Wild Berries

By Julie Flett

Author Illustrator Julie Flett delivers a picture book set in both English and Cree. There are actually two editions: a bilingual English-Cree dialect version and one in a Cree dialect. In the English-Cree version, one Cree vocabulary word is highlighted on each page. A pronunciation guide follows at the end of the story.

Clarence and his grandmother have always gone blueberry picking together. Here they are, on a typical trip to the woods, picking both sweet and sour blueberries together and meeting the woodland animals. It is a very simple and content tale.

Browns, blacks and yellow-greens with a strong pop of salient red make up Flett’s stylistic images. The warm, muted colours and tones as well as the simplicity lend a peaceful and calming essence to the book. Her illustrations are done in collage and are reminiscent of printmaking.

Awards: First Nation Communities READ (2014-2015)

The Dark

By Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Laszlo is afraid of the dark. We see Laszlo clad in his blue jammies, playing on the hardwood floor of an empty room, with his torch tucked safely by his side. He appears ill at ease as he monitors the setting sun. The deadpan Lemony Snicket teams up with illustrator Jon Klassen to create a charming but haunting story where dark is personified to play out the classic battle between light and dark. “Hi Dark”, Laszlo would say to it everyday, until one day it responded, “Come closer.”

Snicket’s descriptive and powerful language pairs seamlessly with Klassen’s illustrations which evoke such an ominous yet sympathetic mood. The pictures are done in gouache and digitally to create a darling main character juxtaposed with a brilliant use of black space. The tension is palpable throughout, as we follow Laszlo around his large, creaky house, and allow our eyes to wander all over the matte black contrasted with the pale yellows and blues. Just scary enough!

Layla's Happiness

By Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, illustrations by Ashleigh Corrin

What does happiness mean to you? There are many ways to define it. Here is a story about a girl named Layla and all the things that make her happy: dark purple plums, the full moon, and night’s darkness. She has an overflowing love for her family, her friends, her neighbourhood, and nature. You will soak up Layla's healthy sense of self and positive energy she exudes when seeking out the good in life.

Historically children of colour have mostly been portrayed in certain types of books -- books showing the hardships of life for a person of colour. Of course these stories are incredibly important for society to learn from the past, however when a child rarely sees themselves depicted as carefree, confident and comfortable in their own skin, this impacts their self-worth. 

Equally as creative as the poetic text, the bold, textured illustrations beautifully capture Layla's spirit. This story of flourishing within family and community is also shown through the pictures which are bubbly, loud and proud. The warm, energized colours run right off the page as if they could not be contained -- much like Layla’s vivaciousness. 

Layla’s Happiness is the first book for both the author and illustrator, winning the 2020 Ezra Jack Keats Award for illustration and the 2020 Ezra Jack Keats Honor for writing. Ages 4-8.

Bloom

Bloom

By Kenneth Oppel

Anaya, Petra and Seth are three teens who live on Salt Spring Island, and all of them are a bit “different”.  Anaya is allergic to many, many things and constantly battles the acne that is caused by her allergies.  Petra has an extremely rare condition that makes her allergic to water (!).  And Seth is a foster kid who’s living with one of the island families.

When strange black “grass” begins to grow all over the island, no one can seem to get rid of it; it’s like the strongest weed in the world!  As the grass spreads through crops and forests, island residents start to experience terrible reactions to the unusual plants.  But Anaya, Petra and Seth are the exceptions.  For some reason, the plants don’t affect them at all.

Soon these invasive plants are spreading all over the world with deadly consequences.  Anaya’s dad, a biologist, sets off to Cordova Island to do some experiments and promptly disappears.  Meanwhile, CSIS (Canada’s version of the CIA) sends Dr. Weber to do tests on Anaya, Petra and Seth.  When the three friends and Dr. Weber begin searching for Anaya’s dad, they end up battling for their lives!

Bloom is a very suspenseful novel that will have you on the edge of your seat!  This is the first in a trilogy.

I Walk with Vanessa

By Kerascoët

Wordless picture books are a wonderful way to encourage a child's literacy skills. Without language prompts. the child must infer what is happening in the story by using only the illustrations and their imagination. Through this practice they will develop comprehension as well as an overall understanding of story structure and plot. 

That said, the more important reason to read I Walk with Vanessa can be summed up in one word: kindness. After witnessing a boy be incredibly mean to a girl on the way home from school one day, the main character thinks and thinks about what she saw. It weighs so heavily on her mind that she is still hurting for the other girl when morning comes. But breakfast brings an "aha moment" when she comes up with a plan to show Vanessa support. Knocking on Vanessa's door, she cheerfully pulls her by the hand and walks to school alongside her. One of the lessons shown in the book is how kindness begets kindness as more and more classmates join the two new friends and the crowd surges onto the school grounds as a united force.

Kindness is contagious.