The son woke up blasting Pharrell Williams' "Happy" this morning which prompted me to exuberantly sing praises for this splendiferous book of the same title. Having only recently discovered Mies van Hout's newest Surprise, I'm quickly catching up with her earlier titles and goofily, gleefully adoring them all....
Welcome to Peach Blossom, a faraway ancient farming village known for its peaches and almonds. The inhabitants rely on Dragon Bridge to get in and out, especially during the harvest season when they sell or trade their bounty in the neighboring town. One autumn, disaster occurs: Dragon...
Here's a book you just have to hold and feel and breathe in. Although the snapshot of the cover offers a hint of its unique size, not until you're gently flipping through the pages can you appreciate that you're clasping Toronto-based music/performance/literature/film artist Vivek Shraya’s precious little gem. Poignantly...
Holy moly, what a difference a book makes ...
So maybe I'm getting older faster, but oh my goodness, I'm surprised this trilogy is rated for kids – ages 12+ and grade 7+! Fair warning from this parent: the violence is graphic, the body count immeasurable, and by the end, most of the main characters...
Canadian author/artist Irene Luxbacher found the inspiration for her latest title from her own "childhood memories of watching her father at work in his tailor shop." That reality clearly infuses her story with heart-warming poignancy, highlighting multi-generational family bonds. "Mr. Frank was a tailor," the book begins. Throughout the...
If you're looking for a feel-good love story, this won't be it. If three separate tragic romances connected by heart-thumping, horrifying adventures sounds about right, then here it is – supercharged adrenaline rush most definitely guaranteed. First comes young love. While exploring an older section of 1970s Barcelona,...
Hungry? Then don't read this ...
A baker's dozen of perfect active verbs, measured out sparingly just one at the time, culminating in a final two words together. Twelve dazzlingly expressive illustrations of different birds in various stages of anticipation (the adults) and growth (the chicks) on stark black backgrounds that make the...
"Once upon a time, there was a family with two daughters, and a mother and father who promised to love them both exactly the same." "She was my twin, my fun-house mirror, my whirlwind other half. It's important to note that I was also all those...
It begins in mostly black and white ...
When Jace Witherspoon arrives at Christian Marshall's address after 19 hours of driving straight from Chicago to Albuquerque, he's not quite sure what he's going to say. "'I was in the neighborhood,' ...
By various lunar predictions, tonight should be the last night of Ramadan. Eid Mubarak! In spite of all the good intentions expected of this holy month, world events haven't exactly played out quite that way, which only makes the first line of the preface here that...
