Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin by Deborah Kerbel & Angela Poon (Illustrations)

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released August 15, 2021 by Owlkids.

In 1920, Frederick Banting worked at at the hospital for sick children in Toronto, Canada. He watched young people waste away and die from juvenile diabetes. Doctors knew that the disease was connected to the pancreas and had something to do with being unable to break down sugar. They just didn't understand how it all worked. 

His position in Toronto was only temporary, so Banting went on to set up a private practice in London, Ontario. There must have been an overabundance of doctors because it wasn't a success. He ended up getting a job teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Western Ontario. He never forgot those sick children.

While preparing a lesson on the pancreas, Banting had an aha moment. He discussed his new idea for a treatment for diabetes with J. J. R. Macleod, Professor of physiology. Banting was an orthopedic surgeon with no background in research or diabetes. Still, he was given funding for a lab for one summer, an assistant, Charles Best, and a group of dogs to work with. They removed the pancreas from half the dogs to make them diabetic. They lost many dogs before managing to isolate a mysterious secretion from one dog in the other group. They gave this to one of the diabetic ones and it was a success. In spite of Best's warnings, Banting grew emotionally attached to the dogs they worked with, especially Marjorie, a stray that followed him home. In fact, Banting considered the dogs to be heroes whose role in the research was as important, maybe even more important than the researchers themselves. 

At the end of the summer Professor Macleod extended their use of the lab and finally gave them salaries for their work. They managed to keep Marjorie alive for more than 70 days. At one point Fred tested the insulin on himself to prove that it wasn't toxic for humans. Eventually Macleod brought in James Collip, a biochemist to work them to purify the extract for humans. 

In 1922, Leonard Thompson, a fourteen year old boy, received the first shot of the newly purified insulin. He began to improve almost immediately. 

I appreciate how Angela Poon's artwork places the reader right into the 1920's. She captures the essence of the times brilliantly! The lab Banting and Best worked in is very different from labs of today! I appreciate all the the details, especially in the individual characters' faces. To create this art she "worked both traditionally and digitally! The pencil line art is all hand drawn, and the roughs and colours are done digitally with some analog textures added! "

There is an author's note in the back matter with additional information about the discovery of insulin. There is also a section on ethics and the controversial use of animals in research. If readers want to learn more, there a bibliography titled Sources. 

We need more stories like this one. We need to be inspired by the generosity and humanitarianism of people like Banting, Best, and Collip. We need more people like them. These men, who created the formula for insulin, sold their rights for the treatment for $1 each. None of them were rich. In fact, Banting barely made ends meet until he was finally given a salary. Maybe they didn't wear capes, but they were still superheroes. 

In contrast, today disaster capitalists manufacturer and sell insulin at prices so high that individuals with the disease die because they can't afford their medication. 

Preorder this one for your libraries. 

1, 2, 3, Off to School! by Marianne Dubuc & Yvette Ghione (translator)

 

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released May 4, 2021 by Kids Can Press.

Pom, who is only four, heads off to explore what happens at school for their animal friends. 

Mouslings are just arriving for the day when Pom gets to Nutcracker school. 

At Hopalot School for rabbits, bunnies are learning to read, write and count. (I adored the rooftop garden there.) 

The frogs at Cattail Academy are drawing, painting and making music. 

Pom joins the foxes in their exercise program at Foxtrot School and has lunch with bears at Honeycomb School. 

At Sleepytime School Pom is happy to nap with the sloths. 

As the day progresses Pom visits squirrels as they learn about nature, reads with wolf pups in the library, and watches turtles tidying up. Pom visits the hedgehogs at Quill Academy after school before finally heading home.

Enchanting is the word for this picture book. Marianne Dubuc fills this book with details showing us many stories beyond Pom's own journey. It reminds me of the Richard Scary books my boys used to pore over when they were young. I'm charmed that Pom is a nongendered character. I was delighted by the fairy tale characters who showed up at the different schools. 

I've already put orders in to send copies of this to my almost four year old grandkids. I think they will love the active format of this picture book. Hopefully they will enjoy poring over the many glorious details. By following along with Pom's adventures it will help them get ready for kindergarten too. 

Scaredy Squirrel in a Nutshell by Mélanie Watt

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released May 25, 2021 by Tundra Books.

This graphic novel chapter book is preposterous, hilarious, and full on fun. If you haven't heard of Scaredy Squirrel, the world's most famous atypical squirrel, you must have been hiding under a rock, or maybe a nut. 

Scaredy is called Scaredy for a reason. If something exists, this squirrel will find some way to worry about it. Yet at the same time as Scaredy is full of anxiety, the little rodent is also ingenious, creative and an expert risk calculator. If all else fails, there is always the play dead option.

The prologue consists of a covid type security quiz. (Also, the end papers are of rolls of toilet paper.) You must achieve a score of 1 - 5 to proceed. I think it's impossible to fail, but you never know. What dire things might happen if you continue?

Chapter one finds Scaredy in his tree. He worries about aliens, mammoths, lumberjacks, woodpeckers, cats and termites. At the same time, he has stratagems for dealing with each of these eventualities. The only problem with these safeguards is that they collect dust. So every once in a while our little critter has to don his dust fighting outfit, drag out his vacuum cleaner, and clean off the safety equipment. Even if the hose gets clogged, Scaredy has a plan. 

Unfortunately, this time, he sets of a series of events that lead to an unforeseen disaster and Scaredy playing dead. 

Chapter two finds our friendly rodent hungry. The previous disaster knocked all the nuts off the tree. Terrible dangers await him if he decides to leave his tree and pick some up. Rocks, puddles, cacti and other hazards wait for an unsuspecting squirrel. Scaredy decides to order takeout instead. There are just so many choices. 

When his pizza arrives, Scaredy he puts on his ground level get up. Just when he is about to grab a slice, an unexpected event startles him. He scrambles to safety and once again, plays dead. 

In the final chapter Scaredy has to figure out if it is worthwhile taking risks to make a new friend. 

Will he end up playing dead again?

I liked so much about this book. I adore Watt's illustrations. I like the puns and slapstick humour. At one point Scaredy wonders, "Ivy might be poisonous! (name makes me itchy.)" I like that Scaredy Squirrel playfully models how to cope for kids with similar neuroses. I like that he shows the rest of us what living with these anxieties is like. I like that Ivy, and maybe even Timber, accept him just as he is. 

I'll be looking forward to the next in this new series. 

Preorder this for your libraries. Make it two or three copies. Young readers are going to love it. So will their big people.

My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert & Shelley Tanaka (Translation)

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released April 1, 2021 by Groundwood Books.

This book chewed me up and spat me out.

I've read it three times and the emotional hit doesn't waver. Large sections of these wordless images highlight pain, anguish and despair. 

Marie-Noëlle Hébert's graphic autobiography addresses her relationship with her body. It's one most, if not all women can connect to. Anyone who has ever dieted and or exercised to try and lose weight, will connect with much, if not all of this book. 

The timeline jumps around from the present to different times in the past. We meet her at twenty, binge eating to shut out the noise of self hatred. It doesn't work. Eventually she reveals how her negative body image evolved over time. 

Hébert was a chubby baby who grew up to be a large sized girl in a world that idolized thin princesses. 

To the clothing industry, children like her don't exist. She loved to dance but had to give it up. When she was eight, her mother purchased women's clothes for her and hemmed them to fit. 

As she grew older she endured bullying by her peers. 

Family dinners, rather than being joyful celebrations, became more bombardment of negative comments. 

By her teens she came to find fault with her body piece by piece. She ended up internalizing the fat shaming.

It isn't that she wasn't healthy. She played soccer and their coach worked them so hard she lost weight. Terrified of gaining the weight back, at the end of the season she joined the school running club. 

Her obsession with dieting, exercising and losing weight wasn't enough to address her need to be seen, to be loved. She writes that she is "fat, but full of nothing."

Coming home from a running marathon, her father called her a Fat Cow. Her response begins with I HATE YOU, but ends up with I HATE ME. He continued to abuse her by calling her fat, and fat ass. 

At the age of 17 she left home. While she revelled in the times spent with friends, she still never felt loved or seen. When her self loathing and depression overwhelmed her, she isolated herself. One friend, Matilda, stayed beside her. When Marie confided her suicidal thoughts to her, Matilda recommended a therapist. 

Slowly she began to heal, to change her self talk, to start to love herself. She eventually became strong enough to confront her father. 

Marie-Noëlle Hébert leaves us with some important messages about how we imprint who we are from what we learn in our families.

"Women pass down their body shame from generation to generation...

Tradition is strong.
The judgement of others.
The lack of self-esteem.
To not be fat forever.

They thought it was more important to teach me how to hold in my stomach than teach me to stand up and be proud of myself."

Thank you so much Marie-Noëlle Hébert for this important book. We need to do better by ourselves and each other so we can do better for our daughters and our sons. 

#IMWAYR April 29, 2019

#IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I am happy to have gone from working 4 days a week down to three. The house was getting to be a disaster and I managed to make a bit of a start on cleaning out cupboards. Thank goodness for audiobooks to listen to while I'm doing this mundane, but necessary work. 

I am even happier that the Poem A Day challenge is nearly over!

POEM A DAY POSTS LAST WEEK

22. Earth Day
23. Grandma and Grampa
24. And the People
25. Marguerite
26. Arrival*
27. Substitute
28. earth wept

Hurrah! Only two more poems to go!

BOARD BOOKS

4 stars

Smile, Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen, Dan Hanna (Illustrator)

Ada's rating for this would be a 5+. We are reading it over and over and over again. At least it's got a nice rhythm and rhymes. Ada is learning about emotions these days so we have to act out the different ones shown by Pout Pout fish. All this vocabulary is paying off as the other day, not getting her own way, she told her mom, "Ada upset!"

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Little Black Crow by Chris Raschka

I am head over heels for this book. I love the poetry. I love the illustrations. I adore the questions.

4 stars

My New Mom & Me by Renata Galindo

This book made my eyes leak. It tells the story of a puppy who is adopted by a cat. (It doesn't use the word adoption though) Although there are struggles for both of them, in the end they are making it work.

5 stars

Fox & Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

I am totally infatuated with this series - as much if not more than I am of Mo Willems' Gerald and Piggie.
Everything you need to know is written on the cover flap.
Fox + Chick have many adventures together. Fox + Chick are funny. Fox + Chick don't always agree. Fox + Chick are friends.
Ok, you also need to know that the artwork is adorable.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold & Greg Newbold (Illustrations)

Just Wow! There is so much in this book. It begins with a simple lesson on how to draw dinosaurs, and then morphs into how different artists would draw or paint dinosaurs. Paintings of these artists are redone to show dinosaurs in the scenes. These playful illustrations are delightful. Some of the artists are familiar to me, but I am mostly impressed with how many I knew nothing about. It's a fabulously diverse collection of visionaries. The back matter contains additional information about each of them.
My one niggling complaint was that the original artwork wasn't shown. Still I enjoyed searching the work of the new to me artists to find it, and in the process became enamoured with their work. Perhaps that was the Newbold's plan all along.

NOVELS

4 stars

Ash Boy: A Cinderfella Story by Lucy Coats & Mark Beech (Illustrator)

Gotta love this gender swapping retelling of the original story. It’s full of humour and wackiness. Still, there’s substance in this short, easy to read novel. How could there not be in a story about a young boy who loves libraries and wants to be a librarian? Mark Beech’s illustrations have a Quentin Blake feel that adds to the appeal.
P.S. You’re going to love his best friend!

5 stars

Girl in Pieces by by Kathleen Glasgow

This is an important book. Copies should be in every high school library. At first the book triggered memories of reading I Never Promised You A Rose Garden. This book is much more than that. Charlotte Davis cuts herself to feel better. After she attempts to kill herself, she ends up in an expensive rehabilitation facility. Because of lack of funds on the part of her grandmother, she is discharged before she is ready. She wants to remain clean and not fall into old ways, but ends up in a self destructive relationship. Her life deteriorates fast until she is finally rescued by new friends.
What becomes clear in this book is how damaged young people and adults carry unfathomable hurt inflicted upon them when they were children.

4 stars

Bury Your Dead (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #6) by Louise Penny & Ralph Cosham (Narrator)

I was a bit confused at first because Gamache is recovering from some trauma that we don't understand or know about. There are three strands to this story, and once I figured that out, I was good. First, there is that traumatic event (you will have to read the book to find out what happened.) Second, there is a murder in the Anglo Literary and Historical Society where Gamache is doing research. Finally, Gamache suspects he made a mistake in a recent case and has one of his officers reinvestigate it. It's a lot going on!
All that aside, this is a book about being imperfect, about making mistakes and being vulnerable enough to acknowledge them. It's also about accepting these flaws and loving one another regardless of them.
Louise Penny is Canadian. 🍁

CURRENTLY

I am listening to Feel Free: Essays written and read by Zadie Smith. With my eyes I'm into Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson & Ellen Hagan. 

UP NEXT

Property of the Rebel Librarian became available last week, but I had not set it for automatic checkout so when I went to download it, it was no longer available. Grrr. I plan to read On The Come Up by Angie Thomas next.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 12/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 6/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 7/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 24/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 146/333

#IMWAYR February 24, 2018

#IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I am slowly recovering from the plague that kicked me to the curb and nearly knocked me out. Hopefully I'm done with oral steroids, for which I shall be eternally grateful.

I've been working in a school library for the last few weeks and am looking forward to continuing until Spring Break. To acknowledge Black History Month, I have been creating a display with books written by black authors and black characters. While students of all ages spend time looking at the picture books, I've been especially pleased to see older students, even if they don't check them out, reading them. I also started collecting a few books for Pink Day this coming week. I should have written a blog post about these books but had no energy or time.

Although I talked about this book last Monday, I must to give another shout out to Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock & Katherine Roy. Last week I read it to groups of students from grades two to seven. All of them were enthralled, but I think the older students were more engaged than the younger ones.

In my non-reading life, my daughter-in-law and I have planned and cut out fabric for a quilt to make for her newest nephew in Korea. I've managed to almost finish a baby sweater to send to him. I just need to get some buttons to sew on. I've machine stitched the binding on two other quilts and am in the process of hand stitching those. I've started planning my next project, a quilt for my other son and his partner. I'll post photo's next week when they are finished.

Clicking on the title of the book will take you to the Goodreads page if you want to add it to your list. 

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

I have heard people talk about Pink and Say, but finally got around to reading it.

It is a profound story about friendship and courage against the backdrop of the Civil War. (How can a war be called civil?)

I was even more impressed to discover that the book is based on a true story.

4 stars

Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt, Selina Alko (Illustrations) & Sean Qualls (Illustrations)

This beautifully illustrated book shows one black child and one white child pondering philosophical questions of why we are who we are, and what makes us this way. It’s their coming together at the end that makes the book for me.

4 stars

What Happens Next by Susan Hughes & Carey Sookocheff (Illustrator)

I reread this book while searching for books appropriate for pink day. This one, that looks at the the consequences of bullying and articulates a possible solution, is perfect.

Susan Hughes and Carey Sookocheff are both Canadian talent!

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Dreams of Freedom by Amesty International & Various Authors and Illustrators

This book highlights some of the freedoms that are articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each brilliantly illustrated page interprets one of these freedoms along with a quote. World renowned authors and Illustrators are showcased on each double page spread. A section in the back matter provides a bit of additional information about each one of them. It also contains information about Amnesty International and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The book begins with a forward by Michael Morpurgo.

GRAPHIC

4 stars

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner

This was hilarious. AJ and his friends are just starting grade six. He's sure that this year will be different until school actually starts and everything seems to be the same as before. His two best friends, Hunter and Ivy, are always competing over something. AJ has a hard core crush on Nia, the smartest girl in the school. She doesn't seem to know he exists. Things look up when their cool new teacher from England pairs them up on a research project. Because Nia is obsessed with vampires, AJ begins to take on the persona of one. This nearly ends in disaster as the real vampire in their midst makes nefarious plans.

Whitney Gardner is an author illustrator from Victoria, BC, in Canada. 

4 stars

The Hidden Witch (The Witch Boy #2) by Molly Ostertag

Maybe I wasn't quite as wowed by this one as I was by The Witch Boy, (which won the Cybil) but I still enjoyed it a lot. It might even be a contender next year. Charlie befriends a new girl at school, Ariel. After years of abandonment and bullying, Ariel is full of anger and distrust. Following a miscommunication, she puts a curse on Charlie, who then goes to Aster for help. I love how this series is full of magic and adventure, but at the same time, addresses issues in the real world.

NOVELS

5 stars

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Lucy Wu is a character I'll be carrying around with me for a while. She's authentic, complicated, and full of heart.

Grade six is supposed to be her best year ever. She is looking forward to getting her room to herself now that her sister is heading off to college. Then she learns that her grandmother, Po Po, had a younger sister, Li Po, who is coming for an extended stay with them. Lucy has to share her room with her. To make matters worse, instead of focusing on basketball, her passion, Lucy is forced to go to Chinese school. Adding to her troubles, she ends up getting bullied by Sloane, a girl at school.

Of course it all ends up fine in the end with Lucy learning a lot, making new friends, and becoming a better person.

I loved Lucy's family and friends and readers will too. My only wish is that Sloane's character was more developed.

As an aside, I got this book mixed up with another by Wendy Wan-Long Shang, The Way Home Looks Now, that is on my MustRead List this year. But it's all good because now I am looking forward to reading that one even more!

4 stars

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman &Henning Koch (Translator)

I loved this book about Else, a precocious, almost eight year old and her obstreperous grandmother. Their relationship plays out within the synthesis of an allegorical fairytale tale world, the Land-of-Almost-Awake, and their practical day to day reality. What holds it all together is unyielding love.

They live in a house full of flats. When the grandmother dies, Else discovers that the stories of the Land-of-Almost-Awake are connected to the other tenants in the building.

The book is about love and loss. "The mightiest power of death is not that it can make people die, but that it can make the people left behind want to stop living. It's also bout making mistakes and acknowledging them. Maybe seven year olds do deserve super heroes, but that doesn't mean super heroes have to be perfect. They are good enough just by being honestly who they are.

NONFICTION

5 stars

Colville by Andrew Hunter

Alex Colville is a world renowned Canadian Painter. I discovered his art through Horse and Train while still in high school. Horse and Train, which was used as an album cover by Bruce Cockburn in 1973, remains one of his iconic works, although apparently, Pacific, a painting of a man and a gun, sells most reproductions. Both exemplify the tension that is a hallmark of his work. 

While I was still working full time I went in search of a children's book to introduce my elementary students to his work. I found nothing then and can find nothing now. I'm still searching and might have to write one myself. In the mean time, I'm learning as much as I can about him.

The book is composed of photographs, reproductions, text and even a graphic novel component at the end. It was written to accompany an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I appreciated learning how societal factors outside his quiet community influenced his work. It was also fascinating to see how his work has influenced other artists from different mediums. Although I already knew how meticulous and mathematical Colville was, I was surprised at how many studies he completed before finally finishing a painting.

The writing is nearly as stunning as the paintings themselves. There are two forwards, one by Matthhew Teitelbaun and the other by Marc Mayer. Andrew Hunter writes an introduction before the main body of the text. I found that Marc Mayer captured the essence of Colville's art with these words,

"Although his scenes were intimate, his subjects familiar, they did not necessarily offer comfort... In his unforgettably hypnotic paintings, Coville constantly questions whether we can ever know others, let alone ourselves. He reveals the false security that is often bred by familiarity."

Next I'm planning on rewatching the NFB production, Alex Colville: The Splendour of Order.

Everyone connected with this book is Canadian.

CURRENTLY

I'm still listening to There There by Tommy Orange and am searching all over for my copy of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasiy. I need to it have finished by next Monday!

UP NEXT

I'm still craving middle grade novels. Luckily, The Way Home Looks Now is in transit for me to pick up at my local library. I have Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny ready to listen to next (maybe). Depending on how much time I have, I'll start The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 4/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 4/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 5/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 16/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 71/333