Welcome to Litsy!

Four days in the life of 11-year-old African American Kemi. Four days until an asteroid destroys the planet Earth. Science-minded Kemi wants to help her family feel less afraid… and ends up helping herself as well. Love it! A middle grade novel, winner of the 2023 Governor General Award for Young People‘s Literature. 🇨🇦 #allages

If you have kids, or know kids, or anyone with an inner child, or just basically anyone with eyes, get them Things in the Basement. Spooky adventure, confronting fears, found family, history and art (including fibre art). It's delicious. An easy five stars.

#graphicnovel #middlegrade #allages

I enjoyed reading this book because it shows how books can connect people. This can be used in a classroom to show students what its like to be bonded by a book. This could also show students how people can be connected from all over the world.

The Red Book won a Caldecott Honor in 2005. This book is about a red book that two people find in opposite places. The books connects these two people even though they are so far. This is a wordless book but the illustrations portray a story of one book uniting two people.

This children‘s fantasy graphic novel by nonbinary New Zealand cartoonist K O‘Neill requires close reading of the illustrations to fully follow the action. The MC, Anya, feels she must prove her worth and do it without any help from others. It‘s a gentle story about kindness and participation in your community. #AllAges #LGBTQ #comics

Intricate pencil drawings by Aleksandra Zajac portray feelings as creatures in this gentle, thoughtful and quiet picture book by Tina Oziewicz, translated from Polish by Jennifer Croft. (Croft has also translated Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk‘s work.) #kidlit for #AllAges

This wonderful graphic novel for children addresses systemic racist bias towards “good” hair by presenting a wholly sympathetic character, Marlene, who hates the weekly salon visits her mother deems necessary in order to straighten her wild curls. The tone of the narrative is humorous (despite serious topics), the resolution is celebratory, the characterization is relatable and the vibrant art is very appealing. #kidlit #comics for #AllAges

In this gentle picture book for children, the topic of death is viewed in a nontraditional way. Sheila Heti‘s text focuses on metaphysical questions and the interconnectedness of everything on Earth. Esmé Shapiro‘s watercolour, gouache & collage art creates a dreamy, magical setting. #Canadian #kidlit #AllAges

This is the story of a rabbit who decides to take a trip to the library and rent a book on wolves. He decides on his way home that he is going to open up the book and read it. As he is on his journey he becomes engulfed in the story and becomes a part of it. The reader is eager to keep reading as the rabbit ends up being watched by wolves. I would recommend this story to a younger audience. Published in 2005, Kate Greenaway medal winner.