Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides, Inc.

978-1-998802234

44 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2025 

 

If it's a picture book by Lori Doody, you know it's time for another visit to Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, Lori Doody invites us to revisit her character Mr. Beagle, whose nose for mystery helped him solve the local cases in Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown, Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery, and Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill.  This time, Mr. Beagle heads to the charming neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi in St. John's, Newfoundland and discovers a new mystery to solve.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

While making a delivery from his store, Mr. Beagle's Convenience, he notices that folks in the neighbourhood are looking a little sad and seem to be having a hard day. He learns that their stuffed teddy bears have gone missing. "It was unbearable!"

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

He walks through the neighbourhood, talking to people and visiting the fish and chips stand and the one selling pupsicles before heading to the wharf. As the locals and tourists, all donning colourful sweaters and hats, scarves and bottoms, meander the wharf, shopping, taking boat rides, fishing, watching artists and more, Mr. Beagle has his beagle eyes open and his sniffer on the scent. With observation and insight, he catches the culprit whose plight compelled him to theft.

From Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper, written and illustrated by Lori Doody

But identifying the thief is just part of Mr. Beagle's talent. As in his earlier stories, Mr. Beagle finds a way to help the offender and in turn enrich the community in a novel way. And for Quidi Vidi, there's going to be a new attraction.

 

With a plethora of pun and subtle charm, Lori Doody has Mr. Beagle solving a mystery and helping the neighbourhood of Quidi Vidi. The mystery he tasks himself to solve may not be a heist of incalculable wealth, but it is a grab at the most precious and comforting of possessions for many: a beloved teddy bear. So, he takes his task seriously and just apprehending the culprit is not enough. Mr. Beagle needs to know why the theft took place and what could be done to resolve this for both thief and victims. In doing so, he institutes a form of restorative justice whereby both victim and perpetrator can find healing.

 

That's a big message for a little story about a dog who solves the mystery of the disappearing teddy bears, but St. John's printmaker Lori Doody keeps the lightness and brightness of the story in her art. From the bold colours of the sea, sky and land to the myriad of characters that populate the community, Lori Doody takes us to a neighbourhood that is unique and rich in spirit. And with another mystery solved, Mr. Beagle has strengthened another Newfoundland community and revitalized its residents through humanity.

 

Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown (2020)

Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery (2021)

Mr. Beagle Climbs Signal Hill (2022)

Mr. Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper (2025)

 

Cover Reveal: Paul Coccia's The Bear Fairy

 

Author Paul Coccia

 

award-winning writer of middle-grade and YA novels including

 

 

Cub (2019)

The Player (2021)

On the Line (with Eric Walters; 2022)

I Got You Babe (2023)

Leon Levels Up (2024)

The ANNEthology: A Collection of Kindred Spirits Inspired by the Canadian Icon (contributor; 2024)

Recommended Reading (2025)

 

 

 is set to release, in February 2026, 

his first picture book 

and I am delighted to help promote it with this cover reveal.

 

 

So, let's celebrate the start of Pride Month 

with this marvelous cover reveal for

 

 

The Bear Fairy

Written by Paul Coccia, The Bear Fairy is a picture book with a little bit of everything, including queer elements, body positivity, and big gay uncle energy, along with a whole lot of whimsy. With illustrations by Fred Blunt who, according to the copyright page, used cheap paper, pencils, tatty brushes, ink and a computer, The Bear Fairy will charm with its positive messages and magical humour.

🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈⭐ 🌈

 

For more details, here is the book blurb from The Bear Fairy's publisher, Tundra (an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada):

Meet an unlikely fairy and his new best friend in this laugh-out-loud picture book about acceptance, being yourself and standing up to anyone who tries to diminish your sparkle.

Fairies should be pretty and sparkly and dainty . . . not chubby, not fluffy and NOT lured in by potato chips. But when Spencer catches a fairy in the park, he's shocked to find that's exactly what he’s got!

The Bear Fairy is no delicate Tinkerbell: he hogs the remote, drops crumbs everywhere and snores like a truck. But he's still a fairy, and when Spencer's friend insults the Bear Fairy's appearance and hurts his feelings, Spencer must step up to defend his new friend.

With wit, charm and hilarity, author Paul Coccia and illustrator Fred Blunt have created a modern classic about being proud of who you are and fighting for the people you care about.

(From https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/744594/the-bear-fairy-by-paul-coccia-illustrated-by-fred-blunt/9781774885581) 

If you are interested in pre-ordering The Bear Fairy, book details and links to a couple of retailers are posted here:

The Bear Fairy

Written by Paul Coccia

Illustrated by Fred Blunt

Tundra Books

978-1-774885581 

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

February 17, 2026

 

Chapters/Indigo

Amazon 

or 

Local Booksellers (via "Shop Local" link on book's webpage )

 

🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈 ⭐🌈⭐ 🌈

Astronautical!

Written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Annick Press

978-1-77321-942-4

248 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2025 

 

In the Zephyr Galaxy a long time ago, the planet Zephyr exploded into chucks. The inhabitants were ever hopeful that the great Cynosure would fix it and reunite the Chunk Planets but a hundred years later, nothing has changed. The Zephyrians, which include everything from parrot-like beings to human-like creatures and stars with appendages, travel by vessels that look like sailing boats and ships between Chunk Planets. In fact, it's on a visit to the Star Bird store that Max and Lari's dad, Robert Cherryhair, is apprehended by Cynosure's security Foxes while the brothers are inside the store. So begins the story of Astronautical! and the boys' mission to find their father.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

With their own ship set aflame by Cynosure's Foxes, Max and Lari join twin yellow dwarf stars Dez and Ori on their ship, the Dove, intent on heading to Cynosure's hideout. But when you're travelling with twin stars one of whom rarely speak the truth and the other who believes almost everything–great lessons in fake news here–the journey is not a straightforward one. In fact, it is a drawn-out quest that takes them to different Chunk Planets, comets and more where they meet a blue supergiant star, a protostar and even a disguised black hole.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Even with obstacles thrown at them, the two boys, very different in their personalities, work together and discover that their differences are their strengths and would allow them to not only find their father but to also find a way to make things right for the Planet Zephyr.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Astronautical! is a rollicking middle-grade adventure for lovers of fantasy, astronomy, and good humour. The plot is wholly unpredictable, mostly because the characters range from human-like creatures to astronomical ones with the powers to alter their structures and abilities and interact with others. Brooklin Stormie, an artist from Peterborough, Ontario, has found an imaginative way to blend fantasy with science, merging a heroes' quest in a cosmic setting with legitimate elements of which young readers will want to learn more. (Brooklin Stormie includes extensive notes about sky-whales, black holes, star songs, and more in her appended notes called, "The Real Science (and Totally Not-Real Science) in Astronautical!") It's all very accessible, playful and captivating, and readers will never anticipate how it will end. 

Astronautical! is Brooklin Stormie's story but, as an illustrator, the artwork is what makes Astronautical! sparkle. Between weird characters and some strange abilities–though perhaps not really strange in an astronomical setting–as well as a variety of settings, from a convenience store to a desert, a planet separated into chunks, and more, Brooklin Stormie gives readers something fantastical and scientific. Quite extraordinary or, dare I say it, Astronautical!

2025 Forest Teen Committee Summer Reading List

 
While young readers in Grades 3 to 8 were working on the Forest Kid Committees to select summer reading lists for their peers, so too were high school readers of the White Pine Teen Committee. Here are their selections for their 2025 Summer Reading List:

WHITE PINE

 

Curious Tides (The Drowned Gods, 1)

Written by Pascale Lacelle 

Simon and Schuster Canada

560 pp.

Ages 14+

2024

 

The Lady of Rapture (Bones of Ruin, 3)

Written by Sarah Raughley 

Margaret K. McElderry Books

512 pp.

Ages 14+

2025

Wicked Darlings 

Written by Jordyn Taylor 

Delacorte Press

277 pp.

Ages 12+

2025

 

The Queen’s Spade 

Written by Sarah Raughley 

HarperCollins

416 pp.

Ages 14-17

2025

 

Defy 

Written by Sara de Waard 

DCB Young Readers

208 pp.

Ages 12-18

2024

 

Meet Me at Blue Hour 

Written by Sarah Suk 

Quill Tree Books

288 pp.

Ages 13-17

2025

 

Messy Perfect 

Written by Tanya Boteju 

Quill Tree Books

400 pp.

Ages 13-17

2025

 

Bad Cree 

Written by Jessica Johns 

HarperCollins  

304 pp.

Ages 18+

2023

Untethered Sky 

Written by Fonda Lee 

Tordotcom

160 pp.

Ages 18+

2023

 

To Steal from Thieves (Thieves and Kings, 1)

Written by M.K. Lobb 

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

400 pp.

Ages 14+

2025 

 

 

A downloadable list and a printable poster are available from the Forest of Reading® Committees' page:

• Teen Summer Reading List
• Poster
  

             

2025 Forest Kid Committees Summer Reading Lists

Every spring since 2017, kids have applied to participate on the Forest of Reading's Kid Committees to select books to recommend to their peers to read over the summer.  These lists of recently-published books by Canadian creators cover a variety of genres and reading levels and introduce young readers to fabulous books.

 

This year, two Kid Committees met in early May to discuss and champion books that they thought their fellow readers might enjoy, and have come up with two lists, one for Silver Birch readers, those of ages 8-12 and in Grades 3-6, and one for Red Maple readers, kids in Grades 7 and 8 and of ages 12-14.  Here are their selections for 2025:

 

 

 
SILVER BIRCH

 

Crush    

Written by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin    

Illustrated by Tillie Walden    

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

240 pp.

Ages 10-14 

2024

The Curse of Eelgrass Bog    

Written by Mary Averling        

Razorbill

256 pp.

Ages 8-12 

2024

Julia on the Go!: Swimming into Trouble    

Written by Angela Ahn    

Illustrated by Julie Kim    

Tundra Books

176 pp.

Ages 7-10 

2024

Library Girl    

Written by Polly Horvath        

Puffin Canada

256 pp.

Ages 10+ 

2024

Faker    

Written by Gordon Korman        

Scholastic Press

224 pp.

Ages 8-12 

2024

Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist    

Written by Colleen Nelson    

Illustrated by Peggy Collins    

Pajama Press

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

2024

Prince and the Pawper (The Racc Pack, 2)    

Written by Stephanie Cooke    

Illustrated by Whitney Gardner    

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

192 pp.

Ages 7-10 

2025

The Probability of Everything    

Written by Sarah Everett        

Clarion Books

336 pp.

Ages 8-12 

2024

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky    

Written by Danielle Daniel        

Tundra Books

382 pp.

Ages 9-12

2024

 

Summer of Rocks    

Written by Jenna Greene        

Heritage House 

176 pp.

Ages 8-12

2025

Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities    

Written by Casey Lyall        

Greenwillow Books

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RED MAPLE

 

Crash Landing    

Written by Li Charmaine Anne        

Annick Press

288 pp.

Ages 14-18

2024

Ghosts of Gastown    

Written by Jessica Renwick        

Yellow Dog (Great Plains Press)

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

2024

Mixed Up    

Written by Gordon Korman        

Scholastic Press

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

2023

More Frightening True Tales (Haunted Canada 12)    

Written by Joel A. Sutherland        

Scholastic Canada

128 pp.

Ages 8-12

2023

The New Girl (The New Girl, 1)    

Written and illustrated by Cassandra Calin    

Graphix (Scholastic Press)

272 pp.

Ages 9-12

2024

Night of the Living Zed    

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester        

HarperCollins Canada

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

2024

Recommended Reading    

Written by Paul Coccia        

Zando Young Readers

320 pp.

Ages 12-17

2025

Sam    

Written by Eric Walters        

DCB Young Readers (Cormorant Books)

228 pp.

Ages 11-14

2025

Stopping the Shots     

Written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson        

Scholastic Canada

256 pp.

Ages 9-12

2024

Under Attack (Kidnapped from Ukraine, 1)    

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch        

Scholastic Press 

320 pp.

Ages 8-12

2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downloadable lists and a printable poster are available from the Forest of Reading:

•     Silver Birch Summer Reading List
•     Red Maple Summer Reading List
•     Poster

 

 

Way Off Track (A Nansi Graphic Novel)

Written by Carl Brundtland

Illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1004-1

152 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2025 

 

Nansi has always been a runner and she's good at running. She even dreams of being known as the fastest person alive. But just because she's good at running doesn't make her a generous winner or even a smart competitor.

From Way Off Track, written by Carl Brundtland, illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Not surprising that Nansi's overconfidence in her running leads her to make some poor choices. After all, what can it hurt to overeat or stay up late when she's got natural talent, or so Nansi thinks. But when she loses a preliminary race to her rich classmate Tania, Nansi is dazed. Convinced Tania's win is due to her new shoes, Endorphics Beta Fly 4.7U, Nansi is determined to get a pair. Problem is that the shoes are over $300. 

 

Though she comes up with some impossible schemes, getting a job seems like her best option, and her Jamaican Granny sets her up with her friend known as Auntie Berry to work in her salon. With a month to go before the all-school track meet, Nansi is committed to her part-time job, though her friends Ayesha and Angela just think Nansi needs to train better. 

When an opportunity to attend a training event pops up, Nansi has to figure out a way to be in two places at the same time. With a little blackmail and some clever disguising, Nansi pulls it off, or so she thinks. But, she has a lot of learning to do, and not just with respect to her running, if she is to succeed and focus on what's really important.

From Way Off Track, written by Carl Brundtland, illustrated by Claudia Dávila

This is Carl Brundtland's debut graphic novel and he packs a lot into it. First and foremost is a child with a skill for running but who still needs to learn to see beyond herself. Nansi gets into a lot of trouble because she thinks she is a better runner than everyone else and doesn't need to work for it. Even after she loses a race, she never takes any responsibility for that loss, attributing that loss to a pair of shoes. (Later she dreams of an interaction with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who reminds her that, "No shoes make the runner."; p. 132) Instead of focusing on training and learning skills to help her improve her running, she schemes to take advantage of her brother's relationship with a girlfriend he's not supposed to have.

From Way Off Track, written by Carl Brundtland, illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Carl Brundtland also brings us into a family that is rich in affection and Jamaican culture. (I might recommend that you read Granny's and Auntie Berry's speeches aloud to get the full nuance of their Jamaican patois, suffused with wisdom and affection.) From the food to the sibling relationships and the kids' relationship with Granny, Way Off Track brings us into both the familiar and the uncommon, for some of us. So middle-grade readers will know a Nansi and a Tania and Nansi's brothers and grandmother and will understand why Nansi wants to excel, though maybe not her attitude about her skills. But, like them, she learns when she's mistaken about something and finds the way to make things right for herself and others. (Of course, guilt plays a big role in compelling her to do better.) By giving us Nansi' story both on and off the track, Carl Brundtland makes her a whole person, with whom the readers can identify.

From Way Off Track, written by Carl Brundtland, illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Artist Claudia Dávila has illustrated a number of graphic novels (e.g., Child Soldier, ThunderBoom) as well as  picture books (e.g., Fast Friends, Friends Find a Way!) and non-fiction books (e.g., The Canadian Kids' Guide to Outdoor Fun) and, with each project, she achieves the right attitude of gravitas, information, social justice or humour that is required. In Way Off Track, Claudia Dávila's artwork, which has been digitally created, keeps the boldness of youth and of the talented while making it a true middle-grade story of kids who want to fit in and do well. I'm most impressed with how Claudia Dávila suffuses Nansi with her attitude and ego but also her agitation when things don't go to plan. Especially charming are Nansi's imaginings and dreams of her and her friends as Powerpuff-like girls.

 

It looks like Carl Brundtland is poised to write more Nansi graphic novels–the spine is labelled with a large "1"–so whether the Grade 7 girl has more lessons to learn at home or school or whether her friends, distinct in their own passions and skills, become the stars of their own stories, it is too soon to tell. Regardless Carl Brundtland, along with Claudia Dávila, has given us a fresh new character from which readers can learn as they laugh. And I bet that Granny will always have something good cooking on the stove.