This is a charming story about one really bad monster who learns to change his ways. Written originally in French, and illustrated with delightfully ghoulish paintings by the Québecois artist known simply as Rogé, Taming Horrible Harry is a wonderful tale about the power of stories. At the gates of a beautiful forest, Harry the monster lies in wait. One day, as monsters are wont to do, he frightens a little girl, who runs away leaving behind a peculiar object. Harry picks it up, turns it over, bites it … spits it out, and throws it down in a fury! He wonders what kind of a thing he has found. As it turns out, the object is a book … and one way or another, Harry learns to read it, and his life is changed forever. This delightful story will enchant both young readers and their parents, teachers, and librarians, as they discover together, the magic of reading.
Canada
Materials from Canada
Good Families Don’t
Good Families Don’t is Munsch’s funniest book yet, about a risqué subject that is guaranteed to have children–and adults–rolling in the aisles.When Carmen tries to tell her parents that there is a big fart lying on her bed, they don’t believe her. “Good families like ours,” they tell her, “do not have farts.” But when they go upstairs to see, the fart attacks them–as it does the similarly disbelieving police when they arrive. Carmen is left to deal with the situation on her own, which she does with the help of a rose.
Such A Prince
An opinionated, love-starved princess. Her status-conscious parents. Two muscular, but rude, hunks. Their kind, thoughtful brother. Three not-so-perfect peaches. An impossible challenge. And a whole lot of rabbits! Told from the point of view of a very untraditional fairy, this hilarious version of “The Three Peaches” shines a new light on the traditional tale and features a unique narrative voice and madcap illustrations. As in all good fairy tales, the vain, rude characters get their comeuppance, the fairy works her magic, and the princess gets her prince. So he’s a little on the skinny side–he has a big heart. (The heart is a muscle too, you know.) Everything else is fair game in this side-splitting take on the classic formula.
The Mummer’s Song
Don’t seem like Christmas if the mummers are not here, Granny would say as she knit in her chair. But on a cold, clear Newfoundland night shortly after Christmas, several outlandishly costumed mummers do appear and Granny’s house suddenly erupts in a burst of joking and tomfollery, raucous singing and exuberant dancing. Granny and her two young charges are instantly caught up in the merriment, When the evening’s festivities come to a close, the mummers are bid a fond farewell until next year.
Popular singer Bud Davidage wrote “The Mummer’s Song” as a tribute to a centuries-old custom in danger of disappearing. Since its publication in 1973, it has fostered a revival of mummering, as noted author and Newfoundland son Kevin Major points out in his afterword. The sparkling illustrations in this picture book adaptation are by the well-known Canadian artist Ian Wallace.
What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?
This delightfully illustrated book introduces children to the concept of time through the mishaps and misdaventures of Mr. Wolf. The Story traces the escapades of the bumbling Mr. Wolf as he pursues Mouse and Squirrel through their daily activities. A large clock accompanies each activity, representing the passage of time. Bob Beeson’s vivid pen and marker illustrations captivate the eye and capture the imagination with ever-changing details. With its wonderfully entertaining story and pictures, What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf? is the perfect book for children just beginning to learn about clocks and telling time.
Mary Margaret’s Tree
Like many children, Mary Margaret has an affinity for nature. In her efforts to plant a small tree she undergoes a transformation, and becomes a part of nature herself.
To The Post Office With Mama
The text, told with simple and poetic language, exudes a sense of warmth and comfort. Two-year-old Shea tells about getting dressed up in her winter clothing and going to the post office with her mother to mail a letter to Nanny. Full color.
The Queen’s Feet (Northern Lights Books For Children)
Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize (2007) nominee. Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice, 2007 Queen Daisy can’t help it – It’s her feet that are misbehaving! Queen Daisy had a great deal of trouble with her feet. They had a mind of their own and did not like behaving in a royal way. Proper shoes were out of the question, and sometimes her feet did not wear shoes at all! Her feet were especially naughty when Queen Daisy forced them to dress properly. At balls her feet would kick high in the air or tap-dance on the marble palace floors. Once, when a king from a neighboring kingdom brought his mean, bullying ways to Queen Daisy’s court, her feet hauled off and kicked the king in the ankle. That’s when a meeting had to be called of all the wise women and wizards and footmen in the kingdom to find a solution to Queen Daisy’s terrible problem. And what a solution it turns out to be.Queen Daisy’s feet will dance into the hearts of restless feet everywhere. Sarah Ellis’s wonderfully whimsical tale will ring a bell with all children and adults whose feet get restless.
A Circle Of Cats
One a quiet day, when the wind was still, the creek could be heard all the way up to where the old beech stood. Under its branches, cats would come to dream and be dreamed. Black cats and calicos, white cats and marmalade ones, too. But they hadn’t yet gathered the day the orphan girl fell asleep among its roots, nestling in the weeds and long grass like the gangly, tousle-haired girl she was. Her names was Lillian.
Lillian is an orphan who lives with her aunt on a homested miles from anyone, surrounded by uncharted forest. She wanders the woods, chasing after squirrels and rabbits and climbing trees like a possum. Free-spirited and independent, Lillian is kindard soul to the many wild cats who gather around the ancient beech tree. One day, while she is under the beech, Lillian is bitten by a poisonous snake. The cats refuse to let her die, and use their magic to turn her into one of their own. How she becomes a girl again is a lyrical, original folklore that begs to be read aloud. Set in the hill country outside of the author’s fictional city of Newford, A Circle of Cats is the much anticipated first picture book by longtime friends Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, whose art is as magical as the story.
Rude Ramsay And The Roaring Radishes
In Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes, bestselling author Margaret Atwood offers a delightfully ridiculous tale about the virtues of resisting restrictions. Rude Ramsay has reached the end of his rope! Sick of dining on rock-hard rice, rubbery ribs, wrinkled ravioli, and raw rhinoceros, Ramsay and Ralph the red- nosed rat resolve to leave their rectangular residence (and Ramsay’s revolting relatives) on a quest for more refreshing repast. Along the way they encounter the raven-haired Rillah, a romantic rectory, and a patch of roaring radishes. Together Ramsay, Ralph and Rillah reveal that sometimes the grass truly is greener on the other side of the rampart.
With renowned author Margaret Atwood’s rollicking text and Dusan Petricic’s devilish and insightful illustrations, Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes is a rare and rewarding treat for readers of all ages.