Mother Hen's Canada by Kenneth M. Mercer

Mother Hen's Canada, written by Kenneth M. Mercer with illustrations by Clara (Maher) Dunne & Danielle Dunne, is an interesting fable.  Mother Hen wants a family so she sets about gathering eggs from all around the farmyard, not noticing if they are all chicken eggs or not.  Once the eggs hatch she tries to make a happy family of the little creatures, differences and all, but soon gets upset with the difference and the squabbles and tries to enforce some rules.  The little creatures are  none to happy and poor mother hen wears herself out and becomes quite sick trying to keep them all together.

Little ones will enjoy this story simply for the simple little story, but adults will realize the bigger story.  I thought this would be an interesting book to feature at this time while our country is gearing up for it's 41st General Election. While it's not a terribly well written book, it is kind of an interesting look at Canada and I'm glad we read it.

I found this book at our local library and the only information I could find online about the book is on the book illustrations page of Clara  Dunne's website.  Clara and her daughter co-illustrated the book.

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Carry Me, Mama by Monica Devine

Carry Me, Mama, written by Monica Devine and illustrated by Pauline Paquin, is a wonderful story for little ones about growing up. When Katie was little her mother used to carry Katie in her hood with her wherever she went.  When Katie got too big for the hood she had to walk, but she really wanted to be carried.  Her mother gradually took her on longer walks until finally Katie got used to walking, but she still liked to be carried to bed.

Anna and I loved this book.  One thing that Anna wasn't impressed with was the fact that there were no facial features on the characters in the book.  That gave us the chance to talk about how different artists have different styles and why artist do what they do.  I suggested that maybe the artist didn't give the characters facial features so that you could imagine that they looked however you wanted them to look.  Anna decided she still would rather that the artist draw the facial features.

Monica Devine is a retired speech therapist living in Alaska and this is just one of four children's books she has written.  Pauline Paquin  is a self taught artist from Quebec.

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Mwakwa Talks to the Loon by Dale Auger

Mwakwa Talks to the Loon: A Cree Story for Children, written and illustrated by Dale Auger, is a great book with an important lesson.  Mwakwa is a great hunter but he becomes proud of his ability and loses his skill.  He thinks he can get it back anytime but he soon realizes that he needs to humble himself and show proper respect before he can regain the skill.  The illustrations in this book are beautiful!

There are Cree words interspersed in the story and there are pronunciation guides in the back but it's a bit bothersome to skip back and forth and I still wasn't quite sure how to pronounce some of them.  I simply skipped over the Cree words and it didn't affect the story in the least, but I do still wish that we could hear the story with the Cree words included in it.  I was hoping to find a place online where you could hear how they are actually supposed to be pronounced, but I haven't come across it yet.


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A Gift of Music: Emile Benoit & his Fiddle by Alice Walsh

A Gift of Music: Emile Benoit & his Fiddle, written by Alice Walsh and illustrated by Geoff Butler, tells the story of the birth and childhood of one of Newfoundland's most well known fiddle players.

I'm not sure how much of the story is truth and how much is fiction but it is a great story.  I have read in a biography of Emile Benoit that his dad did make him his first fiddle.  He was a self taught musician and a master of his instrument.  You can see a sample of his skill in a youtube video of Emile Benoit playing the fiddle.

Anna enjoyed the story and the illustrations.  It was a great way to get in some learning about our Newfoundland culture and heritage.


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Noah's Ark by Barbara Shook Hazen

We borrowed Noah's Ark, retold by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Tibor Gergely, from a friend.  It tells the Biblical story of Noah's ark.  Anna and I really enjoyed checking out the detailed illustrations.  I especially found it interesting that the author suggested Noah kept the animals in pens in his yard while waiting to finish the ark, making his yard like a zoo.  Not sure how biblically accurate it is but it is an interesting suggestion.

This is A Little Golden Book and the cover posted here is not actually the cover on the copy of the book that we have.  I like the cover on the book we have much better.  I'm assuming the cover I found on amazon is from a newer edition while the copy we have is an older edition.  I found a copy of the cover of Noah's Ark that we have on flicker.  I also discovered a website dedicated to the illustrator, Tibor Gergely (1900-1978).  On that site you can find some of the illustrations from Noah's Ark.

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Becoming Butterflies by Anne Rockwell

Becoming Butterflies, written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Megan Halsey, is a great book for learning about caterpillars and butterflies.  It tells the story of a  teacher bringing caterpillars to class.  The class watches as the caterpillars change into a butterflies and also learns about where the butterflies go in the winter. There is lots of great information told in an interesting way.


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Elliot's Fire Truck by Andrea Beck

Elliot's Fire Truck, written and illustrated by Andrea Beck is a fun book!  Elliot the Moose wants to play fire fighter, but he runs into a problem. All his friends want to be firefighters, too, and nobody wants to be the one that needs rescuing.  Finally they talk two of the littlest toys into being the ones that need rescuing, but in a funny turn of events they end up being the rescuers.

Anything that has a firefighter theme catches Anna's eye because her dad and big brother are both fire fighters.  She thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the illustrations in this book.

On Andrea Beck's website there is a link to a recording of Andrea Beck reading Elliot's Fire Truck.  There is also an Elliot Memory Match Game and Step by step instructions on how to Draw Elliot Moose, among other things.  Her website is well worth checking out.  There you will also find a list of other books written by Andrea Beck.


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Captain Bob Bartlett and the Karluk Adventure by Ron Young

In Captain Bob Bartlett and the Karluk Adventure, written by Ron Young and illustrated by Mel D'Souza, rhyming couplets tell the true story of Ship captain Bob Bartlett and a time in 1913 when his ship was stuck in the ice for many months.  The crew and passengers actually had to set up camp on the ice until they could walk to an island.  It is a great adventure story for elementary age children.

This story was a little above Anna at this point in time and she struggled to stay focused on it, but at them same time she really wanted to hear the story.  I definitely see us coming back to this one in a couple of years time as part of our social studies.

To be totally honest, I am not sure if Ron Young is a Newfoundlander or not, but I am assuming he is because all the books that I can find written by him have a Newfoundland theme.

llustrator Mel D'Souza is a writer/cartoonist for Downhomer Magazine and has illustrated several children's books.  Born in East Africa, he immigrated to Canada in 1971.  He lives in Ontario but has a summer home in Newfoundland.  It sounds to me like he is an honorary Newfoundlander, even if he isn't a full fledged one.

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One is a Snail Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre

One is a Snail Ten is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book, written by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre and illustrated by Randy Cecil, is a very unique counting book.  As the subtitle suggests, the counting is done using feet.  A snail has one foot and so a snail is one.  A snail is also used to combine with other creatures if there is no creature that has the number of feet needed, for example three is a person plus a snail.  When the counting gets to 10 it then starts counting by tens up to 100, showing two different ways to get each number using the same creatures as was used for the numbers 1-10.

Anna and I love this book!  There is so much fun and learning packed into it.  It's a great resource for math.  It provides a fun way to count by ones and also by tens.  Multiplication can also be brought into the picture with the different combinations to make the tens numbers.  You can also get some science learning in there by researching the different creatures.

On April Pulley's website she provides links to One is a Snail worksheets.  There are three different levels of worksheets available.

One is a Snail Ten is a Crab is a great book to read just for fun, but it's also a great book to use to put some fun into some math and science lessons.

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The Farm Team, by Linda Bailey

In The Farm Team, written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Bill Slavin, the Farm Team, made up of farm animals, plays the Bush League Bandits, made up of forest animals, for the Stolski Cup.  The Farm Team has lost every big game for 50 years but still dreaming of bringing home the cup.

Like Anna, kids will enjoy the story and the illustrations and adults, especially hockey fans, will probably find it amusing also. I giggled to myself as I thought about how the Farm Team kind of reminded me of my favorite hockey team.

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The Colours of My Home: a portrait of Newfoundland & Labrador, by Susan Pynn

The Colours of My Home: a portrait of Newfoundland & Labrador, written by Susan Pynn  and illustrated by Nancy Keating, is the author's first book and the illustrator's second.  With rhyming text and a collage of illustrations each double page spread of this book is devoted to a different colour. Many of the things depicted are things that have a distinct Newfoundland connection.  The illustrations are beautiful.

The author and illustrator are sisters and have worked on at least a one other book since this one.  The other book, titled A Puppy Story,  I featured on this blog earlier.

Anna and I had a great time sharing this book together and talking about the colours and all the different things in the illustrations.


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The Runaway Son by Nick and Claire Page

In fun rhyming text The Runaway Son, written by Nick and Claire Page with illustrations by Sara Baker, tells the biblical story of the prodigal son in a modern day setting.  Cheeky Chad is the prodigal son, while Steady Eddie is his brother and Farmer Godfrey is his dad.

This is part of a Read With Me book series.  These books are designed to "develop the confidence of young readers".  They include a "ready to tell" section with pictures for children to put in order to retell the story, a picture dictionary, and activity and discussion suggestions.  Not all of the books are based on Bible stories but there are a number of them that are.

We borrowed this book from and friend and Anna and I thought it was great. I would love to find more of the series.


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The Ticky-Tacky Doll by Cynthia Rylant

The Ticky-Tacky Doll, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Harvey Stevenson, is a very cute story about a little girl that loves a special doll her grandmother made for her from her sewing scraps.  She is really sad when she has to go to school and leave her doll behind and she has trouble concentrating on her school work because she misses her doll so much.  Her grandmother notices how sad she is and realizes why she's so sad and comes up with a solution. Grandmother makes her a tiny sewing scrap doll that she can hide in her school bag and take to school with her, without any knowing that it is there.  The illustrations are muted, yet colourful and really add to the feeling of the book.

Anna and I loved this story and it made me want to try my hand at making Anna her own Ticky-Tacky Doll.  I did a search online for patterns but didn't find one.  Instead I found a post, with pictures, by a mom that made a Ticky-Tacky doll for her child and another post with pictures of a Ticky-Tacky doll made by a grandmother.   Maybe it will inspire some of you to make your own Ticky-Tacky dolls.  I'd love to see them if you do.

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Stella, Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay

In Stella, Queen of the Snow, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, Sam has all kinds of questions for his big sister Stella when he experiences snow for the first time.  Just some if the things he wants to know are where snow comes from, how many snowflakes are in a snowball, and if snow angels can sing.

Anna got a big kick out of all Sam's questions and Stella's answers.

Stella and Sam are characters created by Canadian Marie-Louise Gay and they are featured in a number of books that have been translated into many languages and are available all over the world.  They even have their own TV show and mini site on Playhouse Disney.  I can't wait to show Anna the cool things there! Just a few days ago Stella and Sam Adventure for the iPad.

Anna and I have already read a few of Marie-Louise Gay's 60 + books that she's written for children and Stella, Queen of the Snow is one of our favourites so far.


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Forget-Me-Not by Maxine Trottier

Forget-Me-Not, written by Maxine Trottier and illustrated by Nancy Keating, is set in a Newfoundland outport in 1917.  It tells the story of how Bridget, a young girl in the community, brings food to a young soldier that returns to the community but keeps himself separated from the others, possibly because he's ashamed of his injuries.  The soldier initiates a note writing relationship with Bridget, naming the wildflowers that she usually leaves with his food.  The last flower he names, with the last note he writes to her, is the Forget-Me-Not.

I wondered if this story was too advanced for Anna and she wasn't sure about it at first but it wasn't long before she was caught up in the story.  It is a great story to use as a social studies resource. It can led into discussions about that time in history and the wars that were happening and how it affected so many people.  Also, inspired by the names of the different flowers in the book, it could led to a science study of plant identification.  Anna and I ended up in both kinds of discussions.  I'm fairly certain that this is a book we will return to again to take advantage of the learning it can initiate.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful.  This is not the first book I've featured illustrated by Nancy Keating.  Anna and I both admire her illustrations.

The author, Maxine Trottier, is a profilic writer that has decided to make Newfoundland her home.  There are teacher guides on Maxine Trottier's website for a number of her books, but neither one for this book.  We have read a number of her books and will definitely be featuring more books by her.

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A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohman

In A Kitten Tale, written and illustrated by Eric Rohman, four little kittens are anticipating the coming snow.  Three are dreading it, but one can't wait.  This is a cute book with just a sentence or two per double page spread and some repeated phrases making it a good book for beginning readers.

Reading Rockets has an interview with Eric Rohman that is interesting for adults to listen to.  He talks a lot about how he struggled in school.

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The Queen's Feet by Sarah Ellis

Anna and I both got a kick out of The Queen's Feet, written by Sarah Ellis and illustrated by Dusan Petricic.

Queen Daisy's feet did not like to behave and often got the queen in trouble, until finally one day the royal officials got together and came up with a plan to give the queen's feet one hour a day when they could do whatever they wanted, but for the rest of the day they must behave properly.

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My Newfoundland and Labrador Counting Book by Betty Organ

My Newfoundland and Labrador Counting Book, written by Betty Organ and illustrated by Dana Carter, is the first published book for both author and illustrator, who are both from Newfoundland.

In rhyming verse, this book follows a girl through a day of adventures in her Newfoundland community as she finds things, some of which reflect Newfoundland culture, to count from one to ten.

Anna enjoyed finding the numbers and counting the objects as we went through the book.


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Battle of Jericho by Connie Wade and Diane Stortz

The Battle of Jericho, written by Connie Wade and Diane Stortz and illustrated by Laura Ovresat, is one of a series of 'Sing a Story' books.  It is a tiny board book that we borrowed from a friend and we loved it.  It tells the Bible story of the Battle of Jericho.  The rhyming text of the book can be sung to the tune of Farmer in the Dell, making it all the more fun.  I'd love to find the other books in the series.  I think they would be great for introducing children to Bible stories in a fun way.

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Come Along, Kitten by Joanne Ryder

Come Along, Kitten, written by Joanne Ryder and illustrated by Susan Winter, is a very cute book.  With beautiful pictures and just a sentence or two of rhyming text per page, this book tells the story of a dog that loves spending time with a little kitten.

Anna and I loved this book.  It's flowing text is easy to read and the story is so sweet.  We were also captivated by the pictures and how they so clearly pictured the love the dog had for the kitten.

Author Joanne Ryder lives in California and has written a number of children's books.

Illustrator Susan Winter was born in South Africa and now lives in London.  She has illustrated a number of books and the illustrations in this book definitely makes me want to check out more of her books.


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Emma's Magic Winter by Jean Little

Emma's Magic Winter, written by Jean Little and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas, is an I Can Read chapter book about a shy little girl named Emma.  Emma wants to make friends with the new girl that moved in next door but is not sure what to do.  When they find that they have the same snow boots they set off for a fun filled winter of what appears to be magic inspired by their boots.

Anna enjoyed the story and it gave us a chance to talk about overcoming shyness and making friends.

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