Journal articles on the topic 'Illustrated book for children'

The low consumption of vegetables and fruit in school-age children is one of the unresolved nutritional problems in Indonesia. A way to improve vegetable and fruit eating behavior is to increase students' knowledge and attitudes through illustrated story book and heroic tales. The aim of this study is to find out the impact of picture books on students' knowledge and attitude. This is a quasy experimental study with Non equivalent control group with a pre-test and post-test which was followed by 97 fourth gradeelementary school students including 41 students of intervention group and 56 students of control group. The mann-whitney test is used to see whether there are relationships between independent variable (given of illustrated story books) and the dependent variable (knowledge and attitude) between the intervention and control groups.The results showed a significant increase in knowledge and attitudes in the group which given illustrated story book. There were also significant differences in knowledge changes between the intervention and control groups. Illustrated story books can significantly increase students' knowledge about vegetables and fruitKeywords : Knowledge; Attitudes; Vegetable; Fruits; Illustrated Story Book

In Christian education, inheriting faith values to children since a young age was a pivotal responsibility for parents, the church, and Christian education institutions. According to a previous study, inheriting these values was applied through the tradition of reading illustrated Bible together with parents. In this study, illustrated Bible was not the Bible. It was illustrated literature that contained Bible stories. Using the perspective of Developmentally-Appropriate, the researchers elaborated how illustrated Bible in the marketplace had or had not used the developmentally appropriate concept for young children. This research would be a reference to design illustrated Bible for young children, in the form of printed book or application, and a reference for parents and educators to choose an illustrated children Bible which was appropriate for a child’s age, and for publishers to give age label for children Bible products.

Abstract Environmental education is gaining more and more significance, not only because of the wasting of natural sources but also because of the polluting of the environment. The aim of environmental education is not only the knowledge or a line of facts which a child should learn about the environment, but also building proper attitudes and a positive relation towards the environment. It’s important to practice literature to develop an ecological conscience. It’s possible to accomplish a connection of literature and education on three levels: on the basic, on some higher and on the highest one. On the basic level, picture books and illustrated books for children process ecological themes more from the cognitive and less (or almost not at all) from the poetical point of view appeared. Exactly because of that, they are called a cognition type of picture books or illustrated books for children. The aim of this paper is to describe picture books with ecological themes and also to analyse functions of each picture book taken in the account. Six books were selected: Sunčica upoznaje činčilu (eng. Sunčica meets chinchilla), Brdo na kraju grada (eng. Hill at the end of town), Priroda priča... (eng. Nature talks), Nauči poštivati prirodu uz kravicu Šaricu (eng. Learn to respect nature with Šarica the cow), Zatvori vodu! (eng. Shut the water off!) and Zraka trebam, hitno! (eng. I need air, now!).

Background: Previous research involving 100 children in the East Surabaya area reported a caries prevalence data of 89.5% with a Decayed, Missing due to carries, Filled Teeth index (DMFT) value of 5.42 (high category). In January–June 2018, only 373 out of 4,072 school-age children visited the Keputih Public Health Center. The dental visits were motivated out of dental health problems only. Parents, especially mother, should pay attention to their child’s dental and oral health because they are in the primary tooth period, which will significantly affect the growth of their permanent teeth. Purpose: The illustration book in Surabayan dialect was the means to disseminate information on dental and oral health for children and parents, particularly mothers, to motivate regular dental visit and prevent dental caries. Methods: The parents received the illustrated book, and they were given some time to read and answer the questions. After that, the mothers were asked to assist their children in filling out the illustration book. The targets were improved understanding on the subject matter, which is dental and oral health, and to motivate the parents and children to have regular dental visit. Results: There was > 75% increase in understanding of the subject matter before and after the intervention. Conclusion: The intervention successfully improved the parents’ understandings in the subject matter, and it was expected to motivate parents and their children to have regular dental visits in Keputih Public Health Center.

Development in the world of education is very necessary. Innovation and creativity are needed to update and develop existing products or those that want to be developed according to changing times. Picture books that emphasize character values in accordance with the vision and mission of one Kindergarten located in Central Jakarta are very urgent to develop because, at the school , there is no character education book with the value of servite et amate. This was revealed by the teacher through an interview. Based on observations, it was also found that there was indeed no character education book that was in accordance with the school's vision and mission. Picture storybooks are interrelated books between images and text which are the unity of a story. This study uses the research and development method, with the ADDIE model. The data collection techniques used were instrument validation sheets and feedback tests for children. Through the 4 stages of evaluation from experts, the results of the final validation from design experts, linguists and content experts/material get a value of 100% with a very feasible category. From the results of the trials conducted on 2 different classes of treatment, it was shown that this story book illustrated with Layanilah and Cintailah has benefits for kindergarten children. This is evidenced by the mean obtained from the class without the product, namely four questions that get the highest mean value. The other three questions get a low mean. The illustrated storybooks has a positive impact on the understanding of this school, especially in terms of knowing examples of actions that are consistent with the values of servite et amate.

Moral learning can be taught through stories, which act as orientations and role models to stimulate understanding which then becomes the habituation and personal character of the child. In this study project moral learning is presented in stories in the form of comic books, with Cindelaras's story as example. The comic book creation process goes through several stages of the creative process namely the pre-production process, the production process and the post-production process. The main work produced was a dummy form from a comic book titled "Cindelaras: A Boy with Rooster" and several merchandise works as supporters such as bookmarks, key chains, art prints and stickers. All the sequences pages of this comic are visual illustrations that tell the story of Cindelaras' journey in fighting for justice. In this comic also illustrated how Cindelaras behaves to parents, people who need even those who are evil to him. This comic has the main message that every good or bad deed will return to the culprit. This work is analyzed from the technical aspects, aesthetic aspects and illustrative aspects. Technically, the entire work is done in digital format and techniques with Adobe Photoshop CS5 applications, while viewed from an aesthetic aspect, it highlights visual elements that are depicted such as colors, lines, drawing styles, and so on. The illustrative aspect explains how illustrations play an important role in communicating stories in this comic book. Through this comic book illustration creation it is hoped that it can add to children's reading recommendations as a medium of moral learning as well as a means of promotion to introduce native Indonesian folklore.

‘Walt Whitman loved words’. So begins Barbara Kerley’s and Brian Selznick’s Walt Whitman: Words for America (2004), a biography of the American poet for young readers that has been recognized as a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book. Kerley and Selznick trace the poet from his beginnings as a printer’s apprentice to his volunteer work as a nurse during the American Civil War; and from the young Walt poring over the pages of Arabian Nights and Ivanhoe to his own creative output being interpreted as the voice of his nation. Like all of Selznick’s books, Walt Whitman is illustrated with precise, evocative drawings for all ages. The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator returns to the poet with his latest, Live Oak, with Moss (2019). Among Selznick’s many other popular books for children are The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) and Wonderstruck (2011) (covers available at https://www.thebrianselznick.com/books.htm). These two works have now been adapted into award-winning films by Martin Scorsese (2011) and Todd Haynes (2017), respectively.

This article brings together the connectedness between words and images. It discusses the increasing impact of semiotics in the field of children’s literature as well as the way children are thinking and living in the 21st century. The present literacy landscape demands that teachers understand multimodal texts and are able to interpret and teach these texts. A central aim of psychology and education is to develop an understanding of how children learn and how to present teaching materials in ways to help children learn. Using visual material does not mean that all visually composed teaching materials will necessarily lead to understanding. Visual literacy skills must be taught, especially in diverse environments where every child brings to the class his/her own cultural experiences. Using picture books with diverse beginner readers needs clear and specific principles to be able to critically interpret the interaction between text and images. The article explores the integration of text and images through Preller’s picture book Babalela (2000), illustrated by Andries and Erica Maritz. To explore visual literacy skills, Lohr’s (2008) principles, actions and tools (PAT) design framework will be used to analyse the picture book in order to understand the visual sign system and how the visual and the written text interact to create meaning. This knowledge will enable pre-service teachers and in-service teachers to build a vocabulary for visual analysis and to develop critical reading skills, ‘which is essential for any sort of critical thinking in the 21st century’ (Burmark 2002:v).

As author and illustrator, Caldecott Medalist Mordicai Gerstein takes readers on a journey to the age of the woolly mammoth in The First Drawing. In this lesson, students explore the book, tracing the footsteps of a young boy who lived so many years ago and realize they are not so different from him. Children today face many of the same communication challenges, as does the main character, and have a need to express personal ideas and beliefs. Students identify their own interests and compare them to those of their classmates. With a partner, children explore communicating through imagery to express an idea or personal interest. Students explore and describe cultural similarities and difference between present day and the characters of the story. To finish the lesson, students work in groups to create a wall mural of Cave Art illustrating key aspects of what they consider important in our culture today.

My contribution engages in close-reading analysis of the award-winning picture book The Composition, written by Chilean author Antonio Skármeta and illustrated by Alfonso Ruano. It explores the political potential of fiction to recast children as creative subjects with political awareness and instruments to resist oppressive discourses and practices in the context of military dictatorships.

Dreikurs R, Stoltz V. Children: The Challenge. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Dutton; 1987; list price $7.95 (#9 on the 1988 bestseller list of books on child care of the Ingram Book Co, distributors of trade books). Dreikurs considers development based on the mutual regulation between parent and child. Addressing issues in discipline and behavior from infancy to early adolescence, he perceives the parents' role as model, nurturer, and instructor, although mothers are given more responsibility for child-care than fathers. Various methods are offered for resolving conflicts in a range of typical problem situations. Techniques involve active listening, use of natural consequences, limit setting, etc. From toilet training to sibling rivalry, children's motives for misbehavior are explained. The text illustrates both theory and practice in child-rearing so that the principles learned are not only corrective and instructive, but also preventive. The difficulties of parenthood, peer, media, and sibling pressures are addressed but not the needs of special children. There is some presumption that families are intact and that a homemaker is present. The book is well-organized and rated as easy to read. Fairly believable vignettes illustrate parents' and children's contributions to situations of conflict. A section at the end of the book gives parents an opportunity to practice and review newly learned skills and principles.

In a sample of 128 Canadian junior kindergarten children (66 boys), we examined sex differences in emergent literacy and behaviour when listening to and interacting with books of four types: alphabet books with simple text and illustrations, traditional alphabet books with complex text and illustrations, alphabet eBooks, and illustrated storybooks. Girls outperformed boys on tests of emergent literacy. Engagement while listening to books being read was highest for storybooks but there was a sex by condition effect: Boys were less engaged with complex alphabet books than the other book types, whereas girls were less engaged with simple alphabet books than storybooks. During independent reading, both sexes spent significantly more time on-task in the eBook condition but less of their activity involved letter-related behaviours (e.g., saying letter names). Boys spent less time involved in letter-related behaviour than girls. This research contributes to identifying and promoting factors related to early academic success.

Specific to our modern world is the dualism between scientific research and the humanities, between the knowledge derived from the natural sciences, with their positive experimental approach, and the indemonstrable yet profound intuitions and insights revealed to us by literature, poetry, art, philosophy and physical and emotional engagement with the world. Official Western culture has tended to create an unbridgeable divide between these two aspects of knowing that seem mutually exclusive (Snow 1977). Today, however, a new genre of book for children, the artistic non-fiction picturebook, is bringing these two worlds together in a surprisingly refreshing way. This paper investigates how vital the blending of these two perspectives is, and why the creative, beautifully crafted, powerfully illustrated non-fiction picturebook allows an innovative and culturally crucial approach to knowledge.

The beginning of the 20th century is a period of creative and printing experiments in the Ukrainian art. New generation of Ukrainian books was born in this period. The illustration of the children's books was a significant part of this process. Famous Ukrainian graphic artists, such as H. Narbut, M. Zhuk, O. Sudomora, V. Kononchuk, took part in the creation of a new Ukrainian children's book. Some little-known artists also worked with them, and their creativity was an important part of the artistic process. Petro Lapyn was one of those artists. From 1917 to 1929, he worked with the famous publishing houses, such as Vernyhora, Derzhavne Vydavnytstvo, Proliski, Knyhospilka and Rukh. Children's books, illustrated by P. Lapyn, are kept in the funds of the Pedagogical Museum of Ukraine, the National Library of Ukraine for Children, Ivan Fedorov Book Chamber of Ukraine and private collections. We have found about 30 of his projects. But the information about the artist himself and his life is quite limited. One of the first books he illustrated was the poem of S. Rudanskyi «Vovk, Sobaka ta Kit» («The Wolf, the Dog, and the Cat»), published in black and white in 1918. This early Petro Lapyn's work revealed his artistic outstanding peculiarities: vibrant linear drawing, harmonious combination of text and illustrations, variety of graphic techniques and skills in the representation of characteristic features. The high point of the artist's career is the illustration of «Crows and Owls», I. Franko’s fairy tale, printed in 1926 (Kharkiv, Rukh). It demonstrates the animalistic works of the artist. There are typical structural elements in fairy tale books: vignettes, drop caps. P. Lapyn uses decorative handwritten fonts and silhouette drawings for them. His graphic creations are full of emotions. Specific features of his work are: humour, emotionality, anthropomorphism, careful attitude towards literary material, and consistently high level of drawing.

The article endeavors to reconstruct and present a collection of children’s books published during the Great Patriotic War, stored in the Rare Books Department (Book Museum) of the Russian State Library. The term “collection” in this case is conditional, since children’s books of that period were not acquired specifically and are not stored as a separate independent collection. They belong to the three collections — Illustrated Children’s Books, Serial Publications, and A.K. Tarasenkov’s Collection. Such storage of books of the same subject in different collections has its own specifics.The conducted research considered books published strictly in 1941—1945. Both edge years — 1941 and 1945 — are presented in full, since the war, its premonition, beginning, end, and the features of life in the post-war months, had left their mark on the themes and design of both pre-war and post-war books.On the occasion of the 70th and 75th anniversary of the Victory, in May 2015 and June 2020, the Book Museum of the Russian State Library held two mini-exhibitions dedicated to children’s books of the Great Patriotic War period. The exhibitions introduced visitors to the publications of 1941—1945, as well as to literary works that had been published in the post-war period but written during the war, hot on the traces of the heroic events. Still, the books presented at the mini-exhibitions do not exhaust the entire volume of publications of that period stored in the Book Museum.The Rare Books Department has identified 204 items that can be combined in a thematic collection called “Children’s Books of the Great Patriotic War Period”. Due to some peculiarities inherent in this collection, we cannot draw any conclusions about the repertoire of children’s books of the war period in general, but we can picture the repertoire, geography and circulation in relation to fiction for children.

The article substantiates the relevance of the problem of familiarizing young children with various arts in the education environment for expanding the cultural experience of each child. The appropriateness of training teachers to create an upbringing cultural environment focused on the harmonized development of children through art is proven. The authors identify the “deficits” in the modern education environment, reveal the social demand for the training of teachers for educating young children by means of art in a specially organized cultural environment, and outline the relevant tasks. This provides for a clear definition of the goal-setting, methodology, and the stages of an applied scientific study and developing a model for training teachers to organize an upbringing cultural environment incorporating the following arts: children’s literature, music book illustration (children’s illustrated books), folk toys, children's theater, animation, art photography, etc. As a result, the authors present a model of training teachers to organize an upbringing cultural environment focused on familiarizing young children with various arts. The empirical materials of the study include: 1) analytical documents; 2) the program for the additional training of preschool teachers “Organizing the education of young children in an upbringing cultural environment: from an innovative program to variative practice” (72 academic hours); 3) methodological recommendations for teachers on creating an upbringing cultural environment; 4) the technology for designing an upbringing cultural environment; 5) the approximate repertoire of artworks understandable for young children; 6) digital content for teachers and parents “First steps into the world of art”.

This study uses a type of research & development method or in English (Research and Development) terms. The development model in the study uses the Borg and Gall model, where this model comes from the results of thought, is still a concept that is empirically tested and its implementation organized from planning, implementation to evaluation of the results. The purpose of this study is to produce a product that is a picture story book about emotional intelligence that meets the criteria of feasibility aspects. Emotional intelligence should begin to be developed as early as possible because it can make children have high enthusiasm in learning or liked by their friends in the playground. The development of this illustrated storybook uses components or dimensions of emotional intelligence from Daniel Goleman. There are 5 dimensions that will be used for 5 themes in illustrated storybooks namely self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills. The form of the book that will be created with hard cover and will be dominated by images. The goal of developing this storybook media is aimed at lower primary school students, which are around the ages of 6 to 9 years.

Abstract Among the artistically valuable philosophical stories with illustration which have been translated into Slovak from Norwegian literature for children and youth since 2010 are the books of Jostein Gaarder (Knižka otázok / English –Questions Asked, 2013;Anton a Jonatán / English –Anton and Jonathan, 2014), Jon Fosse (Kant, 2015) and Elisabeth Helland Larsen (Ja som smrť / English – Life and I: A Story about Death, 2016). The mentioned authors have all published books in which a narrower philosophical function is linked with an implicit aesthetic function. These writers and/as philosophers reflect in their books subjects and issues which are represented in a smaller measure in Slovak intentional literature and take on questions about the meaning of existence in the face of death, whether through experiences with death, or death as an integral component of life or about the boundaries of knowledge. In this contribution we will devote ourselves to selected artistic texts with the philosophical issues of boundaries (between life and death, of knowing) in literary and creative interpretation in order to emphasize that their reflection in literature may lead to more integrated identification of the world of children.

AbstractOne way in which information about the unknown is socialized to children is through adult testimony. Sharing false testimony about others with children may foster inaccurate perceptions and may result in prejudicially based divisions amongst children. As part of a larger study, mothers were instructed to read and discuss an illustrated story about Arab-Muslim refugees from Syria with their 6- to 8-year-olds (n = 31). Parent-child discourse during two pages of this book was examined for how mothers used Islam as a talking point. Results indicated that only 50% of mothers and 13% of children shared accurate testimony about Islam. However, while 35% of children admitted uncertainty in their knowledge, only 3% of mothers admitted uncertainty. These results highlight the importance of parents sharing the confidence in their knowledge. If parents teach inaccurate information about other religions, it may create a greater divide between children of different religious backgrounds.

AbstractAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a major mental disorder in children. Presently, its pathogenesis and treatment as well as its role in adult psychiatry are subjects of heated debate. As early as 1846, the typical symptoms of ADHD were described by Heinrich Hoffmann, a physician who later founded the first mental hospital in Frankfurt. Interestingly, his description was published in a children's book entitled “Struwwelpeter” which he had designed for his 3-year-old son Carl Philipp. The symptomatology is impressively depicted in the colourfully illustrated story of “Zappel-Philipp” (“Fidgety Philip”), probably the first written mention of ADHD by a medical professional. This clearly shows that the diagnosis of ADHD is not an “invention” of modern times.

Throughout my writing life, I have collaborated with many visual artists − painters, etchers, wood-engravers, lino-cutters, watercolourists, photographers, even a stone carver; 37, I believe, not including occasional exchanges with illustrators of foreign editions of my books. For this article, I’ve chosen six artists to represent very different ways of working together. It hasn’t been easy to set aside such superb and eminent artists as Brian Wildsmith, who illustrated my first novel, Havelok the Dane (1964) and whose spirited, meticulous line drawings, with their replacement characters and glue and whiteout still hang on my walls at home. It was difficult, too, to omit Margaret Gordon: she and I made three picture books together, one of which, The Green Children, won the Arts Council Award for the Best Book for Young Children 1966–68. And John Hedgecoe – cussed, determined, imaginative, immensely talented, generous and a great photographer, with whom I worked on my Norfolk Poems (1970) – who persuaded me to wade fully clothed up and down muddy back-creeks, with strings of seaweed around my neck. But after some deliberation, the six visual artists I’ve chosen to write about are: Charles Keeping, John Lawrence, Andrew Rafferty, Norman Ackroyd, Jane Ray and Jeffrey Alan Love.

A growing body of scholarship addresses what Indigenous peoples have always known: stories are critically important to who we are and how to be in the world. For Wounaan, an Indigenous people of Panama and Colombia, ancestors’ stories are no longer frequently told. As part of the Wounaan Podpa Nʌm Pömaam (National Wounaan Congress) and Foundation for the Development of Wounaan People’s project on bird guiding, birds and culture, and forest restoration in Panama, we leveraged the publication requirement as political intervention and anticolonial practice in storying worlds. This article is the story of our storying, the telling and crafting of an illustrated story book that honors Wounaan convivial lifeworlds, Wounaan chaain döhigaau nemchaain hoo wënʌʌrrajim/Los niños wounaan, en sus aventuras vieron muchas aves/The Adventures of Wounaan Children and Many Birds. Here, we have used video conference minutes and recordings, voice and text messages, emails, recollections, and a conference co-presentation to show stories as Indigenous method and reality, as epistemological and ontological. We use a narrative form to weave together our collaborative process and polish the many storying decisions on relationality, time, egalitarianism, movement, rivers, embodiment, and verbal poetics through an everyday adventure of siblings and birds. Available as a multimodal illustrated story book in digital audio and print, we conclude by advocating for new media to further storying Indigenous lifeworlds.

The study is an analysis of picture books used during the “Słowami o obrazach – obrazem o słowach” [en. Words about pictures – picture about words] workshops, carried out within the Power project: “ZA PROGIEM – wyprawy odkrywców by the Department of Pre-school Pedagogy of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and a report on their course. Attempts were made to show the importance of picture books in shaping children's readership, but also to illustrate how to use picture books in didactic and educational activities related to the development of language, intellectual and visual competences of children. The study also aims to prove that book art is a fascinating area for children, and used in a thoughtful way by the teacher, can become an expression of the real participation of children in high culture, especially reading culture. K

This article will review the evidence base for interactive book reading to facilitate new word learning for preschool and school age children. Methods from an ongoing clinical trial of interactive book reading will be described to illustrate how this treatment approach can be delivered at a high intensity to children with specific language impairment (SLI). Preliminary results from this clinical trial indicate that children with SLI need a modified intensity that is three times higher than their same-age peers.

The essay focuses on the examination of a selection of children’s picture books on the theme of clothing as an element of identity and as a means of personal and social transformation. The gender stereotype has always deprived children of the freedom to imagine themselves different from the imposed social model. Modern quality literature aims to free childhood from these constraints through stories that encourage the free expression of one's personality. "Clothing and childhood" is one of the binomial in which these themes appear most evident. While developing different plots, each selected book tells a story enriched by several levels of reading, more or less evident, and this is also due to particularly accurate illustrations, capable of adding further nuances to the text. Furthermore, even if characterized by the symbolic presence of clothes, these picture books do not make them the narrative fulcrum. In each of these case studies, clothing becomes a pretext for a journey of self-discovery and affirmation of one's individuality in the world. These case studies are a concrete example of the potential of the picture book as a vehicle of complex concepts and stratifications of complementary or parallel meanings that emerge from the dynamic relationship of the text with the image. Each double page opens multiple, free interpretative paths that can be taken at each reading, as the eye catches new aspects and the thought opens up to new discoveries. The imaginary dress is therefore one of the many parallel topics that it was possible to address through these books, with which the possible interpretations of clothing in children's literature have been explored, highlighting above all how much garments are objects charged with metasignification or with projections of a identity in formation such as the one of children.

This study aims to develop pictorial children's storybooks based on caring values and specifically aims to know, (1) steps for developing child-based pictorial children's storybooks, (2) the feasibility of caring-based children's storybooks, and (3) participant responses students of story books developed.This type of research is development research. This study uses the Borg and Gall development model which consists of five stages, namely research and information collecting, planning, developing preliminary form a product, preliminary field testing, and main product revision. The subjects of this research were 10 second grade students of Banguntapan State Elementary School with 10 childrens. Data Collecting techniques use descriptive. The data analysis technique used is descriptive.The development of pictorial children's storybooks consists of six steps, namely determining themes, making storylines/storyboards, determining characters/figures, making illustrated images, combining storybook elements, and expert validation. The results of the study showed that illustrated children's storybooks were based on values of concern for second grade students of elementary school worthy of use. Assessment according to media experts got a score of 104 (good), material expert 101 (good), and expert learning 56 (very good). The response results of students get a score of 100 (very good). Students respond that the contents of illustrated story books are interesting, stories are easy to understand, and can be used as models in attitude.Keywords: Picture Children's Story Book, Concern Values

If hiroshima as fact and metaphor marks a turning point of modern secular and spiritual history, what has this fact meant to American children and youth? The thinkable event with the unthinkable implications has, for four decades and more, offered unique challenges and opportunities to all sorts of writers working in popular and esoteric forms with adult audiences. One of the least esoteric but most neglected of these literary forms is children's books, written and illustrated, for the very young and for adolescents. As with works for adults, writings for children are rich sources of cultural information on and attitudes about the nuclear age. They create, vicariously but affectively, informative and imaginative encounters with earthshaking events and their aftershocks long antedating young consciousnesses but present in children's lives as adult conversations, media messsages, and significant silences. Such books often build early imaginal memories on which adult thought and feeling about the Bomb are deeply based.

Shetterly, Margot L and Winifred Conkling. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race. Illustrated by Laura Freeman, Harper, 2018.
 Based on The New York Times bestselling book and Academy Award-nominated movie, this historical picture book was inspired from the true story of the first four black women who worked at NASA. Author Margot Lee Shetterly follows the careers of these women who were really good at math, and their achievements as black women. Hidden Figures is illustrated by Laura Freeman, who has illustrated over twenty children’s books. To illustrate this book, she read the original book, watched the movie, and did research on NASA’s website to view archival photos. Freeman’s in-depth research has resulted in powerful images that enable the reader to feel the racial discrimination of the time. In addition, through the illustrations, the reader is able to see what the machine computers looked like at the time. An illustrated timeline and glossary page are provided at the end of the book; these pages will help readers to visualize the story. These illustrations will provide interest for all ages.
 The text is written in simple English. However, there are some scientific terms. Therefore, for younger children, reading this book with adults or reading buddies is recommended. Moreover, going over the glossary pages with children before they read the book will help children to understand the story better. Overall, this book will help children to be aware of sexism and racism and the achievements of black women in the past.
 Hidden figures is highly recommended for school libraries. Teachers can use this book as a cross-curricular resource for social studies, language arts, and health classes. The message from this book is for readers not to give up on achieving their goals. When children read this book, they can substitute their own difficult situation and get the courage to overcome obstacles.
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Melanie Kim
 Melanie Kim is a University of Alberta Bachelor of Education undergraduate student, who encourages children to learn about children’s literature. Melanie thinks the best way to learn requires reading.

Flaherty, William. Arctic Wolf. Illustrated by Sean Bigham. Inhabit Media, 2018. Karpik, Joanasie. Bowhead Whale. Illustrated by Sho Uehara. Inhabit Media, 2018. Paniaq, Herve. Walrus. Illustrated by Ben Shannon. Inhabit Media, 2017.
 
 Inhabit Media has published three more volumes in their successful “made in the Arctic” Animals Illustrated Series. Herve Paniaq’s Walrus, Joanasie Karpik’s Bowhead Whale and William Flaherty’s Arctic Wolf follow the pattern of the earlier works in this series (see review https://doi.org/10.20361/G2NM3W). Each book is a natural history of the animal, including range, physical characteristics, diet, babies, and fun facts. Each book also has one or two sections specific to the animal. For example, in Arctic Wolf, there is a section for “Wolves in Human Form.” Both Bowhead Whale and Walrus have sections on “Traditional Uses.”
 Although there is a different illustrator for each volume, the styles are similar and the content of the images are parallel throughout the three books. For example, page 6 of each book shows a naturally coloured skeleton on a black background, while page 12 is about Babies, and each book shows a mother and baby image. The illustrations are excellent throughout and extend to the end pages. 
 This series would be good research material for elementary school children studying the North. These books are highly recommended for public libraries and elementary school libraries. 
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell
 Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Greetings Everyone,The news for this new year’s issue consists mainly of a list of a major children’s literature awards that have been announced, as well as a few upcoming conferences.AWARDS2017 ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Book and Media Award WinnersJohn Newberry MedalThe Girl Who Drank the Moon Written by Kelly Barnhill and published by Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman PublishingNewberry Honour BooksFreedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing DivisionThe Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog written by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly and published by Dutton Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLCWolf Hollow written by Lauren Wolk and published by Dutton Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLCRandolph Caldecott MedalRadiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, written by Javaka Steptoe and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.Caldecot Honour BooksDu Iz Tak? illustrated and written by Carson Ellis, and published by Candlewick PressFreedom in Congo Square illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Little Bee Books, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing GroupLeave Me Alone! illustrated and written by Vera Brosgol and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited PartnershipThey All Saw a Cat illustrated and written by Brendan Wenzel and published by Chronicle Books LLCLaura Ingalls Wilder AwardNikki Grimes -- Her award-winning works include “Bronx Masquerade,” recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Award in 2003, and “Words with Wings,” the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor in 2014. Grimes is also the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award in 2016 and the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2006.2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor AwardNaomi Shihab Nye will deliver the 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.Mildred L. Batchelder AwardCry, Heart, But Never Break - Originally published in Danish in 2001 as “Græd blot hjerte,” the book was written by Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charolotte Pardi, translated by Robert Moulthrop and published by Enchanted Lion Books.Batchelder Honour BooksAs Time Went By published by NorthSouth Books, Inc., written and illustrated by José Sanabria and translated from the German by Audrey HallOver the Ocean published by Chronicle Books LLC, written and illustrated by Taro Gomi and translated from the Japanese by Taylor NormanPura Belpre (Author) AwardJuana & Lucas written by Juana Medina, is the Pura Belpré Author Award winner. The book is illustrated by Juana Medina and published by Candlewick PressPura Belpre (Illustrator) AwardLowriders to the Center of the Earth illustrated by Raúl Gonzalez, written by Cathy Camper and published by Chronicle Books LLCAndrew Carnegie MedalRyan Swenar Dreamscape Media, LLC, producer of “Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music”Theodor Seuss Geisel AwardWe Are Growing: A Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Book written by Laurie Keller. The book is published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book GroupRobert F. Sibert Informational Book MedalMarch: Book Three written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, published by Top Shelf Productions, an imprint of IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works LLC Stonewall Book Awards - ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT)Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature AwardIf I Was Your Girl written by Meredith Russo and published by Flatiron BooksMagnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor written by Rick Riordan and published by Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book GroupHonor BooksPride: Celebrating Diversity & Community written by Robin Stevenson and published by Orca Book PublishersUnbecoming written by Jenny Downham and published by Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with David Fickling BooksWhen the Moon Was Ours written by Anna-Marie McLemore and published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press2017 Children’s Literature Association Phoenix AwardsPhoenix Award 2017Wish Me Luck by James Heneghan Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997Phoenix Honor Books 2017Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman HarperCollins, 1997Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye Simon & Schuster, 19972017 Phoenix Picture Book AwardTell Me a Season by Mary McKenna Siddals & Petra Mathers Clarion Books, 1997One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Tale by Demi Scholastic, 1997 CONFERENCESMarchSerendipity 2017: From Beginning to End (Life, Death, and Everything In Between) The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Mar. 4, 2017 | 8am to 3:30 pm | UBC Ike Barber LibraryJuneChildren’s Literature Association ConferenceHosted by the University of South Florida June 22-24, 2017 Tampa, FL Hilton Tampa Downtown Hotel Conference Theme: Imagined FuturesJulyInternational Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) Congress 2017 – Toronto July 29 - August 2, 2017 Keele Campus, York University The Congress theme is “Possible & Impossible Children: Intersections of Children’s Literature & Childhood Studies." That is all for this issue. Best wishes!Hanne Pearce, Communication Editor

Inhabit Media. Animals Illustrated SeriesFlaherty, William. Polar Bear, illustrated by Danny Christopher. Inhabit Media, 2016.Awa, Solomon. Narwhal, illustrated by Hwei Lim. Inhabit Media, 2016.Niptanatiak, Allen. Muskox, illustrated by Kagan McLeod. Inhabit Media, 2016. There are many picture book series that introduce the natural histories of various animals, often including Arctic animals. However, few of these are created in the Arctic. These three authors all have first-hand knowledge of the animals. William Flaherty is a conservation officer in Iqaluit and Solomon Awa is an Inuk from Igloolik, NU, who has lived a traditional lifestyle and Allen Niptanatiak is a hunter and trapper who lives at Kugluktuk, NU. Polar Bear, Narwhal and Muskox the first three in Inhabit Media’s new Animals Illustrated series. Illustrations are usually spread across two pages with related text overprinted. The illustrations, by Danny Christopher for Polar Bear and Hwei Lim for Narwhal are similar in style. Both make extensive use of light blue, dark blue and white to represent the animals in their snow and water environments. Kagan MacLeod’s drawings for Muskox are brighter and show the more colourful tundra scenes. There are also detailed drawings of the animals’ skeletons in each book.All of the books follow the familiar format of a natural history, with sections covering physical characteristics, range, skeleton, diet, reproduction, habitat and interesting information specific to the particular animal. The interesting fact about the narwhal is that they have been known to dive more than 1,500 meters. At the end of the polar bear book, there is a short description of the nanurluk, the mythological giant polar bear. The “Fun Fact” about the muskox is about how they use their horns. There is also a “Traditional Uses” page that notes the use of the hides, meat and qiviut (muskox down). Inhabit Media lists the audience for these books as ages 4-6, but the reading level of the text is Grade 4 and above. Younger children will enjoy the illustrations, but will need help to understand the text. These are excellent books that would be good acquisitions for school and public libraries, however, they contain little information that would not be found in similar works already held by many libraries. Libraries with limited budgets might want to spend their money on some of Inhabit Media’s other works that contain unique content. Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

The first book-length project on the Collection, edited by Carolyn J. Brown, Ellen Hunter Ruffin, and Eric L. Tribunella, includes unique aspects of the holdings in scholarly essays written by children’s literature “notables.” Along with over ninety full-color images, the book examines the Collection’s strengths: Fairy tales, 19th Century periodicals, African American children’s literature, the Golden Age of illustrated books, early books for children, and many more.

AbstrakSalah satu ilustrator Indonesia yang telah dikenal memiliki karakter yang khas baik dari konsep penciptaan maupun gayagambarnya adalah Suyadi. Konsistensi beliau dalam mendidik anak melalui buku cerita dan karya ilustrasinya telah diakui masyarakat Indonesia. Salah satu bukunya “Gua Terlarang” mendapatkan penghargaan Unesco di tahun 1972. Buku ini salahsatu karya terbaik Suyadi. Melalui pendekatan disiplin ilmu seni rupa, diteliti bagaimana prinsip dan konsep Suyadi dalam menciptakan ilustrasi.Kata Kunci: Suyadi, ilustrator, ilustrasi, buku cerita anak, Gua TerlarangAbstractOne of Indonesia’s illustrators who has been known to have a distinctive character both from the concept of creation andthe style of his image is Suyadi. His consistency in educating children through story books and illustrated works has beenrecognized by the Indonesian people. One of his books “Gua Terlarang” received an Unesco award in 1972. This book is oneof Suyadi’s best works. Through an approach to the disciplines of art, this research examined the principles and concepts ofSuyadi in creating illustrations.Keywords: Suyadi, illustrator, illustration, children’s story book, Gua Terlarang

AWARDSSome major international children’s literature awards have just been announced as I compile the news for this issue. Several of these have Canadian connections.2016 ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Book & Media Award WinnersJohn Newbery Medal"Last Stop on Market Street,” written by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Books (USA) LLC Newbery Honor Books"The War that Saved My Life," written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Books (USA) LLC“Roller Girl,” written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Books (USA) LLC“Echo,” written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.Randolph Caldecott Medal"Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear," illustrated by Sophie Blackall, written by Lindsay Mattick and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.Caldecott Honor Books"Trombone Shorty," illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Troy Andrews and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS“Waiting,” illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes, published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers“Voice of Freedom Fannie Lou Hamer Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement,” illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Candlewick Press“Last Stop on Market Street,” illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Matt de le Peña and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Books (USA) LLC Laura Ingalls Wilder AwardJerry Pinkney -- His award-winning works include “The Lion and the Mouse,” recipient of the Caldecott Award in 2010. In addition, Pinkney has received five Caldecott Honor Awards, five Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, and four Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors. 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture AwardJacqueline Woodson will deliver the 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir, “Brown Girl Dreaming.” Mildred L. Batchelder Award“The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy,” published by Enchanted Lion Books, written and illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna, and translated from the French by Claudia Zoe BedrickBatchelder Honor Books“Adam and Thomas,” published by Seven Stories Press, written by Aharon Appelfeld, iIllustrated by Philippe Dumas and translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green“Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village,” published by NorthSouth Books, an imprint of Nordsüd Verlag AG, written by Fang Suzhen, iIllustrated by Sonja Danowski and translated from the Chinese by Huang Xiumin“Written and Drawn by Henrietta,” published by TOON Books, an imprint of RAW Junior, LLC and written, illustrated, and translated from the Spanish by Liniers.Pura Belpre (Author) Award“Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir," written by Margarita Engle and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing DivisionBelpre (Author) Honor Books"The Smoking Mirror," written by David Bowles and published by IFWG Publishing, Inc."Mango, Abuela, and Me," written by Meg Medina, illustrated by Angela Dominguez and published by Candlewick PressPura Belpre (Illustrator) Award"The Drum Dream Girl," illustrated by Rafael López, written by Margarita Engle and published by Houghton Mifflin HarcourtBelpre (Illustrator) Honor Books"My Tata’s Remedies = Los remedios de mi tata,” iIllustrated by Antonio Castro L., written by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford and published by Cinco Puntos Press“Mango, Abuela, and Me,” illustrated by Angela Dominguez, written by Meg Medina and published by Candlewick Press“Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras,” illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMSAndrew Carnegie Medal "That Is NOT a Good Idea," produced by Weston Woods Studios, Inc.Theodor Seuss Geisel Award"Don’t Throw It to Mo!" written by David A. Adler, illustrated by Sam Ricks and published by Penguin Young Readers, and imprint of Penguin Group (USA), LLCGeisel Honor Books "A Pig, a Fox, and a Box," written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske and published by Penguin Young Readers, an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC"Supertruck," written and illustrated by Stephen Savage and published by A Neal Porter Book published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership"Waiting," written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes and published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Odyssey Award"The War that Saved My Life," produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and narrated by Jayne EntwistleOdyssey Honor Audiobook"Echo," produced by Scholastic Audio / Paul R. Gagne, written by Pam Munoz Ryan and narrated by Mark Bramhall, David De Vries, MacLeod Andrews and Rebecca SolerRobert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal"Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras,” written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMSSibert Honor Books"Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans," written and illustrated by Don Brown and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt"The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club," by Phillip Hoose and published by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers"Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March," written by Lynda Blackmon Lowery as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley, illustrated by PJ Loughran and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC"Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement," written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes and published by Candlewick PressCONFERENCES & EVENTSThis 2016 is shaping up to be a busy year for those of us involved with Canadian children’s literature. To tantalize your appetite (and encourage you to get involved) here are some highlights:January:Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable event: A Celebration of BC’s Award Children’s Authors and Illustrators with special guests Rachel Hartman and the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada 2015 Information Book Award winners Margriet Ruurs & Katherine Gibson, January 27, 2016, 7 – 9 pm. Creekside Community Centre, 1 Athletes Way, Vancouver. Free to members and students.April:Wordpower programs from the Young Alberta Book Society feature teams of Albertan children’s literary artists touring to schools in rural areas. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Cenovus Energy, schools unable to book artist visits due to prohibitive travel costs are able to participate.April 4-8: Wordpower South will send 8 artist teams to communities roughly between Drumheller and Medicine Hat. Artists include Karen Bass, Lorna Shultz-Nicholson, Bethany Ellis, Marty Chan, Mary Hays, Sigmund Brouwer, Carolyn Fisher, Natasha DeenApril 25-29: Wordpower North will have a team of 8 artists traveling among communities in north-eastern Alberta such as Fort MacKay, Conklin, Wabasca, Lac La Biche, Cold Lake, and Bonnyville. The artists include Kathy Jessup, Lois Donovan, Deborah Miller, David Poulsen, Gail de Vos, Karen Spafford-Fitz, Hazel Hutchins, Georgia Graham May: COMICS AND CONTEMPORARY LITERACY: May 2, 2016; 8:30am - 4:30pm at the Rozsa Centre, University of Calgary. This is a one day conference featuring presentations and a workshop by leading authors, scholars, and illustrators from the world of comics and graphic novels. This conference is the 5th in the annual 'Linguistic Diversity and Language Policy' series sponsored by the Chair, English as an Additional Language, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. Tom Ricento is the current Chair-holder. The conference is free and lunch is provided. Seating is limited, so register early. The four presenters are:Jillian Tamaki, illustrator for This One Summer, and winner of the Governor General's Award for children's illustration.Richard van Camp, best-selling author of The Lesser Blessed and Three Feathers, and member of the Dogrib Nation.Dr. Nick Sousanis, post-doctoral scholar, teacher and creator of the philosophical comic Unflattening.Dr. Bart Beaty, University of Calgary professor, acclaimed comics scholar and author of Comics vs. Art TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2016. In 2016, the Canadian Children's Book Centre celebrates 40 years of bringing great Canadian children's books to young readers across the country and the annual TD Canadian Children’s Book Week will be occurring this May across Canada. The theme this year is the celebration of these 40 years of great books written, illustrated and published in Canada as well as stories that have been told over the years. The 2016 tour of storytellers, authors and illustrators and their area of travel are as follows:Alberta: Bob Graham, storyteller; Kate Jaimet, authorBritish Columbia (Interior region) Lisa Dalrymple, author; (Lower Mainland region) Graham Ross, illustrator; (Vancouver Island region) Wesley King, author; (Northern region, Rebecca Bender, author & illustrator.Manitoba: Angela Misri, author; Allison Van Diepen, authorNew Brunswick: Mary Ann Lippiatt, storytellerNewfoundland: Maureen Fergus, authorLabrador: Sharon Jennings, authorNorthwest Territories: Geneviève Després, illustratorNova Scotia: Judith Graves, authorNunavut: Gabrielle Grimard, illustratorOntario: Karen Autio, author; Marty Chan, author; Danika Dinsmore, author; Kallie George, author; Doretta Groenendyk, author & illustrator; Alison Hughes, author; Margriet Ruurs, author.Prince Edward Island: Wallace Edwards, author & illustratorQuebec (English-language tour): LM Falcone, author; Simon Rose, author; Kean Soo, author & illustrator; Robin Stevenson, author; and Tiffany Stone, author/poet.Saskatchewan: (Saskatoon and northern area) Donna Dudinsky, storyteller; (Moose Jaw/Regina and southern area) Sarah Ellis, authorYukon: Vicki Grant, author-----Gail de Vos is an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, young adult literature, and comic books & graphic novels at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alberta. She is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. Gail is also a professional storyteller who has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.

Have you been following Amy’s Marathon of books? Inspired by by Terry Fox’s and Rick Hansen’s Canadian journeys, Amy Mathers is honouring her passion for reading and Canadian teen literature while working around her physical limitations through a Marathon of Books. Amy will be reading teen fiction books from every province and territory, exploring Canada and promoting Canadian teen authors and books by finishing a book a day for each day of 2014, writing a review for each book she reads. The goal is to raise money for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) in order to endow a Canadian teen book award to be presented at the yearly Canadian Children’s Literature Awards gala. Amy will collect fundraising pledges (which are eligible for a charitable tax receipt). http://amysmarathonofbooks.ca/The National Reading Campaign (NRC) is thrilled to announce the inaugural week-long event READING TOWN CANADA. For one week, May 3-10th, 2014, the National Reading Campaign will turn Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan into an exemplary model of what a reading Canada would look like. Reading will be woven into every feature of life through a series of exciting events: Imagine having a poem delivered with your pizza, wandering into a fully-stocked ‘reading glen’ in Crescent Park, discovering a book by a local author in your Welcome Wagon package, or finding a tiny lending library at the end of your street. http://www.nationalreadingcampaign.ca/about-reading-town-canada/IBBY Canada (the Canadian national section of the International Board on Books for Young People) named Bonnie Tulloch as the Frances E. Russell Grant recipient. Bonnie is a graduate student in the children’s literature program of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is doing an analysis of contemporary Canadian children’s and young adult novels that focus on island adventures; the resulting work will be titled “No ‘Man’ is an Island: Examining Island Imagery and its Relation to Female Identity in a Selection of Canadian Children’s and Young Adult Fiction.” http://www.ibby-canada.org/?p=2080CANSCAIP is presenting two upcoming workshops: Imagine a Story, a day of workshops for those interested in writing, illustrating and performing for children, will be held May 31 at Dawson College in Montreal; Packaging Your Imagination, Canada's oldest and largest conference on the craft and business of writing, illustrating and performing for children, will be held October 18 at Humber College Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Registration for the latter conference will commence in late May. http://www.canscaip.org/Award Season is soon to be blossoming along with spring and summer. Recent announcements for shortlists include the 2014 Atlantic Book Awards and The Canadian Science Writers’ Association (CSWA).The shortlists for the Atlantic Book Awards are:Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s LiteratureNix Minus One, by Jill MacLean (Pajama Press)The Power of Harmony, by Jan L. Coates (Red Deer Press)The Stowaways, by Meghan Marentette, Illustrated by Dean Griffiths (Pajama Press)Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in IllustrationLasso the Wind: Aurélia’s Verses and Other Poems Illustrated by Susan Tooke and written by George Elliott Clarke (Nimbus Publishing)Pisim Finds her Miskanow Illustrated by Leonard Paul and written by William Dumas (Portage & Main Press)Singily Skipping Along, Illustrated by Deanne Fitzpatrick and written by Sheree Fitch (Nimbus Publishing)In addition two other children’s titles were also shortlisted:Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House by Patti Larsen (Acorn Press) for the Prince Edward Island Book Award (fiction category)Formac Publishing was nominated for the APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award (sponsored by Friesens Corporation), for Bluenose Adventure by Jacqueline Halsey with illustrations by Eric Orchard.http://atlanticbookawards.ca/ The shortlist for the Canadian Science Writers’ Association for outstanding youth book:Au labo, les Debrouillards! written by Yannick Bergeron (Bayard jeunesse)Before the World Was Ready written by Claire Eamer and illustrated by Sa Boothroyd (Annick Press)Buzz About Bees written by Kari-Lynn Winters (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)Dirty Science: 25 Experiments with Soil written by Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone, illustrated by Lorzeno Del Bianco (Scholastic Canada)A History of Just About Everything: 180 Events, People and Inventions That Changed the World written by Elizabeth MacLeod and Frieda Wishinsky, illustrated by Qin Leng (Kids Can Press)Pandemic Survival: It's Why You're Alive written by Ann Love and Jane Drake, illustrated by Bill Slavin (Tundra Books).http://sciencewriters.ca/2014/04/01/cswa-book-awards-shortlist-2/Gail de VosGail de Vos, an adjunct instructor, teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, Young Adult Literature and Comic Books and Graphic Novels at the School of Library and Information Studies for the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.

Flaherty, Louise. The Gnawer of Rocks. Illustrated by Jim Nelson. Inhabit Media, 2017.
 The Gnawer of Rocks, written by Louise Flaherty and illustrated by Jim Nelson, is based on the author's memories of a story she heard as a child from an Inuk storyteller, Levi Iqalugjuaq, in Nunavut in the 1970s. The book, which feels like an incredible mix of picture book and graphic novel, focuses on a traditional story about a creature called Mangittatuarjuk and two young women who fall into her clutches. 
 Nelson's artwork follows the layout of a comic book, using word balloons and panel captions, which makes for an immersive reading experience following two girls who discover a trail of beautiful rocks outside of camp which lead them from the bright and colourful world of home into the increasingly dark and frightening world of Mangittatuarjuk. The book mixes Inuktitut terms throughout, but does include a glossary at the end.
 The story does get both gruesome and horrific in the cave of Mangittatuarjuk, but the story, which would be great for older school children, does include a warning in the author's note. A really great introduction to traditional northern Canadian stories, the book includes an introduction for context and acknowledges the original storyteller as well as the reasons for this type of story and its likely role in the lives of children. An excellent read for children who are already comfortable with scary stories.
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kirk MacLeod
 Kirk MacLeod is the Open Data Team Lead for the Government of Alberta’s Open Government Portal. A Life-Long reader, he moderates two book clubs and is constantly on the lookout for new great books!

When you think of children’s picture books, the first images that come to mind willmost likely be drawings. However, in the 1950s a quarter of all children’s picture bookswere illustrated with photographs. The article gives an overview of the Danish photographicalpicture book tradition, which dates back to Fotografiske Børnegrupper (Photographsof groups of children) published in 1866, consisting of photographs by HaraldPaetz and short poems by Hans Christian Andersen. It covers documentary stories,i.e. books that present the lives of children around the world. Some of these convey adecidedly social and political message. This article also covers books in which photographyserves to enhance the imagination, and presents supernatural beings or humanizedanimals and objects.

Lionni, Leo. Little Blue and Little Yellow. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print. Award-winning author, artist, and graphic illustrator, Leo Lionni, had a distinguished, decades-spanning career and wrote over 40 children’s books in an easily recognizable style. Little Blue and Little Yellow was his first children’s book, and it won the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year award in 1959. Lionni was also a four-time Caldecott Honor Book winner, an award that celebrates excellence in children’s picture books. This review pertains to the 2011 board book edition, just right for the littlest hands. The story is simple perfection. Little Blue and Little Yellow, are best friends who live across the street from one another. They enjoy all sorts of games both together and with their other equally-colourful friends. One day, Little Blue wants to play with Little Yellow but cannot find him. Overjoyed as they finally meet up, they hug until they become green! However, when they go home, their parents do not recognize them, and they are very sad. Where did Little Blue and Little Yellow go? Are they lost? This delightful story has many layers. It can simply be read as a way to introduce the concept of colour to young children, but it has deeper, yet understated, themes of friendship and diversity. It is a delight to read and look at, and while this sturdy edition is certainly aimed at the preschool crowd, older children will enjoy it too. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

Wright, Laurie. I Believe in Myself! Illustrated by Ana Santos, Laurie Wright, 2018.
 Laurie Wright is a childhood mental health specialist and this book is one of seven books within her Mindful Mantras collection. All the books are centered around BIG feelings and examples for creating positive self talk. These books are clearly designed to help both parents and teachers open the discussions regarding mental health with young children. The vocabulary and scenarios in this book are suitable for younger readers and listeners, and the book is quite accurately rated for ages 4 – 8. The theme is very well developed, in that after every scenario, there is a positive solution, and repeated phrase, “I believe in myself!”
 This book invites the readers and listeners to think about times they have been in similar scenarios and how they reacted when faced with them. A vast array of emotions are covered, from anxiety, to shyness, to nervousness, to panic, to frustration, and many more. This provides the children with a diversity of feelings to relate to. The illustrations in the book are a strong and accurate representation of what specific feelings could look like, which can help younger students learn social skills and the virtue of empathy. The book's format, font size, and images are big enough to be used for a group/class discussion, as well as one on one. The book also comes with free additional resources at the author’s website in regard to mental health, and how to talk to children about it. Overall, the book is a quick read aloud that is perfect for opening the door to start the conversations about BIG feelings, mental health, positive self talk and empathy.
 Highly Recommend: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jessica Oscar

The reason for writing of the article was the first experience of team work in the publishing project “SlovOpys” (the author of the project – Ruslana Kostur). The project objective is to develop a series of book editions for the children of preschool and primary school age in order to promote the Ukrainian language ordered by the publishing center “ACCA”. It was decided to develop a series of books with stickers, on which the rarely used words in the Ukrainian language are written and illustrated. The series was called “Decorate your life with the Ukrainian language”. The students-publishers and the students-advertisers were involved into development of this project.

News and AnnouncementsAs we move into the so-called “summer reading” mode (although reading is obviously not a seasonal thing for many people), here is a “summery” (pardon the pun) of some recent Canadian book awards and shortlists.To see the plethora of Forest of Reading ® tree awards from the Ontario Library Association, go to https://www.accessola.org/WEB/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/About_the_Forest.aspx. IBBY Canada (the Canadian national section of the International Board on Books for Young People) announced that the Claude Aubry Award for distinguished service in the field of children’s literature will be presented to Judith Saltman and Jacques Payette. Both winners will receive their awards in conjunction with a special event for children's literature in the coming year. http://www.ibby-canada.org/ibby-canadas-aubry-award-presented-2015/IBBY Canada also awarded the 2015 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award to Pierre Pratt, illustrator of Stop, Thief!. http://www.ibby-canada.org/awards/elizabeth-mrazik-cleaver-award/The annual reading programme known as First Nation Communities Read (FNCR) and the Periodical Marketers of Canada (PMC) jointly announced Peace Pipe Dreams: The Truth about Lies about Indians by Darrell Dennis (Douglas & McIntyre) as the FNCR 2015-2016 title as well as winner of PMC’s $5000 Aboriginal Literature Award. A jury of librarians from First Nations public libraries in Ontario, with coordination support from Southern Ontario Library Service, selected Peace Pipe Dreams from more than 19 titles submitted by Canadian publishers. “In arriving at its selection decision, the jury agreed that the book is an important one that dispels myths and untruths about Aboriginal people in Canada today and sets the record straight. The author tackles such complicated issues such as religion, treaties, and residential schools with knowledge, tact and humour, leaving readers with a greater understanding of our complex Canadian history.” http://www.sols.org/index.php/links/fn-communities-readCharis Cotter, author of The Swallow: A Ghost Story, has been awarded The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award for 2015. Published by Tundra Books, the novel is suggested for children ages nine to 12. http://www.iode.ca/2015-iode-violet-downey-book-award.htmlThe 2015 winners of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were selected by two juries of young readers from Toronto’s Alexander Muir / Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School. A jury of grade 3 and 4 students selected the recipient of the Children’s Picture Book Award, and a jury of grade 7 and 8 students selected the recipient of the Young Adult / Middle Reader Award. Each student read the books individually and then worked together with their group to reach consensus and decide on a winner. This process makes it a unique literary award in Canada.The Magician of Auschwitz by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gillian Newland (Second Story Press) won the Children’s Picture Book Category.The winner for the Young Adult/Middle Reader Category was The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Publishers).http://www.ontarioartsfoundation.on.ca/pages/ruth-sylvia-schwartz-awardsFrom the Canadian Library Association:The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier (Penguin Canada) was awarded CLA’s 2015 Book of the Year for Children Award.Any Questions?, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood Books) won the 2015 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award.This One Summer by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood) was awarded the 2015 Young Adult Book Award.http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Awards&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=16132The 2015 Winner of the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Juvenile/YA Book was Sigmund Brouwer’s Dead Man's Switch (Harvest House). http://crimewriterscanada.com/Regional awards:Alberta’s Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature 2015:Little You by Richard Van Camp (Orca Book Publishers) http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/r_ross_annett_award_childrens_literatureRocky Mountain Book Award 2015:Last Train: A Holocaust Story by Rona Arato. (Owl Kids, 2013) http://www.rmba.info/last-train-holocaust-storyAtlantic Book Awards 2015 from the Atlantic Book Awards SocietyAnn Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature: The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay (Annick Press).Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration: Music is for Everyone illustrated by Sydney Smith and written by Jill Barber (Nimbus Publishing) http://atlanticbookawards.ca/awards/Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award 2015:English fiction: Scare Scape by Sam Fisher.English non-fiction: WeirdZone: Sports by Maria Birmingham.French fiction: Toxique by Amy Lachapelle.French non-fiction: Au labo, les Débrouillards! by Yannick Bergeron. http://hackmatack.ca/en/index.htmlFrom the 2015 BC Book Prizes for authors and/or illustrators living in British Columbia or the Yukon:The Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize was awarded to Dolphin SOS by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki with illustrations by Julie Flett (Tradewind).The Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for “novels, including chapter books, and non-fiction books, including biography, aimed at juveniles and young adults, which have not been highly illustrated” went to Maggie de Vries for Rabbit Ears (HarperCollins). http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2015The 2015 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award (MYRCA) was awarded to Ultra by David Carroll. http://www.myrca.ca/Camp Outlook by Brenda Baker (Second Story Press) was the 2015 winner of the SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/awards/awards-nominees/2015-awards-and-nominees/category/saskenergy-young-adult-literature-awardFor more information on Canadian children’s book awards check out http://www.canadianauthors.net/awards/. Please note that not all regional awards are included in this list; if you are so inclined, perhaps send their webmaster a note regarding an award that you think should be included.Happy reading and exploring.Yours in stories (in all seasons and shapes and sizes)Gail de VosGail de Vos is an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, young adult literature, and commic books and graphic novels at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.

Christopher, Neil. The Dreaded Ogress of the Tundra. Iqaluit: Inhabit Media, 2015. PrintAmautaliit are giant ogresses who eat small children. They roam the Arctic tundra looking for unsupervised children such as orphans or those who have wandered away from camp. They sneak up on the children, capture and carry them away in their disgusting baskets containing rotting seaweed and giant bugs. These stories have two themes. First, they are cautionary tales designed to keep children from wandering away from camps and villages. Second, they usually show the children using their ingenuity or ancient magic to escape the not-too-smart amautaliit.This is an updated and revised version of Christopher’s 2009 volume, Stories of the Amautalik, which contains versions of the two stories presented in this work. However, this edition of the book is more like a junior handbook to amautaliit (plural of amautalik). While this book has many illustrations which are appropriately dark, scary and creepy, there is much more text than one usually finds in an Inhabit Media book. At least half of the pages are full text and like Stories of the Amautalik, the reading level is high for young children. The book includes a seven-page introduction to amautaliit, which describes who these creatures are, their clothing, their baskets, their caves and how they hunt small children. At the end of the book there is an “Other Ogres and Ogresses” section, which gives single page, illustrated descriptions of similar creatures, including a giant spider that assumes a human-like form. Even though this is a revision of an earlier work that many libraries will have, the expanded content would make it a useful addition to libraries with children’s collections, and particularly to academic libraries that collect works on Arctic myths and legends.Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Malerba, Giulia. Food Atlas: Discover All the Delicious Foods of the World, illustrated by Febe Sillani, translated by Sharon Morin. Firefly Books, 2017.This large and beautiful folio volume provides an agricultural and culinary tour of the world in the form of nearly fifty maps that cover six continents, Oceania, and fifty individual countries. The book ends with a two-page map of the world to illustrate the “food journeys” by which many familiar, staple foods were transplanted around the globe. Luca Mingolia’s maps, overlain with Febe Sillani’s hundreds of colourful illustrations, depict both the characteristic foods and ethnic dishes of each country and region. The coverage is extraordinarily comprehensive, ranging from Sweden’s repugnant-smelling Surströmming to the equally pungent Durians of southeast Asia, and from Egyptian Ful Medames to India’s Gulab Jamun.Although cast in the format of a book for older children, this fascinating volume is one from which older readers, including adults, may take pleasure and expand their culinary horizons.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Merrill DistadHistorian and author Merrill Distad enjoyed a four-decade career building libraries and library collections.

Kelsey, Elin. You Are Stardust. Illus. S. Kim. Toronto: Owlkids Books, 2012. Print. This compellingly illustrated non-fiction book for children emphasizes the interconnected continuity present in the natural environment. Children, with their developing and magically amorphous sense of self, are a receptive audience for narratives that explore the complex relationships and natural cycles that they observe and are learning more about each day. Elin Kelsey has created a flowing and natural text that conveys the complexity and wonder of natural history and ecological patterns. Canadian artist, Soyeon Kim's, artwork is spectacular and responsive to the text. Children will enjoy how Kim’s illustrations are not only fun and fascinating but also reveal much of the architecture used to construct them. Strings and wires are often clearly visible, supporting elements of the three-dimensional illustrations. Her interpretations are effective, even charmingly literal, in some cases - little bouquets of dried blossoms accompany the text, "Your breath is alive with the promise of flowers" but also convey the more abstract natural cycles being described in Kelsey's text. Conveying scientific information to children in a lyrical and accessible way has great educational potential and, if it achieves the right tone, doesn't create a sense of distance from, or mastery over, nature, but embeds humans intimately within their environment. The potential to create an intuitive and rigorous sense of conservational responsibility may lie in the exposure of children to a nuanced exploration of scientific ideas. Many concepts that children seem naturally curious about - the shaping and changing of water, clouds and earth - are explored in You are Stardust, and the engaging and lively book design and illustrations further the impact of the text. Highly Recommended : 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Matilda RocheMatilda spends her days lavishing attention on the University of Alberta’s metadata but children’s illustrated books, literature for young adults and graphic novels also make her heart sing. Her reviews benefit from the critical influence of a four year old daughter and a one year old son – both geniuses. Matilda’s super power is the ability to read comic books aloud.

OHora, Zachariah. No Fits, Nilson! New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. Print.No Fits, Nilson! is a children’s story book written and illustrated by Zachariah OHora. Mr. OHora has written several other well received children’s books and is an accomplished illustrator.It is about Amelia and her best friend Nilson, a large blue gorilla. These two inseparable characters have such a strong friendship that they even share time-outs. Running errands with Amelia’s mother is a test of patience and Amelia provides support to her big blue friend with the encouraging words “no fits, Nilson” and promises of banana ice cream. Amelia herself gets tested when the banana ice cream runs short, but in the end Nilson is a true friend who lends a helping hand. This is a story of patience and fits, friendship and support, and is a reminder that sometimes life is challenging for children as they learn to navigate the world.No Fits, Nilson! is illustrated with beautiful flat drawings in a rich pallet of turquoise, pink, and mustard yellow. The simplicity of the illustrations together with the use of white space and a simple bold black font draws the reader’s attention to the facial expressions and emotion of the characters and this is the strength of the book.This book is recommended for preschool children as a read aloud story. While the story does not recommend ways to manage difficult behaviours, it will be sure to stimulate conversations between children and their caregivers about feelings and behaviour.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Connie WintherConnie is a Medical Librarian with Alberta Health Services. She has a broad interest in health care and medical librarianship. When not working, she enjoys all types of outdoor activities with her family.

Jordan, Christopher. My First NHL® Book Series (Hockey Shapes, Hockey Colours, Hockey 123, Hockey Opposites, Hockey Animals, Hockey ABC). Toronto: Tundra Books, 2011. Print [Board Books]. These six volumes are board books, with thick pages that would be difficult to tear and wipe-able surfaces that will withstand sticky baby fingers. They cover the standard content of first books for pre-readers, but using NHL® examples. In some of the books, the NHL® examples work well. For example in Hockey 123, there are 2 hockey nets, 5 pairs of skates, and 11 whistles. In other books the examples seem forced and awkward. For example, in Hockey Opposites, “fast” and “slow” are illustrated by a forward and a goalie, respectively. It would be very difficult for a child at the board-book reading stage to understand what a forward and a goalie are, much less who moves at what speed. Moreover, I think most people would recognize that while goalies do not usually move quickly around the rink, their movements are lightning-fast and a “slow” goalie wouldn’t have a job in the NHL®. With the exception of Hockey 123, these books are too complex for pre-readers. Most of the six books contain text which is at a Grade 6 reading level or higher. For example, in Hockey Shapes, the description which accompanies the “leaf” shape begins, “[t]here are many different species of leaves, ranging in colour, shape, and size…”. This is one of several clues that these books are meant as much for adults who will be reading them aloud, as for children. In Hockey ABC many of the images chosen to illustrate the alphabet will appeal more to parents than to children. In this book, “G” is not for the obvious “goalie”, but for Gretzky, whom children today will never see play. Too often Jordan relies on photographs of players, which are complex images, for his illustrations. In Hockey Animals, for example, instead of using just the team symbol containing the animal shape, Jordan uses full-length player shots, where the logo on the jersey is a tiny part of the image. There is a reason that board books usually contain simple shapes, bold colours and single syllable words. It is hard to imagine sitting with a 1-year-old child on your lap reading Hockey ABC and saying, ‘Now you try saying this, sweetie… “O is for Ovechkin”’. However, if you assume that these books are really for hockey-crazed parents, then they will probably find readers. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Zhao, Bingbo. The Pear Violin, illustrated by Gumi. Starfish Bay Children’s Books, 2016.Bingbo Zhao, who publishes under his first name, Bingbo, has published more than 370 children’s books and won more than 50 awards. The Pear Violin is an imaginative picture book which starts from the idea that pears and violins are shaped alike. In Bingbo’s fantasy world, a squirrel cuts a pear in half, uses a twig and some of his whiskers to make a bow, and begins playing. In this world foxes, elephants, bears, lions and a variety of other animals all inhabit the same forest. The music of the violin is so powerful that it can make the fox stop chasing the chicken and the lion “let the rabbit lie in his arms, so that the rabbit would feel warmer when listening to the music.” The music also has the power to make a small pear seed grow quickly into a tree and grow many pears. All the animals make the pears into cellos, violins and violas and all play beautiful music together. Throughout the book Gumi (no last name given) illustrates the motion and emotion of the animals. The animals’ faces show curiosity when the seed starts to grow and excitement when they play together in the concert. A suspension of disbelief is required for the enjoyment of this book. Some children will ask, “Why don’t the pears rot?” and “Why are bears and elephants in the same forest?” However, for most, it will just be a fun book which carries the message that music brings people together. This book would be good for public libraries and school libraries.Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety

Deal, Laura. In the Sky at Nighttime. Iqaluit, NU: Inhabit Media, 2019.
 This illustrated poem shows what a polar village looks like at night and what is in the night sky. In the Arctic, winter nights are long, and it is dark as people go about their daily lives, so many people are familiar with the night sky. Tamara Campeau’s illustrations, each of which fill two facing pages, are in deep blue and purple hues, with the sky prominent in them. The text is overprinted on the artwork. Campeau’s rendering of the village has accurate details. Some of the houses have heating oil tanks outside. Paths to the doors have snow heaped alongside them. Power lines, attached to wooden power poles with insulators and transformers, loop through the village. The yellow light from electric lighting shines out through the windows of the houses. At the beginning of the book Laura Deal describes observable things in the sky: stars, falling snow, northern lights, ravens. Towards the end she becomes more figurative, introducing a mother’s song and dreams swirling in the sky.
 The text is a six verse poem, each verse beginning with the phrase “In the sky at night time.” The structure of the poem is reminiscent of Stephen Eaton Hume’s 1992 picture book, Midnight on the Farm, which also uses six verses, each beginning with a repeating phrase, to describe a nighttime world, however the two landscapes are distinct.
 Because this is an illustrated poem in the form of a picture book, rather than a picture book with text, some of the words are more difficult than one would expect in books for young children. For example, the dreams are “magical and extraordinary.” As a result, this text, simple as it is, will need some explanation. In the Sky at Nighttime is highly recommended for public libraries and elementary school libraries.
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Sandy Campbell
 Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Bayer, Vanessa. How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear? Illustrated by Rosie Butcher. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 2019.
 Vanessa Bayer’s How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear? provides young readers with advice on how to deal with and help their friends who are facing a difficult illness. The book offers suggestions and advice for young children, but also reminds them that even though their friend is sick, they are still their friend. Bayer’s story provides examples of the simple gestures that friends can make when helping each other.
 The illustrations by Rosie Butcher are bright, colourful, and simple. Butcher illustrates common activities that friends would do together, which makes them relatable to children even though the characters are bears. The illustrations take up most of the page and provide young readers with a lot to explore. The text throughout the book is simple and easy to read.
 Bayer’s story tackles a difficult topic, but she presents it in a way that is easy for children to understand. Her use of bears as her main characters helps to soften the impact of a difficult topic to approach with children. However, Bayer is also honest with her portrayal of illness, which offers children a realistic view of what to expect.
 This book can be very useful for children who have a friend facing a difficult illness. Additionally, it can be useful to parents when explaining illnesses to their children. With that in mind, I would recommend it for elementary school and public libraries.
 Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jenn Laskosky
 Jenn Laskosky is a masters student at the University of Alberta in the Library and Information Studies program. She has an interest in health sciences librarianship and international librarianship. Her passion for reading has continued to grow throughout her education.

Yabuki, Akiko. Ishi: Simple Tips from a Solid Friend. POW!, 2016.The motivational picture book, Ishi, written and illustrated by Akiko Yabuki, with art direction from Yuko Brown, demonstrates to the reader how to cope with everyday feelings and experiences. The main character, Ishi, is a rock who encounters situations in the story that all readers would likely experience and shows the reader how he manages them. Ishi is illustrated using distinct real life photographs that specifically match the text, making it an appropriate text for all readers. Ishi is found in numerous familiar settings throughout the book that the reader would recognize: a road, a pile of leaves, a plate of food. The author informs readers that everyone has “gloomy” days and educates them on methods to use to get through the dark days. For example, when Ishi feels hopeless, he surrounds himself with dreamers.The storybook is simple, yet engaging as it encourages the reader to reflect on the situations that Ishi is in and develop coping strategies to deal with them. By the end of the book, readers should have a calm presence, and a toolbox full of techniques to use when they themselves are in difficult situations.Ishi is a book that elementary school libraries and teachers should have. The limited text and language used clearly describes each illustration so even young children can read this book. Children who are upset or sad would benefit from reading this book. This inspirational picture book also can give children ideas as to how they can handle their situations.Readers could find their own Ishi rock and photograph situations where they feel solemn and what they do in order to feel better.Recommended 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kimberlee JohnsonKimberlee Johnson is a grade three teacher in the St. Albert Public School District and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of Alberta. Kimberlee loves how her students give her honest and true opinions about each and every book they read.