In a Jar, Out of a Jar

In a Jar

Out of a Jar

While in Marcero’s In a Jar, little bunnies Llewellyn and Evelyn collected things they loved. When moving homes separates them, they remain connected through teir collections. In Out of a Jar, Llewellyn is trying to contain his huge emotions. When he is extremely frightened, exuberantly excited, or steaming mad, he shoves all his color-coded emotions into jars and locks them in a closet. Yet, it isn’t long before he discovers the dangers of his methods.

The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read

The Oldest Student

By Rita Lorraine Hubbard

Can you imagine living from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement? Can you imagine learning to read at age 116? Mary Walker achieved her lifelong dream to learn to read when she was 116. How about imagining your first airplane flight at age 119? Mary surmised that "flying was a lot like reading: they both made a body feel free as a bird."

Dad By My Side

By Soosh

Browsing for a good Father's Day book, I stumbled upon Dad By My Side by author illustrator Soosh. The first thing to strike me was the vast difference in size between the burly, husky dad and the petite girl. In an author note, Soosh explains how this is on purpose in order to accentuate the way the daughter views her father -- as a sanctuary, a force of all good, and a source of wisdom. Shown in a variety of activities, dad is constantly present and willing to try his hand at anything, from hula hooping to sewing a dress to cheering each other up when they're sad. 

Warm watercolour vignettes were initially posted on Instagram and quickly garnered over 2 million views per week, propelling the publication of Dad By My Side. Soosh now has her second book out, Mermaid and Me, and it's equally charming.

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners

 

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners

By Joanna Ho

When a little girl notices her eyes look different from her friends’ eyes, she wonders why she has to be different. They all have big, round eyes "like sapphire lagoons with lashes like lace trim on ballgowns". She realizes that her eyes are like her family's eyes, and she slowly gathers strength and power in the knowledge that mother, her grandmother, and her little sister all have eyes that "kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future." Indeed, she is set down the path of self love, strength and acceptance.  

We all need stories like Eyes That Kiss in the Corners no matter what our race. If our eyes kiss in the corners, then this book can act as a mirror, a place one can see themselves. If our eyes do not kiss in the corners, then stories such as this one act as a window to the world and facilitate acceptance.

The illustrator, Dung Ho, presents vibrant images that have been digitally created and pair beautifully with the poetic prose. The author, Joanna Ho has an author page where she talks more about her own struggle with not feeling as if she fit into the world's standard of beauty. As she explains, this is essentially a book about love. "It is the story of the love shared between generations, the love we must develop for ourselves, and the love that we use to create change in the world."

In a Jar

In a Jar

By Deborah Marcero

Deborah Marcero studied visual arts at university and creative writing in graduate school, and although she did not set out to write children’s books, she can now look back and clearly connect the dots that led her to such tour de forces as her latest, In a Jar.

Llewellyn is a collector. Into glass containers he stores regular collectables such as leaves and heart-shaped rocks until the day he walks down to the river and meets a new bunny friend, Evelyn, sharing with her a jar full of “the color of tart cherry syrup”. This “cherry light” is just one of the intangible things Llewellyn and Evelyn begin to gather together, as their world fills with friendship, the sound of the ocean, the wind just before the snow falls, snowball fights and rainbows.

On the fateful day Evelyn tells her friend their family is moving; the two bunnies’ friendship becomes even more resilient. When Llewellyn sends Evelyn a jar stuffed with a meteor shower and it explodes all around her in a burst of magical realism, we see the strength of friendship. Alluring language, sophisticated drawings, and a marvelously vivid experience for all!

Saturday

Saturday

By Oge Mora

Oge Mora, the Caldecott Award Honor recipient for Thank you, Omu!, does a quick turnaround for another cheery picturebook, this one named Saturday. Ava and her mom set out to relish in their one day of the week spent together, as her mom works six days a week. What happens when they venture out begs the questions, how will you deal with life’s little road bumps?

Oge Mora's illustrations are vibrant collages created from paint, papers, textures she scans and photoshops, old book jackets she cuts up, sewing patterns, old paintings, china markers, and pastels.

Coyote Tales

Coyote Tales

By Thomas King

With his signature tongue-in-cheek humour, Thomas King presents readers with two tales of Coyote, an important figure in Indigenous stories.

Coyote first causes trouble in Coyote Sings to the Moon, when his terrible singing voice causes Moon to dive to the bottom of the pond and hide, plunging the nighttime world into darkness.  Old Woman and the animals in the forest are annoyed with Coyote and his antics, and must find a way to coax Moon back into the sky.  But listening to Coyote sing is driving them all crazy!  How can they get Moon back and keep Coyote quiet?

In Coyote’s New Suit, Raven convinces Coyote to steal the other animals’ suits, leaving Bear, Porcupine, Skunk, Raccoon, Beaver and Moose, naked in the woods!  Coyote even steals the human beings’ clothes from their clotheslines.   Meanwhile, Coyote wears his new suits “to the supermarket…, to the baseball game…, [and] to bingo.” (p. 48-49) But when he holds a yard sale to get rid of all his new suits, all the animals and humans show up.  Will everyone find their old clothing?  Or will they all get new suits?

Black and white illustrations by Byron Eggenshwiler add to this fun early chapter book.  Coyote Tales is a great read-aloud both at home and at school.

Highly recommended!

Carson Crosses Canada

Carson Crosses Canada

By Linda Bailey, illustrated by Kass Reich

Annie and her dog Carson live in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  When Annie decides to take a road trip to visit her sister in Newfoundland, Carson doesn’t realize how long it will take.

The cross Canada adventure takes Annie and Carson through Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, over the Rockies, across the prairies, to Niagara Falls and beyond.  The pair dances to Acadian music in their campground, swims in Lake Winnipeg, visits the home of Anne of Green Gables and finally meets Annie’s sister on her east coast island.

Kass Reich’s colourful paintings bring the landscapes and landmarks of Canada to life.

Carson Crosses Canada is a picture book that will appeal to children from 4-8 years old.

Highly recommended!