After the debut of my "read around" posters for sciences, our Drama teacher request to have some for music and drama. She's one of my "best" middle grade / YA readers and has read so many of the books on our core lists, including many of the sequels to the books. It's truly a fantastic … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Music and Drama
Review by Mary Lawson Secret Path by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire "Gord Downie began Secret Path as ten poems incited by the story of Chanie Wenjack, a twelve year-old boy who died fifty years ago on October 22, 1966, in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario, walking home to the family … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: Secret Path by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Dulcinea who lived happily “with her father in a house on the edge of a large forest.” The forest, of course, was off-limits to all, for deep within it, an evil witch lived inside a castle, replete with a treacherous, monster-filled moat. Such is the stuff of fairy tales, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Dulcinea in the Forbidden Forest
Ellie’s Voice or Trööömmmpffff,* an adorably whimsical Estonian picture book for ages 3-6, is about a seabird named Ellie, who has no voice. “Everything else has a voice,” Ellie thought sadly. "The trees rustle. The waves crash. Even the rain sings when it falls." I’m the only one who can’t make a sound." Ellie felt tears … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Weekend: Ellie’s Voice or Trööömmmpffff
Writing fiction about music can be tricky. Music is sound in time; it speaks to our brains at a pre-verbal level. As a result, using words to describe music can be hard and the literature is littered with near-misses. So it’s a great pleasure as a musician to read a well-written novel centered around music … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Wonderful Feels Like This
Oxymoronic as it may sound, there is an exciting comfort in picking up a book by a beloved author—or, as in Dragonfly Eyes, a beloved, award-winning writer-translator team. What joys, worlds, and experiences lurk within its pages? Will anticipation be tempered by disappointment? In the case of Dragonfly Eyes*, Cao Wenxuan’s new YA historical novel, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Dragonfly Eyes
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 