Materials from Canada
Inspired by the true story of a teen who was killed at a railway crossing, the author weaves the tale of fourteen-year-old Paige, who, taking a shortcut alongside the tracks to avoid the school bullies, is tragically hit by a train and transported to a surreal world where she encounters Kim, who died seven years before. Convinced she is only dreaming, Paige must discover a way to return to her former life.
Miss Petitfour enjoys having adventures that are “just the right size – fitting into a single, magical day.” She is an expert at baking and eating fancy iced cakes, and her favorite mode of travel is par avion. On windy days, she takes her sixteen cats out for an airing: Minky, Misty, Taffy, Purrsia, Pirate, Mustard, Moutarde, Hemdela, Earring, Grigorovitch, Clasby, Captain Captain, Captain Catkin, Captain Cothespin, Your Shyness and Sizzles. With the aid of her favorite tea party tablecloth as a makeshift balloon, Miss Petitfour and her charges fly over her village, having many little adventures along the way.
For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it’s just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp’s nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to “fix” the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered.
Antonio lived deep in the woods on the edge of a lake in a hotel that his mother ran. What Antonio loved most of all was exploring the woods, hoping to signs of the animals who lived there, but the animals always remained hidden, fearful of people.
In this gently told picture book, a young girl is unhappy about having to leave the city for a family vacation on the Pacific Ocean (which she used to call the Specific Ocean). As the days pass, however, she is drawn to spend more time in and near the water, feeling moved by its beauty and rhythms. By the end of the vacation, the girl has grown to love the ocean and now feels reluctant to leave it behind. But as she soon realizes, it doesn’t ever have to leave her.
Hear the Sea depicts the ocean as a majestic force that scatters starfish amongst its shores while making sails dance and changing colors with her mood.
Feel the Wind looks at the tricks the wind plays, making turbines spin, bubbles float, and kites soar higher. These three separate picture books are thematically linked, celebrating the wonders of nature that children encounter in their daily lives, but the rhythm of the text and style of the art are unique to each story.
Mr. Postmouse has loaded up his wagon and is ready to deliver the mail. From the lofty heights of the Birds’ tree houses to the inky depths of Mrs. Octopus’s ship, the intrepid letter carrier lets nothing stand in the way of his deliveries. This is an introduction to the postal system and an imaginative survey of different types of homes.
Look at the Sky describes the many moods of the skies, whether delivering blizzard blasts or lightening flashes. A child need only look to the sky to witness storms, thunder, hail, or fog.
Bill just wanted someone to pass him the potatoes. Unfortunately, no one even noticed, not his mother, a very busy woman with an important job, not his father,a very important man with a busy job, not his very intelligent older brother, not even his very athletic little sister. If someone had noticed, the wonderful, terrible thing that happened might never have happened. But it did.