Honey Trouble
aemworks Publishing / 4 April 2013

Honey Trouble by Dianne Young Illustrated by a.e. matheson Reviewed by Michelle Shaw Published by aemworks Publishing $7.95 ISBN 978-0-9784974-1-5 Six-year-old Josie is sent to the store to buy some honey for her mother. She is convinced that she will remember what to buy because she has cleverly worked out a way to jog her memory. Happily she sets out and along the way meets various neighborhood friends. But, as she becomes involved in their escapades and predicaments, she forgets what her mother wanted her to buy. Her friends try to help her remember but are they right? This is a clever little story for young readers who are just starting to read chapter books. The plot is straightforward and humorous with characters and situations that young children will relate to. Young uses simple words with lots of repetition and rhyme, but there are enough slightly more difficult words sprinkled in to stretch the beginning reader. A.E. Matheson’s simple line drawings complement the story and use continuity to encourage a young reader to keep turning the pages! This is Dianne Young’s fourth children’s book. She lives in Martensville, Saskatchewan and works as an educational assistant in a preschool for children…

Baba’s Babushka: A Magical Ukrainian Easter

Baba’s Babushka: A Magical Ukrainian Easter by Marion Mutala Illustrated by Wendy Siemens Review by Michelle Shaw $ 14.95 ISBN 978-1-894431-70-5 Baba’s Babushka: A Magical Ukrainian Easter, the enchanting sequel to the award-winning Baba’s Babushka: A Magical Ukrainian Christmas is sure to delight Marian Mutala’s many fans. This time it’s spring, and we join Natalia as she is once again swept magically away to a far off land for another uniquely Ukrainian adventure. Natalia is sent outside while the paska, the Easter bread her mother is baking, rises. She’s meant to be collecting the eggs but instead finds herself reflecting on her beloved Baba, her grandmother, who has recently died. Suddenly she feels raindrops brush her cheeks. The raindrops turn into a babushka that covers her hair and then she’s off… “up and away, high in the sky… racing through time and space”. Natalia finds herself in a crowd of people in the early morning in front of a village church. It’s Easter and Natalia is caught up in the celebrations as she joins the procession of people carrying candles, as they follow the priest through the darkness singing Khrystos voskres! (Christ is risen!)” . This time when she catches…