The best new books for younger readers
The Way Home in the Night Written and illustrated by Akiko Miyakoshi (Kids Can, 32 pages, $18.95, ages 3-7) Ayoung rabbit is carried by its mother, going home through the dark urban streets. En route, the bunny glimpses animal neighbours through their lighted windows. A bookshop owner is closing up; a goat is answering the telephone; a sheep takes a pie from the oven; a couple says goodbye to one another. Finally tucked into bed, the bunny lies in the dark and wonders: what are they all doing now? Miyakoshi’s shaded charcoal illustrations bring us right into the quiet shadows of the night streets. Highly atmospheric, quiet and dream-like, this evokes the sleepy child’s perspective — the paths imagination can take — on the edge of sleep. An excellent going-tobed book.
If Found Please Return to Elise Gravel Written and illustrated by Elise Gravel (Enfant, 100 pages, $19.95, ages 6-12) Gravel’s nutty imagination and humour are vitally apparent in this version of her personal sketchbook. In part she gives tips to artists but mostly, she shows how accessible and fun drawing can be. “In my notebook . . . I give myself the right to fail, to mess up, to create ugly drawings . . .” she writes. Then we view pages and pages of vibrantly coloured, wacky creatures, plants, worm slippers and even a fart festival. for those who are just beginning. Good for doodlers, would-be cartoonists and anyone with a fistful of markers and a sense of humour.
The Fashion Committee By Susan Juby (Penguin, 305 pages, $21.99, ages 12 and up) Clothing has always been a big feature in Juby’s writing: here it’s the focal point. Charlie has always loved the possibilities of fashion, and when she sees an ad for a scholarship to a private arts school, she’s determined to compete. The same day, surly John also decides to compete. The story progresses through alternating “fashion journals” — but the journals become as much confessionals as design notebooks. Charlie’s father has been in and out of drug rehab, and her realistic assessment of his behaviour, and her own balanced sense of the limits of her responsibility give this novel unusual depth.
Thick as Thieves By Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow, 337 pages, $21.99, ages 12 and up) Once again Turner offers ingenious plotting, subtle characterization and a sleight of hand in the telling that promises to surprise even astute readers. Kamet, slave and secretary to Attolia’s former Mede ambassador, has every reason to think his master, and thus he himself, will achieve great power in the Mede empire. But with a whispered warning that his master has been poisoned, Kamet must flee to save his life. For those who haven’t yet discovered the “Queen’s Thief” novels, now’s the time. Highly recommended. Deirdre Baker teaches children’s literature at the University of Toronto