Picture Books

Is This Panama? A Migration Story

Children need nature. This notion was urgently reasserted almost a decade ago by Richard Louv in his study Last Child in the Woods, in which he coined the term “nature deficit disorder,” positing that modern ... Read More »

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books

Nala’s Magical Mitsiaq: A Story of Inuit Adoption

By Jennifer Noah; Qin Leng, illus.

Telling the story of one family’s experience of Inuit custom adoption, Nala’s Magical Mitsiaq is the first title in the Community imprint from Inhabit Media, which involves members of the Nunavummiut community in the conception ... Read More »

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books

Whimsy’s Heavy Things

By Julie Kraulis

Much has been written lately about how to talk to young children about the tragic or scary events they are inevitably exposed to in the news or through their friends. Whimsy’s Heavy Things is a ... Read More »

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Picture Books

Loula Is Leaving for Africa

By Anne Villeneuve

Loula can’t stand her three roughhousing brothers. The final indignity comes when she is waylaid while carrying her tea set, so self-possessed Loula takes action to escape the “mean, terrible, stinky” triplets and punish her ... Read More »

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

★ Once Upon a Northern Night

By Jean E. Pendziwol; Isabelle Arsenault, illus.

A parent’s vision of a wintry Northern idyll leaps beautifully to life in this collaboration by author Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrator Isabelle Arsenault. As a young child sleeps snugly inside the comfort of a ... Read More »

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

Hoogie in the Middle

By Stephanie McLellan; Dean Griffiths, illus.

Scene: two children stand in the late afternoon sunlight comparing shadows. The little brother says, “Look! I’m long!” His older sister replies, “I’m longer.” Siblings give us our first experience of the tyranny of comparison. ... Read More »

June 19, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books

Community Soup

By Alma Fullerton

In this Stone Soup—flavoured story, a Kenyan school is busy with lunchtime preparations. While the teachers stir the broth, students pick vegetables from the community garden. Kioni is late – she’s looking for her goats, ... Read More »

May 21, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Dark

By Lemony Snicket; Jon Klassen, illus.

The Dark is a fantastic collision of literary phenomena: Lemony Snicket and Caldecott Medal winner Jon Klassen (This Is Not My Hat), who together create a story evoking the spooky old poem “In a Dark, ... Read More »

May 21, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten

By Maureen Fergus; Mike Lowery, illus.

Being a kid in kindergarten is tough, especially when your mom comes to spend the day at school. But in this delightful role-reversal tale, it’s Mom who acts out while her daughter hangs her head ... Read More »

May 21, 2013 | Filed under: Picture Books