February 2, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
In 1760, 13-year-old John joins his father, Captain MacNeil, on his return to Canada from England. The captain thinks time in the uncharted war zone of the New World will “make a man” out of ... Read More »
The Divorced Kids Club is an unfortunate title for this collection, implying a high level of angst that is thankfully not delivered. Very few of the characters in these stories are the children of divorce. ... Read More »
February 2, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
Martha Brooks’ latest novel for young adults expands the horizons of the coming-of-age story. Not only does Laker, the 16-year-old protagonist, find himself on the inhospitable threshold of adulthood, but the other main character, Henry, ... Read More »
February 2, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
Jan Mark’s effervescent text and Regolo Ricci’s jewelled illustrations in Mr. Dickens Hits Town make a striking debut for Tundra’s new line, Storybooks, intended for readers making the transition to novels.Mark mingles fact and fiction ... Read More »
February 2, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction
To pass the time while she waits for her new brother to be born, Mollie makes a list of important things to show him: the five wriggly tadpoles she caught, a newly laid chicken egg, ... Read More »
January 29, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
It is often said that Oscar Wilde wrote The Happy Prince for his children, but I have my doubts. Wilde first told the story to a group of Cambridge students and read it to his ... Read More »
January 29, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
Nonsense verse has a ready appeal for most young children, and ever since the publication of Dennis Lee’s Alligator Pie, Canadian poets have produced many fun rhymes for families to chant and chuckle over. Mama ... Read More »
January 29, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
For bedtime or for anytime, these gentle, whimsical tales by veteran Irish storyteller and author Sam McBratney are delightfully paired with the pictures of Kady MacDonald Denton to make a book of lasting appeal. Author ... Read More »
January 29, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
Lois Simmie opens her sequel to the popular Mister Got to Go with an allusion to Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline books: “In an old hotel covered with vines….” Unfortunately, this inspires the reader to make unfavourable ... Read More »
January 29, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books
Eric Walters has dedicated his latest novel to the memory of Sir William Stephenson, the Canadian who headed British security during the Second World War and established a spy camp in Whitby, Ontario, in 1941. ... Read More »
January 27, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction