Category Archives: Governor General’s Literary

Inkling

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Ethan’s dad is a comic artist with writer’s block and Ethan has a graphic novel project at school that is giving him trouble.  When an ink blot from his dad’s sketchbook comes to life, it makes quite an impact on Ethan’s family and friends.  This is a funny and interesting story.  How can an ink blot be such a lovable character? mjw
Title: Inkling
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: Sydney Smith
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7282-6
Hardcover pages: 256
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Toronto
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Toronto
Awards: Both author and illustrator have won the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature. The illustrator has won the Kate Greenaway Award.
Subjects: Books, Creativity, Drawing, Humor

Colette’s Lost Pet

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Colette is new to the Mile End neighborhood of Montreal. She wants to make friends, but doesn’t know what to talk about. She invents a problem: she has lost her pet parakeet named Marie Antoinette. Her fib escalates a bit out of control and a neighborhood-wide search party is assembled. Do her new friends really believe her or is it just more fun to pretend? Artwork rendered in pencil, watercolor, and ink with digital coloration depicts Montreal’s urban setting. The text is hand-lettered. mjw
Title: Colette’s Lost Pet
Author: Isabelle Arsenault
Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault
Publisher: Random House, New York
Copyright: 2017
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-553-53659-1
Hardcover pages: 48
Age range: 3-7
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Montreal
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Montreal
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Montreal
Awards: Author/illustrator has won Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature three times
Subjects: Birds, New experiences, Pets

The Sandwich Thief

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The Sandwich ThiefMarin’s parents are foodies who pack him delicious, healthy sandwiches graced with his mom’s homemade mayonnaise. On Monday, at lunchtime, his ham, cheddar, and kale sandwich is missing, so he starts an investigation of the potential thieves. All week, his sandwiches disappear and he identifies more suspects – classmates, teachers, the janitor, and even the school principal. Eventually, his mother comes up with a way to find out who’s behind the missing sandwiches. The comic-style panels and sequential art, done entirely in orange, red, and black, with speech balloons, and the font, which is based on the illustrator’s handwriting, make this lunchtime crime drama engaging and entertaining. mjw
Title: The Sandwich Thief
Author: Andre Marois
Illustrator: Patrick Doyon
Publisher: Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California
Copyright: 2016
Original Language: French
Translator: Taylor Norman
Original Title: Le Voleur de sandwichs
Original Publisher: Les Editions de la Pasteque
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4659-1
Hardcover pages: 160
Age range: 7-9
Genre: Fiction
Author’s ethnicity: French
Author’s residence: Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Canada
Awards: Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustrated Children’s Literature – French Language
Subjects: Comics, Detective stories, Graphic novels. Lost articles, Mystery, Sandwiches, Schools, Stealing, Thieves

Alpha

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alphaAlpha, Bravo, Charlie . . . The NATO phonetic alphabetic was adopted in 1956 and is used by various emergency services, including firefighters, police, the military, and the Red Cross, as a way to communicate clearly and precisely in urgent situations. Each spread features a colorful watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustration on the right and the word printed in large block letters on a white page on the left. The illustrations are quite sophisticated in this nontraditional ABC book. A black derby represents “Charlie” (Charlie Chaplin). A red plastic Monopoly piece defines “hotel.” O portrays a beautiful evening gown (Oscar de la Renta). A note at the back of the book gives more information about the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet and suggests that the images will invite imagination and interpretation. mjw
Title: Alpha
Author: Isabelle Arsenault
Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault
Publisher: Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: French, NATO phonetic alphabet
Original Publisher: Les Editions de la Pasteque
Original Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7852-4
Hardcover pages: 64
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture Book, ABC Book
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Montreal
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Montreal
Awards: Author/illustrator has won the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature three times
Subjects: Alphabet, ICAO alphabet code

Imagine A World

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Imagine A WorldImagine a book with words and images which evoke delight. Author and illustrator Rob Gonsalves has created another masterpiece. In his fourth book in his “Imagine a…” series, the paintings and text work seamlessly to show that our world is a marvelous place. It only takes a creative mind to find beauty. The magical realistic images of exquisite architecture, landscapes, and nature will enthrall both avid and reluctant readers. ema
Title: Imagine A World
Author: Rob Gonsalves
Illustrator: Rob Gonsalves
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon and Schuster
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN:  978-1481449731
Hardcover pages: 48
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Fiction Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Canada
Awards: The author and illustrator is a recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award
Subjects: Art, Imaginative, Paintings, Magical, Realism, World

The Nest

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The NestAnxious, OCD-ridden, pre-adolescent Steve has a new baby brother who has congenital health problems. The baby needs surgery and may never be completely normal. Steve’s parents are pre-occupied with the baby and Steve starts to have dreams and nightmares with angels/wasps who promise that they can grow a new, healthy baby to replace his sickly newborn brother. And at the same time, a wasps’ nest is rapidly growing outside the baby’s bedroom window. Scientific information about wasps is woven into Steve’s first-person perspective. Black and white graphite drawings add to the mood of this very intense, intriguing, and scary story that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman mjw
Title: The Nest
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: John Klassen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3232-0
Hardcover pages: 256
Age range: 10 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Canada (Toronto)
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Toronto, Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Los Angeles, California, USA
Awards: Author has won the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award.  Illustrator has won the Caldecott Medal
Subjects: Babies, Changelings, Ghost stories, Horror stories, Infants, Paranormal fiction, Special needs, Supernatural, Wasps

This One Summer

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This One Summer Front CoverEvery year Rose and her family go to Awago Beach, but this year her parents are fighting. Best friends Rose and Windy question what it means to be grown up. The gorgeous blue illustrations and writing capture the pace of summer, the joys, struggles, relationships, and feelings during adolescence.  It subtly and powerfully touches on misogyny, sexism, depression, and will leave readers pondering how they come to their conclusions of others without knowing the full story. ema
Title: This One Summer
Author: Mariko Tamaki
Illustrator: Jillian Tamaki 
Publisher: First Second Books
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-62672-094-7
Hardcover pages: 320
Age range: 12-18
Genre: Graphic Novel
Book setting: Canada
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Brooklyn
Awards: 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration, 2015 Caldecott Honor, 2015 Printz Honor, 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Winner
Subjects: Bullying, Cartoons, Comics, Coming of Age, Female Protagonists, Graphic Novels, Love,  Marital Conflict, Relationships, Summer, Teenage Pregnancy, Teenagers,  Vacation, Verbal Abuse