August 30, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
Laurel Croza spent her early childhood moving with her family from dam project to dam project in northern Saskatchewan. In I Know Here, she distills that experience into a simple, achingly beautiful picture book. The ... Read More »
In her second children’s novel, Ann Towell of Shetland, Ontario, employs a little-known historical event as the foundation for a solid coming of age story featuring complex characters and a nuanced exploration of race and ... Read More »
June 11, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
Learning to assert yourself is not really about having a big voice, it’s about using the one you have – such is the lesson of Lana Button’s first picture book. Willow is all too familiar ... Read More »
June 11, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
There are few things as charming as the deeper reaches of a child’s imagination. Quebec illustrator and children’s author Luc Melanson draws on this adorable quality in his newest picture book. A little boy leads ... Read More »
April 19, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly; And I (poor monster) fond as much on him; And she (mistaken) seems to dote on me. This is from Twelfth Night, at the point where ... Read More »
March 15, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
With her new novel, Toronto writer Lynne Kositsky has delivered an action-packed adventure that doesn’t let up from its opening scene. When Noah Vaile, a runaway, is kidnapped from the streets of 17th-century Bristol and ... Read More »
March 15, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
Authenticity of voice is one of the key components of a successful YA novel. Attuned as they are to the minute linguistic shifts of their all-important peer groups, young readers will spot a misused “dude” ... Read More »
March 15, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
When 14-year-old Jim dashes onto a busy Toronto street in hot pursuit of Lloyd, his favourite whipping boy, he’s sure he’s got the situation in hand. After all, the whole west end neighbourhood is terrified ... Read More »
March 15, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
With cooking shows proliferating on TV, and with the 2007 hit movie Ratatouille (about a rat that loves to cook), it was probably inevitable that someone would take a stab at creating the sort of ... Read More »
March 15, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books
Parents often look at their teenagers and wonder: “What the heck is going on in that head?” The moping, the slouching, the copious amounts of black clothing – all can be attributed, for the most ... Read More »
February 8, 2010 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction