Three Book Reviews: If you lie down in a field she will find you there by Colleen Brown; Alphabet in the Park by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Evgeniya Filimonova; and Dentists Are No Big Deal by Debbie Kesslering and Ashley Vercammen

“If you lie down in a field, she will find you there”

By Colleen Brown

Published by Radiant Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-781989-274941

   

Colleen Brown’s If you lie down in a field, she will find you there underscores that “perception is everything”. The Ontario-raised writer and artist’s memoir contemplates the mystery of her mother via disparate childhood memories and family vignettes, many of which are recalled by Brown’s much older siblings. In delivering these random remembrances, Brown effectively gives the woman’s “perfectly human and unremarkable” life the warm spotlight it deserves; this comes in stark contrast to the “death porn” the media spouted after her mother’s murder by a serial killer. The book is a construction, “a way to make sense of a life,” and it bucks against the “narrative pull” associated with writing about violence. Don’t expect a straight line or an ordered chronology. Do expect to be engrossed by this jigsaw of a memoir that’s often poetic, frequently philosophical, and presents a yearning for “wholeness”.    

Brown was eight when her mother, Doris, died “suddenly, out of sequence, shockingly and violently”. The killer’s confession came two years later, and he’s been in a psychiatric institution since 1978 under a “not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder” ruling (reviewed annually). There are no details about the wheres and hows of the tragedy. As Brown—a visual artist currently in Maple Ridge, BC as the 2023-26 Artist-in-Residence—explains: “My mother’s life and death must be held separate for her life to exist as a story.”

This non-narrative is located in and near Guelph at “the House, the Cottage, the Store,” and these settings provide a loose frame from which the everyday-type memories hang. The author’s sister, Vicky, remembers that Doris used Nivea cream to wash her face. Pages later, Vicky also recalls that their mother “always washed the floors on hands and knees”. Brother Jim relays how Doris “had a little difficulty driving sometimes, particularly on the country roads,” and there is levity in recollections of her driving mishaps. Jim’s next contribution to the collective story is about the family’s dog having puppies. “Mom was so happy with those pups,” he says, and siblings Laura and Colleen build on this anecdote with their own memories about the family’s animals. But it’s not all sweetness. Jim also recalls their father having Doris committed to “Homewood,” and the author writes “I learned that husbands putting wives into mental institutions was popular at the time”. The “post-war, upwardly mobile family” ran a sporting goods’ business that afforded them a succession of homes, from “an apartment above the store” to a “big place in the country”—but they lost the business.  

This beautifully-produced book’s many subjects include feminism, mental health, and forgiveness. Front and centre, however, are the memories of a mother the author “did not know existed”. Brown writes with an artist’s sensorial discernment about the domestic—the chenille bedspread, the new mixer with the “glossy mustard base”—and the natural world—rain “pointing in the dust and sand”—and in curating these various details and anecdotes, she greatly reduces the “dark matter” her family’s experienced.  

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Alphabet in the Park”

Written by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Evgeniya Filimonova

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-781778-152900

 

I’ve reviewed a number of children’s alphabet books across the decades, so I’m always impressed when a writer puts an original twist on the traditional “A is for Apple” text. Saskatchewan’s Ashley Vercammen and her illustrator, Evgeniya Filimonova have done just that. Their 2022-released Alphabet in the Park contains a rhyming narrative, it’s interactive, seasonal, and it offers some original ideas re: ways to explain—and show—the twenty-six letters that form the English language. The letters actually become characters, playing along with the children in the book.

This unique story is set in a park, and it’s winter. From a visual perspective, this makes for many pages with snowy white backgrounds, which in turn make the illustrations stand out. On the left side of each page spread a single letter takes its turn in a solid bold colour. In choosing a winter theme and selecting one orange-haired girl to appear in several of the scenes, readers get a sense of continuity. The cast of characters is culturally inclusive, which is always a bonus in children’s stories.

Young readers are welcomed to add their own message to the beginning of the book, and there’s another page at the end of the book for their input. Spelling is presented as “playing,” and what child doesn’t like to play? The orange-haired girl (with pink earmuffs) and her brown-skinned friend start the story with a snowball toss and an invitation: “Do you want to play a game? Let’s find all the letters. Try to spell your name!”  

Some of the pages ask readers questions about the illustrations. The A page reads: “What is near the alligator? It has been playing there all day. I found the letter “A”, hopping on one leg!” I love this use of personification. Who says a letter A can’t hop, or the blue letter B can’t cross a yellow bridge? The letter J is wearing a scarf, and the letter K is on a swing set next to a boy in a snowflake-patterned coat who says he could “swing all day!”. Imagination is key here, and there’s a wonderful synchronicity between the words and simple images.

Vercammen doesn’t stick to true rhymes, which is also welcoming. For example, she rhymes D with “freeze,” F and “left,” X and “tux”. And again, her letters of the alphabet get up to all kinds of winter fun in the park on playground equipment and with natural elements (ie: a snowy hill and a snow fort). The letter N is outfitted with twiggy arms and a carrot nose, and voila: a snowman. The letter Q becomes a snowball with ease. And look at that letter S—on the hockey ice “she has already scored twice!” and a few pages later, W is curling!

Vercammen’s got a great thing going here, and with the numerous other books she has written and published with Home Style Teachers. To see all the books on this young, hard-working Saskatchewan writer’s growing and impressive list, visit www.ashley-vercammen.ca/.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Dentists Are No Big Deal”

Written by Debbie Kesslering and Ashley Vercammen

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.00  ISBN 9-781778-152986

 

Writer and publisher Ashley Vercammen has teamed with another Saskatchewanian, Debbie Kesslering, of Viceroy, on a new title in Vercammen’s “No Big Deal” series of illustrated books for children. Vercammen is also a Registered Behaviour Technician, and it’s this position and her “belief that, with practice, some scary things can become No Big Deal” that are the impetuses behind the series. Kesserling, a mother of four who’s worked with “many World Class Dental Therapists, Dentists, Hygienists and Assistants,” dedicates the story to her “fellow ‘sugar bug catchers’”.

The brightly-illustrated tale begins with young, bespeckled Nora waking with a smile to her dad’s announcement that on this “special day,” the girl’s going for a dental check-up. Nora knows that visiting the dentist is “no big deal,” but she’s not sure what the check-up’s about. Her father reminds her that “every morning and night we brush our teeth so we don’t get sugar bugs. But they are very sneaky!”

What’s unusual—and wise—is that the father and daughter go through a pre-appointment practice session, and Rosie, “a bright red teddy bear,” gets to play along too. A “plastic dentist equipment” set is used to go through the procedure. Now I don’t know if such a set has in fact been manufactured to help children battle the dental heebie jeebies, but if not, what a grand idea! When Nora puts on the glasses “to protect [her] eyes from the light,” her reaction is “I look like a rock star!”

The story’s upbeat tone is supported by the characters’ consistent smiles, brightly-coloured rooms, and pleasant landscapes viewed beyond windows. I noted that for some of the attributions, the writers used Nora “Cheered!” Incorporating positive similes is another way to reinforce the feel-good tone, ie: Dad says that the moving dentist chair is “like a ride at the park!” Dad, as make-believe dentist, makes his daughter giggle with a silly face and speaks “calmly,” and Nora’s sure to be clutching Rosie through every step of the rehearsal. Another way Dad prepares Nora for the dentist is to use counting, so she’ll know when something new is about to happen. When it’s time for an x-ray, a timer is set. The polisher is also given an upbeat spin: “It’s like a toothbrush that shakes and tickles your teeth!” Nora says, and even Fluoride is given a child-friendly twist. “I want bubble gum flavoured!” Nora says. And, of course, no child’s visit to the dentist is complete without a “prize”.

The authors take Nora, Rosie and her father right through the actual dental visit, as well, and as you might guess, because the child has been so well-prepared, the appointment certainly is no big deal.    

There are currently two sets of toddling twins in my family to buy books for. I believe they and their parents will really appreciate receiving this fun and practical gift. It dispels fear, promotes good dental hygiene, and might even make going to the dentist something to look greatly forward to.        

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

 

 

 

 

Seven New Book Reviews: "Haunted" by Ruth Chorney; “Family Potluck” by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Putut Putri; “Little Big Sister: Big Little Brother” by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Mario Vianni and P Aplinder Kaur; “Where Could My Baby Be?” by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by P Aplinder Kaur; “School Readiness” by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by P Aplinder Kaur; “The Sock Momster” by Mari Lemieux, Illustrated by Mario Viani; and “Hunting With My Dad” by Patty Torrance, Illustrated by Putut Putri

“Haunted”

Written by Ruth Chorney

Published by 7SpringsBooks

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.00  ISBN 978-0-9939757-9-0

 

Ruth Chorney’s Saskatchewan-set novel, Haunted, transports readers to interesting places—geographical and otherwise—and it’s just the kind of book that makes me wish more Saskatchewan people would read the good literature that’s being produced within their own province. This engaging story’s set in the rural community of “Deer Creek, population 1242” in the northeastern part of the province, where moose roam, a hoodie is called a “bunnyhug,” and the local Co-op’s where you’ll meet neighbours, friends and the resident hermit/bootlegger. It’s a book about starting over, and accepting the kindness of neighbours. It’s also about generations of family, guilt, and doing what needs to be done. And it’s Saskatchewan, so the weather also gets its share of ink.  

There are elements of the supernatural in this mostly realistic story, and like that other writer (Stephen King) who also combines realism and the supernatural to great effect, Chorney scores the right balance between making her characters and situations appear credible—ie: protagonist Marny’s husband needs work, so it’s off to the potash mine he goes—and also preparing us for the suspension of disbelief that’s required when Marny’s four-year-old sees auras and entities, and her mother, Saige—“a flake most of her life”—hosts séances.

Marny, a young mother of two, is trying to keep it all together after housing challenges force her and her family to leave their small apartment “in a somewhat sketchy neighbourhood” in Vancouver and move into her deceased grandparents’ rural home on three quarter sections. Five-year-old Griffin’s response to arriving at the “two-storey house with loose railing from the upstairs balcony banging in the wind” is: “̒It’s like that Hallowe’en movie’”. This is also the novel’s first line, and Chorney’s well-wrought descriptions root us in the long-abandoned rural property and flesh out the neighbours who are keen to help the family settle, like John in his “Dodge Ram cap,” and Tera, who runs a trail-riding business, and may know more about her husband’s mysterious disappearance than she’s letting on. Tera and an older neighbour, Gloria—both well-drawn characters—help Marny plant a garden and teach her how to preserve vegetables.

 Chorney’s wisely chosen to structure the story via both Marny and Tera’s distinct points of view, and I noted that especially near the last third of the book, the author does a fabulous job of leaving cliff-hanger chapter endings: we have to wait to learn how a riveting situation unfolds, as the chapter’s narrators take turns. This author has formidable handles on pacing, plot and characterization.

I previously reviewed Chorney’s satisfying novel, Conspiracy—another Deer Creek novel, with a completely different plot. In Haunted the Kelvington, SK author again spotlights the relationships between multi-generational characters and the beauty of the prairie landscape. Real-world events like COVID, the gentrification of cities, the 1993 “’War in the Forest’” protests at Clayoquat Sound, and the mass stabbing at the James Smith Cree Nation find their way organically into this page-turning new novel, which I really hope you’ll read.   

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Family Potluck”

Written by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Putut Putri

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-781778-152931

 

Sixteen smiling, digitally-produced characters—including an infant in arms, a bespeckled elder, a girl in a wheelchair and a visually-impaired, non-Caucasian boy—surround a potluck-ready table on the cover of Ashley Vercammen’s children’s book, Family Potluck. Without reading a word of the story, I’m already applauding the author’s inclusive definition of “family”. I soon learn that the purple backpack-wearing main character is the daughter of a teacher, and the potluck will take place at school. The unnamed girl’s grandma and cousin will also attend in this the-more-the-merrier story for young readers.

The book’s format will appeal to children who may be overwhelmed with large blocks of text and “too much happening” in the illustration department. This story unfolds across full-spread illustrations, each with a celery-green background for consistency, and large font text on just the left side of the page. The illustrations are simple and pleasant. The green chalkboard is wiped clean, there are no toys or other hazards on the floor, and there’s little else to draw the eye away from the characters themselves.

First we meet a student named Bowen and his mother, Tracy, who “makes the best cabbage rolls”. Turn the page and there’s Caleb “and his dads,” along with a new baby sister. Before long the look-alike Jackson family arrives: seven children, Grandpa Harry, and Uncle Joseph, as well. More culturally diverse students arrive with their potluck offerings filling the long, draped tables.

Vercammen frequently presents a cast of diverse characters enjoying themselves in communal situations, and it’s what she does best. The Saskatchewan instructor, writer and publisher (of this book and books by other writers) says she “enjoys writing books with the aim to engage both English as an Additional Language Learners, and Native-English speakers”.

The adult-child relationships in Family Potluck extend to “Judy and her nanny” and “Naja’s stepmom” (who barbecues kabobs). Soon the classroom’s joyfully filled with twenty people across the age, culture and ability spectrums. The spirit of community is evident, and everyone—except the one child with closed eyes and a walking stick—is bright-eyed and smiling. Fittingly, the purple backpack-wearing girl seen at the start gets the last word, and the last page: her face appears in a circle beside this text: “What does your family look like? What would you bring to the potluck?” The large white space beneath and the white page opposite invite little booklovers to draw their own family and food items.

This book could become a treasured keepsake item within a family, with siblings and/or successive generations adding their own drawings to the book. With its emphases on community and diversity, it would also be a welcome addition to elementary school libraries.

This glossy softcover is just one bright example of how Vercamman weaves a positive message—ie: we can all be friends, even if we look differently—into her stories for young children. To learn more about this industrious author—who also offers readings and one-on-one English classes—and Home Style Teachers, see ashley-vercammen.ca..

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Little Big Sister: Big Little Brother”

Written by Ashley Vercammen

Illustrated by Mario Vianni and P Aplinder Kaur

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.00  ISBN 9-781778-152948

 

As a longtime reviewer, I’ve noted that some progressive children’s writers are publishing books that tell a good story while simultaneously addressing the subject of diversity, whether that’s through stories that highlight cultural diversity; include representations of non-traditional families (ie: same-sex partnerships); spotlight intergenerational relationships; or contain depictions of characters who are differently-abled, ie: an Autistic boy or a visually-impaired girl. I believe this to be a positive trend in the publishing industry, and these inclusive books deliver a much more accurate depiction of what contemporary Canadian schools—and society—really looks like.

Saskatchewan writer and Home Style Teachers’ publisher, Ashley Vercammen, appears to have made it her mission to be inclusive in her illustrated children’s books. She writes about how motherhood can mean many different things, how “family” can also include friends from various cultures, and—in her longer illustrated book, School Readiness—what children can expect when they begin school, and how they should conduct themselves in that sometimes intimidating and/or confusing new setting.

Her illustrated book Little Big Sister: Big Little Brother features adult siblings Olive and Charlie, and it’s ingeniously written from the perspectives of both characters: flip the book over, and you’ll find the same story told from the other sibling’s perspective. Charlie’s the elder sibling by three years. Vercammen writes that “his brain works differently, so sometimes he needs a bit of extra help. He has special needs.” The full-bleed illustrations show a bearded Charlie with shoes “on the wrong feet” and pants “tucked into his socks,” while his little sister guffaws behind her hand.

Charlie is forgetful and “always leaves something behind,” like socks or puzzle pieces. His speech can also be difficult to understand, but “If you listen carefully or know him well, it’s easy peasy”.

The story shows the siblings’ close relationship. Charlie calls Olive daily, cheers her with “pictures of his puzzles and new creations,” and is always keen to “build snow forts, or play card games”. (Note: the cribbage board shown on this page has interesting pegs!)

In Charlie’s flipside story, we learn that he has “some special responsibilities,” like always making sure his sister “remembers birthdays, anniversaries, or important dates”. “Helping Olive is one of my favourite things to do as a big brother,” he says. He also addresses the issue of having others believe he “can’t understand them” (not true), and he shares how it feels to have his speech misunderstood. Gulp.     

But here’s the kicker: with some quick Googling I learned that Olive represents the author, Ashley, while her real-life elder brother, Derrick, appears as Charlie in this touching story. A photo of Vercammen standing beside Derrick—both radiate joy—closes the book, and adds a visual exclamation mark. The illustrators have created expressive caricatures to represent the amiable siblings.  

The heartwarming and beautifully-produced 44-page softcover was published in 2022. To view a Youtube video of the pair reading the story, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqOEqKAla5Y . You’ll also find a few other video versions of Vercammen’s feel-good books.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Where Could My Baby Be?”

Written by Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by P Aplinder Kaur

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-781778-152962

  

Of the several books I’ve read by Saskatoon writer, publisher and teacher, Ashley Vercammen, Where Could My Baby Be? is among the best. Vercammen’s selected motherhood—in its myriad incarnations—as the subject of a children’s book, and she’s done so with both a generous and a gentle eye.

The illustrated softcover opens with the suggestion that the book “is perfect for sparking conversations about motherhood with your little one,” and I agree. I’ve been reading and reviewing children’s books for decades, and this is the first I’ve read that presents such a wide lens re: mothering, and how “there are a lot of ways to do it!”. P Aplinder Kaur’s initial illustrations show a woman breastfeeding (age-appropriate depiction for young readers); a woman changing the diaper of an active baby; an expectant mother having an ultrasound; and an anguished-looking doctor giving a seated woman—face in hands, supportive partner standing behind with his hands on her shoulders—the news she does not want.

This introductory page pulls no punches: “Being a mom is hard work!” In the following pages we’re introduced to a variety of women, some visibly pregnant, like red-dressed Verda, who is “so excited to be pregnant,” and some not, like mauve-clothed Muriel, who’s attending her surrogate’s ultrasound appointment. Muriel explains surrogacy in child-speak: “That means the doctors help my baby grow inside a different person”.    

Adoption’s addressed from the perspective of both an adoptive parent, Laural (“I found my baby all the way across the world!”) and from a woman who gives her child up for adoption because—as the illustrations suggest—studies and low finances would make parenting too difficult.

We also meet Gabriella, a stepmom who moved into that role “when [her] babies weren’t really babies anymore,” and whose “kids live with … their biological mom sometimes”. There’s also a Foster mom, and here the text and illustration work especially well together. The foster mom says: “Sometimes I see my babies again, and sometimes I don’t. We draw a picture together to make saying goodbye a little easier”. The block of text is superimposed over a living room setting, where the Foster mom’s looking through an album of painted handprints. This scene has personal meaning for this reviewer; my parents fostered twenty-five children while I was growing up, and mostly, we never saw them again.

I’m guessing that most mothers and would-be mothers should be able to relate to this book. There’s a grandmother included, too, and Melody, a dog mom. “I have some similar responsibilities to a mom,” she says, but her baby’s kisses “are a little wet”.   

As with other of Vercammen’s books, she leaves space at the end for children and parents to include their own writing and art. Here two pages are dedicated to anyone who wants to “Write a letter to [their] child about how [they] became their mom,” and another two blank pages to “Draw a picture with your child of things that make you both happy”. Delightful!

 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“School Readiness”

Written by Ashely Vercammen, Illustrated by P Aplinder Kaur

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.00  ISBN 978-1-77815-29-9-3

 

Ashley Vercammen’s illustrated softcover, School Readiness, is—as the title clearly states—a book about prepping children for their first days of school, and sharing the story with new students could well ease the jitters that sometimes accompany this transition. The writer is a Registered Behavioural Technician (RBT) and her book “is based on the proven techniques of the School Readiness program at Saskatchewan Behaviour Consulting,” where specialists work with families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

Vercammen also holds a BA in International Studies from the University of Saskatchewan, and taught English to students in China. The Redvers, SK-born writer’s education and interests have informed the text in School Readiness, published by Home Style Teachers. The book follows a culturally and ability-diverse group of students as they consider how to conduct themselves at school, ie: how one uses a “quiet, inside voice” in the classroom, and how students should raise a hand “to speak or leave [their] chair”.

There’s information here for students who might be anxious about school structure, as well, ie: scheduling. “I can look at my schedule to know what is happening next” one block of text reads, and on the opposite page, the bordered text reads: “I can ask, “What’s next?” if I don’t understand the schedule.

The book is like a step-by-step guide, providing youngsters with the answers to questions they might have about attending school. It also includes illustrations that demonstrate lessons, ie: how to tie shoelaces, and how to properly wash one’s hands. It follows a “When it is time to do this, then I need to do that” structure, ie: “When it is time to trace, I need a pencil,” and “When it is circle time, I need to go to the carpet”.

The text also goes into some things beginning students might learn about at school, ie: the days of the week, seasons and weather. There are pages that demonstrate how “Everybody likes to play in different ways,” and here we see how different personalities or abilities are represented: “Some friends like to take turns,” “Some friends want to play alone,” “Some friends like to listen to their toys,” and “Some friends want to play pretend”.

Diversity’s common in contemporary Canadian classrooms, and illustrator P Aplinder Kaur’s large-eyed characters reflect cultural diversity and differences in ability: “Some of my friends talk with their mouth,” “Some of my friends talk with their hands,” “Some of my friends talk with a device,” and “Some of my friends don’t talk at all”.

The colourful illustrations will engage young children, and at the end of the book—beneath the affirmation: “Good listening for your name! You will do great in school!—­­there’s a space for a child to include his or her own name in the story.

The prolific Vercammen has published numerous titles since January 2022. See 222.ashley-vercammen.ca to learn more about her books, and to discover how she’s helping others publish with Home Style Teachers.

 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“The Sock Momster”

Written by Mari Lemieux, Illustrated by Mario Viani

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.00  ISBN 9-781778-152917

 

“Hunting With My Dad”

Written by Patty Torrance, Illustrated by Putut Putri

Published by Home Style Teachers

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-781998-218028

 

Have an idea for a children’s book, perhaps featuring your own family members or pets? These days, with numerous self-publishing companies available to help new authors navigate the steps toward seeing their own work in print, there are perhaps more books than ever out there vying for coveted space in a child’s collection of titles. One of the best reasons to self-publish is that the whole process can happen quickly. With traditional publishers, writers can wait years to hear back about a manuscript (only to receive a rejection), or receive an acceptance and then have to wait years for the book to be released: I had a book accepted by a reputable trade book publisher in 2012, and it was released in 2019.

Home Style Teachers is a Saskatchewan-based publisher that offers self-publishing services, including finding an illustrator for the story, if the author desires. It is the brainchild of Ashley Vercammen, whose own diverse, illustrated children’s books are included in Home Style Teachers’ quickly growing list. After having read and reviewed a handful of Home Style Teachers’ vibrant softcovers, I can attest that they have the look and feel of a professionally-published book. The illustrations are often cartoon-style digital images featuring the now ubiquitous large-eyed characters.

Mari Lemieux, a teenaged writer from Alida, SK has published The Sock Momster with Home Style Teachers. She was “inspired by her dad’s extravagant bedtime stories and her mom’s constant reminders to wear matching socks,” and the result is her delightful story featuring a large-eyed, bob-and-bangs girl who is in a veritable tizzy because she can’t locate her socks. Her mother (same large eyes, Farrah Fawcett hair) says: “̒Did the sock monster take them?’” Is Mom being sarcastic, or does she know exactly what’s been happening to her daughter’s socks? The ending comes as a colourful and shocking surprise.

Patty Torrance’s Hunting With My Dad is another in the Home Style Teachers’ repertoire. The Tisdale, SK writer and mother “wanted to write a book that would capture the attention of small-town Saskatchewan kids”. This is a father-and-son story about rising early to “hunt buck, doe, and fawn” in the woods. One of the full-bleed illustrations shows a star-twinkling sky and a white crew-cab truck before a field of round bales. Attired in orange safety vests, the pair arrive at their camouflage-painted blind. My favourite text in this rhyming story is when the boy says: “We get to our blind and sit in our seat. My chairs a bit big so I dangle my feet.” The hunt is successful, and apart from the suggestion of blood under the buck’s mouth, not too graphic for young children—especially, I surmise, for those who are from hunting families.  

Torrance’s dedication includes a family photo; she reveals that her main character is named after her actual son, Hayden.

Both of these glossy softcover books for young readers were manufactured by Amazon.ca.. See 222.ashley-vercammen.ca to discover how to quickly get your own book published with Home Style Teachers.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

 

 

 

Three Book Reviews: “Half-Wild and Other Stories of Encounter” by Emily Paskevics; “#BlackInSchool” by Habiba Cooper Diallo; and "The Amnesia Project” by Payton Todd

“Half-Wild and Other Stories of Encounter”

Written by Emily Paskevics

Published by Thistledown Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$24.95  ISBN 9781771872485

 

It’s entirely rare that a first book packs a punch like Emily Paskevics’ Half-Wild and Other Stories of Encounter. The Ontario writer’s auspicious debut is multi-layered, engrossing, and technically well-wrought (Paskevics is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers), and it credibly features the no-nonsense, hunting-and-fishing folks who populate Ontario’s hardy wilderness communities.

If you love gothic literature, you’ll devour these dozen stories. Think taxidermy. Animal fetuses in jars. Hitting a strange creature with your car on a dark, lonely road. Think “mobile home with its porch light swinging … The blue painted door is all scratched up from when a bear tried to get in”. Often characters are fleeing, or someone close to them has recently died, and the remote landscapes—rife with bears, wolves, coyotes, harsh climate and dangerous waters—brilliantly parallel the characters’ dire situations, their psychological turmoil, and the endangered ecosystem.    

“Bear Bones” is set in Sadowa, where “deer-crossing signs [are] half-battered with buckshot,” a snowstorm’s afoot, and Louisa’s gone missing in a “man’s oilskin coat”. There’s a touch of magic realism at play, but the next story—also featuring loner characters—is 100% dirty realism. Two unhappy, teenaged outsiders meet in a marshy bird sanctuary. A slingshot’s involved. The narrator says: “I bought a pair of binoculars from the rummage sale at the People’s Church in town. One of the lenses was busted, but if I closed my left eye slightly I could still get a decent view”.      

Paskevics’ characters are hardcore. They understand the forest—and perhaps thrive better within it than they do within towns, cities, and relationships. The women muck through marshes, know bird calls, use chainsaws, and can identify scat. Evelyn (“The Best Little Hunter”), at age fourteen, shot, skinned and tanned a black bear, and had been “a card-carrying member of the [Sadowa Hunting Club] since she was old enough to hold a rifle steady”. Professor Ladowsky (“My Father’s Apiary”) is divorced, has lost her parents, and has suffered repeated miscarriages. Back at her father’s cabin, she says: “the surrounding forest somehow felt like the only family I had left”.  Heidi, from “Predators,” got an education in the city, but returns home to Sadowa to waitress at a “dingy pub”.

And here’s Paskevics’ skill re: details. A woodstove fire fills a room with scents of “smoked cherry wood, beeswax, and crushed herbs”. Night “comes alive in a rush of dry heat and cricket song. An acrid note of smoke hangs in the dry air from the wildfires up north”. Sylvia, from the title story, returns to her deceased mother’s home in the boreal forest and catches “the scent of spearmint in the overgrown grass by the front steps”.

“Wolff Island” is marvelously moody—one of the book’s best: Martin’s wife and child go missing on Wolff Island, where a warden tells him “You can’t go missing on this island”.

Paskevics’ “half-wild” characters will draw you into their woods, and, as the song goes, you’re in for a big surprise.    

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“#BlackInSchool”

By Habiba Cooper Diallo

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.95  ISBN 9-780889-778184

   

Young Halifax writer Habiba Cooper Diallo has much to say about being a Black student at a Halifax high school that prides itself on being the “most diverse school east of Montreal”. #BlackInSchool is her non-fiction account of the International Baccalaureate student’s frequent experience with racism, and it clearly airs her frustrations with the “complete absence of cultural competency on the part of staff/administrators and many students,” and with the school’s curriculum itself.  

The writer decries the “graphic whitewashing of school through posters;” says “Africa, the hashtag, [is] inserted like a punctuation mark wherever empathy is needed;” and disparages “the Eurocentric approach to learning”. She writes letters to politicians and administrators, and creates a petition re: equity for Black students at Dalhousie University.

Interestingly, this unsettling story’s told via journal entries Cooper Diallo wrote in Grades 11 and 12 (2011-2014). The author’s articulate and mature, but some of her activities (ie: “chatting for hours in the mall’s food court” with friends) are also youthful, and she adopts the Twitter-world’s # (hashtag) in her title—a symbol rarely used in formal writing—and throughout the book to reiterate her major issues. The hashtag’s effect is not unlike a fist being pumped in the air. Quotes proliferate, with sources ranging from Canada’s former Governor General, Miachëlle Jean, to the Mandelas.

As Dr. Awad Ibrahim attests in his eloquent Foreword, this book “opens cracks through which we hear a voice of a young person who is grounded in the real, has a deep understanding of the world around her in a way that is beyond her age, and who knows what it means and how to become fully human”. Cooper Diallo’s Introduction reminds readers that she was “going through a difficult few years” as she was writing these entries, but rather than simply accept the micro and macro-aggressions she experienced during high school, she chose “to document, process, and resist the constant abrasions of systemic racism as they rasped against her young body”. She clarifies that her use of the term “body” also entails Black students’ “mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies, all of which coalesce to make us human”.

Cooper Diallo comes by her activism honestly. Her mother’s photo’s on a poster in the school’s library “for her groundbreaking work on slavery in Canada”. In the chapter #Legacies, Cooper Diallo says she attended an “Underground Railroad conference in Detroit” with her mother, and later considered how though “plantation slavery in the Americas” has ended, when the writer sees “exploit[ive] images of young children purportedly from Ethiopia or Mali walking three miles to get water with flies on their faces as a strategy to capitalize on donor spending from guilt-ridden child sponsors” who “pay themselves large sums in administrative overhead fees,” she’s “reminded that [Blacks’] physical autonomy … is compromised” and “at the disposal of ‘well-intentioned’ white people”.   

It seems Cooper Diallo’s taken Rosa Park’s assertion—“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it’s right”—to heart. Cooper Diallo:

#smartyoungblackwomanusingherpowerfulvoiceforchange.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“The Amnesia Project”

Written by Payton Todd

Published by Wood Dragon Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$19.99 ISBN 9-781990-863264

 

Keeping journals and writing poetry are common practices among teens, and I commend them for documenting their lives, even if no one else ever sees the writing. Some of our most exciting and/or trying experiences may occur during adolescence, and writing’s good therapy. What’s highly uncommon, however, is for a teenaged writer to have a book published, and for that book to be a 302-paged, young adult sci-fi novel with a large cast of well-developed characters, a complex and dynamic plot, and a satisfying conclusion.

Enter Payton Todd and The Amnesia Project. At age fifteen, the avid writer and student from Wood Mountain, SK won the Wood Dragon Books’ Young Author Competition. After working with publisher Jeanne Martinson on successive edits, the attractive, action-filled novel was released. In an interview with moosejawtoday.com, Martinson said “Wood Dragon worked around Payton’s school schedule, and she lives on a [cattle] ranch, too, so she has a lot of chores and obligations. We’re really proud of this book …”

The futuristic novel centres around seventeen-year-old Kole Danvers, who finds himself assigned a new name and position—Beta 9X—at the Pacific Acting Authority Council (PAAC). He’s second-in-command within a team of four other teens, including white-haired Astrid, Alpha to his Beta. Initially “̒About as warm as a glacier. Snuggly as a jackhammer,’” confident Astrid much later “̒makes secure places feel safer’”. PAAC is a “post-war military operation that trains small teams, called units, to neutralize possible threats before they can spiral out of control and start another war”. But can PAAC be trusted? How have these young soldiers arrived at the compound? Who is the “̒new breed of soldier’” in the “incubation chamber”? And why is Kole having flashbacks from childhood when the other recruits (save a few) have no memories of life before PAAC?

Unlike Astrid, protagonist Kole lacks self-confidence. He also recognizes that he’s been craving “inclusiveness,” and he finds it among his cohorts: tough Astrid; brainy Colin; clownish Allister; and soft-spoken Maisie. Together the team trains physically and mentally for their missions, ie: “to rescue a group of young children from a refugee camp an hour’s flight off compound”.

I’m most impressed by how deftly Todd writes action scenes, which could quickly become melodramatic. It’s easy to “see” the fight scenes, and the author clearly knows about things like “flip holds,” and the science of flammables. She also uses a number of similes, which elevate the fiction toward poetry. Of one of Kole’s frequent childhood memories, Todd writes: “The memory fades like a fast-moving fog, billowing away and just out of reach”.  When Astrid’s injured during a mission, the gash on her arm “spits pink bubbles like a science fair volcano”.  There’s humour, credible dialogue, and interesting secondary characters.  

Martinson says the Wood Dragon Books’ Young Author Competition will be held annually. “Payton is a serious writer who intends on making the publishing industry her field, and those are the kinds of writers we really want to zoom in on.” Wonderful!

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

 

 

Book Review: The Economy of Sparrows by Trevor Herriot

“The Economy of Sparrows”

Written by Trevor Herriot

Published by Thistledown Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$24.95  ISBN 9781771872461

 

I’m considering what I enjoyed most about award-winning Regina writer, grassland conservationist, and naturalist Trevor Herriot’s first foray into fiction.

His debut novel, The Economy of Sparrows, conveys the story of pensioner Nell Rowan, a Saskatchewan-born birder and researcher who—after earning a biology degree at Carleton and working for two decades as a night janitor cleaning “the bathrooms and hallways of the National Museum of Nature’s research and collections facility”—returns to her family’s southern Saskatchewan farmstead and remains dedicated to learning everything possible about “long-dead bird collector” William Spreadborough, and the other early naturalists and collectors she read about on her work breaks. Is there some connection between Spreadborough and her own family?

This multi-layered book succeeds on every level. Firstly, the plot: Nell’s obsession with Spreadborough drives the story, but there’s also a mother who walked into winter and was never found; a teenaged foster child with a knack for communicating with animals; interesting rural neighbours; and Nell’s passion for documenting the birds in her area … her “bird survey stuff”. Nell tries to remain optimistic, but her faith in policy-makers re: reports, surveys and environmental assessments (“mostly smoke and mirrors”) feels “like messages set adrift in bottles on an ocean of apathy”. As a child she learned that “the beauty of creatures” had the ability to both “stir something in her” and “comfort”—now her dog’s “expressive face was what got her out of bed each morning”.  

Herriot’s comprehensive knowledge of birds and prairie conservation is well-served. Chapters begin with a descriptive excerpt from Taverner’s Birds of Western Canada: this includes facts about various bird species, as well as the birds’ “Economic Status,” ie: the Vesper Sparrow is “One of the most beneficial of the sparrows … therefore, should receive every possible protection.”

Make no mistake, this is a highly political story, right down to “gravel operations ruining their road;” Nell’s dilemma concerning an application for Century Farm status, considering “settler privilege, broken treaties, [and] the rest of it;” climate change truths; “No trees, no shrubs, no grass, no wetlands, just the uniform green of canola;” and, especially, the critical importance of maintaining habitat for birds and insects.  

Herriot’s writing skill is exemplary: “They passed a shelterbelt of trees surrounding the ruined shell of a house, weathered to a wasp-nest grey, windows like empty eye sockets.” Melancholy veritably oozes from this line.   

The characterizations of Nell, fifteen-year-old Carmelita, and several secondary characters are well-wrought and credible, ie: in Nell’s pasture Carmelita sits on a “waist-high boulder spangled with orange lichen” and says: “̒I get like four bars here.’”

Certainly Herriot underscores that “Western civilization [is] at odds with nature,” but all the conservation conversations aside, this captivating story is not at all predictable. We learn much about Nell, the “aging naturalist” with “a soft spot for sparrows,” but I couldn’t have guessed what would progress—and it’s gripping.

In short, Herriot adeptly pulls together his storyline’s sticks and strings and builds one hell of a nest.  

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Five Reviews: kâ-pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember” by Solomon Ratt; “nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Book for Children: A Reference for Teaching the Plains Cree Language” by Patricia Deiter, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix and Elmer Ballantyne; "The School of the Haunted River" by Colleen Gerwing; "Cathedral of Stars: A Memoir of Home & Faith on the Move” by Gloria Engel; and "Always Another River” by Daryl Sexsmith

“kâ-pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember”

By Solomon Ratt

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$25.95  ISBN 9-780889-779143

   

I went to school with a relative of educator, writer, storyteller and keeper of the Woods Cree language, Solomon Ratt, so when his memoir kâ-pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember became available for review, I requested it.

Blurbs from Buffy Sainte-Marie (“Sol is an international treasure …”) and Maria Campbell (“This is an important book …”) demonstrate that Ratt’s highly lauded for his work in restoring Woods Cree and preserving the traditional stories he heard near his home community “on the banks on the Churchill River just north of … Stanley Mission”. Ratt’s 340-page autobiography is uniquely and significantly presented in Cree th-dialect Standard Roman Orthography, syllabics and English. The cover features a photo of the smiling author, and this joviality’s evident in many of his autobiographical stories.

Between ages six and sixteen, Ratt was “Torn from his family” for ten months each year to attend All Saints Indian Student Residential School in Prince Albert, SK. The abuse that several thousands of residential school survivors endured has been documented via the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2007-2015), and the multi-generational legacy of being wrenched from one’s home has been the subject of several books, but Ratt’s story differs greatly. He writes: “I was not abused, and I did not lose my language. I still speak Cree because my parents spoke Cree to me when I would go home in the summer months.” Hallelujah that.

Home was a northern wonderland where his family lived off the land … berry picking, canoeing, building a cabin, fishing, snaring, “[fetching] moosemeat,” storytelling, and enjoying traditional foods like bannock. The author shares a brief letter—his first written from residential school:

“Dear Mom,

How are you? I am fine. School is fun but I am homesick a lot. Please send bannock.”

He writes that “Each letter ended with ‘please send bannock’”.

Possessing “full retention of his mother language” has made Ratt one of a few Cree language pioneers. He learned to read and write Cree in Contemporary standard spelling (SRO) through studies at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. The Cree Syllabics system learned via Dr. Ahab Spence “rekindled his interest in traditional stories,” like the dozen that appear in the second half of this book. Oral stories were used to teach, ie: “The Shut-eye Dancers” teaches one to “Be wary when someone offers you a wondrous gift,” and the “Wisahkecahk and the Chickadees” teaches respect of sacred ceremony, and explains why foxes have white-tipped tails.

Ratt writes that if he forgets about the residential school children who were lost and killed, he will “not show them honour” and he “will lose [his] soul”. He admits that he “wandered about lost for a long time” too, but “walked away from alcohol and drugs” thirty years ago.        

As for my former classmate, when I reached out to her, she didn’t remember me. She says she’s blocked most of her childhood, and this speaks volumes. It’s okay that I was forgotten. What’s important is that I remember her.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Book for Children: A Reference for Teaching the Plains Cree Language”

Written by Patricia Deiter, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix and Elmer Ballantyne; Plains Cree Translations by Elmer Ballantyne, Inez Deiter, May Desnomie, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix and Joslyn Wuttunee

Published by YNWP

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$74.95  ISBN 978-1-77869-004-4

 

I recently reviewed awāsi-nēhiyawēwin masinahikanis: A Little Plains Cree Colouring Book—Plains Cree People, by Saskatchewan’s Patricia Deiter, Allen J. (A.J.) Felix, and Elmer Ballantyne. The colouring book complements the learned trio’s reference guide for teaching the Plains Cree language, nēhiyawēwin awāsi-masinahikanis—A Little Plains Cree Book for Children, which I have also now read and learned from. “Plains Cree is spoken in 43 First Nations communities in Saskatchewan alone,” and the authors hope is that they, “as Plains Cree people, will still have [their] language for [their] future generations”.

In her opening acknowledgements, Deiter (White Buffalo Woman)—a “non-fluent Plains Cree speaker” and English teacher—extends gratitude to the six Elders who “provided the majority of Plains Cree translations” for the reference guide, including her mother, Inez Deiter, “who provides ongoing support for [her daughter’s] efforts to restore the Cree language to our youth”.  

The reference book follows the themes established in the Saskatchewan Curriculum Guide for Kindergarten to Grade 12 on Aboriginal Languages, with a focus on “Useful noun categories, phrases, and some basic rules for the Plains Cree language,” and an enhanced e-book edition’s also available. The writers encourage supplementing this resource book with “components of Cree language programs, including Plains Cree values and laws, the history of Plains Cree people and local history, as well as songs, games, dances, and arts and crafts”. Adding other teaching materials like flash cards makes learning even more fun for children, and it’s recommended. Repetition of words is highly important when a child’s learning vocabulary and phrases.

Though “The best path to fluency in the Plains Cree language is immersion,” the authors write that “learning one word, one phrase, and one sentence at a time is a good place to start” … as someone who has been studying Spanish since the mid-1980s, I agree!

The guide begins with instruction on the sound system. “The Plains Cree alphabet consists of 14 consonants and 7 vowels,” and among the vowels there are both short and long vowels, the latter indicated by a line (called a macron) over the letter, ie: nīpin (summer) and kōna (snow). It’s interesting to me that the months of the year are all described by a corresponding type of moon, ie: February is The Eagle Moon (mikisiwi-pīsim), June is The Hatching Moon (pāskāwihowi-pīsim), and October is The Migrating Moon (pimihāwi-pīsim).

As with the colouring book, information’s included on the extended kinship system of the Plains Cree, which is “an example of culture and language being intertwined”. Grandparents, for example, “are anyone your parents refer to as an aunt or uncle”.   

The themes of the guide’s twenty-five lessons are wide-ranging. Lesson 7, for example, is “Morning Routine” (kīkisēpāw tahki pēyakwan ka-tōtamihk). Lesson 15 is titled “Let’s make soup,” (osihtātahk mihcimāpoy) and Lesson 20 is called ‘Picking Berries” (mawisowin). The final lesson is “The Future of Plains Cree” (tanisi ōma nika nehiyawewin), and one of the sample sentences is kisīhtonīnaw nēhiyāwēwin: (“We are holding on to our language.”) Well done.   

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“The School of the Haunted River"

by Colleen Gerwing

Published by Endless Sky Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$24.99  ISBN 978-1-989398-86-9

   

What a surprise. It’s poetic, actually. During my Saskatoon years, each time I’d launch a book, an affable but unassuming woman I knew only by sight would attend and we’d make minimal small talk while she had her copy signed. I moved. Several years passed. I never thought of her again.

Last week a newly-released autobiographical novel arrived in the mail. The School of the Haunted River concerns outdoorswoman Jay, who takes her college-aged niece, Dilly, on a two-week snowshoeing and camping trip in northern Saskatchewan. I flipped to the author bio and photo before beginning the novel, and there she was, Colleen Gerwing, the woman who’d attended all of my Saskatoon launches. I never even knew she was writing. And I certainly never knew she’d died in 2021; this sad fact made reading her fine stories-within-a-story even more bittersweet.

In her “real” life, Gerwing, I learned, grew up on a farm near Lake Lenore, SK, and her love of adventure was evident from childhood. In 1977 she hitchhiked to the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming, and later worked for the Parks Service (mostly in Prince Albert National Park), ran Wilderness Trips for Women, and shared her zest for outdoor life via the Saskatoon Boys and Girls Club. Canoeing, snowshoeing, winter camping … these were her passions. Apparently documenting her adventures was a passion, too.

In this reflective novel—the author’s cover painting of a canoeist in the boreal forest demonstrates that Gerwing was also a talented artist—the snowshoeing trip provides the frame from which Joy shares stories about her earlier canoeing adventures during the grueling, solo, five-month canoe trip that was part of her Outdoor School experience. “̒I was dropped off by plane in a remote area,’” she begins, revealing that the earlier expedition was near where the aunt and niece are now snowshoeing.

Jay’s solo canoe expedition began at the Saskquatsch Annie River, northwest of La Ronge, and she was to travel in a circular route, ending at Silver Feather Lake. Packrider “Cowboy” dropped provisions along the route every few weeks. The first night, ice and snow still on the ground, Jay slept beneath her sleek canoe: “̒ … in my sleeping bag, I squirmed like a big grub in a cocoon under trillions of stars in trillions of galaxies with unfathomable empty space between. I was nothing. And that made me feel like everything.’”      

All the wildlife encounters, weather woes, a “̒scourge of mosquitoes,’” portage and river challenges, and the hunger one would expect from an extended, solitary canoe journey are here, but it’s the revelations about self and humanity that raise this book to a higher level. Gerwing ingeniously weaves her engaging life-story into an adventure novel and fills it with life lessons and poetic gems, like “̒Sunrise is a wordless poem,’” “̒Gratitude is a moving target,’” and “̒I could’ve left, but somebody had to look for stars in the sky.’”

Thank you, Colleen Gerwing, for transporting us to your sanctuary. Rest well now.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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"Cathedral of Stars: A Memoir of Home & Faith on the Move”

Written by Gloria Engel

Published by YNWP

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$24.95  ISBN 978-1-988783-90-1

 

Cathedral of Stars: A Memoir of Home & Faith on the Move by SK-born Gloria Engel is utterly fascinating. The stories about her peripatetic life—and constant faith—as a linguist with Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics is indeed hard to put down. The intrepid author asks and adeptly answers this question: “How can you find a sense of belonging in home and church when you’re constantly on the move?” Much of this global zinger of a book takes place in Guatemala, and Engel paints a colourful portrait of the family’s authentic experiences there.  

Now in her eighties, the joy-filled wife, mother of four boys, linguist, writer and dancer (a verboten activity re: her strict Lutheran upbringing) experienced “forty-five changes of residence in five countries,” before settling in Biggar, SK. The anecdotes about her resourceful family and rural SK upbringing (no indoor plumbing; folks said her father “could hold machinery together with macaroni”) are compelling, but the Guatemalan accounts left me gasping.

First came linguistics training at the University of North Dakota. Orientation sessions took place in Mexico City, then it was on to Chiapas, Mexico. After twelve weeks of “jungle survival training” there—Engel was pregnant and had three young sons at the time—the writer, her husband (fellow linguist, Ted), and their sons (aged one to six), drove to Guatemala “to do Bible translation work with Mayan people of the Pokomchi language group,” and they remained in the highland town of San Cristóbal Verapaz for a decade.

Imagine being pregnant and navigating rapids in a dugout canoe: “We capsized, and our canoe went down the river without me, while I hung on to a protruding branch.”  And that’s Main Base camp, where “several poisonous snakes were killed”. At Advance Base, her training included a “survival hike”. With machete in tow, hearty Engel “had to construct [her] own survival bed and build a campfire for warmth and protection”. Apart from the clothes on her back and a canteen, her “only equipment was a small food pack, a first-aid kit and a plastic sheet”. Even so, she says “it was a night of contentment and peace”.   

The family also spent years in Guatemala City, and one riveting chapter concerns the 1974 Guatemala earthquake and Engel’s epiphany: “I felt as though Judgment Day had come, and God was there in his terrible beauty and justice. He seemed to be shaking and breaking the whole world, while cradling me gently in his hand”. Engel was also “roughed up” during a robbery.

Post-Guatemala and after eight years in Texas, the husband and wife team were then commissioned by two drastically different churches in Vancouver: one in the infamous Downtown Eastside, the other in the wealthy Shaughnessy neighbourhood.   

Chapter after chapter, this author astounds with detailed stories about her family, and how hiking, orchid-hunting, reading, music and fellowship elevated their lives. Wherever life has taken Engel, she’s proven that “she’s got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in her heart”.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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"Always Another River”

Written by Daryl Sexsmith

Published by YNWP

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$24.95  ISBN 978-1-77869-014-3

 

Prince Albert, SK-raised Darryl Sexmith is an avid canoe-tripper and former United Church minister who’s built his community­—wherever he’s lived—around his passion for wilderness canoeing and the fellowship group canoe-tripping naturally inspires. Reading Always Another River, his well-written, chronologically-told collection of canoe stories—he’s completed over seventy-five trips and “hasn’t hung up his paddle yet”—stirred fond memories of my own canoeing experiences. It’s a Canadian thing, eh.

The nineteen chapters are mostly titled by location, and it’s evident that Sexsmith’s playground has predominantly been the rivers (and lakes) of northern Saskatchewan, but his lifetime of paddling expeditions also includes the far north. He’s a former executive director of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s (CPAWS) Northwest Territories chapter, and in that role he canoed the South Nahanni and Mackenzie rivers to promote conservation. He also participated in the 2008 David Thompson Brigade, paddling six-person voyageur canoes from Alberta to Ontario “to commemorate Thompson’s historic trip of 1808,” a journey also heralded in 1967 with the Centennial Canoe Pageant. How interesting to read about the grueling paddling across Manitoba’s massive lakes (with high winds and just five-minute breaks every hour), group dynamics, and the receptions held in various communities, ie: in Cumberland House, schoolchildren canoed out to greet the contemporary voyageurs and a banquet of “beef stew and bannock” was enjoyed.

Sexsmith’s love of paddling began in 1981 with a short adventure on the Churchill River between Stanley Mission and Nistowiak Falls. The College of Commerce student (ministry came later) and his fellow paddlers “vowed around the campfire that this would be the first of a lifetime of trips”.  That vow was kept, and more than forty years later, he’s still canoe-tripping with these longtime friends, and several others.    

The writer employs a jocular tone. Of a fellow canoe-tripper, he says: “We were warned not to use big words with Bill since he was a kindergarten teacher.” Before an adventure on the Paull River, the group stopped at the Co-op in Air Ronge to buy fishing licences, because “for the last two decades they have given away free sunglasses with the purchase of a fishing licence”. Sexmith selected his “from a wide selection of 1970s styles”.  

After studying theology at Queens—“My classmates always marvelled when I found theological insights in canoeing books, and my practice preaching often included reflections on the joys of canoe-tripping”—Sexsmith’s first United Church posting was in Hudson Bay, ideally “located at the junction of three rivers”. After paddling through the Clearwater River’s “big-ticket scenery,” he wrote: “One simply knew that God was real when travelling in the majesty of the Clearwater Valley”.   

There’s classic Canadian shield camping, “with clean granite sloping gently into the water, making for a perfect swimming hole”. There are bears, caribou, muskox and moose. Wicked whitewater, appalling portages, and “[learning] the art of drinking water through a head net”. 

Simply put, this book is great reading, and you’ll complete these stories knowing with certainty that nature is surely sacred.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM