While You Sleep

Written by Jennifer Maruno

Illustrated by Miki Sato

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-267-7

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

November 2022

 

My father used to say he was busy moving the clouds and polishing the stars when we were sleeping and now I know that he was telling me the truth. Seems a lot goes on when we sleep and, as the child in Jennifer Maruno's latest picture book might realize if she awoke in the night, there is a multitude of night-helpers whose tasks keep the world right.

From While You Sleep by Jennifer Maruno, illus. by Miki Sato

After a day of play, a child and her stuffies are put to bed by her mom and the cat. But, though she sleeps, there are many who are at work.

For while you sleep, there's work to be done.

Someone has to polish the sun,

Comb the grass, straighten the trees,

Place a dot on the black-eyed peas.

There is so much that goes into making the natural world wonderful: butterflies to be dusted, flowers painted, rainbows charged to keep their glow. And Jennifer Maruno tells us about all of them in the sweetest of rhyming couplets. In her dreams, the child envisions the endeavours of her own bunny stuffies sewing and weaving and creating, all to make the world she will love to be tidy and polished.

From While You Sleep by Jennifer Maruno, illus. by Miki Sato

The child may be sleeping with eyes closed but While You Sleep is a very contemplative story of seeing what could be happening in her dreams and in our natural world. It's opening eyes to the possibility of nightly magic to make our world lovely with flowers and plants, animals, and skies. Jennifer Maruno takes us into the dream world of this child to imagine and to build. It's about softness and security, wishes and hopes. It's imaging how things come to be and appreciating how they are. And, by telling her story through rhyme, Jennifer Maruno gives While You Sleep a dynamism of flow, making it a journey of childhood dreams of what might be.

Those wanderings through the natural world of her dreams are all essentially an adventure of time and space because of Miki Sato's textured collage art. Using paper, textiles and embroidery silk, Miki Sato makes the child's worlds, both her real and dream, touchable and deep both in dimension and spirit. There are elderflowers cut from lace and a Milky Way embroidered onto a midnight blue sky, and butterflies, flowers, clouds, stars and more. With deftness of cut and placement of shape, Miki Sato and her night-helpers make this child's world heavenly.

From While You Sleep by Jennifer Maruno, illus. by Miki Sato

I'm saving this book for a dear friend, envisioning her reading it to her future grandchildren. While You Sleep has the love and whimsy that I know she'll want to share with little ones, guiding them through the natural world she so appreciates and cultivates. Infused with sweetness and gratitude for a world of natural beauty, While You Sleep will be a great bedtime read and reminder that our world is one to cherish.

Twelve in a Race

Written by Catherine Little

Illustrated by Sae Kimura

Plumleaf Press

978-1-486936687

38 pp.

Ages 3-12

March 2022

 

I know many of us our preparing for our holiday celebrations and that those celebrations will take many forms. One celebration that will be observed very soon will be the Lunar New Year which will take place on January 22, 2023. Twelve in a Race may have come out earlier in 2022 but reviewing it now seems a perfect opportunity to get it some deserved attention before the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

The theme of Catherine Little's Twelve in a Race is the origin story of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac as they participated in a race set by the emperor.

Some started fast,

others were slow.

Courage and wits

were tested from "Go!" 

Along raging rivers,

over mountains and dunes,

The animals ran for

many moons.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

As the animals race, their attributes–and those we associate with the different years of the Zodiac–impact their standing in the competition. Rat is persuasive and smart, Horse is cheerful, independent, and quick, and Monkey is agile and clever. For each, Catherine Little gives positive attributes and follows the correct order of the Chinese Zodiac as the myth prescribes. It's charming and informative and I suspect every child will be looking up their sign. (A zodiac appends the story with years from 1996 through 2031 so children and young adults and even future kids are covered. Oldies such as myself probably already know our signs–I was born in Year of the Pig–or can look them up online.)

 

Toronto's Sae Kimura gives us illustrations that take us to a Chinese countryside of luscious, stylized plants and water. The landscape components are shaped with softness and give further movement to the racers. Even the clouds float with purpose and delicacy in the bright sky. Though I don't know why, I think Sae Kimura's Japanese heritage–she was born in Odawara, Japan–contributes to the tradition of the story of Twelve in a Race. She instills a traditional majesty to her characters and an art deco essence to her borders of meandering geometric shapes.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

Toronto author Catherine Little tells me that she wrote Twelve in a Race to help her biracial son learn about the Chinese side of his heritage that didn’t portray Chinese culture as “foreign” and I believe that she has succeeded in doing so. The story honours the myth of the zodiac and makes it accessible for all children to learn a traditional story while finding themselves in it. Knowing your zodiac sign is just the beginning.

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of): Guest review

This review was written by Grade 8 student Hasini K.

 

Written and illustrated by Kathleen Gros
Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)
978-0-06-305766-1
304 pp.
Ages 8-13
October 2022

 

From the classic story of Anne of Green Gables comes this incredible adaptation. This is a story that takes place in our modern world with the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and plot lines that improve the story and allows it to reach a wider audience in the present era.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Anne Shirley is a teenager in the foster system, and she’s sick of it. She’s already moved from one house to another, from one foster placement to the next. Anne is tired of starting over every time she has to move. So, when Alexandra, Anne's social worker, tells the girl the exciting news that she's about to move to another place, Anne has mixed feelings. She’s so grateful that someone wants her and really hopes it will work out but a part of her wonders if she'll just end up back in the system afterwards.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

However, things don’t start off as she hopes. When she first meets Matthew Cuthbert, her new foster guardian, he seems confused. When they arrive at the Avon-lea, the apartment building where the Cuthberts live, we learn that Matthew and his sister Marilla had been expecting a younger kid. Anne is devastated and is sure that she'll be sent back, especially when Marilla calls Alexandra. Explaining about a glitch in the system, Alexandra asks them to keep Anne until they can arrange something else. Anne is determined to try her best to make sure the Cuthberts keep her.

But, Anne quickly finds herself in trouble, from physically hurting a classmate to accidentally dyeing her hair green. The Cuthberts may be cool, but Anne worries that she may be too much for them. Still, she has other worries, including developing feelings for her closest friend Diana. Anne wants to ask Diana to the winter dance but what if Diana doesn't feel the same way? You'll need to read Kathleen Gros's book to find out if Anne finally ends up finding her forever home.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is not the kind of book I usually read, but I absolutely enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to readers in Grade 6 and up. In the book, Anne struggles a lot with embracing her appearance, and I love how she gained confidence throughout the story. Kathleen Gros turned the story into something which everyone could relate to, from being the new kid to trying to find friends and fitting in. Although I haven't read the original Anne of Green Gables–I'm very tempted to do so after finishing this book–I think Kathleen Gros's graphic novel version will appeal more to this generation of readers, especially with its diversity and gorgeous artwork and very appealing colours. But most important is Kathleen Gros's message that families come in different forms, and they are all worthy of love, no matter how crazy they may be.

 

~ Written by Hasini K., Age 13

Do You Know Quantum Physics? (Brainy Science Readers)

Written by Chris Ferrie

Text adapted by Brooke Vitale

Illustrations by Chris Ferrie and Lindsay Dale-Scott

Sourcebooks Explore

978-1-7282-6153-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2022

The field of quantum physics would seem a challenging STEM topic for adults, much less for children. But one thing Chris Ferrie does very well is distilling down complex scientific ideas into manageable bites and he does the same for quantum physics with his latest in the early reader series called Brainy Science Readers. With clear and concise text and illustrations, and analogies between balls and parts of an atom, Chris Ferrie introduces young readers to atoms, electrons, neutrons, protons, energy, and quanta.

From Do You Know Quantum Physics? by Chris Ferrie, illus. by Chris Ferrie and Lindsay Dale-Scott

STEM books tend to be either extensive middle-grade non-fiction texts or picture books that embed a scientific concept within. Do You Know Quantum Physics? is very different in that it is an early reader devoted to the concept of the quantum theory of the atom at its heart. The illustrations carry the message, but the words are dedicated to explaining what an atom and its component particles are and how electrons gain or lose energy. The vocabulary is appropriate for beginning readers and the repetition of words helps highlight key ideas. Moreover, the digitally-rendered artwork by Chris Ferrie and Lindsay Dale-Scott always matches the text directly, allowing for improved retention of the ideas. Chris Ferrie has not wrapped the learning in a story of a little electron looking for its friends or home. It's just the science of how things work. Because of that, it hits the mark. 

From Do You Know Quantum Physics? by Chris Ferrie, illus. by Chris Ferrie and Lindsay Dale-Scott

The Brainy Science series aims to "improve reading skills while immersing children into scientific theory." (pg. 1) And while quantum physics may not be on many, if any, pre-school through Grade 2 curricula, Do You Know Quantum Physics?, with its simplicity of text, ball analogy and bold illustrations, will be a fabulous introduction to the atom.

From Do You Know Quantum Physics? by Chris Ferrie, illus. by Chris Ferrie and Lindsay Dale-Scott

(Marie Curie even makes a very brief appearance.)

Kids Write 4 Kids Creative Challenge

We know that kids who read gain worthy skills in language, knowledge, critical thinking and far more. And writing is just as worthwhile, allowing them to express their individuality while giving them opportunities to develop their imaginations and creativity. I encourage young people, and their teachers and parents, to consider entering this free annual writing challenge from the Ripple Foundation, a Canadian educational charity that is run 100% by volunteers. Its mission is to advocate for creative literacy in young people through a variety of programs including the Kids Write 4 Kids Creative Writing Challenge. Check out the details below and get your kids writing!

 

✎✎✎✎✎

Challenge: Single authors (no partners or groups) are invited to submit an original story, written in English, with a maximum of 5000 words. It can be fact or fiction, prose or poetry. (A story checklist here will help direct your writing as will these tips.) There is no entry fee!

 

Eligible participants:  Canadian residents enrolled as full-time students (public, private, institutional or home schools) in Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 at the time of their entry are eligible.
    (There are some other restrictions related to employees, agents, and representatives of Ripple, yada, yada, yada, which you can check out here.)
    

What to submit:  A story of maximum 5,000 words (includes the words “a,” “an,” and “the"), typed in 12 pt Times black font and in a .doc or .docx format.

 

How to submit:  Entries must be made by either the parent/guardian of the minor author of the submission or by the author’s teacher with the author’s parent/guardian’s permission at the following link: https://www.ripplefoundation.ca/kids-write-4-kids/submission-form-2022/

Deadline for submissions: 11:59:59 pm ET on March 31, 2023

 

Judging Criteria: Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

•     Creativity and originality of plot and/or themes (40%)
  
•     Story structure, characters, and setting (40%)
  
•     Style and tone i.e., the quality of writing (20%)
  

Prize: The winner with the highest score (see judging details here) will be published in a professional e-book and paperback book by the Ripple Foundation and sold on Amazon, Apple, Google Play and Overdrive with proceeds donated to the author's Canadian charity of choice.

Prize announcement:   June 1st, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.

 

How to Be a Goldfish

Written by Jane Baird Warren

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9230-9

240 pp.

Ages 9-12

October 2022

 

Most kids will end up doing a family tree or genealogical research sometime in school. Many will have family members they can talk to or use the internet to seek details. But, in 1981, when given a family history project called "Every Family Has a Hero," 13-year-old Lizzie Ross wonders how she's ever going to manage. Her family is basically her mother Susan and her grandmother Emma. Her grandfather had died in the war, and her mother had never married the man who'd fathered Lizzie. Thankfully Lizzie does have Harry, the elderly farmer next door, who cares for her after school. Harry, on the other hand, certainly has some stories, from being sent to Canada as a Home Child to saving a man at Juno Beach. When her mom, a lawyer, heads to nearby Toronto, to help in the defence of gay men who were being harassed by the police after the infamous bathhouse raids–it is 1981–Lizzie goes digging into old family photos and memorabilia hoping to get something to present.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, eleven-year-old David Macrath is still trying to adjust to his new life after the passing of his grandfather with whom David and his mom Carla had once lived. Now they live with Mom's latest boyfriend and her boss, Cameron Kelch, above his real estate office. At home, David is dealing with Kelch who wants David to man up and play sports and forget about his comics, movies, and favourite Star Wars. In fact, Kelch would love to send David away to boarding school, especially as he has big plans to develop the land and farm which Carla inherits from her father.

When David, his mom and Kelch head out to check out the farm and find Harry living there, the two story lines come together, with the two kids becoming allies. But will their alliance help them to save Harry's farm and protect the families they want and deserve?

Because this is historical fiction, author Jane Baird Warren embeds the reader in a time of the original Star Wars, the bathhouse raids and homophobia, no cell phones or computers–hence no easy genealogical research–and more. But this really is a story of family and family secrets and thus has no time constraints. It's about making family from bits and pieces, sometimes related and sometimes not. And that is a story for all times, regardless of the setting. By making family the focus, young readers will recognize the different configurations of family as authentic, though Lizzie and David still have to deal with small-mindedness related to those families.

As someone who lived in the 1980s, I can attest to the turbulent times. The news was rife with protests, war, strikes, riots, homophobia, and all manner of discontent. But it was also a time of learning and understanding with the opportunity to see that diversity enriched our lives and that different did not mean bad. How to Be a Goldfish reminds us that, in the right environment and with people in our corners, we can flourish and be and do better.

Chickadee Criminal Mastermind: Guest review

This review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

 

Written by Monica Silvie 

Illustrated by Elina Ellis

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0338-8

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

June 2022

A Chickadee Criminal Mastermind? This book captured my interest right away. The story is narrated by the chickadee himself and it starts with him telling the reader how the forest has a criminal living there. It is him, calling himself "a real rapscallion and all-around bad seed.” He then explains to the other animals, and the readers, how he started his life of crime in the forest.

From Chickadee Criminal Mastermind by Monica Silvie, illus. by Elina Ellis

His story starts when he was a pink, featherless baby still in the nest learning all that he could from his parents. After his long childhood of sixteen days, he flew off to start his own adult life in the forest. He quickly discovered that finding food was of the utmost importance and that it got harder and harder as winter encroached on the forest. As such, he had to start stealing from the mother lode of all treasures…a box full of bird seed hanging from the tree branches. Using a map reminiscent of Kevin's battle plan from the movie “Home Alone,” the chickadee steals his seed each day. This may have made him a well-fed “King of Thieves” in the forest…but it also made him lonely.

From Chickadee Criminal Mastermind by Monica Silvie, illus. by Elina Ellis

One day, when Chickadee hears young children gleefully watching him, he remembers one of his parents' lessons about something called a bird feeder. They'd told him that a bird feeder was a safe place for birds. Realizing this, Chickadee wonders if he perhaps isn't the "bad seed" he'd always seen himself as and that perhaps his forest peers might now become his friends. In fact, it looks like he just might make one new friend when another chickadee appears.

From Chickadee Criminal Mastermind by Monica Silvie, illus. by Elina Ellis

This picture book by BC's Monica Silvie is adorable. From the outset, I was engaged with the story of this criminal mastermind bird. Monica Silvie’s writing helps the reader see the humour in a story of our chickadee while still teaching readers quite a bit about these common birds. I found myself cheering for the little chickadee on his adventures as a “King of Thieves” and also in his quest to make friends. The story is appended with additional information about chickadees, including sources for further research. The artwork by Ukrainian-born UK-resident Elina Ellis is quite precious as she brings expressions to our dear chickadee that really help the reader feel connected to him.

This story will be a delight to share in classrooms and with children in your home. As a teacher, I am already thinking of some great activities including watching for chickadees in the forest behind my school, making bird feeders with the students, and even some creative writing from Chickadee’s perspective. This book will also tie in nicely with many science curricula. You definitely want this delightful book in your school library.

~ Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.