OwlCrate, a monthly delivery of a box of books (winner may select middle grade or young adult)

• The school library of each winner will also receive 50 YA books chosen by CBC.

Full details of this writing challenge are provided at CBC Books with rules and regulations available here.

Teachers' guides and writing tips are available from the CBC Books website for the contest. 

 

Our Little Kitchen

Written and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-262-4

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2020

 

The community kitchen in Our Little Kitchen may be small in size but it's big in heart and because of a mixture of compassion, courage and perseverance, it feeds the world with goodness.

From Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

 In Our Little Kitchen, author-illustrator Jillian Tamaki takes us into a community kitchen like the one at which she regularly volunteered in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Through rhyming verse, we are invited into the kitchen as a mother and her child arrive to lend their hands.

Tie on your apron!

Roll up your sleeves!

 

Pans are out, oven is hot.

The kitchen's all ready,

 

where do we start?

A wonderful assortment of individuals begin the process of deciding on the day's meal, looking at what they've grown in their garden and preserved, as well as what has been donated to or purchased for their pantry. Though rotting food is discarded, almost everything can be used. Day-old bread is refreshed in the oven, bruised apples cleaned up for apple crumble (recipe provided in the end papers) and a plethora of canned beans offer an opportunity to brainstorm meal choices.

From Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

Beyond the kitchen, a community starts coming together to catch up on life. So as the hall fills with chatting neighbours, the kitchen staff is frantically bringing food stuffs together into a meal. There's humour ("Those who don't cook don't get to complain!") and panicking ("Just one more sec, please?") but soon a multi-coursed meal with protein-rich chilli, veggies and salad is delivered to an appreciative crowd.

From Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

There's so much life in Our Little Kitchen, in the kitchen, in the eating hall and in Jillian Tamaki's telling of the story. Though community kitchens vary in their scope, whether helping to alleviate hunger or supporting marginalized groups, there is a boisterous togetherness that comes from working collectively for a common goal. In the dialogue of her characters, the liveliness of her rhyming text, or the bold colours and dynamism of her scenes, Jillian Tamaki lets young readers participate in the worthwhile endeavour of these food gatherings.

From Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

Start your own discussion about community kitchens with little ones–why they are important and how to get involved– and join Jillian Tamaki's neighbours as they work together to cook and confer, share and nourish. Use their recipes for vegetable soup and apple crumble or use your own to cultivate and nurture a sense of fellowship.

111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl (Citizen Kid)

Written by Rina Singh

Illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0120-9

36 pp.

Ages 5-8

October 2020

 

In a poignant preface, author Rina Singh introduces an Indian village's ancient custom of celebrating the birth of boys with boisterous noise and sweets, and the birth of girls with silence. 111 Trees is the story of how that tradition was changed.

From 111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl by Rina Singh, illus. by Marianne Ferrer

As a child growing up in his Indian village, Sundar loved his mother and relished his alone-time with her each day on the long walk to fetch water from the well. In a small mud house with a family of eleven and insufficient food, his mother weeps at night. When his mother dies from a poisonous snake bite, Sundar shares hugs with the trees to remember his mother.

When Sundar grows up and has daughters and a son of his own, he "guides them to embrace all forms of life." So, working in the local marble industry, Sundar tries to encourage the factory owners to replace trees on land devastated by the mining and processing of the marble. When they refuse, he leaves his job.

From 111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl by Rina Singh, illus. by Marianne Ferrer

But Sundar is determined to make a difference in his community and wins an election to be sarpanch, the village head. A year after, his eldest daughter dies and in his grief he plants some saplings, hopeful that they will grow "into magnificent trees that will live for hundreds of years. And with them will live the memory of his daughter." With that as catalyst, Sundar declares that every girl born into their village would be celebrated with the planting of 111 trees. Of course, the villagers think he is crazy and reject his idea. But Sundar is determined.

With time, he teaches them about treating the boys and girls equally, about the environmental impacts of the marble industry on their land, and how they might make a better world, with water, electricity, education and equality.

From 111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl by Rina Singh, illus. by Marianne Ferrer

111 Trees is a lovely story about a community that is able to benefit itself by helping others and the environment. With compassion and through education, and by placing trust in Sundar, girls are celebrated with mango, papaya, neem, sheesham and amia trees, which they honour annually with sacred threads to renew their bonds, and now go to school along with the boys. Moreover, there is enough water for everyone and no one goes hungry. Rina Singh not only shares the extraordinary transformation of the village of Piplantri in her expressive text but enlightens young readers in her notes about Sundar's story, about gender inequality and about how the forest was nourished and grew.

From 111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl by Rina Singh, illus. by Marianne Ferrer

But with Marianne Ferrer's watercolour, gouache and graphite illustrations, readers are taken to a community hurting with poverty, hunger and environmental devastation and able to witness its glorious transformation to one of life and greenery and water in which girls and women share importance for the first time.

 

🌏 🌏 🌏 🌏 🌏 

 

For more social justice books, check out all the Citizen Kid books.

Citizen Kid series

The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement

Written and illustrated by Dom Pelletier

English text by Dina Ginzburg

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-8271-3

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

October 2020 

 

Tia's nervousness at attending a new school, Pleasant Valley Elementary, is not assuaged when she meets a red-haired boy in braces who makes her the butt of his jokes in multiple classes. But when the opportunity comes to work together, it's nice to have a cheeky friend to help you save the world from an alien.

From The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement by Dom Pelletier

Unbeknownst to Tia and Leo, the night before she arrives at the school, a turnip-shaped space craft lands near the school and a green-tentacled creature begins controlling the custodian, Mr. Bob. His strange behaviour is first noted by the kids at lunch the next day when they both end up in a room labelled "Philately Club" supervised by a nerdy man who sleeps most of the time. Tia, looking for some peace, and Leo, writing lines for poor behaviour, observe Mr. Bob collecting food scraps and saving them in his mop bucket while muttering gobbledygook.

 

From The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement by Dom Pelletier

 

Following the custodian, the two discover a moustached and tentacled green creature consuming all the food scraps. When they seek the help of the Philately Club's supervisor, they learn that Mr. Peabody is the official guardian of the club that was created hundreds of years ago to fight the forces of darkness. Oh, and collect stamps.

From The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement by Dom Pelletier

Sleuthing around the school, Tia and Leo discover the creature, now intelligible after devouring an English dictionary, intends to conquer the school, and take over the world as Emperor Zaralgax the First. When they witness it plopping out a number of colourful eggs, the two know they need to act fast. Armed with a weird assortment of gadgets, from a slingshot and flashlight, magnifier and shield, Tia and Leo, with a little help from Mr. Peabody, take on the green menace and thwart its evil plan.

From The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement by Dom Pelletier

Kids will laugh themselves silly over The Lunch Club: It Came from the Basement. They'll know a sweet Tia with her unicorn shirt and funny guy Leo who'll do anything for a laugh. (Eating glue sticks is what got him assigned to writing lines.) And they'll know about fitting in and being brave and scared and why peanut butter isn't allowed in schools. Between the laughs in Dom Pelletier's words ("We're in a bad dream!" "Well, we are in school..."), including a commercial break for organic turnips, and the hilarious cartoons, this middle-grade graphic novel will have them snorting and whooping with every page. 

I'm delighted that Dom Pelletier's French-language graphic novels Les Timbrés will now be available to English readers. As of this month, there will be three French-language titles in the series (see below) and but I think young English readers thirsty for a good laugh and irreverent humour, which is what they'll get with this series, will eagerly await the next titles. (The Curse of the Scarewolf is hinted to be coming soon.)