Harvey Takes the Lead: Guest review

This review was prepared by Gr. 9 student Bronte L.

 

Written by Colleen Nelson

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-240-0 

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2022

In Colleen Nelson’s book, Harvey Takes the Lead, Maggie and her friend Austin and their adventurous dogs Harvey and Bertie (respectively) volunteer at Brayside Retirement home. But there is much worry at the home with its new management, rules, and the possibility of Harvey’s dismissal as a comfort dog. For one couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski, there is even more anxiety as Mrs. Kowalski is sick in hospital and her husband is anxious for her return, especially with the upcoming Valentine's Day dance. Ever the good listener, Austin does his very best to help the senior cope by listening to accounts of how the couple met in their youth.

Meanwhile, Maggie and Austin have troubles of their own, mostly dealing with friends and school. Maggie is dealing with not getting the part she wanted in her school play and instead getting the role of the understudy to Ndidi, a girl who Maggie doesn't think deserves the lead. Austin, on the other hand, is too embarrassed to tell his best friend that he can't afford to go on a school trip. And Harvey? He's determined to drive out the rodent nest at Brayside, even if it means breaking a few rules.

Harvey Takes the Lead by Colleen Nelson is a good fit for readers in grades 3-6, but can certainly be enjoyed by people of all ages. It's a heartwarming story about balancing school, family and friends, and giving second chances. The short chapters alternate between perspectives of Maggie, Austin, and Harvey, giving you a look at each of their unique  experiences. Every single character has a vibrant personality and backstory, including Harvey and Bertie, the beloved canines!

Out of 10, I would give Harvey Takes the Lead a 9. If you think retirement homes are dull, you certainly have not heard about Brayside! I absolutely loved the spunk and courage of the seniors, and Maggie and Austin were such relatable and likeable characters. It is far from the genres I usually read, but I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would! The story was fast paced, and the short chapters made it a quick and enjoyable read. After finishing this book, you’ll want nothing more than to have a chat with the Brayside residents over coffee and Mrs. O’Brian’s blueberry muffins! 

 

~ Written by Bronte L.

 

• • • • • • • 

 

Harvey Comes Home (2019)

Harvey Holds His Own (2020)

Harvey Takes the Lead (2022)

When Spider Met Shrew

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Illustrated by Geneviève Côté

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-563-2

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2022

 

When a group of animals realize that there's something missing in their lives, they come together in a unique way to help each other out.

From When Spider Met Shrew by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Geneviève Côté

The story begins with a hungry spider who creates a web to catch its food. But when the wind grabs the spider and its web, Spider makes the acquaintance of a shrew whose field is about to be plowed. Spider offers to help Shrew find a new home.

 

When a storm strikes, they take shelter in the tree of a bat, who is wet, and an opossum, who has lost its mother. The foursome go off in search of Possum's mother until they meet a depressed beagle saddened by the loss of her puppies. Dog is invited to be Possum's new mom, at least temporarily, and they all get on Dog's back. Bat can now move around, even though its wetness prevents flight; Shrew can share in Dog's doghouse; Possum has a surrogate mom on whose back they can travel; and Dog is needed again. Finally they meet Pony who misses the fun they used to have with a human riding them. Guess what they all do?  After that, there is only one need to fulfill and that's the one that started this whole story.

From When Spider Met Shrew by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Geneviève Côté

Cumulative tales, those that build with repeated words or actions to progress the story, are fabulous for engaging young readers and helping them recognize words. Though a modified cumulative tale in that the words are repeated but not rigorously throughout the story, When Spider Met Shrew has that echoing of a spider who is hungry, a shrew who is homeless, a bat who is wet, an opossum who is scared and a dog who is sad. (Since the pony is at the end of the story, their boredom doesn't get repeated.) Deborah Kerbel gives us that repetition but goes beyond and that's what makes When Spider Met Shrew a little different. Whether children will read the story themselves or as part of a story time read-aloud, they'll get into the rhythm of the story, but they will also feel for the plights of the animals and appreciate their compassionate companionship that results in a happy ending that comes from helping out a friend or two, in their own way. Cumulative tales can be on the simple side, relying on the reiteration to carry the story, but, by embedding that repetition in a story of different animals feeling vulnerable because of human interference, the cycle of life, weather and time, Deborah Kerbel makes us feel not just laugh.

From When Spider Met Shrew by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Geneviève Côté

Likewise, Geneviève Côté's watercolour illustrations may look simple with a background and a couple of animals, but the artwork is far more complex in its emotional substance. The burdens of the animals are evident both in words and graphics and their willingness to express those vulnerabilities enables them to get the support they require.

Alone a spider, a shrew, a bat, an opossum, a dog and a pony have hunger, homeless, sadness and more, but together they have better.

2022 Canadian Children's Book Centre: English-language Book Awards shortlists announced

Yesterday, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the finalists for the 2022 English-language Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. (See their website announcement here with pdf here and video of shortlists on Bibliovideo.)

This year, the children's book awards include eight awards, both long-established and newly founded:

• TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($50,000), Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
• Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000), Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie;
• Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000), Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation;
• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000), Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund;
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000), Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books;
• Jean Little First-Novel Award ($5,000);
• Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000), Sponsored by Elly Barlin-Daniels; and
  
• David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award ($3,500), Sponsored by Shelly Stagg Peterson.

 (n.b. The French-language award short lists will be announced in October and winners celebrated in November.)

Here are the short lists for each award category, as announced by the Canadian Children's Book Centre:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

Borders
Written by Thomas King
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
HarperCollins

The Fabulous Zed Watson!
Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester
Illustrated by Kevin Sylvester
HarperCollins

Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words
Edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry
Orca Book Publishers

A Kid is a Kid is a Kid

Written by Sara O’Leary

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Groundwood Books

Reviewed here

 

On the Trapline

Written by David A. Robertson

Illustrated by Julie Flett

Tundra Books

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

 

Hare B&B
Written by Bill Richardson
Illustrated by Bill Pechet
Running the Goat Books & Broadsides
Reviewed here

Lala’s Words
Written and illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Orchard Books

On the Trapline
Written by David A. Robertson
Illustrated by Julie Flett
Tundra Books 

Time is a Flower
Written and illustrated by Julie Morstad
Tundra Books

We All Play / kimêtawânaw
Written and illustrated by Julie Flett
Greystone Kids

Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

Boy from Buchenwald: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor
Written by Robbie Waisman with Susan McClelland
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and Became the World’s First Giraffologist

Written by Kathy Stinson

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words
Edited by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry
Orca Book Publishers

Mad for Ads: How Advertising Gets (and Stays) in Our Heads
Written by Erica Fyvie
Illustrated by Ian Turner
Kids Can Press

The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures
Written by Christian Allaire
Illustrated by Jacqueline Li
Annick Press

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People

Dear Peter, Dear Ulla
Written by Barbara Nickel
Thistledown Press

Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer
Written by Leslie Gentile
DCB

Second Chances
Written by Harriet Zaidman
Red Deer Press

Stealing Home
Written by J. Torres
Illustrated by David Namisato
Kids Can Press

Traitors Among Us
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic
Reviewed here

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

Blood Like Magic
Written by Liselle Sambury
Margaret K. McElderry Books

If I Tell You the Truth
Written by Jasmin Kaur
HarperCollins

Iron Widow
Written by Xiran Jay Zhao
Penguin Teen Canada

Misfit in Love
Written by S.K. Ali
Salaam Reads

 

The Project
Written by Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books

Reviewed here

Jean Little First-Novel Award

Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer
Written by Leslie Gentile
DCB

Living with Viola
Written and illustrated by Rosena Fung
Annick Press

 

Thanks a Lot, Universe

Written by Chad Lucas

Amulet Books

Reviewed here 

 

 

 

 

Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

Blood Like Magic
Written by Liselle Sambury
Margaret K. McElderry Books  

 

Hunting by Stars: A Marrow Thieves Novel
Written by Cherie Dimaline
Penguin Teen Canada

 

Iron Widow
Written by Xiran Jay Zhao
Penguin Teen Canada

Sisters of the Snake
Written by Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
HarperTeen

Spell Sweeper
Written by Lee Edward Födi
HarperCollins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award

 

The Book of Selkie
Written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott
Nimbus Publishing

A Great Big Night
Written by Kate Inglis
Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
Nimbus Publishing

I Talk Like a River
Written by Jordan Scott
Illustrated by Sydney Smith
Neal Porter Books

Our Corner Store
Written by Robert Heidbreder
Illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne
Groundwood Books

Summer Feet
Written by Sheree Fitch
Illustrated by Carolyn Fisher
Nimbus Publishing

 📚📚📚

The winners of these awards will be announced on September 29, 2022 at a ticketed event at Harbourfront but also via a free streamed event (register at https://festivalofauthors.ca/event/ccbc-2022-awards-ceremony/) in partnership with the Toronto International Festival of Authors.

 

Do You Wonder?

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

North Winds Press (Imprint of Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-8276-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

September 2022

We all wonder and ask questions. Sometimes it's about the small things like what we'll have for dinner that night or sometimes it's about bigger things like whether we're making the right decisions. And occasionally some of us ask the really monumental questions about the universe. Regardless, they are all important because these questions make us mindful of what we and others are experiencing which can only lead to greater compassion, understanding and creativity. Award-winning author and illustrator Wallace Edwards guides us through some important questions to reveal what it is we may be wondering about.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

In a series of single-page and double-page spreads, Wallace Edwards tells young readers some of the things he has wondered about. 

Sometimes I wonder about the mysteries of the sky. 

Sometimes I wonder why some songs make me happy.  

Sometimes I wonder how to join the conversation.

These ponderings are all ones that we have. But then Wallace Edwards takes on bigger inquiries.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right puppet show. 

Sometimes I wonder who was here before me.  

Sometimes I wonder if I really see what I think I see.

The depth and breadth of his meditations run the gamut from the playful (e.g., Sometimes I wonder where the banana went) to those of self-awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder if I can finish what I've started) or global awareness (e.g., Sometimes I wonder who decides what is important). His thoughtfulness is profound and I stopped on many pages to ponder the answers. I often had none but the wondering was sufficient. It required a focus to the question and a mindfulness of all that it encompassed. The answer was not necessary; what was important was the curiosity and the inquiry.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Ah, but this is Wallace Edwards, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Illustrations and numerous other picture book awards, so the text is married to extraordinary artwork, rendered here in pencil, watercolour and gouache. Even without the text, the art would be sublime, detailed in its depictions of animals that range from a barn owl, alligators, a rhino and elephants to a variety of bird species, as well as in the scenes filled with balloon animals, ice cream, vegetation and ornate furniture. There is so much to look at and to delve into. (Check out the faces in the forest on the cover of Do You Wonder? for a sampling.) But it's not "just" the art. It's the way Wallace Edwards's words are interpreted in his art. For example, the text "Sometimes I wonder why some things seem so difficult" is paired with a porcupine struggling to create balloon animals, having popped numerous balloons that hang off of his quills. Readers can think about challenges in their own lives, whether a struggle with school or with friends and family or even with health. But the artwork asks young readers to look beyond themselves and recognize that others too have challenges that may not be obvious until they are exposed. Of course a porcupine would struggle with balloons! But until I saw that illustration, it never occurred to me.

From Do You Wonder? by Wallace Edwards

Thank you, Wallace Edwards, for helping us see ourselves and others and beyond ourselves. Thank you for inviting us into your considerations and encouraging us to do the same. And thank you for reminding us that there are somethings, like love, that never need to be questioned.