A youngCanLit booklist for National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month in Canada and has been since 1999.  Promoted by the League of Canadian Poets, this month celebrates poetry in all its forms. You will note that Canada has many children's poets but our all-stars are definitely Sheree Fitch, Robert Heidbreder, Dennis Lee, Loris Lesynski and Robert Priest who have multiple volumes of poems ranging from the silly and fun to the profound and emotional. Though there are many books in which the story is told in verse, including novels in verse and many picture books told in rhyme, I've chosen to focus on books that are collections of poems. This explains why many books that are one long poem, such as Robert Service's The Cremation of Sam McGee, have not been included here. Still, this book list of over 50 titles celebrates rhyme, verse, metre and more completely. Enjoy these collections this month and always!
 

Alligator Pie and other poems (A Dennis Lee Treasury)

Written by Dennis Lee

Illustrations by Frank Newfeld, Juan Wijngaard, David McPhail

HarperCollins Canada

183 pp. 

Ages 2-10

2020

 

This is a collection of three books: Alligator Pie, Jelly Belly, and The Ice Cream Store

Auntie's Knitting a Baby

Written by Lois Simmie 

Illustrated by Anne Simmie

Orchard Books

70 pp.

Ages 8-10

1988

Cabbagehead

Written and illustrated by Loris Lesynski

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 7-11

2003

Canadian Poems for Canadian Kids

Edited by Jen Hamilton

Illustrated by Merrill Fearon

Subway Books

64 pp.

Ages 9-12

2005

 

Carry On

Poetry by Young Immigrants

Compiled and illustrated by Rogé

Owlkids Books

36 pp.

All ages

2021

Catch the Sky: Playful Poems on the Air We Share

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Emily Dove

Greystone Kids

40 pp.

Ages 3-8

2020

Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children

Written by Shannon Bramer

Illustrated by Cindy Derby

Groundwood Books

44 pp.

Ages 4-9

2019

Crazy about Basketball!

Written by Loris Lesynski

Illustrated by Gerry Rasmussen

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

2013

Crazy about Hockey! 

Written by Loris Lesynski

Illustrated by Gerry Rasmussen

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

2015

Crazy about Soccer!

Written by Loris Lesynski

Illustrated by Gerry Rasmussen

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages

2012

Daysongs and Nightsongs

Written by Robert Priest

Illustrated by Keith Lee

Groundwood Books

31 pp.

Ages 2-5

1993

Dirty Dog Boogie

Written and illustrated by Loris Lesynski

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

2002

Don't Eat Spiders

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Karen Patkau

Oxford University Press

48 pp.

Ages 4-7

1985

Earth Magic

Written by Dionne Brand

Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 8-13

2006

 

The Eco-diary of Kiran Singer

Written by Sue Ann Alderson

Tradewind Books

65 pp.

Ages 8-12

2007

Eenie Meenie Manitoba : Playful Poems from Coast to Coast

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

1996

Garbage Delight
Written by Dennis Lee

Illustrated by Frank Newfeld

HarperCollins Canada

64 pp.

Ages 0-7

2012

 

Haiti My Country

Written by Haitian schoolchildren

Compiled and illustrated by Rogé

Fifth House

44 pp.

Ages 7-11

2014

Hawks Kettle, Puffins Wheel And Other Poems of Birds in Flight

Written by Susan Vande Griek

Illustrated by Mark Hoffmann

Kids Can Press

36 pp.

Ages 8-12

2019

The Hobo’s Crowbar

Written by JonArno Lawson

Illustrated by Alex Dempster

The Porcupine's Quill

96 pp.

All ages

2016

 

Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On

Written by Kari-Lynn Winters and Lori Sherritt-Fleming
Illustrated by Peggy Collins
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 5-8

2015 

Reviewed here

 

Hungry for Science: Poems to Crunch On

Written by Kari-Lynn Winters and Lori Sherritt-Fleming
Illustrated by Peggy Collins
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 6-9

2018 

Reviewed here

 

I Am Small

Written by Sheree Fitch

Illustrated by Kim LaFave

Doubleday Canada

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

1997

I did it because...: How a Poem Happens

Written by Loris Lesynski

Illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Annick Press

64 pp. 

Ages 8-12

2006

I Hate Dinosaurs and Other Poems

Edited by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by David Shaw

Houghton Mifflin

39 pp.

Ages 4-8

1992

If I Had a Million Onions

Written by Sheree Fitch

Illustrated by Yayo

Tradewind Books

64 pp.

Ages 9-12

2005

If You Could Wear My Sneakers

Written by Sheree Fitch

Illustrated by Darcia Labrosse

Nimbus Publishing

36 pp.

Ages 4-8

2017

Images of Nature: Canadian Poets and the Group of Seven

Selected by David Booth

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

All ages

1995

 

Lasso the Wind: Aurélia’s Verses and Other Poems 

Written by George Elliott Clarke

Illustrated by Susan Tooke 

Nimbus Publishing

64 pp.

Ages 9-13

2013

Mama Likes to Mambo

Written by Helaine Becker

Illustrated by John Beder

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

28 pp.

Ages 4-8

2001 

Mingan My Village

Written by Innu schoolchildren

Compiled and illustrated by Rogé

Fifth House Publishers

42 pp.

Ages 7-11

2014

Noisy Poems for a Busy Day

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Lori Joy Smith

Kids Can Press

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

2012

Nothing Beats a Pizza

Written and illustrated by Loris Lesynski

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 8-12

2003

 

Other Goose: Recycled Rhymes for Our Fragile Times

Written by Barbara Wyn Klunder

Groundwood Books

48 pp.

Ages 8-11

2007

Our Corner Store

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne

Groundwood Books

64 pp.

Ages 7-11

2020

Poetree

Written by Caroline Pignat

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Red Deer Press

32 pp.

All ages

2018

Reviewed here 

Python Play and Other Recipes for Fun

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Karen Patkau

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

1999

Recess in the Dark: The Poems from the Far North

Written by Kalli Dakos

Illustrated by Erin Mercer

Canada Educational Publishing

45 pp.

Ages 5-10

2019

Rosa Rose

Written by Robert Priest

Illustrated by Joan Krypsman

Wolsak & Wynn

56 pp.

Ages 7-10

2013

Round Slice of Moon and Other Poem for Canadian Kids

Selected by Fran Newman

Scholastic

163 pp.

Ages 8-12

1980

The Secret Invasion of Bananas

Written by Robert Priest

Illustrated by Tineke Visser

Ekstasis Editions

144 pp.

Ages 6-12

2001

See Saw Saskatchewan: More Playful Poems from Coast to Coast

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-9

2003

Shake-Awakes

Written by Robert Heidbreder

Illustrated by Marc Mongeau

Tradewind Books

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

2012

Shoe Shakes

Written by Loris Lesynski

Illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

2007

 

So Imagine Me: Nature Riddles in Poetry

Written by Lynn Davies

Illustrated by Chrissie Park-MacNeil

Nimbus Publishing

32 pp.

All ages

2020

 

Think Again

Written by JonArno Lawson

Illustrated by Julie Morstad

Kids Can Press

64 pp.

Ages 10+

2010

'Til All the Stars Have Fallen

Edited by David Booth

Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

Kids Can Press

96 pp.

All ages

1989

Toes in My Nose and Other Poems

Written by Sheree Fitch

Illustrated by Sydney Smith

Nimbus Publishing

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

2016

What Cats Think

Written by John Spray

Illustrated by Mies van Hout

Pajama Press

44 pp.

Ages 6-9

2019

Reviewed here

 

When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for all Seasons

Written by Julie Fogliano

Illustrated by Julie Morstad

Roaring Brook Press

56 pp.

All ages

2016

The Wolf is Back

Written by Robert Priest

Illustrated by Joan Krygsman

Wolsak & Wynn

96 pp.

Ages 7-9

2017

The Worm Song and Other Tasty Tunes

Collected by Janet Wilson

Illustrated by Cory Wilson

Scholastic Canada

104 pp.

Ages 7-12

1993

Zig-Zag: Zoems for Zindergarten
Written and illustrated by Loris Lesynski
Annick Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2005

The Librarian's Stories

Written by Lucy Falcone

Illustrated by Anna Wilson

POW! Kids Books

978-1-576879450

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

February 2021

 

Though many young readers will recognize the name L. M. Falcone as the writer of supernatural mysteries like Walking with the Dead (Kids Can Press, 2005), Lucy Falcone has recently pursued writing emotionally-charged picture books like I Didn't Stand Up (Clockwise Press, 2018) that remind that what really counts, like justice and compassion. In The Librarian's Stories, it's humanity and literacy.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Though life in this town was once a typical one for children of play and birthdays, the greyness of war settles over the community in which a library is destroyed, scattering pages, words and letters out and away. Life is now one lived in fear, of long lines for water, of cold rooms without electricity, and sparse food availability.

 

Then one day there are spoken words sprinkled in the air from the local square. Papa may call the librarian who sits there reading aloud foolish but they stop to listen.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Without much food and only the cold and grey as backdrop, the child joins others watching from their own windows and tucked into doorways and against walls, all listening.

Her words carry me back...

Briefly, the boy remembers his birthday, with balloons and kites and even birds flying.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

But even as he and other children and adults listen, the reality of their lives, from the danger of standing in open windows, tanks in the streets, barbed wire and marching soldiers, encroaches back in. Still the librarian returns and reads aloud.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

Eventually the soldiers are gone and the town repairs itself, including the child helping by reading aloud himself. But the best thing to help the goodness return is the rebuilding of that library.

From The Librarian's Stories by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Anna Wilson

War and conflict bring hardship and destruction but it is often seen in terms of shortages, deaths and injury, and the ruination of structures. But Lucy Falcone reminds us that the extinguishing of hope offered through literacy can be just as traumatic. The librarian knows the power of words to renew and enliven, and her perseverance and determination herald the new spirit for the town. By choosing to show us what is impactful for a child, Lucy Falcone gives a perspective that is elementary but profound by contrasting the darkness of conflict with the light of literacy.

 

New Zealand illustrator Anna Wilson similarly accentuates the anguish of a community in strife with the brightness of children and the luminosity of stories. In The Librarian's Stories, she gets the tone right for transitioning the story from one of the grim reality of war to one of hope and brightness, and her depiction of darkened letters fractured from the library's ruins and of blue or white words wafting from a reading are especially telling.

 

Most readers know the healing capacity of books and words but The Librarian's Stories reminds us that they can do much to restore communities from trauma as well.  Without words, without stories, without reading, we are all desolate.

This House is Home

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-380-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2021

The concept of home has always been an important focus in literature: finding it, establishing it, cultivating it, holding onto it, and sadly even losing it. For some, it's ephemeral, fleeting in its nature, and for others it is the bedrock of life. For the families in This House is Home, it is both.

From This House is Home by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Lily and her rabbit family live in a home that her grandmother says is "old and steady as mountains." But when a pair of suited foxes with clipboards approach Grandma about buying the house, she politely declines.

This house is home, and we'll live here for the rest of forever.

From This House is Home by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Problem is that everyone else around them sells to the developers, and there is much upheaval as friends pack up and goodbyes are shared. And then the diggers arrive, flattening houses and trees, and constructing a road that like a "long gray tongue snaked toward our house, closer and closer, until it had pushed right up to our door. It didn't bother knocking."

From This House is Home by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

The construction workers might have placed pylons around their house but their house is now situated in the middle of a wide road of noisy, smelly vehicles racing past their windows. The impact on their garden was evident but also clear was the impact within their home: dirt, noise, irritability, and distress.

From This House is Home by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

But a solution to their problem comes to Lily, the artist, in a dream in which, "The road had melted into a sea. The cars had shrunken to fish. My house had grown sails." Their house would remain their home, just in a different location.

Having a development threaten your house, your home is a nerve-racking prospect. Undoubtedly it's a frustration of many whose abodes stand in the way of planning projects that look at the big picture and not the individual lives affected. The menace of the foxes' repeated efforts to get Grandma to sell are tangible, though she is always polite and gracious, but Deborah Kerbel's words focus on the calm and love inside the home and leaves the destruction and disquiet outside. Sadly, there comes a time when the outside encroaches on the inner sanctum of home. Still Grandma's strength of conviction that their house would remain steadfastly their home and Lily's problem-solving ensure that home will endure as such.

Illustrator Yong Ling Kang, who illustrated Tanna's Owl (2020), continues to charm with her watercolour art that adds the whimsy of a bunny family living in their home, having picnics, playing, knitting, and growing. She brightens those pages with all colours, saving the greys and browns for the mayhem of the construction, and gives fluidity to the story, indicative of the transitional nature of the house, with her brushstrokes and lines. As such, Yong Ling Kang's art echoes the joys and frustrations of Deborah Kerbel's characters from comfort through distress and back to buoyant.

This House is Home reminds us that home is more than a structure. It has roots that are grown of family, and, though it can change, as necessary, it carries the promise of steadfastness, even if in transition.

Malaika's Surprise

Written by Nadia L. Hohn

Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-264-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2021

 

Though Malaika is eager to invite a new little girl to play with her and her stepsister Adèle, she's not too sure about another new little one who is going to be born to her mother and Papa Frédéric around the time of Malaika's birthday. But, as the saying goes, the only thing about life is its unpredictability.

From Malaika's Surprise by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

At school, she meets the new little girl, Malayka M., whose sadness is put aside by Malaika's friendship and kindness.

From Malaika's Surprise by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

When the day of Malaika's birthday comes, it's filled with much celebration, but most special is the arrival of her Grandma who brings Malaika's peacock carnival costume (introduced in Malaika's Costume, 2016) from Trinidad. Malaika is excited to wear it to school for her party to which she is bringing doubles (I had to find the recipe for this) and cake but she is  disappointed when she learns that her Mummy, Grandma and Papa Frédéric now will not be able to attend as they rush to the hospital for the birth.

From Malaika's Surprise by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

But, just because things don't go as planned doesn't mean that the day won't be special and full of surprises, both expected and unexpected.

Nadia L. Hohn who has given us three stories of Malaika, first dealing with her separation from her mother who had immigrated to Canada (Malaika's Costume, 2016) and then when she joins her mother and new stepfather and stepsister in Canada (Malaika's Winter Carnival, 2017) before Malaika's Surprise which brings new familial changes for the little girl. Regardless of the tenuous nature of Malaika's circumstances–missing her mother, living with her Grandma, adapting to a new country and new family–Nadia L. Hohn always embeds a permanence of caring family to scaffold Malaika's new realities. Even as the text changes from one rich in the island dialect, spoken so lovingly by her Grandma, to one melding English with the French of Papa Frédéric and Adèle, Malaika has adapted, showing resilience and openness to her new circumstances. Her empathy, so evident with Malayka M., helps her to appreciate that her new baby brother may bring change but it is change she can live with and even rejoice in.

Artist Irene Luxbacher, who has illustrated all three Malaika books, uses a blend of gouache, soft pastels and found papers to create wonderfully exuberant artwork that is as joyous as a Carnival, resplendent in colours and textures of celebration. In Malaika's Surprise, there is much to celebrate: a birthday or two, a new friend, a visit from a cherished grandmother, and a growing family. Like a Carnival setting, you won't know where to look first: at the costumes, the children's artwork, the expressive faces, the clothing, or the rooms' decors. It all invites the reader in to observe Malaika's life and learn how to be kind and adaptable.

From Malaika's Surprise by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Much of our lives, like Malaika's, involves change and a newness of circumstances. But what  Malaika's Surprise demonstrates is that, though newness and change can be stressful because of the anticipation of the unknown, the reality is often not as bad as expected, especially with the knowledge that others care.

The Bare Naked Book

Written by Kathy Stinson

Illustrated by Melissa Cho

Annick Press

978-1-77321-472-6

36 pp.

Ages 3-5

March 2021

We are all different and we are all the same, and this new edition of Kathy Stinson's classic body book reminds us of this. It celebrates how we are all similar in our body parts of hair, eyes, ears, noses, arms, teeth, tongues, bums, genitals, navels, toes and more and yet our differences in these similarities make us all naturally unique. The Bare Naked Book uncovers, i.e., lays bare (!), all the body facts to help little ones understand their bodies' bits and pieces and accept themselves as they are.

From The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Melissa Cho

With a wonderful parade of bodies, Kathy Stinson starts her picture book with the declaration that...

Bodies, bodies!

Big and small,

short and tall,

young and old–

Every BODY is different!

Her sentiment is reflected in Melissa Cho's illustrations of people of all ages, colours, abilities and sizes who undoubtedly are as different on the inside as they are on the outside. (Aren't we all?)

From The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Melissa Cho

Then Kathy Stinson looks at different body parts and how they may be different or what they can do, whether it be seeing or not seeing eyes that can cry or wink, or hands "Washing, holding, clapping, folding, dining, signing."

From The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Melissa Cho

With each body part comes a question to help young children, primarily toddlers and preschoolers, locate their own for themselves. This reinforces their understanding and begins the discussion about how we are the same but different. There are additional lessons in Kathy Stinson's subtle statements like "Whatever you call whatever you have, your genitals belong to you" and a reminder after using your bum for a toilet break to "Remember please to wipe–and wash your hands!"

 

Kathy Stinson's original The Bare Naked Book (Annick Press, 1986), illustrated by Heather Collins, garnered much attention for its unabashed naming of human body parts but its honesty has won legions of fans. This new edition uses some of the original text but there is much that has been revised, providing a contemporary outlook of our world. Enhanced with illustrations by animator and designer Melissa Cho, The Bare Naked Book now reflects fully the diversity of our population. There are individuals of all shapes and colours and abilities, healthy and not so healthy, decorated and scarred, and all wonderfully uncommon and common. Melissa Cho makes our bodies a celebration of boldness, in colour and shape, and helps to ensure that every child will see themselves and those important to them in The Bare Naked Book. I was impressed by the diversity of physical traits and implied attributes of religion, culture, gender expression and relationships rarely seen in children's books but integral in our beautifully-varied world. These include a woman in a burka, several persons with amputated limbs including one with a blade prosthetic, someone with vitiligo, and another with mastectomy scars. It's as Kathy Stinson culminates her book...

Bodies, bodies

To love and to 

celebrate.

So many 

wonderful 

bodies!

From The Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Melissa Cho

Easter Morning, Easter Sun

Written by Rosanna Battigelli

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-177-9

24 pp.

Ages 3-6

March 2021 

For those who celebrate Easter, Rosanna Battigelli and Tara Anderson will give life to your celebrations of hot cross buns, Easter egg hunts and family feasts. For those who don't, Easter Morning, Easter Sun shares springtime festivities that herald a new season of colours, freshness and connection of family and friends. So, we're all invited to enjoy Easter Morning, Easter Sun.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

This Easter begins, as it does for many, with an Easter breakfast and hot cross buns which the mother cat has just pulled out of the oven. Then the family heads outside with their baskets, as do other families, for an egg hunt and to enjoy the spring: apple blossoms, a robin singing at its nest, a white duck and her ducklings on the water, and daffodils and grape hyacinths colouring the grass.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

In rhyming verse, Rosanna Battigelli lets us join the diverse family of cats–mom is a white cat, dad is a jauntily-bereted cat of black, while little ones are grey, grey-striped, orange-tabby, and brown tabby–as they listen and watch and enjoy.

Easter springtime,

Easter buzz,

Easter chirping,

Easter fuzz.

They tumble and play, alongside a family of charming mice, until, to the evident delight of all, their guest, a dapperly-dressed rabbit with half-moon pince nez eyeglasses, joins them until it's time for goodbyes.

Easter sunset,

Easter light,

Easter bedtime,

Easter night.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

Rosanna Battigelli delighted us with her debut picture book Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round (2019), which was also illustrated by Tara Anderson, giving us a holiday-themed rhyme perfect for young children. They'll appreciate the rhythmic verse and repetitive nature of the text, sure to know the words after just a few readings. It's simple in its vocabulary but meaningful and comprehensive in its story. This is all the more so due to Tara Anderson's artwork created with oil-based coloured pencils and mineral spirits. There's a texture to her illustrations, from her medium to her technique, that emulates the grain of a blanket or the grass, the water or the cats' fur. What's more, her cats never fail to bring joy and smiles from their expressions and antics, and now we have mice from Tara Anderson that do likewise.

It doesn't matter if you celebrate Easter or not because Easter Morning, Easter Sun will take you into one cat family's festivities to partake in their traditions–you can even decorate your own eggs with the recipe provided–and rhyme along as they enjoy their day.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson