Hilary Williamson (BookLoons.com)reviews Good-Bye, Baby Max

“It’s springtime in a busy kindergarten classroom, when Mrs. B., brings in a box - ‘The children are thrilled, / for soon they will greet / Three baby chicks, / so soft and so sweet.’ In advance of their hatching, the children name the small fluffballs Dora, Spiderman and Max.

One morning, the chicks start to hatch - Dora and Spiderman quickly emerge, but Max ‘pecks and pecks, / trying to crack open his shell’. The kids worry and Chris asks, ‘Is Max gonna die?’ The next morning, they sadly learn that Max didn’t make it (the blue tinge to the illustration emphasizes how the children feel about the news).

At Mrs. B,’s urging, they decide to ‘find a way to say good-bye.’ This wise teacher organizes an outdoor funeral for the little chick - the children sing and each takes their turn for a ‘last good-bye’. They craft memorial projects and watch Dora and Spiderman cheep and play, ‘Knowing that soon / they’ll have happier days.’

Diane Cantrell, who was a kindergarten teacher and is now a Licensed Professional Counselor, does a nice job of handling this delicate subject, while Heather Castles draws settings and children’s (happy and sad) faces beautifully. I recommend Good-bye, Baby Max as an excellent vehicle to communicate what the loss of a loved one means to little ones.”

MICHELE SIUDA JACQUES (Copy Editor, Detroit Free Press)

“Good-Bye, Baby Max by Diane Cantrell with illustrations by Heather Castles (Bridgeway Books, $16.95) is a tender story about death, a tough topic for young children. Kindergarteners eagerly await spring and the hatching of the class’ three chick eggs. But one chick, Max, dies. What ensues is a gentle exploration of grief and its many expressions — from tears to songs to artwork. At the end, the surviving chicks’ peeps encourage the children to embrace the living without forgetting the dead.”

Another down-to-earth way to be responsible for the products we purchase: Eco-Libris encourages avid book lovers to donate $1 for each book they purchase, which will go towards planting trees to offset the consumed paper. You even get a nifty recycled sticker to put inside your book to boast it’s new green qualities.

While book publishers are starting to print books with more recycled & FSC-certified content, they are still a far cry from making books sustainable, which means the books we purchase & love are still not as “green” as they can be. While many other companies are going paperless, the book publishing industry depends on paper consumption as alternative resources are still too expensive for their bottom line. The more book lovers are concerned & aware of the impact the publishing industry has on their environment, the more pressure it will put on them to make changes towards sustainable books.

So booklovers, think of putting a little something back in the ground for the little something that was taken out to make your book. Check out Eco-Libris and donate to plant trees for each of your favourite books… or go all-out and make your home library greener! Buy a few extra stickers to stick in the books you give to your family & friends.

Illustrators & Authors can take it a step further… consider buying stickers to give out at your next book signing. Or check out Eco-Libris’ Publishers & Authors program to find out how you can print Eco-Libris’ logo on the cover of your upcoming picturebook!

Thought I’d share a photo of my little bundle of joy with you all… our daughter, Hera Castles, was born safe & sound on Feb 18th! Both Hera & I are doing well, and loving being at home with Daddy and Grandma & Grandpa. Such an incredible feeling being a mother now, I am loving getting to know our little girl and have just fallen in love with her. SO… back to maternity leave for me, baby & I need our rest.

“Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children - as long as you make them laugh as well” – Roald Dahl

Thanks, James, for making my day and sending me the link to this hilarious blogpost on Google Blogoscoped, Color Pencils Reviewed. It reads like a computer programmer’s review of a new software or electronic equipment… and the issues they’ve taken with the “color pencil devices,” such as “shrinking device size” and “sparse documentation” are a hoot! Here’s a little sample from the article… :

“Comparing the output from different devices. To the left is the original Garfield. In the middle, the disappointingly crude output of the color pencils. To the right side is something a Google search brought up in seconds; while in lower resolution, the colors and expression are a much closer fit.”

I came across a kind review by S.V. Swamy in India, reviewing our book, Good-bye, Baby Max : “Good-bye, Baby Max is a beautifully written and equally (or more importantly) beautifully illustrated book for children in the suggested age group of 4 to 8 years. For the children in the younger part of this age group, the parents or elder children and other care givers can help in reading and also deal with the emotions that may arise…. The illustrations are beautiful and help to invoke the right feelings. The book tells children some important things about life: Life is a struggle and everyone doesn’t make it. It is OK to cry and mourn those who fail and fall down. But life is about accepting the loss and moving on and seeing the emergence of new life. The children can be encouraged to read, explore and analyze the emotions that well up….”

Environment Canada’s new website has a regularly updated list of rebates for going green by offering rebates & incentives on everything green from free energy saving lightbulbs to money back for monthly transit passes, making it that little bit easier to run a green illustration or design business.

“There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.” – Pablo Picasso

As of this weekend, I’m going to be taking a “holiday” from illustrating & blogging for the next couple months, as my baby’s due on the 20th of February! While I likely won’t be able to respond to comments to my blog while I’m on maternity leave, I’ve put together some fun posts over the next few weeks to keep ya’ll interested ;) Will post a picture or two once the watermelon has been delivered… wish me luck!