Friends Find a Way!

Written by Heather M. O'Connor

Illustrated by Claudia Dávila

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9386-3

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2023

 

When Suze first joined Tyson's class in Heather M. O'Connor's Fast Friends (2020), there was some nervousness about a non-verbal child in a wheelchair becoming friends with a boy who couldn't slow down. But, the two children did become friends, and fast friends at that, with Suze enjoying the speed in her wheelchair as much as Tyson loved helping her race about. Now the class is heading to the zoo for a field trip and both Tyson and Suze are excited to see the cheetah, an animal known for speed.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

At the zoo, the class are buddied up–Tyson with Suze–and told to stay together. As they focus on visiting different animals, the kids help direct the class, using the map. Of course, when it's time to see the cheetah, Tyson and Suze know just where to go. But as Tyson remains enthralled with the cheetahs, the class moves on, and suddenly Tyson and Suze are on their own. Tyson hadn't been paying attention, but Suze had, and though she can't express herself verbally, she knows how to tell Tyson where the class has gone.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

While some readers may see Suze's disability as the focus of Friends Find a Way!, author Heather M. O'Connor spends less time on Suze's limitations and more on the connection that Suze and Tyson have. That friendship may have been based initially on their appreciation for speed, but it has evolved into one of camaraderie, similar interests, and cooperation. There is no judgment about who can do or can't do something but instead shows them working together to get what they both need and want. It's that working together to navigate the rambling paths of the zoo to the missing class and to get there as quickly as possible that is how this friendship works. And a story about friends finding a way, whether to rejoining their class or to making their lives fuller and better, is the way to go.

From Friends Find a Way!, written by Heather M. O'Connor, illus. by Claudia Dávila

Claudia Dávila, who illustrated Fast Friends as well as Friends Find a Way!, keeps her digital art colourful, upbeat and dynamic, just like Suze and Tyson. And her illustrations are as inclusive as Heather M. O'Connor's story. Claudia Dávila shows us people of all ages, abilities, cultures and more and makes them all part of the community. And with a delightful assortment of animals, from the sloth and red panda, Komodo dragon and kangaroos, she also takes us on a visit to the zoo alongside Suze and Tyson's class.

Friends do find a way to make things work and Tyson and Suze have found a friendship that works for them, whether at school or at the zoo. They are truly fast friends, both in the speed of their mobility and in the security of the connection, with new experiences strengthening that bond even more.

• • • • • • • 

 

Fast Friends (2020)

Friends Find a Way (2023)

The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z

Written and illustrated by Ashley Spires

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0629-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2023

I hope there are many, many schools and homes that encourage kids to make: to design and create and build and fix and keep going. Those makers will become the engineers, the mechanics, the inventors, the dreamers, and the innovators. They will become our tomorrows, and Ashley Spires, with her comprehensive alphabet of all things maker, will inspire them and answer all the questions they didn't know they needed answered in The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z.

From The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z by Ashley Spires

Revisiting the little girl from the award-winning The Most Magnificent Thing (2014) and The Most Magnificent Idea (2022), Ashley Spires's latest picture book delves into the process of making things by describing relevant words from A to Z. First we start with A, a girl and her assistant who brainstorm with creativity, which leads to experimenting, fixing, questioning, rethinking, and even walking away.

From The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z by Ashley Spires

Each letter encourages kids to make things–because "Z is for ZILLIONS of possibilities"–and helps them see that every little step of imagining, planning, and building, from jotting notes in a notebook, to gathering objects and unmaking stuff that isn't quite right are all valuable to the process.

Sometimes going backward is

the best way to move forward.

Ashley Spires does not make everything look easy or straightforward, but she does make it real. Kids need to learn that makers don't always have a linear way of doing things and that sometimes there are sidesteps and backward steps and even steps that need to be erased to make that magnificent thing of which you dream.

From The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z by Ashley Spires

Ashley Spires is a true maker of words, of ideas, of art, and undoubtedly more than is revealed in any single book. (Is the little girl Ashley Spires as a child?)  From creating her award-winning Binky the Space Cat and this Most Magnificent series, and every other picture book and early graphic novel, Ashley Spires makes readers witnesses to the creation of the wonderful. She excites kids to imagine, to try, and to endeavour that which might seem impossible. Her digital artwork of a captivated child, a cute dog, and an equally adorable cat, and loads and loads of recognizable stuff from books and a stand mixer, tape and bowls make making seem fun and easy. Even when Ashley Spires suggests that some things might not always be fun and easy–"Even the most magnificent things need a little tune up to get them rolling again"–it seems manageable.

 

To the future makers of the imaginable and the improbable, Ashley Spires shows young readers that they can make things magnificent.

• 🔨  • 📎 • 📓 •  📐•

The Most Magnificent Thing

The Most Magnificent Idea

The Most Magnificent Maker's A to Z

The Hockey Skates

Written by Karl Subban

Illustrated by Maggie Zeng

HarperCollins

978-1-443467230

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2023

PK had been promised a new pair of skates by his parents. Though it was summer, they were hopeful that he'd have them in time for winter. So his mother ordered a pair of black skates, size 7, with one blade. PK waited patiently for his new skates to arrive, but getting his perfect new skates was not as easy as they'd thought.

From The Hockey Skates, written by Karl Subban, illus. by Maggie Zeng

Ah, the anticipation of that delivery! PK watched and waited and watched some more, until finally the mail carrier delivered a box just for him. But, horror of horrors, the box held a pair of white figure skates! So, PK's mother sends them back, reiterating in her order what she'd told them in the first place: black skates.

From The Hockey Skates, written by Karl Subban, illus. by Maggie Zeng

But, like Goldilocks, the skates were never quite right. Colour, size and type were wrong, wrong, wrong, and with each delivery and the approach of winter, PK and his family became more and more anxious. Would PK ever get his hockey skates in time to hit the ice with the rest of his friends?

From The Hockey Skates, written by Karl Subban, illus. by Maggie Zeng

Karl Subban may be the author of The Hockey Skates, but he is probably best known as the dad to NHL hockey players P. K. Subban, Malcolm Subban and Jordan Subban. As a hockey dad, he undoubtedly has some wild stories about his three sons, and this one, of getting a delivery of hockey skates for PK, will read like a Canadian version of Goldilocks with a touch of Roch Carrier's classic The Hockey Sweater. I don't know if this really happened to P. K. Subban, the professional hockey player, but for PK the child and every child who has ever waited for something special, whether a visitor, a gift, or something on order, the story of The Hockey Skates is very real. It's that mix of anticipation and disappointment that makes it so familiar and plausible, and by bringing humour into the story, Karl Subban makes the repeated letdowns worthy of a chuckle or two. 

The illustrations were created by Montreal's Maggie Zeng who does sweet very well (e.g., Room for More, This is the Boat That Ben Built) and she does it again in The Hockey Skates. But she also gets in on Karl Subban's humour, from making the skates ridiculously small with PK tottering in them and giving her characters amusing, but  honest, expression as they deal with shock, dissatisfaction, confusion, hope and finally success. 

I may be reviewing this picture book on one of the hottest days of our summer (with Humidex, it currently feels like 39°C at my location) but you can bet there are kids already thinking about hockey, whether playing or watching it. And, if they're hoping to play, they'll want to make sure their equipment fits. Hopefully, they won't have to wait months to ensure they're prepared to hit the ice when those lovely cool temperatures and frozen ponds call to them. With a little patience, a whole lot of kismet and opportunity, and by starting now, they should be ready in time.

So Long, Stress!

Written by Helaine Becker

Illustrated by Joanna Sevilla

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-8770-1

152 pp.

Ages 9-13

August 2023

 

Self-help sections of bookstores are laden with books to help adults cope with everyday stress and debilitating anxiety. But, too often, we expect children to just manage with the same strategies that we might utilize. Just as there is no single solution for coping for us, applying adult strategies to children is problematic. By helping children understand stress and providing them with an array of strategies, they have an opportunity to say, "So Long, Stress!"

From So Long, Stress!, written by Helaine Becker, illus. by Joanna Sevilla

So Long, Stress! is so well-organized, and I wouldn't expect anything less from Helaine Becker who excels at non-fiction texts, making it easy for young readers to follow advice while giving them choices to help them help themselves. The book is divided into 5 parts with an additional section on resources as well as an extensive index. Part 1 deals with the physiology of stress, its purpose in aiding in survival, its symptoms, and how to identify one's own triggers.

From So Long, Stress!, written by Helaine Becker, illus. by Joanna Sevilla

Part 2, the largest section, focuses onto how to prevent and manage stress, from getting organized, developing a mindset to see challenges differently, relaxing through breathing, mindfulness, and exercise, and developing healthy habits for food and sleep.

Emotions are at the heart of Part 3 of So Long, Stress!, and since most of us associate stress with emotional distress, this section is key to helping young readers become familiar with their feelings. Becoming familiar includes acknowledging those emotions, expressing them, and reacting to them, as well as learning how to make meaningful connections with others, and finding creative outlets to help with self-care.

From So Long, Stress!, written by Helaine Becker, illus. by Joanna Sevilla

Inevitably, life will be filled with stresses and Part 4 considers how to deal with overwhelming challenges, including managing conflict.

Finally, Helaine Becker ends her comprehensive book with finding and asking for help, and provides resources that include websites, apps, and more.

So Long, Stress! includes everything, absolutely everything, a young person might use to help them find healthy habits to prevent stress, the means to face those inevitable challenges, and direction when those strategies might need extra support. Helaine Becker keeps her tone upbeat and hopeful that young people can manage, and she's given them a variety of angles from which to approach life's challenges. As an adult, I've had my share of stress and anxiety, and even I gleaned new tactics to help manage and endure. With her light but informative approach, coupled with Joanna Sevilla's colourful illustrations, Helaine Becker gets to the heart of stress and makes sure that young people have the means to deal with it successfully.

Because I Already Loved You

Written by Andrée-Anne Cyr

Illustrated by Bérengère Delaporte

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-973-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

August 2023

Reviewed from uncorrected proofs

 

There is often so much anticipation for the birth of a new baby. There are the parents, of course, whose lives will be significantly altered in love and lifestyle, but also for other family members, including young children. But what happens when things do not go to plan and there is no baby to join the family?

From Because I Already Loved You, written by Andrée-Anne Cyr, illus. by Bérengère Delaporte

The young child in Because I Already Loved You knows that a baby is coming, and he is excited. He can touch his mother's belly and feel the baby move. And everyone is preparing for the baby's arrival, from his dad who is painting the room next to his, and his grandmother retrieving stored baby toys and his uncle teaching the child to do magic tricks for his new sibling. The child gets in on all the preparations, drawing his own pictures, and choosing a toy to give to the baby, and practising entertaining tricks.

From Because I Already Loved You, written by Andrée-Anne Cyr, illus. by Bérengère Delaporte

Then Mommy and Daddy announce that the baby is on the way. But when they return, the child doesn't understand why the baby isn't with them. When he is told the baby died, he doesn't understand that the baby will not be coming back. He watches as his family deals in the aftermath of the stillbirth and tries to find a way to remember and cope with his own sadness "because I already loved you!"

From Because I Already Loved You, written by Andrée-Anne Cyr, illus. by Bérengère Delaporte

There are many stories about children anticipating the birth of a new sibling and there are quite a few about death and grief, primarily related to grandparents and pets. But never have I read a story that addresses a family's heartache upon a stillbirth, particularly from the perspective of a young child. Quebec author Andrée-Anne Cyr gives us the full range of emotions for this family, first so filled with longing and hope for a new child, and then the overwhelming sorrow and disorientation when that joyous event turns to one of loss. The child gets caught up in all of it, from the excitement of preparations and expectancy for a sibling to love and teach and play with, to the sadness of missing someone they'd already fallen in love with and of witnessing the pain of his parents and other family members. And though there is healing with time, that absentee baby will never be forgotten because, as the little boy tells it, "I've saved you a place in my heart." While Andrée-Anne Cyr keeps the text simple, conveying ideas and feelings spoken from a young child's point of view, it is also profound in depth of feeling. There is an intensity and authenticity in the child's words and thoughts, from the pleasure of anticipating a sibling to the grief because of their loss, and I'm saddened for anyone who has experienced such a bereavement. 

 

French artist Bérengère Delaporte conveys that full range of emotion in her illustrations, whether it's the joy and wonder of children or the gravitas of weighty circumstances as grief. With sensitivity and  acumen, Bérengère Delaporte ensures that the family remains the same at their core but changes the atmosphere around them. Their sorrow is seen as a pall, a dark cloud that hangs over the family, something that can, with time, dissipate.

From Because I Already Loved You, written by Andrée-Anne Cyr, illus. by Bérengère Delaporte

I've learned that stillbirths are not as uncommon as I'd thought, occurring about once in every two hundred births, depending on location and other circumstances. As such, a lovely picture book like Because I Already Loved You will be a valuable bibliotherapeutic resource for helping young children comprehend never meeting a sibling whose arrival they'd been expecting. And they can be assured that the love for that baby will not disappear, just be held forever in memory and in heart.

• • • • • • •

The original story is a French-language edition titled Je t'aimais déjà (Les 400 coups, 2021).

• • • • • • •

We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail

 Written by Masiana Kelly

Illustrated by Tamara Campeau

Inhabit Media

978-1-772274769

28 pp.

Ages 3-5

July 2023

 

This is a picture book about love. It's about how much love there is for a child, before its birth and after and even in the future, and it's the love that is seen in a northern environment of foxes, narwhals and muskoxen.  As such, We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail is a lullaby to a newborn.

From We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail, written by Masiana Kelly, illus. by Tamara Campeau

Speaking to their new baby, a family recalls how much they longed for the baby and how they celebrated its arrival. How do you express anticipation and adoration? They look to the familiar in their lives for demonstrations of love. There's the polar bear who loves to sleep and the caribou who love to run. In a northern environment, both green and flowered in the summer and crystal blue in the winter, and often vividly dynamic with the aurora borealis, there is much available to which the family can compare their love, both as it is and as it will be given.

From We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail, written by Masiana Kelly, illus. by Tamara Campeau

Masiana Kelly's text suggests a familiarity with those northern environs and, as an Inuk and Dene writer from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and as a mother, she obviously draws on her background. Her words speak of love and appreciation for her home of people and place. And that joy comes through with brilliance in Tamara Campeau's artwork. Oh, the colours and the life of those waters and skies, animals and land! These digital illustrations are filled with life, but then Tamara Campeau has always excelled at bringing the spirit of the north into her artwork and to the stories of others, like Grandfather Bowhead, Tell Me a Story and In the Sky at Nighttime.

From We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail, written by Masiana Kelly, illus. by Tamara Campeau

If you know anyone having a baby or just having had a baby, We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail would be a lovely gift to the family. It evokes the abundance of love and the closeness of family, and, no matter if the family lives in an urban landscape, in a prairie rural community, or a far northern region, We Love You As Much As the Fox Loves Its Tail will evince the joy of a new babe from its pages.

Everyone is Welcome

Written by Phuong Truong

Illustrated by Christine Wei

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-343-9

24 pp.

Ages 6-8

September 2023

The rise in hate messaging on social media and around the world, particularly against Asian community members during the pandemic, has been concerning and disheartening. Racism and prejudice against those who are seen as different–aren't we all different and unique?–is reprehensible and sadly growing. Phuong Truong and Christine Wei's picture book Everyone is Welcome speaks specifically to anti-Asian violence and how a child might be impacted by it. 

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

The eight-year-old narrator of Everyone is Welcome loves going to the Asian market with her family though she wishes that she were old enough to go alone to the corner store like her mother did when she was younger. Though it was a different time, when children could play on the street and go to the local store without supervision, her mother recalls being taunted for her Asian heritage with ethnic slurs and offensive gestures. Now the child hears of her grandmother's friend Mrs. Lee being pushed into the street and her brother tells her that some kids don't feel safe walking to school without support because of being targeted for being Asian. 

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

And then the child learns that a classmate is no longer allowed to play with her.

His dad told him that everything bad that's happened in the world is my fault. Mine and everyone who looks like me.

While there are no quick solutions, understanding and compassion from her mother and the opportunity to take a small step in helping go a long way.

From Everyone is Welcome, written by Phuong Truong, illus. by Christine Wei

All racism is abhorrent. Why are there those who target communities who may be different in their appearance, language, food and more and deem them less? It is hate, and it speaks more to ignorance than anything else. I'm sad to think that Toronto writer Phuong Truong and Vancouver illustrator Christine Wei and their families may have experienced such cruelties and felt unsafe. The message of Everyone is Welcome may be a simple one that we all belong. Period. It doesn't matter what we look like or where we come from or what languages we speak. The homes we make and the multiple communities to which we belong are ours and no less for being different than another. I know that much hatred percolates from fears and, for children, from familial directives but those offer no excuses. Christine Wei's dedication reminds us that there is still much work to do.

To that day we can all rewrite our fears of differences and celebrate them. – C.W.

While the premise of Everyone is Welcome–increasing violence against Asian communities–is a dark and sobering one, Phuong Truong and Christine Wei bring out the vibrancy of the child's communities at home, neighbourhood and school in their words and art. With her words, Phuong Truong shows us that there will always be compassion that will override the nastiness, and, with her art, Christine Wei brings us to the vivacity of that goodness of people.

For lessons in empathy, especially when needed to combat anti-Asian hate, Everyone is Welcome brings us to a place of both reality and promise. Hate has always been around, often just changing targets, but awareness and grace are universal, and they have and will overcome the worst when everyone is made to feel welcome.