#IMWAYR August 21, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. 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. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

We have the worst air on the planet these days. It's nasty. Forest are burning all around us, but not close enough to us that we are worried for our own safety. Still, friends, family and so many other people are either on evacuation alert, or have been evacuated that our provincial government has stopped all nonessential traffic into our region. 

I think I complained about the smoke last time I posted. We had a fabulous family reunion on the August long weekend in spite of it. Then we had a bit of respite for about a week after the fire to the south of us was brought under control. This was good because two of our granddaughters stayed with us and besides reading books together, going outside to tire them is part of our keeping sane strategy. Then their parents came and collected them just before all hell broke loose. This link will take you to a time lapse video of the fire about 100 kilometres north of us.

We started out their visit with trip to the library where we stocked up on books. I've shared some of them here. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #8 AUGUST - VACATION

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS

Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff January 1, 1958

My three year old granddaughter chose this (as well as a whole lot of other dinosaur books) from the library. There can be unfortunate consequences when a dinosaur practices its manners. We all laughed at this one.

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague (Illustrator) January 1, 2009

This is another one the dinosaur mad granddaughter picked from the library. We read it at least three times during the 7 days she and her older sister were with us.

How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague (Illustrator) February 1, 2003

We read this at least once a day during the 7 days my granddaughters were with us. After the youngest had gone to sleep, her six year old sister chose it as one of the books to read with me.
This one is a winner.

Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn & Rosalind Beardshaw (Illustrator) January 1, 2006

This is one of the books my six year old granddaughter picked to bring home from the library. She read it on her own a number of times. It wasn't til they returned to their parents that I found time to read it myself. I can see why she loved it.
Rosalind Beardshaw's art is gorgeous. I love how multicultural the characters are.

Duck, Duck, Porcupine! by Salina Yoon May 17, 2016

My granddaughters and I enjoyed this hilarious graphic novel for beginning readers. The six year old could read it by herself. We will definitely read more of this series!

Dragon's Halloween by Dav Pilkey January 1, 1993

My six year old granddaughter loved this beginning chapter book. I read it to her and her little sister first, then she picked it up and read it on her own.

Perfectly Imperfect Mira by Faith Pray April 12, 2022

My six year old granddaughter picked this out from the library shelves. I'm so glad she did, as I might have overlooked it.
Mira wants to be perfect and frets when she can't do things perfectly the first time. Eventually she realizes that she needs to do something and so she begins to practice different gymnastic moves on her own. Even though she doesn't do them perfectly, she doesn't give up and continues to improve. In the end Mira realizes she is perfect at growing.
This is a brilliant book that shows all of us how perfection is the enemy of the good.
I love Faith Pray's soft illustrations and how rounded and healthy Mira looks.

Carson Crosses Canada by Linda Bailey & Kass Reich (Illustrations) May 30, 2017 🍁

When Annie Magruder learns that her sister, who lives on the other side of Canada, is ill, she decides to go see her. She fills her VW Bug up with her tent, baloney sandwiches, her dog Carson, and his favourite toy, Squeaky Chicken. She promises Carson there will be a surprise for him when they get there. We enjoyed reading about their adventures in the different parts of the country. The best part is when Annie goes to get a souvenir at Niagra Falls, and Carson leaves his own souvenir there.
Eventually they make it to Annie's sister's place and Carson is delighted with his surprise.

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis June 21, 2022

I wish I had remembered that I had this book on my iPad when my grandchildren were visiting. We could have read the book and then, after reading about the different phases of a this plant, gone outside and admired the sunflowers growing in my garden.
Not only do I love the illustrations here, I love how the simple text can be embraced by beginning readers.
I appreciated the additional information at the back of the book that includes a visual lifecycle.
This is a brilliant nonfiction text for new readers.

Being Frog by April Pulley Sayre February 4, 2020

This was a reread for me, but I had to introduce my grandchildren to the wonders of frogs. I chose this and the following title. You can read my original review of this book here. 

The Frog Mother (Mothers of Xsan, 4) by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson), Natasha Donovan (Illustrations)  🍁

The Mothers of Xsan Series highlights the Gitxsan’s way of knowing the world by showing the integration of culture and nature. I've reviewed this one in full here.
Not only were the grandchildren engaged by this one, the six year old, just after we started reading, remarked that it seemed like an indigenous book.

What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward & Susie Ghahremani (Illustrator) February 5, 2013

This is a delightful information board book. Each section is made up of two, two page spreads. The first includes a setting with a clutch of eggs and includes the question? What will hatch? The next page names and shows the hatched creatures. Each set of pages also includes a rhyming couplet. Readers will learn about turtles, tadpoles, penguins and crocodiles. Did you know that crocodiles are doting mothers?

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt & Fred Berman (Narrator)

Gary Schmidt is one of a handful of authors who I read just because I am guaranteed to fall in love with their male characters. 

There is a lot going on here. Hercules Beal and his brother, Achilles, are left to run their family farm and nursery after their parents are killed in an automobile accident. 

Hercules starts out at a new school with a hard core, ex marine, home room teacher who assigns unique projects for each of his students. Hercules’ assignment is to find parallels between his life and the labours of his mythical namesake. 

The book is full of adventure punctuated by ethereal moments of calm as Hercules, his dog, and pirate cat greet each dawn on a sand dune by the ocean. It’s also loaded with screaming hilarity. 

It shows a community, even the most crotchety members, stepping up to support their own when they need it. It shows us a boy dealing with grief and coming into his own. It’s just bloody lovely. 

Winterkill by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch &. Michael Gallagher  (Narrator) September 6, 2022

I become besotted with Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's writing all over again after reading one of her novels. She writes about historically horrific and brutal times with such compassion and tenderness for her characters, without whitewashing any of the reality.
This book is very timely since it is set in the Ukraine. It deals with the Holodomor, a genocide by famine deliberately engineered by Stalin.

ADULT/YA NONFICTION

 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green May 18, 2021

I savoured this book. I mostly listened to one or two essays at a time. If it was at night and I fell asleep, I was happy to go back and start where I began the night before.
At one point I stopped reading and spent the rest of the afternoon listening to The Mountain Goats.
I give The Mountain goats 4 stars.
John Green narrated this himself. His voice added layers of nuance to the pieces. While some pieces might be more personal than other's I really appreciated Green's honesty & ability to make a personal connection to everything in the book.

I give "The Anthropocene Reviewed" five stars.

CURRENTLY

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Global by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano (Illustrator)

UP NEXT 

I have no idea.

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 16/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 12/20

Canadian Authors 29/75 

Indigenous Authors 12/20 

Big Books Summer 2023 - 12 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 127/200 

 

#IMWAYR August 1st, 2022

Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. 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. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

Last week I forgot to thank Jen at Introverted Reader for the heads up about the Chrome Library Extension. I love being able to check if any of my libraries have copies of the books when I search for titles on Goodreads. 

Our son and his family left Sunday morning to return home to Vancouver. After a bit of clean up, a bazillion loads of laundry, and a long nap, the missing of them started. 

Before they arrived I managed to almost finish sewing these matching dresses for my granddaughters. Late at night I binge watched Call the Midwife and finished them so they could take them back to Vancouver with them.

We will be away at a wedding next weekend so I won't get a post in for a couple of weeks. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

PICTURE BOOKS

Lydia, my almost two year old granddaughter and I enjoyed a lot of classic picture books this week. Her favourite was Peek a Zoo, but the others were a hit as well. 

4 stars

Apple and Magnolia by Laura Gehl & Patricia Metola (Illustrator) February 8, 2022

A young girl is convinced the two trees in her yard are friends. When one seems to languish, she is certain that the other one helps it out. 

There is ample evidence showing that trees communicate with each other through fungal networks. This book is a delightful introduction to the process.

4 stars

At the Pond by David Elliott & Amy Schimler-Safford (Illustrations) February 8, 2022

This is a collection of poetry that connects to different animals that live in, on, or around a pond. They didn't all work for me, but I adored this one about frogs. 

Amy Schimler-Safford's illustrations really make this book for me. They are created with mixed media and finished digitally. The back matter contains additional information about the plants and animals honoured in the book.

Thanks to Linda B at Teacher Dance for introducing this book to me. 

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl's Story of Virginia's Lost Generation and the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka Decision byTamara Pizzoli, Yolanda Gladden & Keisha Morris (Illustrations) January 11, 2022

The caliber of nonfiction picture books available these days is exemplary. This book is the proof. 

Tamara Pizzoli relates how she and other African American children managed to get an education when schools were shut down to avoid integration. The power of this book is that is shows the consequences of the ruling and the aftermath from a personal perspective. 

Thanks to Linda B at Teacher Dance for the heads up about this one too. 

READERS

My five year old grandson and I read the Charlie and Mouse series while he was here. He ended up enjoying them as much as my granddaughter did. If you are not acquainted with this series, you don't need to read them with children. They are delightful on their own. Make sure you read them as hardcopies. The formatting of the ebooks sucks.

 

4 stars

Blippo and Beep by Sarah Weeks & Joey Ellis (Illustrations) May 17, 2022

Everett enjoyed this one too. He grinned the whole way through it. Blippo and Beep, a couple of robotic friends tell jokes to each other. Beep seems to have a better handle on what a joke is. Blippo gets it eventually though. Everett told me he liked the rhyming joke best. 

MG NOVELS

4 stars

The Summer We Saved the Bees by Robin Stevenson September 1, 2015 🍁

Wolf had no idea that his project on bees would end up with his mother becoming passionate about saving them. He had no idea she would create a website and have the whole family involved in raising awareness of colony collapse. Now they are leaving school before the end of the school year. He's expected to wear an ill fitting bee suit and, along with his twin five year old sisters, hand out flyers while his mother entertains crowds. His older step sister, Violet, is angry about having to leave her boyfriend Ty and abandon school before finishing grade ten. But it's Whisper, one of their little sisters who worries him the most. She has always been anxious and worried, but now her stomach aches have gotten worse and she's stopped talking altogether. How can Wolf and Violet get their mother to focus on what's going on with her children now, instead of panicking about their future?

I was much more invested in Wolf's story than I expected to be. I was so angry at his mother that I had to take a break from reading a couple of times. 

4 stars

The Overwood by Gabrielle S. Prendergast February 15, 2022  🍁

You might think that Blue Jasper and his mother would be safe in The Overwood, the Fairie name for our world. Unfortunately, the evil Faerie queen, Olea, stripped of her magic, now lives here. When Blue's mother goes missing, Olea, and a coven of witches, have something to do with it. Blue and his Fairie friends have to rescue her within 24 hours or she will be killed and Olea will get her power back.
While the first two in Prendergast's Orca Currents Faerie Woods series are full of action packed escapes, this one ratchets up the tension. It felt a lot creepier, but maybe that is because the dangers Blue and his friends face are more tangible. I don't even like heights, never mind almost falling off the CN Tower in Toronto.
(The Orca Currents collection are "are short, high-interest novels with contemporary themes written specifically for middle-school students reading below grade level. Reading levels from grade 2.0 to 5.0. Interest level ages 9-12")

ADULT FICTION

5 stars

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner May 17, 2022 🍁

I think I liked this book even more than The Jane Austen Society. I was delighted to get to know Evie Stone better, but loved making the acquaintance of Vivien Lowry and Grace Perkins. Reading about the hardships these women faced in academia and in the workplace left me both thankful for the progress we've made, and hoping for more for the working women of today. I loved the literary connections - especially all the women authors and publishers. The romantic bits were delightful. 

CURRENTLY

Diggers by Terry Pratchet

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1983 by Cho Nam-Joo

Forbidden City by James Ponti February 1, 2022

UP NEXT

The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson

Barry Squires, Full Tilt by Heather Smith  🍁

Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland, 

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 15/24

#MustReadNonFiction 12/18

Canadian Authors 49/100 

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 12/25

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 6 one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 181/250

#IMWAYR March 8, 2021

Hello out there. It's #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.

Happy International Women's Day Everyone! If you are looking for a strong, YA female literary character to celebrate the day/week, I highly recommend the Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor. You can read about them below. 

The Canada Reads Debate begins today and I have read only two of this year's finalists. (I have read more of the long list though.) I will eventually get to them all, just not in time to agree or disagree with the winner. The two I finished are brilliant. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book. 

BEGINNING READERS

5 stars

See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog by David LaRochelle & Mike Wohnoutka (Illustrator)

Quality books for beginning readers are hard to find. They are probably harder to write. Mo Willems hits the sweet spot with his Elephant and Piggie series. See the Cat is an another excellent example of what we hope to find. it’s sweet, funny and clever at the same time. This dog is a character you want to see/read more of.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming & Eric Rohmann (Illustrator)

Did you know that before her work is done, a honeybee will have visited thirty thousand flowers and collected enough nectar to make one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey?

With these jaw dropping, illustrations, you will want to pore over this book again and again. It takes the reader through the life cycle of one Apis Mellifera. Readers learn about the different jobs a worker bee engages in before and after she heads off in search of nectar, water, plant sap or pollen. Fleming builds suspense as she marks each stage in her nonfiction poem with a refrain of Flying? Not yet...  

I really appreciated the extra information in the back matter. It includes a labeled diagram of a bee with extensive details about each part.  Additional information includes a section on how to support honeybees and a list of more facts about these important creatures. A bibliography with internet links and print resources finishes this section off. While neither the author or illustrator are Canadian, Dr. Mark I. Winston, the world's leading expert on bees, who they worked with them on this project, is. 

NOVELS

3.5 stars

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: Peril at Owl Park by Marthe Jocelyn 🍁

I wanted to love this more than I did. Aggie, her best friend, Hector Porot, and Grannie Jane, head off to the country to spend Christmas with her older sister, Marjorie and her new husband, James. She is happy to be reunited with Lucy, James' niece. Two other guests arrive to spend the season with them. It looks to be a festive season with an acting troupe pulling together servants and family for a tableaux performance on Christmas Eve. The next morning the three children discover a dead body in the library. The police are called in but the trio do what they can to figure out who the murderer is.
I enjoyed this a lot but wish it was not so long. I worry that while older readers like myself will be undaunted, I'm not so sure about the target audience.

5 stars

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots & Alex McKenna (Narrator) 🍁

I loved this book. I know it's a trite way to begin a review, but honestly, this is a fascinating look at people working for super villains. Anna is a data analyst who ends up employed by them because it's the only job she can get. When she ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, a superhero nearly kills her when he throws her against a wall. (She was the token female at a news conference where one of the villains threatened to have the kidnapped mayor's son cut off his own fingers if he didn't get a ransom. It was terrifying.) As she recovers she starts collecting data and realizes that it's actually the superheros, not the villains, who create the most damage and kill the most people. It's all about how it's marketed.

She starts blogging about her findings and ends up head hunted by the most powerful super villain of all. Eventually she ends up in charge of her own department where data collection and analysis is used to create plans to takedown superheros. Unfortunately her boss doesn't have her patience for playing the long game.
I appreciated so much about this book. Anna is not really a sympathetic character, but that didn't stop me from wanting to know how her life might turn out. That she's bisexual adds all kinds of nuances to her relationships. In spite of this, there isn't really sexual content. One relationship that barely gets started ends up in a hilarious disaster. There is some suggestion of a romance between Anna and her boss, but really, this book focuses more on friendships and the role media coverage and marketing manipulate how we see the world. 

This is one of the Canada Reads books. I love that the titles on the list are often ones I wouldn't pick for myself. This is one of those. 

4 stars

Home (Binti 2) by Nnedi Okorafor & Robin Miles (Narrator)

I'm having a hard time separating out what happened in the last two novels in this trilogy because I listened to them back to back. Binti and Okwu, her Meduse friend, return home to earth. Okwu comes in peace as an ambassador. Binti hopes to go on her coming of age pilgrimage, but on the eve of her leaving is taken into the desert by her father's people. One day turns into many as she is initiated into new ways of communicating with the world. While she is away she learns that Okwu and her family have been attacked the Khoush, ancient enemies of the Meduse. It is not known if there are any survivors.

5 stars

The Night Masquerade (Binti 3) by Nnedi Okorafor & Robin Miles (Narrator)

Binti and her new friend, Mwinyi, travel from her desert family back to Binti's Himba family. They arrive to discover they have been murdered by the Khoush and her friend Okwu is missing. The Khoush are patrolling the area searching for him and Binti. Okwu and an army of Meduse are hiding in the lake. In spite of her loss, Binti arranges to meet with the Himba elders to set up a meeting to bring peace to all sides. Even though they betray her by not showing up at the rendezvous, she attempts negotiating with leaders of both armies to try and broker a peace between them. It ends up in disaster, but it's not the end of the book.

The Binti series chronicles a young girl's journey from a small African village in Namibia to a prestigious galactic university, her return home again, and a final departure. It's a metaphor for how we are transformed as we leave home, interact with others, learn and grow. It's about figuring out our identity as we change with each new being we meet and connect to. In the end it's about discovering home inside ourselves.

I'm so excited by Okorafor's writing, I've put a hold on Akata Witch.

 

DISCWORLD NOVELS

I can't believe I didn't finish even one Discworld novel this week!

NONFICTION

5 stars

Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL's First Treaty Indigenous Player by Fred Sasakamoose

Fred Sasakamoose overcame almost overwhelming obstacles to play hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1954. Even when his time there was over, hockey continued to play an important role throughout the rest of his life. He went on to make huge contributions to his community, the province of Saskatchewan, and Canada. I am not a sports fan, but Sasakamoose is such a gifted storyteller, that his narrative drew me in and wouldn't let go.
I'm working on a detailed review that I'll post closer to the publishing date of May 18. I wish my father-in-law was still alive so I could preorder it for him. He was a hockey fanatic who played the game well into his late 70's. 

It's a testimony to how personable the writing it, that I wept when, after reading the book, I discovered that Sasakamoose died last November of Covid complications. He was one of those who truly left the world a better place than he found it.

CURRENTLY 

The nonfiction title I have on the go is The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. I'm almost finished listening to Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. I might read it again as soon as it's done. I'm also listening to Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez. I've started Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne. I'm making my way through Shopping Cart Boy: Poems of My Life by Joshua Jordan G.H. He was sixteen when he wrote them. They are an emotionally hard read. 

UP NEXT

I plan to read and review a netgalley title, The Case of the Burgled Bundle by Michael Hutchinson. A pile of picture books is waiting for me so I'll try and get to those. I also have a lot of audiobooks lined up. Why oh why does everything come available from the library at the same time?

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

#MustReadIn2021 5/25 

#MustReadNFIn2021 2/12 one in progress

#MustReadPBIn2021 15/100

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 7/25 one in progress

Books by Canadian Authors: 21/100

Canada Reads 2021 2/5 

Discworld Series 31/41 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 87/333 

#IMWAYR March 2, 2019

Hello out there. It's #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.

Spring is showing up here in Vancouver Canada. I've been wandering around with just a warm sweater and down vest. The nights are still really cold though. The daffodil buds in our north facing front yard are almost ready to burst. I'm especially excited that the buds on the ornamental cherry trees are swelling and getting ready to put on their annual display. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.


BOARD BOOKS

5 stars

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

This is still a favourite board book around here. It has entertained my grandkids from the time they were little. It still does. Ada has it memorized and can even 'read' it by herself.

PICTURE BOOKS

Hide-and-Seek: A First Book of Position Words by R.D Ornot & Sakshi Mangal (Illustrations)  🍁

Bear, Fox and owl play hide-and-seek together. As they search for each other readers are introduced to the language of prepositions. There is plenty of hugging when they find each other. R. D. Ornot's artwork is endearingly charming.
This is a perfect book for preschoolers, but is probably too young for school aged children. My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter and I have been rereading this a lot. She loves it. We have been playing hide-and-seek lately so she really gets it. We do lots of hugging when we find each other too!

Owen at the Park by Scot Ritchie  🍁

A young boy helps his father tend the gardens of a public park. In this book he has the special responsibility of informing park patrons about an important activity. Then he gets to start it himself.
There is a lot we don't know here. His father is using crutches for an undefined reason. We have no idea if this is a permanent or temporary situation. We don't know the age of the boy or how or why he is helping out. From the illustrations it looks like he mostly enjoys what he is doing.

Detractors of this book claim it's about child slavery. Maybe they are much younger me, but I grew up with lots of responsibility and had my first part time job in my tween years. I wonder if they have never been around young children desperate to take on responsibility and help out? I live with, "Can I Do it? Let me help! I can do it by myself!" It's important to remember that for people of all ages, a large part of belonging is about being able to contribute in meaningful ways. That's what I see going on here.

Cooking with Bear: A Story and Recipes from the Forest by Deborah Hodge, Lisa Cinar (Illustrations)  🍁

Cooking with Bear is part story and part recipe book. At the beginning of spring, Bear, the chef, cooks up all kinds of delicious food for his animal friends. He teaches his friend, Fox, how to forage and prepare different meals based on the diets of the different animals they meet on their walk in the forest.
The back matter contains an index to all the recipes. I'm torn between cooking up the nut burgers or the hazelnut-chocolate chip cookies first!
If you have a young person who enjoys cooking, this book is a must purchase!

The Promise Basket by Bill Richardson & Slavka Kolesar (Illustrations)  🍁

This is reminiscent of Love You Forever by Robert Munch.
It's tells of a poor mother and her love for her baby. She can't afford to purchase gifts for significant occasions. Instead she searches for a special rock and then wraps it in paper with a poem she has written on it. It's a tradition that continues across her daughter's growing years and eventually into the next generation.
Slavka Kolesar's illustrations are gorgeous. This book pulls at my heartstrings, but I'll have to test it out with real kids to see how they like it.

Neekah's Knitting Needles by Sylvia Olsen, Odelia Smith & Sheena Lott (Illustrations)  🍁

This tells the story of a young girl learning Cowichan style knitting. Neekah is finally old enough to learn to knit, so her mother helps her make a hat for her grandmother. The book introduces readers to this important cultural activity and emphasizes how it is passed on from generation to generation. I loved seeing the knitting charts at the bottom of the page. 
This is an important addition to indigenous collections for all libraries. 
The only problem is that the book is very text heavy. It didn't bother me, but I am both a knitter and have background knowledge of these sweaters. I would use it as a read aloud with older readers when studying indigenous people. For younger readers, Yetsa's Sweater, by the same author is a better introduction to this art.
There has been some appropriation of the Cowichan knitting style, but none of that, or the economic background is dealt with here. The work in this book is based on the work of knitter, Odelia Smith. Neither Sylvia Olsen or Sheena Lott are indigenous, although Sylvia does live on Tsartlip land with her mixed heritage family.

Dora Wilson talks about her life as a Cowichan knitter in this short clip from New Journeys.

The following video introduces us to Mary Ellen Joe, a famous Cowichan Knitter. It's 25 minutes long, but delightful!

If readers are interested in learning more, I highly recommend watching the NFB film, The story of the Coast Salish knitters, by Christine Welsh.

READERS

Flare (Tiny Tails #2) & Splash (Tiny Tails #3) by Kallie George & Geneviève Côté (Illustrations)  🍁

I'm charmed by this early reader series by Kallie George. It highlights young mythical creatures. Geneviève Côtés whimsical illustrations are perfect for it. The books do not need to be read in order. 
The young phoenix, Flare, never cries, so the sun, the wind, and the rain take it upon themselves to teach him how to do it. (This really reminded me of the story The North Wind and The Sun.) As Flare learns empathy, he also learns to cry. It turns out that his tears have magical powers.
Splash is a young sea serpent who has a hard time behaving like sea serpents should. Even his grandfather has a hard time training him. Will Splash be able to behave when it really matters? What I liked most about this book is that at the end, it focuses on learning in meaningful circumstances. Isn't this what all kids need? 
I'm looking forward to reading the first in the series. 

NOVELS

3.5 stars

The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) by Philip Pullman & Michael Sheen (Narrator)

I wrote a lovely detailed review of this book on Goodreads and it didn't save it! Then I wrote another, much shorter one and it didn't save either! Grrrr.
I enjoyed this book, but it was a bit slow and I hated the ending - which wasn't really an ending at all, but more like abandoning the story midstream! Yet in spite of this, I loved being back in Philip Pullman's world with Lyra and Pan, even if the two of them are miles apart.

4 stars

The Afterwards by A.F. Harrold & Emily Gravett (Illustrator)

December (Ember) and Happiness (Ness) are best friends who live next door to one another. When Ness, dies, Ember is empty and struggles to cope. Then Betty, her nefarious uncle's dog, is killed in a car accident. He kidnaps Ember and takes her to The Afterwards where he trades her for Betty. While wandering in this parallel world, Ember finds a shadowy Ness. Then a Mrs Todd decides this trade isn't right and returns Ember to the real world. Once home Ember becomes determined to rescue Ness, no matter what. That's what friends do.

This book is primarily about grief, loss and coming to terms with it. It's got lots of creepy going on, but there are also moments of sorrow and humour. The night Ember plans to return to The Afterwards to rescue Ness, her Nan and Grandad are over to babysit her. Ember's description of them is hilarious.

“Tilda and Porkpie weren’t like most grans and grandads she knew of.
They were old people made more like teenagers.
Ember wasn’t sure what had gone wrong with them, but they failed to grow up properly.”

NONFICTION

4 stars

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib 🍁

I appreciate this book a lot. Not only did it teach me a lot about what it means to be Muslim, I learned what it's like to be a queer Muslim, not only here in Canada, but around the world. I appreciated learning how complex and varied Islam is.
I came to appreciate Samra Habib and her family and so will other readers. Yet I never really felt deeply connected to them. I suspect that's because of the journalistic style of writing. I'm still thankful to have read it.
I'm now finished all the Canada Reads finalists. Let the debates begin!

CURRENTLY

I'm listening to A Better Man (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #15)
by Louise Penny. I've just started Break in Case of Emergency by Brian Francis. I'm almost done Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me by Gae Polisner.

UP NEXT

I'm not sure what my next audiobook will be. I will continue reading from the boxes of books and see what else pops up. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2020: 4/25

#MustReadNFIn2020: 3/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 8/25

100 books by Canadian Authors: 35/100

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 88/333