The Rock from the Sky

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-1563-2

96 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2021

 

With his characteristic grim humour and understated but commanding illustrations, Jon Klassen returns with a new extended picture book (96 pages) to take on a story of fate, pride and connection. It is both of our world and not.

 

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

In a series of five separate stories, each numbered and titled, Jon Klassen chronicles the interactions between a turtle, an armadillo, a snake and a rock. In the first, The Rock, the hat-wearing turtle–Jon Klassen does like his hats– has positioned himself at his favourite spot beside a rose-coloured flower. Though the reader can see, in the next double-spread, a massive rock suspended in the air, Turtle is oblivious. When Armadillo, in his own bowler, comes along and gets a bad feeling, he checks out a spot farther away beside a leafy stem where the beret-wearing Snake joins him. As Turtle shouts at them that his spot is better, approaching them to be heard, the massive rock drops onto Turtle's favourite spot.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

In The Fall, Turtle has climbed up upon the rock and fallen off onto his back. As can happen to any turtle, he is stuck, but he refuses to acknowledge to a concerned Armadillo that he had been climbing or that he had fallen. Moreover, he refuses the very help he requires.

I never need help.
OK.

What are you doing?

I came to take a nap.

It is nice under here.

You can take a nap

too, if you want.

There is just enough 

room for two.

No. I am not tired.
OK.

As such, the two acquaintances remain in place, with Turtle wide awake and stuck on his back, and still stubbornly refusing help, while Armadillo naps.

 

The third story, The Future, has contemplative Armadillo thinking about the future and what might grow and become of the area around the rock. But his imagination reveals a one-eyed, multi-legged creature as tall as the rock, sending out laser waves and blasting a flower into a charred mess before Turtle decries that...

I don't want to imagine into the 

future with you anymore.

Ever pensive, Armadillo ponders the beauty of the setting sun when Turtle approaches him and Snake in The Sunset. Shouting from far away, Turtle demands to know what they're doing. Of course, he cannot hear their responses so he just comes closer and closer until he misses the sunset completely, never stopping to notice it.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

Feeling disregarded by the sleeping Armadillo and Snake in No More Room, the final chapter in The Rock from the Sky, Turtle leaves, affronted by their apparent rejection. Turtle suggests that perhaps he will go away and never come back, shouting at them to ensure they hear him. Thinking they still cannot hear him, he approaches while repeating his message. However, Armadillo and Snake are quite awake now, seeing the strange creature behind the oblivious Turtle. Once again, Turtle has no idea what a close call he's going to have.

From The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen

Though there is much simplicity in the dialogue between Turtle and Armadillo–Snake does not speak–Jon Klassen uses subtle distinctions to embed more meaning in the story of the three acquaintances, perhaps even friends, who are as different in attitude and intention as a turtle, an armadillo and a snake might be. Through font colour and capitalization, Jon Klassen differentiates between his characters and the nature of their voices. He portrays Turtle as a proud and even tedious character who sees little beyond himself, never wanting to look anything but capable. Armadillo, on the other hand, is imaginative and attentive, both insightful and considerate while never arrogant. And Snake? He just is, taking things at face-value. Armadillo is the quiet leader, Snake the congenial follower, and Turtle the naive but self-important simpleton. Their fates and their connection with each other are what give The Rock from the Sky their stories.

Of course, Jon Klassen's distinction is in his artwork, having won the Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration, as well as the prestigious Caldecott and Kate Greenaway Medals. The Rock from the Sky is no less distinguished than his earlier award-winning books, especially those whose stories he penned like This is Not My Hat. The art, created digitally with watercolours, is authoritative. It is both organic, in line and shape and most definitely colour, but also otherworldly, importing the surreal or perhaps alien, to help us see better how things truly are.

I know many people think picture books are only for children but The Rock from the Sky is so sophisticated in its art and wry storytelling that I encourage it be read by all. It has a wicked tongue-in-cheek story about seeing what is in front of you, or above you, and ahead of you, and about listening to make sure you don't miss the obvious. I hope I was able to see and hear adequately to experience the true nature of Jon Klassen's extraordinary tale.

✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

I'm so excited to announce that tomorrow I'll be posting an interview I had with author and illustrator Jon Klassen about The Rock from the Sky. It was a thrill to get his perspective on his inspirations for The Rock from the Sky and to learn more about the process by which he created his new book. Do check back tomorrow for this special posting.

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The Life and Deaths of Frankie D.

Written by Colleen Nelson

Dundurn Press

978-1-459747586

256 pp.

Ages 12+

April 2021

 

Who is Frankie D.? Before the girl with the skin that resembles scales had been found, at 10 years of age, dirty and dehydrated in an alley, who was she? Is she the Goth she has transformed into, embracing the darkness and hiding her lamellar ichthyosis under thick makeup? Or is she just an abandoned child, considered too hideous to love by a family? Perhaps she's related to the girl in the old-fashioned dress that keeps appearing in her dreams alongside a circus ringmaster? Whatever her story, it's both one she wants to know and not know. 

 

In the seven years since she was discovered, Frankie has endured fresh traumas, including at the hands of Foster Mom #2's Boyfriend #3. Still, the last two years with Kris Steffanson, the social worker who'd first drawn her out of that alley, have been as close to normal as she can remember. At home anyway. At school, where she is bullied by the Aprils–her name for the beautiful, normal, mean girls–Frankie takes very few classes but her art class with Mr. Kurtis offers her sanctuary before school and confidence for her drawing skills. So it's not surprising that Frankie begins to draw the characters that continue to appear in her dreams. 

When Kris gifts her with tickets to ComiCon, Frankie is thrilled. There she bumps into the new kid at school, Max, whom Frankie suspects is a foster kid too but she is most surprised by his recognition of the man in her ringmaster drawing as Monsieur Duval. At ComiCon, they spot a man who looks like Monsieur Duval and follow him to a booth called the Circus of Marvels and Wonders. There the man, Monsieur Philippe Duval, presents performers that include Concetta, the limbless woman; the contortionist Ahmed; conjoined twins Ella and Elvira; the hirsute Daniel; and Yuri, a magician with Albinism. They are also invited to another performance at a warehouse which Frankie learns is near the alley where she was found at age 10. 

At this event, Monsieur Duval reveals a sepia photo of the girl in Frankie's dream, a girl with ringlets, petticoats and skin like Frankie's, a girl named Frances, the only name Frankie knew when she'd been found in the alley. Then, Frankie is asked if she'd like to join them.

Frankie, with Kris and Max's help, tries to piece together what is happening but, with few people in her life who can give her answers or whom she can trust, it's a struggle for Frankie. Coupled with her dreams which are getting more and more elaborate, and include many of the performers at Monsieur Duval's side show, Frankie learns her place, and that of the others, in Frances's story. But shocking of all is what they want of her.

It's clear from the onset of The Life and Deaths of Frankie D. that there are many layers to Frankie's story and it's this deep mystery of who Frankie D. (D. for Doe) is that grips the reader. Colleen Nelson draws us in and it's impossible to step back from the question of Frankie's story, whether it's before she appears at age 10 or how she is connected to Frances, Monsieur Duval and the others. Her story is layered with the past and the present, and even the future, and then infused with other layers of trust and abuse and bullying and friendship. Fortunately, Colleen Nelson, who is a master in getting into the heads of young people dealing with trauma (check out Blood Brothers (2017), Finding Hope (2016) and The Fall (2013) as three superb examples of this), keeps Frankie's voice authentic, strong when needed, confused when vulnerable, and always real. Colleen Nelson doesn't do platitudes about being resilient ("Being resilient doesn't mean you're going to be okay. It just means you don't give up." pg. 134) or winning over the bullies (there are always bullies) or offer healing of Frankie's skin disorder. What she does so effectively is take the reader along with Frankie, as she dreams, finds her strengths, remembers and evaluates what is and what was, so that she might be able to have a what-will-be. Colleen Nelson makes us care, and shows us that we can be hopeful that Frankie will get the life she deserves, unencumbered by those who deem to use her to get the lives they desire.

☥🎪☥🎪☥🎪☥

An online book launch for The Life and Deaths of Frankie D., along with that for Deborah Kerbel's new middle-grade novel Like A Duck, takes place this Thursday, April 15, 2021. See details here.

Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know

Written by Brittany Luby

Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Translated by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-326-3

44 pp.

All ages

March 2021 

Written in Anishinaabemowin and English, this gorgeous picture book lets readers accompany a child and her grandmother as they take in the small and tremendous wonders of the natural world as it transforms in each season.

Beginning with Aaniish ezhi-gkendmaanh niibing? or How do I know summer is here?, the pair travel by canoe to pick blueberries. There is the Loon on the water and the green Luna Moth in the birch trees, bumblebees and fireweed in blossom, and hot sand. This summer outing ends with...

Mii maanda ezhi-gkenmaanh niibing.

This is how I know summer.

From Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know by Brittany Luby, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

In the fall, grandmother and child, with an enthusiastic dog, walk the shore and forest to witness the cattails swelling, and animals like the Red-Winged Blackbird, Black Bear and Mallard, before picking orange mushrooms.

From Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know by Brittany Luby, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Winter comes and, with the hot cereal, warm coats and boots for the child and her grandmother, come the animals outdoors responding too. The Deer strip the cedar trees, the Mouse finds shelter inside and the Woodpecker, Blue Jay, and Fox do their own winter thing.

From Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know by Brittany Luby, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Finally comes spring with the black ice softening, the green shoots peeking out of the snow, a Gull roosting, the dog having puppies and the spring Peeper singing, "Good night, little one."

 

Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know is such a sensory read of words and art. I may not be able to appreciate the Anishinaabemowin text (as translated by father and son Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere of M'Chigeeng First Nation) for its quality of sound and rhythms but Brittany Luby's words in English saturate the reader with the experience of being outdoors and savouring the textures and colours of the natural world in its transformations through the seasons. Whether she speaks of the plants or the animals, the weather or the sky, Brittany Luby, who is of Anishinaabe descent, draws us into the wholeness of the season, sharing its quietness and roar, subtlety or outburst, as nature chooses, as seen from a special intergenerational relationship.

When insects billow black from the trees,

and the sun slips into an orange dream.

The power of her words are matched wholeheartedly by the dynamic intensity of Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley's artwork. A member of Wasauksing First Nation, Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley depicts the world of land and sky, animals and plants in a woodland style, digitally rendered with vibrant colours and shapes outlined with dark lines. The illustrations have a two-dimensional feel but are lush in form and hue that are both calming and energized, lending a naturalness to the story.

From Mii maanda exhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know by Brittany Luby, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

For those who understand Anishinaabemowin, there will be another layer of story to Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know to which I am not privy. Still, with only the English text and artwork accessible to me, Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know is a triumph of art, literal and graphic, that invites readers to use all their senses to appreciate the splendour of nature through the seasons.

Kimmy & Mike

Written by Dave Paddon

Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917398

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

March 2021 

I'm sure siblings Kimmy and Mike have had some pretty extraordinary adventures on the sea but even I find it hard to believe how a simple fishing outing could become a round-the-world trip of danger and folly. But that's a tall tale for you. See what you believe in this narrative poem and tall tale from Newfoundland and Labrador's Dave Paddon.

It has often been said, and I can't disagree,

That there's no one as tough as our folk of the sea.

But two of the toughest, if the rights was known,

Were Kimmy and Mike, who lived in Belloram.

So begins the tale of Kimmy and Mike who go fishing on order from Mom to "Get something for the pot!" Unfortunately, their best fishing spot lands them only a few sculpins and kelp so they scull around the Gulf and the Straits and elsewhere before deciding they need to cross the pond i.e., the Atlantic Ocean.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Not only do they cross the ocean, they pass through two hurricanes, declaring the 90-knot winds and 60-foot waves to be "a bit of a lop", and catch a small submarine and a squid with 60-foot arms and a 30-foot head. But, throwing both back, they head southward towards the Cape of Good Hope where they encounter a 100-mile iceberg which they cleave with an axe, before Kimmy fights off some pirates single-handedly.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Then there's the merman named Saul and a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii before their mother finds them. Having taken out their father's old punt, she's been doing her own fishing and intends to continue on, sending the twins home.

She said, "Get on home out of it, through the Panama Canal,

And make your father his tea–you know he's not well.

I'm just going to dart 'round Cape Horn while it's light

And stop into Rio for bingo tonight."

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

The twins eventually make it back home, after a stop at the Galapagos and tunnelling beneath the Panama Canal, while their mother, having won a jackpot in Rio and salting and drying her plentiful catch, returns the next morning.

Readers will finish the rhyming story of Kimmy & Mike with a smile upon their faces, envisioning the twins' exploits and the extent of their travel. (This would be a fun geography lesson, especially when coupled with math to determine the probability of this all happening in one day.)  It could even become a ballad if set to music, with its rousing story, melodic nature of ups and downs, highs and lows, and big moments. Add a fiddle, an accordion and maybe an ugly stick and you got a kitchen party going. With this tall tale of fisherfolk, Dave Paddon takes us to Newfoundland and Labrador, to the people who have stories to tell, who use a language of their own (I had to look up several of the words like crousty, stage and sooky in the "Glossary" provided) and try to outdo each other with their tongue-in-cheek stories.

With Lily Snowden-Fine's gorgeous gouache artwork to complement Dave Paddon's story, though, Kimmy & Mike goes beyond just a folk tale. It may have the whimsy that is often associated with folk art but there is a refinement in Lily Snowden-Fine's lines and shapes that make each illustration a work of art, stark but refined, colourful and resonating with the spirit of the Newfoundland and Labrador. 

In the tradition of the recitations, which Dave Paddon discusses in his "Afterward," Kimmy & Mike's fishing adventure would win any kitchen storytelling contest, for its rhyme, plot and artwork. I only wonder what Kimmy and Mike, and their mother, will get up to next time because, you know, there will be another story to tell.

Double Book Launch: The Life and Deaths of Frankie D. & Like a Duck (Online)

Here's an event to celebrate!

 

It's a

 

 DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH

 

for 

 

The Life and Deaths of Frankie D.

Written by Colleen Nelson
Dundurn

978-1-459747586 

256 pp.

Ages 12+

April 2021

and

 

 

Like a Duck

 Written by Deborah Kerbel

Scholastic Canada

978-1-443175760

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

March 2021

on

 

 Thursday, April 15, 2021

at

7 PM (CT) / 8 PM (EDT)

on

 

 Zoom

(use the QR code to register or the link here)

 

Join authors Colleen Nelson and Deborah Kerbel 

as they discuss and read from their new books.

And, there are promised surPRIZES.

"How Do You Find Home?" Writing Contest

Orca Book Publishers

 

with author Jen Sookfong Lee

 

author of Finding Home: 

The Journey of Immigrants and Refugees

Written by Jen Sookfong Lee

Illustrated by Drew Shannon

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459818996

120 pp.

Ages 9-12

March 2021
 

are holding a writing contest for young  writers

to address the question

 

How Do You Find Home?

Here's what young writers need to know:

What to write? 

Write about 500-700 words about what "home" means to you, where your family is from or where your home is today. It must be an original piece of work and "written solely by the entrant."

Who can submit?

Young people of ages 8-13 at the time of entry.

 

How to submit?

At the contest page of publisher Orca Book Publishers, complete the form and either cut-and-paste your writing here or attach as a MS Word file.

Prizes

Author Jen Sookfong Lee will select three winning entries. Each winner will receive an Orca Prize Pack (free books!) and a $200 gift certificate to the bookstore of their choice.

Dates

Deadline is May 16, 2021. Winners will be announced May 31, 2021.

Details

Everything you need to know about contest and the submission form can be found at https://www.orcabook.com/Finding-Home-Writing-Contest.aspx

Good luck to all young writers!

✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍ ✍

Road Allowance Era (A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 4)

Written by Katherena Vermette

Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson

Colour by Donovan Yaciuk

HighWater Press

978-1-55379-930-6

48 pp.

Ages 10-14

April 2021

 

In the aftermath of the Northwest Resistance, the focus of the third book in Katherena Vermette's A Girl Called Echo graphic novel series, the accidental time traveller Echo returns to 1855 to join her ancestors and other Métis and witness the execution of Louis Riel and the sustained persecution and discrimination of her people.

From Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk

Though Louis Riel had advocated for the Métis' rights to land granted to them, most scrips entitling them to land in the Red River area have not been honoured. So Echo joins them in returning to Manitoba, hopeful that the agents now set up would ensure that land deeds would be issued to them.

From Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk

But the discrimination that they have faced all along continues, with their scrips only exchanged for a few dollars and provisions. So the Métis head to Ste. Madeleine where they hope they might rebuild their community.

Time slipping back to the present, Echo's teacher speaks of the unsettling of the Métis and their need to squat on unused Crown lands called road allowance land. Later, though they'd lived there for decades, they are often driven off with violence. Echo's anger at the injustice is palpable though her friend Micah sees the fortitude of their people who were able to withstand so much and still survive.

From Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk

Still she witnesses much destruction and sadness as the Métis are displaced and then refused the opportunity to buy the land on which they had built lives. 

We are the free people, mon amie. We built this place and we will always be here. No matter what they have done to us, we're still here. We know we will survive. (pg. 38)

From Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk

Her existence reminds them of that survival, with her ancestors pointing out that they are always within her as there is "blood memory, bone memory" (pg. 29) of their sorrows and their strengths. "Go home and be the future" (pg. 40) is what she is told.

The story of the Métis is heartbreaking, as Echo has learned from her time slips into the past. History class and homework rile her, as they should for anyone with a sense of justice. But Katherena Vermette doesn't just let Echo wallow in anger or distress. She helps her accept that anger as valid but see the strength of her people and the change that has happened for each generation. 

 

Scott B. Henderson's illustrations take us smoothly between past and present, clearly depicting a contemporary Echo and her immediate family and friends versus her ancestors in their settings of prairie scenes of wagons and tipis, and dismal government buildings like courts and land offices. There is an authenticity in his characters that acknowledge the hardships but allude to the joys and colour of Métis culture. Coloured by Donovan Yaciuk, there is a sense of brightness at the edges of the past and the present that lay bare much about what was and is.

From Road Allowance Era by Katherena Vermette, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk

This is the way to learn history, from those who lived it and those who came from them. Though the horrors of the past might offer extraordinary teachable moments, they also point forward, to a future that offers more hope with each generation. The present may still be troubled with discrimination as land claims continue to be challenged but, as Scott B. Henderson's final illustrations shows us, Echo has her family, past and present, behind her.

• • • • • • •

The whole series A Girl Called Echo offers unique opportunities to teach and learn about Métis history. I encourage teachers to examine the whole series.

Pemmican Wars (2017)

Red River Resistance (2018)

Northwest Resistance (2020)

Road Allowance Era (2021)