Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Mostly I'm not that big a fan of YA historical fiction that are set in modern history. Finding a novel set in the 70's or 80's feels weird, mainly because I've been alive during part of those years, and... Read the rest of this post
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Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Class and Identity in YA literature, Ethnicity and YA Literature, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Biracial, Add a tag
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Bullying, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Problem Novels, Sibling Fiction, TSD Review, Mothers & Daughters, Add a tag
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Trapped.Every fingernail scrapesOn shut doors,Ripping off.At least the bloodcan escape. - from the ARCSynopsis: Fifteen-year-old Hope is her mother's last chance for vicariously getting out of the... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Middle Grade, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Class and Identity in YA literature, Add a tag
The second "episode" in the Nicki Haddon mysteries continues Chinese-born heroine Yu Fin's adventures with MI6, the FBI, and other super secret agencies that this sixteen-year-old manages to infiltrate and outthink. Summary: Since her involvement in... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ethnicity and YA Literature, Historical Fiction, Canadian, Class and Identity in YA literature, Add a tag
Mid-autumn might seem like a weird time to start reading about baseball again, but since the World Series victories are still echoing in our ears, I think it's a fine time to start thinking about spring training again. One of the first books my... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge Contest, Chosen family fiction, Add a tag
I love fish-out-of-water novels so much. Junior high seems to be the perfect age to experience new things and retain the adventure of the newness, while exploring the difficulties of adjusting and taking it all in stride. Daphne Greer has written a... Read the rest of this post
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Canadian, Add a tag
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author Carol Matas. Matas has written 45 books for children and teens and has won many awards. Recently she was named a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award for Tuscon Jo, a novel inspired by Tuscon, Arizona's first Jewish mayor.
AUDIO:
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CREDITS:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
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Blog: Perogies & Gyoza (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: middle grade, MIddle east, Canadian, ages 10+, Add a tag
The Cat at the Wall
Written by: Deborah Ellis
Published by: Groundwood Books
Published on: August 11, 2014
Ages: 10+
Clare is a regular girl at a regular school in Pennsylvania, but with a mean streak. Clare is also a cat in the West Bank of the Middle East, who finds a boy hiding from Israeli soldiers. How Clare became a cat and what Clare the cat decides to do about the boy are just two of the mysteries told in this middle grade novel.
Ellis has impecable nonfiction credentials (Looks Like Daylight, Kids of Kabul) and she combines her extensive knowledge of the Israeli-Palestine situation to illuminate an important theme- that we all have choices and we can improve or worsen other people's lives as a result of the path we choose.
The fantasy element was actually quite well-done, although different from what I expected from Ellis' work. The juxtaposition of a normal middle-class life in the US with the fear of an orphaned boy in one of the world's most conflicted areas is clever and the fantasy element makes it feel less like a moral tale.
Blog: Perogies & Gyoza (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: animals, board book, funny, Canadian, ages 3+, Add a tag
Don't
Written by: Litsa Trachatos
Illustrated by: Virginia Johnson
Published by: Groundwood Books
Published on: October 14, 2014
Ages: 3+
This is a great, silly picture book for preschoolers that introduces animals and grammar, all while giving the reader the giggles.
Trachatos comes up with some amazingly illogical scenarios, starting with "Don't start a food fight with an octopus." Not only does the reader then have to think about that animal (hints are given on the next page) but they also get to laugh about the situation which would never happen. This is a huge deal in the preschool world, and this has been the best read aloud I have had at my library sessions in the last couple of years.
Johnson's watercolour illustrations deserve mention as well. Watercolour is a perfect medium for non-threatening depictions of threatening situations (nobody wants to find a bear in their bed!) and the simple children's faces frame the reactions to the ridiculous very well.
Highly recommended for anyone with a preschooler.
Blog: Perogies & Gyoza (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: ages 4+, rosy cheeks, breaking stereotypes, Canadian, Add a tag
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress
Written by: Christine Baldacchino
Illustrated by: Isabelle Malenfant
Published by: Groundwood Books
Published on: May 13, 2014
Ages: 4+
Morris Mickelwhite, son of Moira and roommate of Moo the cat, is a character. He's creative and strong and unique. When he hits a snag he takes a moment out then dusts himself off and comes back up again.
Morris loves to play dress up in a tangerine dress, and I'm sure you can imagine the comments he gets from school mates. These comments about something he love give him a stomachache. Taking time off to regroup with his mother, his cat, and his imagination gives him the confidence to go into school and blaze his own path.
I have read a lot of "issue" books and it just doesn't work if the quality isn't there. In this case the storytelling, the character building, and the artwork are well beyond what you would expect of a normal picture book. Baldacchino uses great use of onomatopoeia to bring interest to younger readers as well as older readers who will enjoy the story and characters.
Morris isn't the only the star character. Malenfant uses the same deft hand for the moving expressions on Morris' face as she does to bring the tangerine dress to life. Make no mistake, this dress will be as fascinating to most readers as to Morris. Malenfant's charcoal, watercolour and pastel illustrations draw your eye to that dress and make you realize just why he has such a yearning for it.
This is more than just an issue book. Yes, it breaks gender stereotypes and gives a great role model for going your own way, but the reason you'll re-read it is because of the stunning artwork and the way the words work perfectly together.
Blog: Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Adventure, Crossover, MG, Canadian, A Cybilsm?, Chosen family fiction, Add a tag
Rarely do I get something as absolutely delightful in the mailbox as the unexpected package I received all the way from Halifax this week. It brought news -- big news: There are still PIRATES in the backwoods of Nova Scotia. Pirates -- and get this... Read the rest of this post
Blog: Perogies & Gyoza (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: board book, Canadian, Ages 0+, Add a tag
Out The Window
Written and Illustrated by: Cybèle Young
Published by: Groundwood Books
Published on: February 25, 2014
Ages: 0+
Provided by the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.
Governor General’s Award winner Young is able to make a few simple phrases into a big adventure, and just by changing the font the meaning can completely change. This double story, of what goes on both inside and outside the window, would be great fun for any toddler.
Blog: Perogies & Gyoza (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: picture book, humour, Canadian, Add a tag
Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween (CAN, JP, US, INT)
Written and Illustrated by: Mélanie Watt
Published by: Kids Can Press
Published on: September 1, 2013
Ages: 4+
Provided by the publisher via Netgalley for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
The leaves are falling and the weather is cooling off. This must mean it's time for Halloween!
You would think that Halloween would be the best or worst holiday for Scaredy Squirrel, depending what side of the fence you fall on. Do you love it when Scaredy flips out because he's scared? Or are you rooting for this loveable Squirrel to get back in his safe tree and never be scared again?
My kids are firm fans of the freak out. So they loved this book.
Scaredy Squirrel's humour has gotten more and more cheeky as time goes on. This book is full of great ideas, but the best ones are where Scaredy is laughing at himself. Take, for example, his ideas for villain costumes; Killer Bee, Shark, Germ. The best is the scare-ometer rating the scariness of each costume. It will come as no surprise that the Germ is the most terrifying.
Usually when I read a book out loud to a group of non-native speaker kids, I don't choose stories that don't have a narrative, just because it is hard for them to follow along. This never happens with Scaredy though, kids laugh and laugh from beginning to end.
Mélanie Watt has another hit on her hands, and I fully expect everyone to see Scaredy Squirrel- faces on the pumpkins of homes with young kids from this year.
This is the twelfth book I have reviewed for the Seventh Canadian Book Challenge.
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Anne Dublin, children's books, Holocaust, Canadian, Add a tag
The Book of Life's Canadian correspondent, Anne Dublin, interviews author Kathy Kacer about the compilation of children's responses to the Holocaust entitled We Are Their Voice.
AUDIO:
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CREDITS:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, Canadian, Add a tag
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Canada, mixed media, Canadian, pixel illustration, Add a tag
With this illustration, I wanted to create the feeling of coming apart inside. The piece began with heavily pixelating a photo, taking it apart digitally and then reconstructing. It's one of those illustrations that started with only a very basic concept, and grew into it's own being without me knowing where it would go. Hope you enjoy! See it at http://www.melissabergen.net/
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Canadian, Anne Dublin, Add a tag
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author and filmmaker David Bezmogis about his development as a writer and his new novel The Free World. Learn more about David at bezmozgis.com, and more about Anne (who is a librarian and an author in her own right) at www.annedublin.ca.
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected] or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, Canadian, Book Expo, Add a tag
- Heidi Estrin interviews Rona at Book Expo America
- The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews Rona at home in Toronto
Blog: wheelerwrite (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: work, Canada, snow, beer, Canadian, stew, Add a tag
We were snowed in as usual. The cabin fever began to grow. There was barely room for all of us and the animals. Nothing could be left out in this cold.
The wind shrieked and howled while the snow buried our houses with us in them.
The digging started right away, of course. Those of us who were nearest the door were given shovels and plows whether we wanted them or not.
Granny sat by the wood stove. She was blind but she was knitting. There would be a long scarf for the children by the time we tunnelled to daylight.
Children howled and shrieked with joy as they buzzed through the crowded residence. Families and extended families with their neighbours and their extended families sheltered in the humble abode.
Gramps saw it once. One time, so they say, before he passed away, Gramps emerged from the snow tunnel the day before the winter snows descended again. He looked upon the homestead that day, without snow on it and never spoke another word.
Caribou jerky hung from the ceiling. Wood stoves kept the stew stewing.
We took it in shifts. We hoped, in our modest way, to make it out before the snows came again. We aimed to see what Gramps saw.
Farmyard beasts mated in the back, among the hanging furs. Birds sat in the rafters and dropped droppings as we dug for many days.
Once, it became lighter and we thought we had reached the end in record time. We were wrong, of course. A cave-in deprived many of consciousness. Lively Irish fiddle music replaced lively Scottish fiddle music which replaced lively French fiddle music. Then they reversed.
Stew and beer awaited those who participated in the digging. It wasn’t an occupation which promoted good health, but as our neighbour, Mr Clark said,
“Up, up and away! ”
Children were born, old ones passed along, the population’s size expanded and shrunk. The digging went on, but it was slow work.
We were sure to reach the end by the return of the snowstorms, but what then? Did we always have to do this? Is this what life was about?
It was in this frame of mind that I’d become separated from the main group. I don’t know how it happened.
I wandered through a shiny crystal tunnel. I was lost.
The temperature was all right but I had no food or water. A mysterious tugging kept me walking on without fear.
Then it was over as soon as it had begun. I emerged into a warm field full of sunshine and trees and grass and birds.
A small man dressed in green sat with his back up against a towering oak tree. He was fingering a flute, trying out different notes by covering different holes.
I sat down in front of him and watched.
His bushy grey eyebrows flickered as he stared at his fingers in concentration.
He blew a few notes, wrinkled his nose and placed the flute in an inside jacket pocket. From this he withdrew a deerstalker pipe and tobacco.
When he had lit up and enjoyed the smoke, he smiled and looked at me.
”Well now, how are you and the Canadians you know?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I felt good right then, at that moment.
But how was I really? And the Canadians I knew?
This flashed through my mind in a nanosecond, but the little man’s eyes showed that he was waiting for me to catch up.
It seemed that he was reading my mind. I only had to think something and he would chuckle to himself. It made me examine every thought.
“Fine” I said.
“Fine? Fine?” he chuckled, drew a good draught on his pipe.
When I looked into his eyes I could only think of the digging. Stew, beer and digging.
It wasn’t a happy fate that awaited Canadians. The reality of it struck me in the face like a cold mackerel.
“Well, you seem to have caught me unawares, so I’ll grant you the wish you desire” said the little man dressed in green. He produced a wand and stood at the ready. H
Blog: Darcy Pattison's Revision Notes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book, publishing, copyright, canadian, novel revision, Add a tag
Blog: DRAWN! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: RIP, Canadian, Clément Sauvé, Montréalais, illustrator, comics, Add a tag
Clément Sauvé 1977-2011
I’m tired of beautiful, talented people dying too soon.
I met Clément but twice, and the first time I didn’t even remember until he and Yanick Paquette reminded me:
It was at a convention in Toronto. Clément approached me with a portfolio of work, of which I approved. I asked him about his pace, and he professed that he was quite slow. Authoritatively, I replied that no matter how good he was, the faster artist would always get the job.
It was meant to encourage good work habits, but he was crushed, knowing already, at that young age, his own parameters. He went on to mostly do things outside of the sometimes brutal deadlines of comics, and it’s just as well; he was too good to be wasted on the monthly grind.
Later, he was working in Yanick’s studio at a time when I was writing (and sometimes drawing) Adventures of Superman. Yanick filled in on pencilling for issue #577 and I drew the cover, with Superman literally bursting through a window to intercede between a Kansas State Trooper and a thin young man with close-cropped hair and a t-shirt… much like the man reading my little yellow book in the upper left above, much like Clément.
So much so that in the studio they thought I had drawn him from life, but of course that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t even know his name until seven years later, in an elementary school cafeteria on the other side of the world.
You meet a lot of people at the convention table, and you try to do right by them for a few minutes. It’s hard to remember that after you part, they might take that encounter back into their own lives, that it might make a difference for good or ill. I wish that Clément had had more opportunity to influence others in that way, to become a mentor befitting his talent. He had more to give than 33 years.
Stuart Immonen beautifully and eloquently remembers Clément Sauvé, who lost his fight with cancer last night. Our kind thoughts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: awards, Canadian, Anne Dublin, Add a tag
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews winners of the 2010 Helen & Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards at the gala ceremony in Toronto. For the full list of 2010 winners, click here.
Anne spoke with:
- Eva Wiseman, author of Puppet (Youth Literature category)
- Goldie Sigal, author of Stingy Buzi and King Solomon / Der karger Buzi un Shloymeh Hameylekh (Yiddish category)
- Robin McGrath, author of The Winterhouse (Fiction category)
- Mystery writer Howard Engel (Special Achievement Award)
AUDIO:
Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.
EMBED:
If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
CREDITS:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by:
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Illustrator, Canadian, Comic artist, Jesse Jacobs, Add a tag
Interview with Canadian comic artist Jesse Jacobs on Squidface and The Meddler:
http://www.squidfaceandthemeddler.com/interviews/jesse-jacobs
"The natural world and the otherworldly converge in strange and beautiful ways in the comics of Canadian artist Jesse Jacobs. We caught up with Jesse to ask him about comics, the great outdoors, and his forthcoming book “Even The Giants”. "
Blog: JACKET KNACK (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: canadian, british columbia, Add a tag
As promised, I've gathered a sample of Canadian covers that have successfully avoided hockey & canoe stereotypes. Two old favorites include Red Is Best by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Robin Baird Lewis (Annick Press, 1988),
and the Mole Sisters series by Roslyn Schwartz (Annick Press). Her books offer sweet covers that are little works of art.
But not all great Canadian book covers come from decades past. Here are some from not so long ago that highlight the variety of styles you can find in Canadian children's books.
A simple yet thought provoking cover appears on Sarah N. Harvey's YA novel Plastic (Orca Book Publishers, 2010).
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Canadian, Anne Dublin, children's books, historical fiction, Holocaust, Add a tag
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondant, Anne Dublin, interviews author Kathy Kacer. Kathy has written many, many Holocaust novels for young people, including The Diary of Laura's Twin, which won a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Book Award.
For the impressive list of Kathy's works, click here.
AUDIO:
Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.
EMBED:
If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
CREDITS:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
Blog: DRAWN! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Illustration, video, Animation, Canadian, Malcolm Sutherland, Add a tag
Montreal Animator Malcolm Sutherland shared his latest video with me. La Fete is like watching a sketchbook of observational life drawing come to life. It shows the power that sound can have on even the simplest of animations. Beautiful.
Also, his entries for Star Wars Uncut are brilliant, and I hereby demand that he now animate the entire film:
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog |
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Tags: Animation, Canadian, Malcolm Sutherland, video
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I've got the birthday one. This should be worth buying too. I usually find myself laughing more than my preschooler!
Totally! I love these books for that! My kids have some corny knock-knock jokes that only a preschooler could love but these entertain me!!