★ Yak and Dove

Like the title characters in their new book, author Kyo Maclear and illustrator Esmé Shapiro are an unassuming comedic dream team. Maclear writes with the perceptive, gentle quirkiness for which she’s become known. Shapiro’s debut ... Read More »

July 31, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

A Pattern for Pepper

By Julie Kraulis

In her latest picture book, Julie Kraulis looks at textiles and clothing from a perspective far removed from both contemporary, disposable fast fashion and flashy haute couture. A Pattern for Pepper is an appealing introduction ... Read More »

July 28, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

All Around the Circle

By Cara Kansala; Max Dorey (ill.)

Little ones love a lively scene, and there’s plenty for them to look at in the rollicking illustrations that accompany Cara Kansala’s spirited poems in All Around the Circle. Kansala and her long-time artistic collaborator ... Read More »

July 28, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Puffin Problem

By Lori Doody

July 28, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Pikiq

By Yayo; Talleen Hacikyan (trans.)

Tropical birds fly through a snowy forest, or perch in a maze of caribou antlers; a frog riding on a fish pulls a sled containing a bonsai tree; a boy builds a kayak from the ... Read More »

July 25, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ My Wounded Island

By Jacques Pasquet; Marion Arbona (ill.); Sophie B. Watson (trans.)

Imarvaluk lives on Sarichef, a tiny island off the west coast of Alaska. She fears for her home, as a terrible sea creature is slowly eating away at the island. She has nightmares in which ... Read More »

June 22, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Gold Leaf

By Kirsten Hall; Matthew Forsythe (ill.)

For centuries, authors of fables have invited animals into the human realm to point out the errors of our ways. In these days so fraught with human foolishness, it makes sense that writers and artists ... Read More »

June 19, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Fog

By Kenard Pak (ill.); Kyo Maclear

June 19, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Carson Crosses Canada

By Kass Reich (ill.); Linda Bailey

Among new books celebrating Canada’s sesquicentennial are two children’s titles with a focus on geography. Both give readers a sense of the different landforms and attractions that characterize our vast country. My Canada: An Illustrated ... Read More »

June 12, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books