Review - The Magic Boat

The Magic Boat
by Kit Pearson & Katherine Farris
illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
Date: 2019
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Every summer morning, Ellie and her Nonna go to the beach. They swim and build sandcastles, and while Nonna reads, Ellie watches the other children play. One day Ellie builds up the courage to approach an older girl playing on her own in a beached rowboat. Piper has a gift, an imagination so great that she whisks Ellie off on grand adventures, going high in the air, deep below the ocean and everywhere in between in their little blue boat, their magic boat. When Piper has to leave, Ellie discovers she has her own vivid imagination.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The Magic Boat is a cute story about imagination, friendship, and having confidence in yourself.

At the beach, Ellie meets a girl named Piper who has a big imagination. Their broken blue rowboat transforms into a sleek sailboat, and then a balloon, and then a submarine. Ellie and Piper have lots of fun imagining all their adventures. But when it's time for Piper to go home, Ellie finds that she can't imagine anything by herself. Luckily, she finds a new friend, and that gives her the push she needs to rekindle the magic.

I really like the West Coast Canadian flavour of this one (not surprising, given that Kit Pearson lives in the area). Although I got a giggle out of Nonna feeding the kids Nanaimo bars for a "snack", I'm not sure if that bit isn't too stereotypically Canadian... even though it's not very accurate. The book makes it sound like Nanaimo bars are a healthy snack like granola bars when, in fact, they're a sticky-sweet dessert. Nonna might as well have been feeding them cake for their "snack"! (Well, that's her call. If she wants to deal with the resulting sugar rush--and subsequent crash--that's her prerogative.)

The illustrations are really sweet and perfectly capture the beach mood. I've encountered this illustrator's work before, in L’été de la petite baleine and in Stolen Words. Her style was a really good choice for this gentle, seaside-themed story.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. Aside from encouraging kids to eat Nanaimo bars as snacks (don't get me wrong... they're yummy; they're just not very healthy), the story is strong and shows how children might get over their creative blocks by sharing their experiences with others.

Quotable moment:

The next morning Ellie sat in the old blue boat all by herself. She tried to sail out to sea. She tried to fly in the air. She tried to sink under the water. But nothing happened.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Review - A Day of Signs and Wonders

A Day of Signs and Wonders
by Kit Pearson
Date: 2016
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Reading level: MG
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 224
Format: e-book
Source: library

Can your whole life change in a single day?

Emily dreams of birds. She feels constrained by nearly everything—her overbearing sisters, the expectation to be a proper young lady, and even her stiff white pinafore.

Kitty feels undone. Her heart is still grieving a tragic loss, and she doesn’t want to be sent away to a boarding school so far away from home.

When the two girls meet by chance, on a beach on the outskirts of Victoria, BC, in 1881, neither knows that their one day together will change their lives forever.

Inspired by the childhood of acclaimed Canadian artist Emily Carr, A Day of Signs and Wonders is a sensitive and insightful look at friendship, family, and the foundations of an artist, drawn over the course of a single day—a day in which a comet appears, an artist is born and an aching hole in one girl’s heart begins to heal.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Having read some of Kit Pearson's novels for young people before, I thought I'd give this new one a try. It's historical fiction, and while I didn't enjoy it as much as some of her other books (especially the ones with paranormal elements), it was an entertaining story.

I really like reading books where I recognize the setting. In this case, the setting may be familiar... but the time period isn't. Victoria in 1881 is very different from Victoria today. I liked seeing how undeveloped the place was, as just a little "city" that was slowly growing and developing. Some of my ancestors actually ended up there a few years after the events in the book, so it was interesting to see what kind of a place they would've encountered.

The book is mainly a character sketch and follows two young girls throughout one unusual day. The style reminded me a little of such classics as Little Women, or of the books of L.M. Montgomery... although there were a few touches in this one that never would've been included in a book that was actually written over 100 years ago. But the story is still charming and somewhat quaint.

This book's main problem is that it's slow. The plot is basic. There's not a lot of action. The characters gain insight and develop (which is quite a feat, considering the story takes place during only one day), but there's not much that really happens to them. (While the girls themselves viewed the day as quite exciting and full, it might not seem that way to modern readers.) While I could appreciate what the author was trying to do here, I wonder if the target audience (middle graders, most likely, as the two main characters are 9 and 13) would want to continue reading, or if they would get bored.

The book is fairly well-written, though I wouldn't expect otherwise from Pearson. Aside from a slight mix-up with the direction of the comet (where it is in the sky doesn't match with where it should be, based on the map in the front), there wasn't a lot to complain about from a technical standpoint.

Overall, this is a lovely historical fiction novel. It would be a good starting place for those who want to learn more about Emily Carr.

Quotable moment:

Finally Mrs. Crane called from the hall. Emily was standing there, scowling. Kitty couldn't believe this was the same girl. Her round, rosy cheeks were soap shiny and her curls were gathered into a tight bundle at the back of her neck. She was encased in a spotless blue frock, a stiff white pinafore, low buttoned boots, and white stockings. She clutched a straw hat.

This was how little girls were supposed to look, of course; but Kitty wondered where inside this clean, tidy parcel was hidden the wild, barefoot Emily she had met earlier.

Premise: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 ladybugs

Share-A-Book Saturday (19)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend Awake and Dreaming by Kit Pearson.

Theo has always dreamed of belonging to a real family. Her dream seems to come true when she is mysteriously "adopted" by the warm Kaldor clan. For the first time, Theo has brand new clothes, things of her own, security, and good friends. But, as time passes, the magic of Theo's new life begins to fade--really fade. In fact, Theo herself is vanishing.... (Product description from Amazon.com.)

I must have read this book years ago, close to when it first came out. It's by a Canadian author, and it's set in a location with which I'm pretty familiar. Theo meets the Kaldors on the ferry between Vancouver and Victoria; I'd just finished a year of university at UVic, so the ferry was something I knew quite well. It's always kind of cool to be able to identify with aspects of a story because you know the location.

But this is also a good story. It's a middle-grade book, but I read it when I was 19 or so and I still really enjoyed it. I was first introduced to the author after reading A Handful of Time and the Guests of War trilogy (The Sky is Falling, Looking at the Moon, and The Lights Go On Again); all of those books are good, but Awake and Dreaming is probably my favourite Kit Pearson novel. If you've never heard of this author or read any of her books, I'd recommend starting with this one.