Children's Literature
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Meanwhile, Back in Hades...
L. M. Falcone follows up her successful novel The Mysterious Mummer with the strangely touching Walking with the Dead, a foray into the popular genre of Greek mythology.
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The Urban Highway Robber
Artist Murray Kimber reimagines Alfred Noyes's romantic ballad "The Highwayman" for a generation of television- and cinema-savvy readers.
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Re-reading Myths and Fables: Donna Jo Napoli
Donna Jo Napoli's surprising re-tellings of familiar stories and myths breathe new life into many a tired tale. Here is an overview of some of her best works in the genre.
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Existential Thoughts on a Stormy Night
Michele Lemieux's "Stormy Night" is a story about a girl kept awake by a storm. With her dog Fido, she begins to wonder about the nature of the universe, and human existence. Lemieux's simple line drawings deftly depict a child's naive imagination.
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Improbabilities in Wallace Edwards' 'Monkey Business'
Wallace Edwards follows up his award-winning 'Alphabeasts' with 'Monkey Business,' a delightful book of illustrated idioms. Common idioms are illustrated in unexpected ways in this wittily executed picture book.
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L. M. Falcone's 'The Mysterious Mummer'
A message in Latin, eerie rituals, and a strange new friend add up to create an unforgettable Christmas holiday for Joey McDermet. In The Mysterious Mummer, Canadian author L. M. Falcone has written a formulaic but enjoyable tale in the tradition of Christmas ghost stories.
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'Toes In My Nose: and Other Poems' by Sheree Fitch
A look at the classic book "Toes In My Nose: and Other Poems," by Sheree Fitch.
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One Gives, and One Takes
Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree's story of the tree and her beloved boy remains in the memory of any reader.
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An Interpretation of 'Jabberwocky' by Stephane Jorisch
The often-imitated "Jabberwocky" has fascinated readers for over a century. A new book illustrated by Stephane Jorisch revisits the classic Lewis Carroll poem with a decidedly contemporary twist.
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'The Thought of High Windows': Memory of Evil
Lynn Kositsky’s The Thought of High Windows is a novel about Esther, a German Jew who evolves from a marginalised, friendless schoolgirl to become a young woman working for the Jewish Underground during the Holocaust.
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'Love You Forever': A Portrait of Parental Extremes?
"Love You Forever" by acclaimed children's author Robert Munsch is a timeless story of a parent's transcendent love for a child.
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Everyone Eventually is Consoled : Part II
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince has charmed readers for decades. Its sweetly sad story chronicles the journey of an aviator who meets a strange boy in the desert, and learns to open his mind again to the mysteries and wonders of life.
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Everyone Eventually is Consoled: Part I
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince has charmed readers for decades. Its sweetly sad story chronicles the journey of an aviator who meets a strange boy in the desert, and learns to open his mind again to the mysteries and wonders of life.
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Chinese-Canadian Dreams and Disillusions: 'Tales from Gold Mountain'
Tales from Gold Mountain is a picture book for readers of all ages who are interested in, or would like to learn, about the history of the first Chinese immigrants to Canada's west coast.
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A Quebecois Paean to Lost Love -- 'Annabel Lee' Revisited
Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" was published days after his death in 1849. More than a century later, Gilles Tibo's picture book interpretation of Poe's haunting work is an uneasy amalgamation of grown-up themes and naive imagery.
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An Unlikely Ghost Story
Melvin Burgess's unusual ghost story is an empathetic study of ageing and a child's first inkling or mortality. David finds a ghost in the building where he lives, and a friend in Mr. Alveston, the old man upstairs. What is the link between the ghost and Mr. Alveston?
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Plot Synopsis and Character Analysis of Avi's "Crispin: The Cross of Lead"
A look at the historical and mythical underpinnings of Newbery Award winner "Crispin: The Cross of Lead".
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'No-Place' Like Home: Utopia and Dystopia in 'The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm'
In "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm", three Zimbabwean children leave the safety of home to explore a city ravaged by ecological disaster. They encounter a society that tries to preserve ways of the past, but they are in constant danger wherever they go. Fortunately, a trio of mutant detectives, Arm, Eye, and Ear, are always just one step behind.
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The Vanishing People
Penelope Larkspur and illustrator Leslie Elizabeth Watts created a magical guidebook for understanding fairy folk in The Secret Life of Fairies. But the fairies are not as common as they once were. This picture book helps preserve some of fairy life, customs, and culture.
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The Railway and the Treaty: Boyhood, History, and Racism
Ted Stenhouse's first two books "Across the Steel River" and "A Dirty Deed" depict the unlikely friendship between Will, a white boy, and Arthur, a Blackfoot Indian, in 1940s Alberta. Together they discover some of the secrets of small-town Grayson and its citizens.
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'How Different Wishes Can Be' : 'The Thief Lord' by Cornelia Funke
Welcome to the world of The Thief Lord, a realm of oppressive poverty and incredible wealth, and good always triumphs over evil.
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Love Letters from the Front: 'A Foreign Field' by Gillian Chan
Gillian Chan's "A Foreign Field" is a study of first love and the tragedy of war, told from the points of view of a doomed young RAF pilot and the Canadian school girl who loves him.
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A Pencil and Paper Menagerie: Wallace Edwards' 'Alphabeasts'
Wallace Edwards' alphabet book situates meticulously drawn animals, including a rhino, a mandrill, and an octopus, in an old Victorian mansion. What are they doing there? Are there hidden meanings in the rhyming couplets? This is a book with many stories to tell.
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Mennyms: A Life Perfectly Ordinary
Sylvia Waugh's Mennyms saga concerns a family of life-sized rag dolls living in suburban London. But how long can they keep themselves a secret? By turns domestic drama and fantasy, the Mennyms' story is an unusual entry in the canon of children's literature.
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Names and Palimpsest in Linda Sue Park's 'When My Name Was Keoko'
An analysis of Linda Sue Park's historical novel When My Name Was Keoko.
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Mr. Snicket's Mock-Gothic Caricature (A Phrase Which Here Means 'Imitative Parody') : Part III
The third part of a critique of Lemony Snicket's idiosyncratic, wordplay-abundant A Series of Unfortunate Events.
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Mr. Snicket's Mock-Gothic Caricature (A Phrase Which Here Means 'Imitative Parody') : Part II
The second part of a critique of Lemony Snicket's idiosyncratic, wordplay-abundant A Series of Unfortunate Events.
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Mr. Snicket's Mock-Gothic Caricature (A Phrase Which Here Means 'Imitative Parody') : Part I
The first part of a critique of Lemony Snicket's idiosyncratic, wordplay-abundant A Series of Unfortunate Events.
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The Misfit Mysteries of Ellen Raskin: Part II
Ellen Raskin (1928-1984) was a prolific writer, graphic artist, book illustrator, and designer. In two parts I review two of her oddest books, "The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)" and "Figgs & Phantoms".
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The Misfit Mysteries of Ellen Raskin: Part I
Ellen Raskin (1928-1984) was a prolific writer, graphic artist, book illustrator, and designer. In two parts I review two of her oddest books, "The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)" and "Figgs & Phantoms".
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Of Goldfish, Goats, and Gappers
A comparative review of two picture books for older children/adults: "The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish" by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, and "The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip" by George Saunders and Lane Smith.
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The Name's Fowl. Artemis Fowl.
On the quest to find a new children's book that actually justifies the hype? Artemis Fowl is not that book.
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