Five literary jewels for little readers

The tousled or when my hair gets involved …

Malie hates her uncontrollable hair. Impossible to style them, to hide them under a hat, and even less to go unnoticed. Everywhere she goes, cakes, birds, piano and other unexpected passengers cling to her curls. Throughout the pages, the flamboyant blonde mane offers a striking contrast to the soft illustrations in pastel shades and rounded lines. With a lot of humor, fantasy and poetry, the author-illustrator Nathalie Dion takes children along the road to self-esteem, reminding us that our greatest strengths are often hidden beneath our differences. (Dominique and company, in bookstores)

Together we travel

“Mum says she’s waiting for summer / I think she turns / slowly into spring / I don’t want to know when / we’ll come home / together we’re traveling. The feminist youth publishing house Dent-de-lion publishes this sublime collection which gently and sensitively addresses the illness of a parent. While the young narrator notices the changes in her mother, she sets out with her on a journey to the places that bear their love. Little by little, the mother becomes a house, then a work of art, an animal, then a season, giving the little girl the strength to love in the present. The poetic texts of Lula Carballo and Catherine Anne Orange offer little readers the power of the symbol and combine beautifully with eloquent hand-embroidered illustrations by artist Kesso. A true work of art for children. (Dandelion, September 14)

Maasai warrior

Cradled by the many travel stories of his father, a young boy dreams of discovering the world. In the vestibule of his house, the statue of a Maasai warrior brought back from Africa seems to watch over the household. One night, the warrior wakes up, leading the child to explore the world. Illustrated entirely in black and white, the album – with its poetic universe and its play of light and shadow – avoids aridity by conjuring up the evocative and dreamlike power of cinema. Laurent Pinabeltransposes on the pages the enigmatic and intimate aura of the journey to better address the importance of heritage in the quest for oneself. (Les 400 coups, October 6)

The land of the big sky

With this breathtakingly beautiful initiatory story, Nathalie Wyss leads young and old in the snow-capped steppes of Mongolia to discover distant and bewitching legends. In this land of blue skies, meeting a wolf is a sign of luck. Nomin has always dreamed of seeing one with his own eyes. Her grandmother encourages her to be patient: it is in the invisible, in the heart and in the stories that the road that leads to these mysterious creatures hides. The trait of Jeremy Pailler, made of ink and watercolor, recalls both the sweetness of memory and the exoticism of the end of the world. (Kaleidoscope, October)

November notebooks

The older ones will not be left out this fall, with some great offers from Hurtubise editions (Me too, Sophie Rondeau), Scholastic (Zero point, Alan Gratz) and Dominique and company (The squad of happiness, Diana Bélice). On a short scale, Marie-Helene Jarry gently reveals the loneliness and torments that inhabit the hearts of many adolescents. Marjorie and Théo do not know each other. In a neon green notebook, at the stationery of the district, they undertake a correspondence and soon share their greatest secrets and their greatest distresses. But how do you help someone you’ve never met? A novel about the power of listening and friendship. (The Short Ladder, October 6)

Watch video