Halifax's Family Magazine
Review by Trevor J. Adams By Kate Inglis Art by Josée Bisaillon Nimbus Publishing Ages 4 to 8 Kate Inglis always writes with a healthy dollop of whimsy, a tradition she continues with A Great Big Night, the tale of three travelling frog musicians, rolling on their painted bicycles. She crafts a timeless fable about […]
Review by Trevor J. Adams By Charis Cotter Art by Genevieve Simms Nimbus Publishing Ages 8 to 12 If you come from a Newfoundland family with strong storytelling traditions (and is there any other kind?), the tales in this collection will have a familiar ring. With spooky stories like “A Visit from the Old Hag,” […]
Review by Trevor J. Adams By Alison McGhee Art by Kate Alizadeh Two Lions Ages 4 to 8 “Somewhere in the world, the world so far, the world so wide / Someone is the youngest person alive.” With that moment of Zen, New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize nominee Alisa McGhee opens this […]
Review by Trevor J. Adams By Bob Gordon Banovallum Books For parents pondering what a post-COVID world will look like for their children, this book is a useful primer. Author Bob Gordon looks at our past—from the Black Death to 20th-century scourges like the Spanish flu and Ebola—to paint a picture of what awaits us […]
By Darrel GregoryIllustrated by Lizette DuvenageFriesen PressAge 5 to 8 The first book in the Genny and Bug’s Big Adventures series, this is a fantastical tale of courage, resilience, empathy, and emotional regulation—all useful traits for children to explore, particularly mid-pandemic. Drawing on his vast experience coaching young athletes, author Darrel Gregory strives to create […]
By B.D. CottlestonIllustrated by Marcin PiwowarskiFlowerpot PressAge 5 to 8 Kids learn early that life is full of inexplicable rules, age an arbitrary barrier to their hedonistic pursuits. In this quirky, clever story, our young protagonist wonders about the oft-evoked and never seen person who enjoys so many privileges. “Why are some things just for […]
By Sue FliessIllustrated by Khoa LeMillbrook PressAge 5 to 8 From the soft glow of a candle, to the blink of a firefly, to an explosion of fireworks: light is all around us. With lyrical, evocative writing, author Sue Fliess takes young readers on an ethereal tour of the world around them, guided by four […]
By Procopius CanningPerusine PressAge 8 to 12 “Sort of like Wakanda, only real!” promises this book, sharing the true-life stories of ancient Black civilizations. Young readers will discover the ancient kingdom of Numidia and King Jugurtha, who battled the Roman empire to a standstill. They’ll learn about ancient sub-Saharan Africa, where wild beasts were collected […]
By Michelle ThornhillReadosaurus PressAges 5–8 When Zorgan the alien vacations on earth, he faces one misunderstanding after another. He has to learn to communicate with the locals, so he innocently signs up for a language-arts class, not realizing he’ll be studying poetry. The vivid, energetic illustrations evoke the spirit of Richard Scarry and perfectly capture […]
By Shanda CameronIllustrated by Stacy VenoSelf-publishedAges 4–6 Long before her foray into writing children’s books, Shanda Cameron was a veterinary technician, working for 20 years to help animals like the very ones she now writes about. In this sweet little story, she imagines her real dog Kiwi’s trip to the mall with a pack of […]