January 2024 Newsletter
News from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre & Friends
Accessibility Column: Decodable Books: Opening the Door to Reading
Meet the creators of Chaiwala! Priti Birla Maheshwari and Ashley Barron
January Book List: Anticipated 2024 titles!
Creator's Corner: Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
News from the Canadian Children's Book Centre & Friends
Stephanie Wells appointed Executive Director of the Canadian Children's Book Centre
Following an extensive recruitment and interview process, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephanie Wells as Executive Director effective January 29, 2024. Stephanie brings a wealth of leadership experience in both trade and educational publishing, as well as in the not-for-profit and business sectors. Learn more here.
Apply to host a Book Week visit today!
Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this exciting event. Apply to host a Book Week visit today! Application deadline is February 9, 2024. Learn more here.
All kids have the right to read. Children and youth with no/low vision, with mobility issues that prevent them from holding a book or turning a page, with learning challenges such as dyslexia or attention deficits all need books in accessible formats (braille, ebooks, audiobooks, decodable books, and more) to allow them equal access to information, shared experiences with peers, and the opportunity to become more fully engaged learners.
Do you need help identifying titles in accessible formats? Join us on February 7 at 4:00 pm EST for our free webinar, Finding Accessible Books for Young Readers. Register today!
A new year is perfect for new beginnings, new books and new art! Find one-of-a-kind art, perfect for gifts, library spaces, corporate use and more at the Picture Book Gallery. Visit the Picture Book Gallery today!
In November 2021, we launched the Picture Book Gallery as a way to generate funds for Canadian Children’s Book Week, which connects Canadian creators with children and teens across Canada. The Picture Book Gallery supports our annual tour that allows 28,000 young Canadians to participate in over 400 readings and workshops in a single week. Illustrators set their own prices, with 60% of the value of their art sold donated to Book Week. This event is a great opportunity for illustrators to showcase their work to a wider audience, all while generously contributing to a love of reading in children across Canada.
For our Growing Literacy campaign, we are currently developing a webinar and downloadable resources supporting emergent reading that will be available on the CCBC’s website and Bibliovideo, our YouTube channel.
We invite educators to share their input on the project through a short survey. Complete the survey to be eligible for a prize package of books. We appreciate your feedback! Click here to access the survey.
Stock Up on CCBC Illustrated Greeting Cards!
Support the CCBC today by purchasing our pack of eight greeting cards featuring art from past Canadian Children's Book Week posters. Each pack includes art by Barbara Reid, Julie Flett, Ian Wallace, Wallace Edwards, Bill Slavin, Elly MacKay, Gabrielle Grimard and Eugenie Fernandes.
Canadians honoured at ALA's 2024 Youth Media Awards
A number of Canadians were honoured earlier this week at the American Libary Association's 2024 Youth Media Awards. Winners and honourees include Christoperh Paul Curtis, Abdi Nazemian, Erin Bow, Cherie Dimaline, Lynn Scurfield, Tziporah Cohen and Yaara Eshet. Learn more here.
Sydney Smith Shortlisted for the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award
Sydney Smith is among the list of creators shortlisted for the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award. Nominated for illustration by IBBY Canada, Lesley Clement, Nomination Committee Co-Chair, says “Smith enjoys exploring and experimenting with new narrative structures, character perspectives, and artistic challenges. What remains a constant is the empathy with which he approaches his subject matter and that he inspires in his readers. With his books now being published in over 20 languages and territories, this empathy for small people in seemingly mundane places speaks to a global community about singularity and plurality and the intersection of the two.” Learn more here.
Accessibility Column
Decodable Books: Opening the Door to Reading
by Janis Nostbakken
Sisters Elspeth and Rowena Rae are creators of the Meg and Greg series of decodable books from Orca Book Publishers. Designed for shared reading between a child learning or struggling to read and a more experienced reader/buddy, the books have been a boon to many kids with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, which affects two to four children in every Canadian classroom according to Dyslexia Canada. Elspeth herself was diagnosed with dyslexia at age eight and now works with students as a literacy specialist in the public school system. She and co-author Rowena developed the books in response to the need to engage the interest level of older readers (especially in Grades 2 to 4) while introducing a different phonogram (a letter or combination of letters that represent a sound) in each book. The stories unfold with more complex text on one side of the page for the “buddy” to read aloud and simpler text in graphic novel form on the opposite page for the striving reader. A rewarding experience for both experienced and emerging readers.
Look for Meg and Greg: A Handful of Dogs, the fifth instalment in the series, coming out later this year from Orca Book Publishers. You can read about the making of the Meg and Greg series in the Spring 2024 issue of Canadian Children’s Book News (scheduled for release in mid-April) and watch our Access-a-Book video with Rowena on our Bibliovideo YouTube channel.
Visit the Accessible Books playlist at YouTube.com/bibliovideo for more about ebooks, audiobooks, titles in braille, large font, and more.
Meet the Creators of Chaiwala!
Through the TD Grade One Book Giveaway, for the 2023-2024 school year, Grade 1 students nationwide are receiving their very own copy of Chaiwala! Meet the creators behind this sensory celebration of family, food and culture. If you're looking for an activity to do with your Grade 1 classes, watch the craft demo so you can make your own cup of chai.
January Book List: Anticipated 2024 titles!
Our January book list features some of the spring titles that we look forward to being released over the next few months. So while we're experiencing the realities of a Canadian winter, our mind is focused on spring. Get young readers excited about reading with this curated list, great for families, librarians and teachers.
Picture Books
All That Grows
Written and illustrated by Jack Wong
Groundwood Books, March 2024
978-1-77306-812-1
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 2-3
On their neighbourhood walks together, a boy learns from his older sister all about the plants they see—magnolias that smell like lemon cake, creeping weeds that used to be planted for decoration, and even how dandelion greens can be eaten with spaghetti! But what makes a plant a flower, vegetable or weed, anyway? A story of a boy who discovers that the more he learns, the more there is to know!
The Pie Reports
Written and illustrated by Hayley Lowe
Orca Book Publishers, May 2024
978-1-4598-3807-9
IL: Ages 6-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Noor and Granddad love pie—they have one for every occasion. After spending the summer together trying each one, Noor must say goodbye and fly home. But despite an ocean of distance between them, and Granddad’s declining health, the pair continue to connect through their shared passion for pastry by meeting for video chats. These weekly pie reports let them chat about what’s new and, of course, eat pie! This gentle story celebrates the special bond between a child and her grandparent and shows the lengths we can go to connect to our loved ones through distance and illness.
Roy Is Not a Dog
Written and illustrated by Esmé Shapiro with Daniel Newell Kaufman
Tundra Books, April 2024
978-0-7352-6596-7
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 2-3
On Lilypod Lane, everyone knows everything about everybody... or so they believe! When curious paperboy Weasel encounters his mysterious neighbour Roy on his route, he becomes convinced that Roy is actually a dog! But when his friend Pam Pam disagrees, Weasel must put on his detective cap and do his best sleuthing to reveal Roy's extraordinary secret, and prove that not everything is as it seems, once and for all!
What If Bedtime Didn't Exist?
Written by Francine Cunningham
Illustrated by Mathias Ball
Annick Press, March 2024
978-1-77321-868-7
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Follow two siblings through their day as they let their imaginations run wild in this joyful story about all the possibilities a simple “what if” can conjure up: What if the monsters in your closet wanted to be your friend? What if all of the dinosaurs were shrunk to be teeny-tiny when the comet hit the earth? And what if bedtime didn’t exist and we could imagine anything we wanted? A picture book that places an urban Indigenous family at the heart of a fun and fantastical celebration of daydreaming, adventure and play.
Junior & Intermediate Fiction
Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution
Written by Melanie Florence
Orca Book Publishers, April 2024
978-1-4598-3850-5
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Lo and Jazz have been best friends since second grade. But lately, Jazz has seemed more interested in bikinis, boys and bras, and Lo is still perfectly happy with her comic books and Doctor Who. When Jazz ditches Lo for the It Girls, Lo feels completely adrift... until she overhears someone talking about the latest FanCon. There are others like her! With help from her new friends, and taking a cue from the Doctor (in whom she confides by writing letters), Lo begins to find her voice.
Otis & Peanut: Forever and Ever
(Otis & Peanut, Book 2)
Written by Naseem Hrab
Illustrated by Kelly Collier
Owlkids Books, April 2024
978-1-77147-497-9
IL: Ages 6-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Otis and Peanut are back! Grounded in the tender, supportive friendship between a long-haired guinea pig and a naked mole rat, the second book in this junior graphic novel series explores themes of celebrating life's simple pleasures, grief and making new memories with sensitivity, humour and optimism. The three stories in this book reveal how the pair feel the loss of Pearl, Peanut’s sister and Otis’s friend.
Slugfest
Written by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Canada, February 2024
978-1-0397-0564-7
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Yash is the best athlete at Robinette Middle School. So good, in fact, that he’s already been playing on the high school’s JV sports teams. Imagine his shock when he learns that his JV practices have kept him from earning a board-mandated credit for eighth-grade PE. To graduate, he has to take Physical Education Equivalency—PEE—which is also known as “Slugfest,” in summer school. Spending the summer with the most hapless crew in school can really surprise a person. And their teacher might be hiding the biggest surprise yet.
Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities
Written by Casey Lyall
Greenwillow Books, May 2024
978-0-06-323987-6
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Kimmy Jones, 12, wants to excel at the unique (and secret) aspect of her family’s funeral home business. Under the watchful eye of Grandma Bev, Kimmy learns how to raise the recently deceased, request their last wish, and break the connection to send them on. But then Grandma unexpectedly dies herself, Kimmy can’t reach her spirit, and nothing seems like it’s ever going to be right again. Then a boy dies under mysterious circumstances. As Kimmy works to unravel the mystery, she discovers secrets about her heritage and learns about a witch who has been wreaking havoc for centuries.
Young Adult Fiction
Age 16
Written and illustrated by Rosena Fung
Annick Press, May 2024
978-1-77321-834-2
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Guangdong, 1954: Mei Laan longs for a future of freedom, and her beauty may be the key to getting it. Hong Kong, 1972: Lydia wants nothing more than to dance and to gain approval from her mother, who is largely absent and sharply critical, especially about the way she looks. Toronto, 2000: Roz is grappling with who she wants to be in the world. The only thing she is certain of is that if she were thinner, things would be better. When Roz’s estranged por por abruptly arrives for a seemingly indefinite visit, three generations are now under one roof. Fung's YA debut gives readers an emotional and poignant story about how every generation is affected by those that came before, and affect those that come after.
The Annethology: A Collection of Kindred Spirits
Edited by Judith Graves and Robin Sutherland
Acorn Press, May 2024
978-1-77366-153-7
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Join 10 of Canada’s top young adult fiction writers as they set Canada’s favourite red-haired orphan, Anne Shirley, on brand new adventures. With its futuristic settings, cybernetic beings, ghosts, mysterious books and boxes, and racial and sexual diversity in its cast of characters, this anthology offers serious “scope for the imagination” for all readers.
The Lady of Rapture
(The Bones of Ruins Trilogy, Book 3)
Written by Sarah Raughley
Margaret K. McElderry Books, April 2024
978-1-5344-5362-3
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
For years, the elite secret society called the Enlightenment Committee has waited for the apocalyptic force known as Hiva to destroy the world as it has so many times before. What the Committee didn’t know, however, was that Hiva wasn’t an event—it was a person. Iris Marlow. An African tightrope dancer with no memories of her past. A girl who cannot die. At least, she couldn’t die. Until her own friends discovered her one weakness and murdered her once and for all. The world-ending threat she posed should be gone too, but there’s one more Hiva out there, and unlike Iris, this one has no love for humanity. In her absence, this Hiva has taken it upon himself to judge if humanity deserves to live.
Takedown
Written by Ali Byran
DCB Young Readers, May 2024
978-0-7352-6563-9
IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9
With an upcoming international tournament where top college recruiters will take note, 16-year-old Rowan trains to earn a scholarship and secure her planned future with her Shakespeare-thespian boyfriend, Ozzy. But when a costly treatment for her father’s worsening ALS symptoms emerges in Sweden, Rowan decides to train with an MMA fighter at her gym to fight and make money in an underground—and illegal—fight club. As Rowan delves into the world of cage-fighting, risking her relationship and her wrestling career, she soon learns that no amount of money—or fighting—can solve her problems.
Non-Fiction
Always Beginning: The Big Bang, the Universe, and You
Written by Candace Savage
Illustrated by Rachel Wada
Greystone Kids, April 2024
978-1-77164-843-1
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
The story of the universe is enough to send our minds spinning with wonder! This awe-inspiring informational picture book explores the science behind the start of our universe and how we came to be a part of it, from the Big Bang and the beginning of life on Earth all the way up until today.
Dancing Through Space: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights
Written by Lydia Lukidis
Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
Albert Whitman & Company, April 2024
978-0-8075-1458-0
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Today, Dr. Mae Jemison is famous for being the first Black woman to travel into outer space. But when she was growing up, she felt torn between two passions: science and dance. It seemed like an impossible choice. There had to be some way to make room for both—and Mae found one. As an adult, she combined her gifts of scientific logic and artistic creativity and became an astronaut.
Do Hippos Brush Their Teeth? How Animals Care for Their Bodies
(Do Animals?)
Written by Etta Kaner
Illustrated by Jenna Piechota
Owlkids Books, March 2024
IL: Ages 4-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Do tortoises take vitamins? Do badgers wash their hands after using the toilet? This eagerly anticipated fourth and final instalment of the Do Animals? series raises these questions and more about how animals take care of their bodies—much like the ways people maintain their hygiene! From lava lizards that do push-ups, to giraffes that clean their noses with their tongues, this book is full of interesting and unexpected ways that animals keep their bodies in top condition.
Make Your Mark, Make a Difference: A Kid's Guide to Standing Up for People, Animals, and the Planet
Written by Joan Marie Galat
Aladdin, February 2024
978-1-5827-0845-4
IL: Ages 10 and up RL: Grades 5-6
Take the first steps into activism with this comprehensive middle-grade guide that empowers readers to choose and become knowledgeable in a cause they are most passionate to reform, and to create meaningful change through learning what’s already been accomplished—and what can still be done. Getting involved can be an overwhelming prospect, but this guide provides readers with tools to become informed and effective activists with an accessible approach offering hope and perspective. Readers will discover a multitude of ways to build change and learn that every contribution matters.
Creator's Corner: Carey Newman & Kirstie Hudson
Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson are the co-authors of Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket. They followed up that work with a title for young readers called The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation. It was the winner of the 2023 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction. In the fall of 2023, we had the opportunity to chat with the authors about the Witness Blanket. Here is an excerpt from that conversation.
What were some of the challenges, if there were any, in distilling the text from your adult title for your book for younger readers?
Kirstie: When we first sat down to talk about the young readers edition, we thought, “Let’s start with the objects. What would resonate the most with the kids? And then we’ll build chapters around that.” Carey and I had done a number of presentations about our first book by then, and we had a sense of which objects generated the most interest and led to questions. We knew the child’s shoe was something they related to and also the photographs of the first day of school. So, we started with those and went from there.
One aspect of the topic [residential schools] that you brought out in the book was the role of sports. It was heartening to read about the role of sports because it meant for at least a few hours or a few minutes kids could just be kids and they were still able to create joy in a place where there wasn’t very much of that. Can you talk about sports within that context?
Carey: First, when we were gathering contributions for the Witness Blanket, we were asking people and communities to share both objects and stories. On occasions, we were asked “What if the story I want to share isn’t traumatic… is that okay?” Our perspective was that everybody has their own truth, and as an artist, I tried to maintain objectivity. Even though I am connected to this history, I didn’t want to influence the stories that make up the Blanket.
Today, this question is somewhat delicate because residential school denialism is a reality. People who try to undermine the overwhelming truth that has emerged from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission often point to fond memories of sports as evidence that those schools weren’t all that bad. I see the opposite. I see the resiliency of the human spirit, where even in the worst circumstances, children still play games and make art. In contrast to being forcibly taken from family and community, and the overwhelming regularity of abuse and neglect, these moments of humanity demonstrate the grace and generosity of Survivors. Moments of childhood joy and innocence only serve to underscore the horrible legacy of residential schools, because how could this country along with the churches and people who operated them allow this to happen to children?
For adults who are reading the book, how do you think the topic and issue of residential schools and their survivors will hit differently since some of us were alive while these [residential schools] were still in operation compared to other atrocities that happened so long ago like slavery and the Holocaust?
Carey: We’ve had a little bit of experience with presenting to kids. The biggest difference I notice is that when kids read about what happened in residential schools, they don’t carry guilt or shame the way that many adults do. They see what happened there as fundamental unfairness. For adults, we carry the weight of our personal experiences. Some gaze inward wondering how this happened during their lifetime, or why they didn’t see it before now. Others react with disbelief or anger, questioning the truth because it doesn’t align with the version of a just and tolerant Canada that they have grown up believing in. Still, more respond emotionally, thinking about their own kids, or remembering their own traumas. Adults carry baggage and sometimes we project our own reactions or perceptions onto children, but in my experience, kids see residential schools as unfair and are overwhelmingly empathetic.
Kirstie: Adults and kids react very differently when we talk about the Witness Blanket and residential schools. I think that’s because kids are talking about it at school. I can’t honestly think of a time when we were talking to kids where it felt like this was the first time they were hearing about this part of Canada’s history. It’s adults who are surprised, shocked and angry and hearing it for the first time.
Residential schools are a part of the history of Indigenous peoples. These institutions affected those who endured them and their descendants. Non-Indigenous people need to sit and think about how the legacy of residential schools affects them.
Carey: Residential schools have negatively affected generations of Indigenous people and combined with other colonial policies of displacement and dispossession, have harmed our languages, damaged cultural ways, and fragmented community and familial connections. There is a direct connection between those laws and the instances of anti-Indigenous bias and prejudice that is embedded within our society. This doesn’t mean that Canadian people are inherently racist, but the systems that make up this country certainly are. How else can we explain the existence of the Indian Act, reserves, and status numbers? Colonialism has harmed this planet and people in so many ways, so understanding the effects of residential schools is the beginning of the conversation.
Carey Newman or Hayalthkin'geme is a multidisciplinary artist and master carver. Through his father he is Kwakwaka'wakw from the Kukwekum, Giiksam, and WaWalaby'ie clans of Fort Rupert, and Coast Salish from Cheam of the Stó:lo Nation along the upper Fraser Valley. Through his mother he is English, Irish, and Scottish. In his artistic practice, he strives to highlight Indigenous, social or environmental issues. Carey was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2017 and was named to the Order of British Columbia in 2018. With Kirstie Hudson, he has co-authored Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket and the young reader adaptation, The Witness Blanket. Carey lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Kirstie Hudson is an editor and writer in Victoria, British Columbia. She was a reporter and producer with the CBC in Toronto, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Victoria. In her award-winning career as a journalist, Kirstie's work was recognized with a Jack Webster Award, Radio Television Digital News Association Awards and a Gabriel Award. As an instructor at the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University, Kirstie shared her love of storytelling with students in writing, communications and journalism. With Carey Newman, she has co-authored Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket and the young reader adaptation, The Witness Blanket.
Picture Book Gallery Profile: Soyeon Kim
This month's Picture Book Galley profile is Soyeon Kim. Soyeon Kim is a Korean-born artist and educator currently living in Toronto, Ontario. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts and Bachelor of Education from York University. Specializing in fine sketching and painting techniques, Soyeon creates three-dimensional dioramas by carefully arranging the painted and paper cutouts. Diorama is the main art form that she has been experimenting with and creating since the beginning of her practice.
She has illustrated nine books, including You Are Stardust, winner of Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbons Illustrator’s Award. Her latest book, When Sunlight Tiptoes, was published in Spring 2023. Soyeon has been featured at writers’ festivals, cross-country book tours and artist residencies at home and abroad.
Dioramas aren’t just for museums and school projects anymore. In recent years, they have gained popularity thanks to tourist attractions like Toronto’s Little Canada exhibit and television shows like CBC’s Best in Miniature. Your work has increased the reach of dioramas and expanded the public’s idea of how they are used. How did the diorama come to be one of your preferred methods of illustration? What is it about the diorama that appeals to you as an illustration medium?
I am really happy to see dioramas appearing in our lives and gaining more attraction. Dioramas can surprise and inspire us in many ways!
Dioramas became my main method of illustration around the time my mom and brother moved to Canada. The move from South Korea to Canada was a long journey, and from the move we had lots of cardboard boxes that were laying around the house. At the time, I was also taking a drawing course at York University, where my professor gave us a lot of freedom to choose our subject matter, mediums, and methods of drawing. Surrounded by the empty cardboard boxes, I wanted to give them a new life. That’s how I started creating diorama art.
My first diorama was about a girl named Jane, who goes on a journey in a forest. The drawings were done on Chinese rice papers with pen and ink. I’ve also inserted small lights at the top and bottom, with acetate papers on the sides, and rice paper at the back. Storytelling through my art was something that I have always been drawn to, and Jane's story was the first I created (through several dioramas).
Jane I, 2009
Jane II, 2009
Jane III, 2009
Jane in the Forest, 2009
As I continued to create diorama art, I was fascinated by its unlimited possibilities. Whether it was through playing with space, scale, or lighting, dioramas allowed me to think outside of the box and explore many different art forms. 3D collage sculptures, installation art, and diorama illustrations for picture books are just some examples. Diorama art drew me in as an artist as it challenged me to problem-solve and grow through my creations. You can see my evolution as an artist through my work when comparing my first picture book, You Are Stardust, to my latest, When Sunlight Tiptoes.
Diorama from You Are Stardust, 2010
Diorama from When Sunlight Tiptoes, 2022
I improved how I built diorama frames—the materials I used—and continued to make more complex pieces while diving more into my style. There are many ideas that I have yet to explore with the diorama, and I look forward to how I can translate these ideas into a picture book.
Cut-paper collage is another medium in which you work. Describe the process you undergo to create illustrations in this form. What are the joys and challenges (if any) of making cut-paper collage artwork?
The process to create illustrations in cut-paper collage form certainly takes patience. It all starts with a thumbnail sketch.
Then I work on a rough sketch (which is very close to finished art).
Before jumping into creating the final art, I build diorama frames in the woodworking studio.
Once the diorama frames are ready, I bring them back to my studio where I start rough placements and sizes of key elements.
Then I start drawing, painting, and cutting the final pieces.
With all the cut out pieces, I arrange them to see if there’s anything else I can add. Then, I start arranging them inside the diorama using fishing wire, tape and hot glue.
The joys of making cut-paper collage artwork are that I can move the art pieces around as needed, which makes it easier to revise. I can add in additional bits of art in the foreground or background as needed to truly bring every diorama to life. Plus, it looks cool seeing everything move around as you walk around the piece in 3D!
The challenges of this type of work is that there can be lots of pieces that need to be cut and takes time. However it’s a lot of fun putting everything together when that’s done, so I’m not sure if I’d really call it a challenge.
Paper is at the foundation of illustration. Most illustrators create their artwork on paper. Your illustrations, though, are crafted from paper itself. Describe the types of paper with which you create and share how these papers are used in your illustrations.
The types of paper I use are watercolour paper, Chinese rice paper, Korean paper, Japanese paper, Yupo translucent paper, and acetate.
Acetate is a clear plastic paper (same as the overhead projector paper back in the school days), which I use to illustrate see through elements like water, bubbles, and stardust. I like to add splatters of acrylic paint or draw with an acrylic pen to add characters.
Japanese paper, Korean paper, and Chinese rice paper come in many different textures, thickness, colours, patterns, and sizes. Based on each of the papers unique characteristics, I get inspired to incorporate them as backdrops and nature elements in my illustrations.
Yupo translucent paper is milky plastic paper. On yupo paper, I work with watercolour and ink to create nature elements or any background/middle-ground pieces. This paper is great as it holds the paint’s colour well and allows me to play with light through its translucent quality.
As I continue my journey as an illustrator, I hope to have an opportunity to learn more about papermaking to further evolve my work into something greater.
Experts' Picks
Becoming Bionic and Other Ways Science Is Making Us Super
Written by Heather Camlot
Illustrated by Victor Wong
Owlkids Books, 2023
978-1-77147-461-0
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Becoming Bionic explores how science is transforming our bodies and capabilities, and also raises some provocative ethical questions for readers to consider. The zippy, dynamic text describes real-life heroic innovations that could be from the pages of a Marvel comic, including exoskeleton suits, ultra-lightweight carbon wings, and prosthetic eyes that record video. Chapters zero in on super enhancements for body parts, flight, sight, strength, brains, and survival. Timelines provide historical context and chart milestone developments. Victor Wong’s high-octane digital illustrations bring scientific inventions from past, present, and future into focus. Award-winning author and journalist Heather Camlot has a superhero-sized ability to distill lots of meticulously researched information into a mind-expanding book.
— Linda Ludke, Collections Management Librarian, London Public Library
A Green Velvet Secret
Written by Vicki Grant
Tundra Books, 2023
978-0-7352-7012-1
IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 5-6
When Yardley and her parents learn that her beloved grandmother, Gidge, has terminal cancer, Yardley is devastated. Gidge is her very best friend. They are like two peas in a pod and Yardley can't imagine her life without Gidge in it. But maybe she doesn't have to. Yardley readily embraces Gidge's belief in reincarnation and begins to watch for Gidge to come back to her. And when a mysterious woman turns up at the thrift shop where Yardley is volunteering, something tells her that this is Gidge! Even when the woman runs away, Yardley is convinced. Vicki Grant has once again created a middle-grade novel that is clever and witty while also providing a touching and tender exploration of a young girl's grief. Harris, the nephew of the owner of the thrift shop, is a compelling secondary character with his own issues and the gradual development of their friendship is a heartwarming addition to the narrative.
—Lisa Doucet, Co-Manager, Woozles Children’s Bookstore
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