The Littlest Sled Dog

By Michael Kusugak; Vladyana Krykorka, illus.

The Littlest Sled Dog is the ninth collaboration between Inuit storyteller Michael Kusugak and Czech-born illustrator Vladyana Krykorka. Like several of their earlier works, this one is set in Kusugak’s hometown of Rankin Inlet. The ... Read More »

December 10, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

Big Little Monkey

By Carole Lexa Schaefer; Pierre Pratt, illus.

At home in Mango Tree, Big Little Monkey wakes early and wants to play. But since his family isn’t ready to get up, he decides he’s big enough to go off and play by himself. ... Read More »

December 4, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Princess Who Had Almost Everything

By Mireille Levert; Josée Masse, illus.

In this picture book, originally published in French, Montreal author Mireille Levert adapts a traditional folk-tale plot: Alicia, a demanding princess, must be appeased, and her hand won by someone ingenious enough to please her ... Read More »

December 4, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ Pumpkin People

By Sandra Lightburn; Ron Lightburn, illus.

This comically eerie picture book celebrates a folk tradition of the authors’ adopted hometown of Kentville, Nova Scotia. “Pumpkin people” (a term that Kentville, recognizing the tourism potential of folk traditions, has registered as a ... Read More »

December 1, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

Milton’s Secret

By Eckhart Tolle and Robert S. Friedman; Frank Riccio; illus.

The big problem with kids, apparently, is that they spend too much time obsessing over the Then and the When and not living in the moment. If only they were able to let go of ... Read More »

November 7, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

Berkeley’s Barn Owl Dance

By Tera Johnson; Tania Howells, illus.

The familiar theme of leaving the nest is perhaps appropriate for a first picture book, and Calgary’s Tera Johnson and Toronto illustrator Tania Howells are both trying out their wings with this story. Berkeley the ... Read More »

November 3, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Sweetest One of All

By Jean Little; Marisol Sarrazin, illus.

In the barnyard, everyone is having babies, and the babies are asking plenty of questions. The lamb asks her mother, “Who are you?” and is told, “I am your mother.” She then asks: “Who am ... Read More »

November 3, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ The Boy Who Ate the World (and the girl who saved it)

By Don Gillmor; Pierre Pratt, illus.

Don Gillmor’s delightfully alarming new picture book begins with the absurd premise that a boy could eat up so much of the world that “The earth wasn’t even round any more. It was shaped like ... Read More »

November 3, 2008 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

Anything But Hank!

By Rachel Lebowitz and Zachariah Wells; Eric Orchard, illus.

Anything But Hank aims high, attempting to combine Lewis Carroll’s whimsy with Robert Service’s sense of rough adventure. Or so says the jacket blurb. The cover art hints at action and weirdness, with a baby ... Read More »

October 29, 2008 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Woman Who Married a Bear

By Elizabeth James; Atanas, illus.

The oral traditions of many of the First Nations of Western Canada and the U.S. include a story about a woman who married a bear. While peripheral details vary from nation to nation, the stories ... Read More »