Canada

Materials from Canada

Wanda’s Freckles

Wanda has freckles. Lots and lots of freckles. They make her feel special, until the day in the park when a group of boys point, laugh, and tease her for having spots. All of a sudden, the freckles she’d liked become a problem. Wanda decides to make her freckles disappear altogether! At a time when there’s pressure to conform to someone else’s idea of perfection, this playful story has an important message: individuality and self-acceptance are to be celebrated. The ever-resourceful Wanda puts her imagination to work to try to come to peace with those troublesome freckles once and for all. The critically acclaimed author/illustrator team of Barbara Azore and Georgia Graham bring another Wanda adventure to life with humor and wisdom.

The Little Word Catcher

Elise wonders why her grandmother’s words keep escaping her — do they fly off to play tricks on her? Elise’s grandmother used to know many marvelous words, but now she seems to be losing them all the time. Can Elise help her by catching them, like butterflies in a net? This award-winning picture book offers a gentle exploration of the effects of Alzheimer’s on the relationships in a family, and the special bond it creates between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Eventually, Elise comes to believe that her grandmother has used up all her words and has passed them on to her, as a gift. Winner of the 2007 Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature Illustration (French language).

Stanley At Sea

Stanley’s thrown his party — and braved his wild ride. Now Stanley and his pals embark on an adventure that makes sea-dogs of them all! It’s picnic time in the park — but not for Stanley. He knows he’s not supposed to beg, but his people are always eating. And Stanley is always hungry! After he’s told to “get,” Stanley wanders down by the river where he runs into Alice, Nutsy and Gassy Jack. Soon their keen noses lead them to a delicious treat on a small boat with no people in sight. When the boat’s mooring comes loose, they float away with the current down the river, under a bridge and then out to sea! It’s a scary new world where the sky stretches in every direction and big waves crash. The dogs know that when you’re Outside, sooner or later you always come to a fence. When suddenly through the mist they see what looks like a very tall fence, they know they’ve come to the End of Outside! But what kind of fence is this?

Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

Scaredy Squirrel doesn’t like crowds so he doesn’t go to the beach, he builds his own. However, something is missing so he needs to go to the real beach and retrieve it.

The Sleeping Porch

When the intense heat drives young Brando to sleep on the porch, he is awoken around midnight by a cat from a nearby graveyard. Together, Brando and Graveyard Cat embark upon a rollicking adventure: leaping up to the rings of Saturn, visiting the Arctic seas, scaling cliffs and sliding down slopes. Brando is certain his journey with Graveyard Cat was just a dream, but finds that he can’t be entirely sure . . . This imaginative tale is perfectly complemented by Ian Wallace’s charming illustrations.

Buttercup’s Lovely Day

In poetry that lyrically winds like a creek through a farmer’s field, we journey through one lovely day in Buttercup’s life.  Whether she is ruminating on the mud beneath her feet or the moon and the stares in the blue-black sky, she draws us deep into her rich and wonderful world.

The Snow Show

Tune into The Snow Show to see Chef Kelvin and his trusty sous-chefs, Snow White and Jack Frost, investigate evaporation, condensation, and precipitation—all while cooking up the lightest, fluffiest batch of snow ever to fall from the sky. The critics agree: This is one snowy science-filled cooking extravaganza that’ll make kids wish every day were a snow day! Includes an author’s note with additional information about snow, suggested reading, and a link to the author’s website, which features an exciting animation of snow-crystal formation and a free activity kit.