2012 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards Finalists

| Tasha

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for their seven major children’s book awards.  I will list below the ones that are for English-language titles.  There is an additional prize, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse.

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award

  

The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock

No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools around the World by Susan Hughes

 

Seal Song by Andrea Spalding

Stones for My Father by Trilby Kent

 

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

  

Cinnamon Baby by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Janice Nadeau

Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid

Pussycat, Pussycat, Where Have You Been? by Dan Bar-el, illustrated by Rae Mate

 

Small Saul by Ashley Spires

Without You by Genevieve Cote

 

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction

  

Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan by Rafal Gerszak with Dawn Hunter

Biomimicry: Inventions Inspired by Nature by Dora Lee, illustrated by Margot Thompson

Loon by Susan Vande Griek, illustrated by Karen Reczuch

 

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools around the World by Susan Hughes

Scribbling Women: True Tales from Astonishing Lives by Marthe Jocelyn

 

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for young People

  

The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley

I’ll Be Watching by Pamela Porter

Shot at Dawn: World War I by John Wilson

 

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel

The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson

 

John Spray Mystery Award

  

The Case of the Missing Deed by Ellen Schwartz

Charlie’s Key by Rob Mills

The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock

 

Held by Edeet Ravel

True Blue by Deborah Ellis

 

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

  

Dreamline by Nicole Luiken

Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

 

Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston

What Happened to Serenity by P.J. Sarah Collins

Review: Bink & Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

| Tasha

bink and gollie two for one

Bink & Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile

Oh how I adore these two characters!  I was thrilled to see Bink and Gollie returning for a second book.  This time the friends head to the state fair.  Bink wants to play Whack a Duck but her aim is not as good as she might think.  She manages to hit the man running the booth with hysterically funny results.  The two girls then head to what Gollie wants to do, which is to enter the talent show.  She assures everyone that she has several talents and Bink continues to tell people that, but it doesn’t quite work out like Gollie had expected.  Finally, the friends head to the fortune teller’s tent where they are told just what they both want to hear most.  The entire book is a laugh-out-loud funny, warm and cozy work that is simply glorious.

I really enjoyed that the different chapters in the book have very different feelings.  The first is so wildly funny that I was chortling out loud to myself and had to share it with others in my family.  The writing throughout the book is smart, clever and funny.  Readers will be able to see the jokes coming, but the writing takes it to a different level.  Above all, these two are friends who stand together and celebrate their differences.

Fucile’s art is a huge part of both the humor and the warmth of the book.  Throughout the vaudeville humor of the first chapter, I was amazed at how much physical humor could be portrayed on a page.  He has his own sense of comic timing that adds so much.

Highly recommended, if you haven’t read Bink & Gollie yet, make sure to try both books.  Fans will adore this second in the series and long for the next one immediately.  This is a modern children’s classic.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

| Tasha

peculiars

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

This steampunk fantasy novel is set in the late 1800s.  Lena lives with her mother and grandmother and on her 18th birthday is given a letter that her father had left for her.  Her father left when she was a tiny child, leaving only one thing behind, Lena’s very long hands and feet.  Her hands are so long that they have an additional joint and she wears special gloves to make them less conspicuous.  The world she lives in is not accepting of “Peculiars” and Lena wonders if her hands and feet mark her as more than a genetic abnormality.  There are rumors her father was a goblin.  Along with the letter, Lena receives a deed to her father’s mine in Scree.  So she sets off on a journey north to Scree but before she can get there, the train she is on is attacked and her savings are stolen.  She met a very nice young man, Jimson on the train, and he mentioned working in a library.  She also met a handsome young marshal, Thomas Saltre, who asks her help in spying on someone who is experimenting upon Peculiars.  In exchange, he will help her find a guide to head to Scree.  Filled with steam powered machines, dubious inventions, and adventure this book asks deep questions that are not easily answered.

A lot of those questions focus upon what makes people different and whether genetics decide your personality.  There is also a strong look at persecution of people who are different, with laws that make them unable to own property and not be seen as really human.  There are even beliefs that people who are Peculiar do not have souls.  It is a fantasy lens look at a society moments before what could become a genocide.  This immense societal pressure adds to the tension throughout the book, and plays a factor in the way the story turns.

The book can be slow at times, though I was enjoying the world building enough that it did not concern me.   I enjoyed lingering in the library with Jimson and Lena, enjoyed unraveling the truth of what was happening.  The characters are intriguing and complex.

With the popularity of steampunk, this book should find an eager audience.  Readers may not expect such a complex society that poses such dark questions, and that will be a welcome surprise.

Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from Amulet Books.

Review: Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff

| Tasha

baby bear sees blue

Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff

Baby Bear wakes up next to his mother in the den.  Sunlight peeks into the den, warming him and Baby Bear sees yellow.  At the entrance to the den, the oak tree waves its leaves at him, and he sees green.  The jays in the trees are blue.  The trout in the stream is brown.  The scent of the strawberries leads him to discover red.  The tickle of a butterfly on his fur shows him orange.  The storm clouds are gray, but then they leave behind a rainbow.  Finally, at the end of his day, Baby Bear sees nothing but black.

Wolff has created a lush and rich picture book that truly celebrates colors in very natural way.  All of the elements of color seem unforced and honest.  She embraces cadences that roll off of the tongue, giving this book a wonderful rhythm.  The patterns create a book that will be loved by toddlers who will enjoy exploring colors alongside Baby Bear. 

What makes this book really work are the illustrations that are linoleum block prints painted by hand with watercolor.  This creates a combination of strong black line and foundation and then colors that have light and glow on the page. 

A top pick for color concepts, this book is a work of art that has plenty of toddler appeal.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen & Marc Rosenthal

| Tasha

ill save you bobo

I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen & Marc Rosenthal

Willy and Bobo return for their second book, following I Must Have Bobo!  Willy is trying to read a book with Bobo, his stuffed monkey, but Earl the cat keeps trying to steal Bobo away.  The rivalry established in the first book continues here as Willy starts to write his own story instead of reading one.  It is all about him and Bobo at first, with them in the jungle with plenty of snakes and living in a tent.  But again, Earl keeps on sneaking in and trying to take Bobo away.  So Willy adds Earl to the story, changing it to one of revenge!  In the end, Earl though is the one who takes a tiny bit of revenge.

Reading the first book is fairly critical here, since it explains the strained relationship between Willy and Earl.  The mood carries from one book to the next seamlessly and makes for great fun. Those new to the series though may not understand what Earl is trying to do.  This is a book that shows a kid who has real feelings, does not get sweeter as the book goes on, and one knows that this is not the end of his rivalry with the cat.  That adds to my enjoyment of the book, since Willy seems so much like a real child, rather than a picture book example of one.

This book also shows the creative process and will get children interested in writing their own picture books whether they have lots of snakes in jungles or not.  It’s a delight of creativity that is anchored well by the illustrations which have a frenzy and vibrancy that matches the story well.

Get this into the hands of fans of the first book, or hand them to children as a pair.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Let’s Hear It for Almigal by Wendy Kupfer

| Tasha

almigal

Let’s Hear It for Almigal by Wendy Kupfer, illustrated by Tammie Lyon

Almigal wears hearing aids in her favorite cotton-candy pink.  She has friends who all different in a variety of ways.  Some wear glasses, others are twins, some speak Spanish, and one of her friends also wears hearing aids, but hers are purple.  Almigal is happy most of the time, until she finds out that she can’t hear everything, things like her friends talking, bird chirps, or songs in ballet class.  Worst of all, when she is ready for bed, she can’t hear her parents say goodnight.  So her doctor recommends that Almigal get a cochlear implant.  She has to have an operation and is able to pick out a bright pink implant just like her hearing aids.  She has to work to learn to hear with the implant and be careful with them, but it works really well.  The best part of all, is that she can hear her parents say goodnight.

Kupfer is the mother of a child born with hearing loss.  She discovered the lack of books with children who have hearing loss and hearing aids and created this picture book.  As a new author, she has managed to create a very readable and focused story.  While it is the story of a girl getting her cochlear implant, it is also about the diversity around us and that everyone has something different about them.  Lyon’s illustrations have a charm to them that adds to the appeal of the book.  They are filled with bright colors and done in a very inviting way. 

An issue-oriented book that will have appeal to children with hearing loss and those without.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Raab Associates, Inc.

Review: Homer by Elisha Cooper

| Tasha

homer

Homer by Elisha Cooper

Homer is out on the porch when the day starts.  Everyone seems to have something that they want to do that day.  The other dogs want to run around and play chase.  Homer doesn’t want to.  He doesn’t want to play in the field either, or walk to the beach, or swim, or go to the market.  He stays on the porch.  One-by-one the others return from their day and everyone tells Homer about it.  The dogs are tired from running. He gets to smell the flowers from the field and even wear one. There are shells to smell, wetness from the beach, and produce from the market.  People finish their days out on the porch with Homer.  At the end of the day, Homer heads inside, eats his dinner, and happily falls asleep in a chair.

Cooper does several things in this very simple picture book.  First, he pays homage to the relationships of dogs and humans, the sort of dog that is quiet, steady and always there.  Homer is the sort of dog everyone wants on their porch too.  Second, Cooper speaks to the importance of simplicity and a life well lived.  This is done quietly as one watches Homer’s day, realizing the bliss that it brings him. 

The setting of the seaside and the summer activities, make this a great book to share when you have sand between your toes.  Even better if a dog is thumping his tail nearby.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns by Hena Khan

| Tasha

golden domes

Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors by Hena Khan, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini

This color concept book introduces young readers to Islam and the many gorgeous colors of that religion and culture.  So when the red of the prayer rug is talked about, so is praying five times a day.  There is the blue of her mother’s hijab, used to cover her hair.  Orange is the color of henna.  Yellow is the box for Eid gifts for those in need.  Green is the color of the Quran.  In each instance and others, the culture is woven into the colors in a beautiful and effortless way.  This is a look at Islam that is lovely, welcoming and filled with light and color.

Khan’s writing is very simply done.  The colors are natural fits with their objects in Islam, none of them seem forced at all.  She explains each color and object in only a few lines, leaving the bulk of the book for the beauty of the illustrations.  Amini’s work has a wonderful richness to it where she dedicates the entire two-page spread to one specific color, changing the background too.  She also uses textures throughout and a softness that makes it all the more inviting.

A beautiful tribute to Islam, this book will fill a niche in many public libraries.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: Georgia in Hawaii by Amy Novesky

| Tasha

georgia in hawaii

Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O’Keeffe Painted What She Pleased by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

In 1939, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company commissioned two painting by Georgia O’Keeffe.  This picture book is the story of her trip to Hawaii funded by the company.  O’Keeffe spent time on each of the Hawaiian islands.  Her first stop was Oahu where she saw pineapples in the fields.  She wanted to spend time close to the plants as they grew, but the company did not approve.  They gave her a pineapple that had been picked, but that was not the same for O’Keeffe.  She next went to Maui where she spent time near a rainforest and waterfalls.  She painted what she wanted, when she wanted.  On the island of Hawaii, she saw volcanoes, rare red coral and lots of flowers. Finally, she went to Kauai and visited with the local artists as the air was filled with the scent of burning sugar.  But when she returned to the mainland, she didn’t have a single picture of a pineapple.  The company was upset, and so was O’Keeffe, who hated being told what to paint.  So how could they resolve this?

Novesky brings the Hawaiian island to lush life in this picture book.  Her words tell of the beauty and diversity of the islands.  They also show how the islands impacted the work of Georgia O’Keeffe.  The story is told on a level that children will enjoy, giving examples of what inspired O’Keefe to paint and what did not.  It is a strong story about how creativity and inspiration work.

Morales’ art is so lovely.  As she says in her illustrator’s note at the end of the book, she took inspiration for the illustrations not only from the twenty paintings that O’Keeffe created in Hawaii, but also from works throughout O’Keeffe’s lifetime.  The illustrations have something that I can’t put into words.  It’s a kinship or a closeness with the original work. 

This is a gorgeous and striking picture book about a dynamic, one-of-a-kind artist.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy.