Sam and the Big Bridgeby Maureen Ulrich, Illustrated by Matt GonyaPublished by Flatlands PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$24.99 ISBN 9781778296529 Multi-genre writer Maureen Ulrich has released a new illustrated softcover for children, and its moving conclusion left me with a lump in my throat. The Lampman-area author is no stranger to the pen: she’s previously published the Jessie Mac Hockey Series of novels; the YA alternative history series, Winds of Change; the middle grade novel Kimeto’s Journey; and a poetry book, Something’s Different, described as “A COVID journal in verse.” When it comes to writing for young people, Ulrich clearly knows her audience. In her first children’s picture book, Sam and the Big Bridge, the former teacher-turned-author delivers a short tale about two brothers, Sam and Derek, and her initial three words set the stage for the story: “Sam was anxious.” Interestingly, Sam is the elder brother, and he’s concerned that his little brother might get hurt on the playground swing or monkey bars, or that he might leap into the swimming pool “without his waterwings,” or even fail to check for cars when he crosses a street. Sam even worries in his dreams: his mother says she’s signed the…

Earth Angels – Operation Angelby Marion MutalaPublished by Millennium MarketingReview by Toby A. Welch  $19.99 ISBN 9781739067076 I thought I was knowledgeable about angels. But Earth Angels opened my eyes that they are so much more than I thought. Angels aren’t just those things that sit atop Christmas trees. They are spiritual beings and attendants that, among other things, are messengers of God that guard us humans.  Earth Angels is a chapbook, which I always appreciate for its tuckability factor. (A chapbook is a small publication, usually a paperback, that is not more than forty pages.) Chapbooks are ideal for tucking into your purse or bag and pulling out when you have a spare minute to read a page or two. In our fast-paced, distracted age, chapbooks check many boxes.  Earth Angels is an enlightening book about angels that packs a punch with its twenty-six pages. The bulk of the book is information about angels. We read about the different types of angels: archangels, seraphim, cherubim, living creatures, and common angels. We then get more details about the purpose of angels. We learn the eight symbolic characteristics of the appearance of angels: bright lights, wings, a balance of masculine and feminine, agelessness, soft flowing clothing,…

Sticks & Bones: Haiku and Senryuby Allison Douglas-TournerPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.95 ISBN 9781778690433 I’m fond of image-based poetry, and it’s one reason I enjoy reading poems written as haiku and senryu. Likely you remember haiku from school days: in its traditional form, it’s a three-line, seventeen-syllable nature-based poem with a five-seven-five syllable count. It conveys a single moment in which the poet suddenly sees or realizes something. An aha! moment, if you will. Senryu is similarly structured, but it’s more concerned with human nature and often contains irony or satire. Both forms originated in Japan, and both are unrhymed. Victoria, BC’s Allison Douglas-Tourner recently released a lovely collection, Sticks & Bones: Haiku and Senryu, which reminded me of why I enjoy these concise forms so much. It’s easy to find inspiration from the natural world on Vancouver Island, and she explains that the island’s “beaches, woods, and meadows” have long been inspiring her. Ravens, those busy gatherers of “sticks and bones,” have also stirred her to write, and the attractive cover image of her small, square-shaped book features a single raven with twigs in its beak. There’s one page-centred poem per page with ample…

Tales This Side of the Elysian Fieldsby Trevor W. HarrisonPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781998273249 Few things are more entertaining than an engrossing travel book; that definitely applies to Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields.  Harrison crisscrossed the globe during the 1970s and 1980s and shares those experiences with us in this book. He was based in Canada during those decades but traveled around North America, Greece, India, Spain, and countries that surrounded the Himalayan mountains, among others. Each location brought a fresh batch of adventures and a slew of interesting people that crossed his path.  My favourite of the fifteen stories is Harrison’s time spent in Barcelona, Spain. During his month there in March 1973, the modernist revolution was underway although the country was still experiencing an authoritarian regime under Francisco Franco. It was a fascinating historical time to relive through Harrison’s words. And in an interesting twist, Harrison recounts a return trip to Barcelona in 2022 and what a different place it is now, in so many ways.  I was a bit confused by the title. What the heck is an Elysian field? It turns out that when Harrison was in high school, one…

The Pathological Casebook of Dr Frances McGill – New Editionby Myrna L. PetersenPublished by Ideation Entertainment IncReview by Michelle Shaw$25.00 ISBN 9780973889383 Crime novels are my go-to genre, so I was thrilled to discover this biography of Saskatchewan’s very own Sherlock Holmes – a forensic pathologist who worked closely with the RCMP for many decades and was involved in hundreds of cases. Dr Frances McGill (1882-1959) was Canada’s first female pathologist and a pioneer in forensic medicine. Although she grew up in Manitoba and received her medical degree at the University of Manitoba, her professional life was spent almost entirely in Saskatchewan. As Provincial Bacteriologist and Pathologist for Saskatchewan, and later Director of the Saskatchewan Laboratories, she was involved in numerous lifesaving and life-changing endeavours including producing anti-flu vaccines for the Spanish Influenza Pandemic in 1918 and 1919, setting up free clinics for Venereal Disease throughout the province after World War One (she also set up the first Wasserman tests for Syphilis) and was a forerunner in allergy testing. But it’s as a Forensic Pathologist that she’s arguably most well-known. In 1923 the Attorney General’s Department asked the Provincial Laboratory to assist with numerous criminal investigations and Dr McGill began…

The Day I Went to My First Football Gameby M Larson, illustrated by FX Color StudiosPublished by M Larson Books Review by Sally Meadows$13.99 ISBN 9781778095641 When Finn’s grandparents give him a football jersey and tickets to his very first professional football game for his seventh birthday, Finn is thrilled…and a little nervous. While he and his two brothers love football, he has heard that the team has the “loudest, craziest fans.” However, that doesn’t stop Finn from soaking up all the excitement with his parents and older brother at the big city stadium. Author M (Melanie) Larson has effectively captured the exhilaration of attending an in-person major league football game for the very first time. Although the team isn’t specifically named – several professional teams wear green and white – anyone who has lived in Saskatchewan or is familiar with the Roughriders will recognize the quirkiness of their football fans, from the ubiquitous green jerseys to green hair to wearing a watermelon on their heads. The author has done a great job of showing that going to a football game is more than just watching a game: it is an immersive experience with its tailgate parties, meet and greets with…

Yellow Barks Spiderby Harman BurnsPublished by Radiant PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $22.00 ISBN 9781998926190 Yellow Barks Spider is a refreshing change from the mainstream books that fill shelves these days. This is my first book with a trans woman as the main character and I loved it!  As for what Yellow Barks Spider is about, my takeaway is that it’s the story of one person’s turbulent journey. It starts with a pre-teen boy, Kid, who is struggling with issues that cause him to retreat physically and emotionally from the world. In time he escapes the town where he grew up in agony. He moves to a new city, finds work in a restaurant, and has a roommate in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment. We then skip ahead to after the boy has transitioned into a woman. Due to circumstances beyond her control, Kid must return to her hometown where all her old demons are waiting to welcome her back. It’s an interesting premise for a book, one that Saskatchewan-born Burns successfully pulls off.  As I worked my way through the chapters in this book, the deviation from writing norms threw me off at first. But by the time I was halfway done, I found…

The Time for Peace is NowWritten by Marion Mutala, Illustrations by Kate Hodgson, Calligraphy by A. E. MathesonPublished by Millenium MarketingReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.99 ISBN 978-1-7390670-5-2 Prolific and award-winning Saskatoon writer Marion Mutala now has twenty titles to her credit—including the acclaimed children’s series Baba’s Babushka, poetry and a cookbook—and, during these globally turbulent times, she’s aptly re-released her 2015 chapbook The Time for Peace is Now. The book’s minimally illustrated (a blue dove with a leafed olive branch appears on the cover and throughout the book) by Kate Hodgson, with lovely calligraphy by A. E. Matheson. Mutala has a history of promoting peace, love and equality in her books, and in the dedication for this small book she considers “World Peace,” and writes: “In the 21st century, society needs to teach children to find ways to solve problems peacefully. I ask myself ‘What am I doing today to promote peace?’” I would say the former longtime educator is doing much more than most with the publication of this title, inspired, she says “by the motto of Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad Khalifatul Masih III: ‘Love of all, hatred for none.’” Each page is a prayer in itself, beginning and…

The Sun Makes A Soundby Andy WhitmanPublished by Pete’s PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781069000910 The Sun Makes A Sound starts off with a bang. The main character, Mason Brigster-Contreras, is deep asleep in his tent when a menacing sound awakens him. Suspecting a polar bear, he grabs his rifle and we are thrust into a fascinating story about a man struggling to find his place in a new world while simultaneously dealing with his past.  The Sun Makes A Sound takes place in Nunavut’s Kivalliq Region, a vast tundra approximately two thousand kilometres northeast of Edmonton, Alberta. It’s a desolate and dreary place that Whitman writes about with so much clarity that the location feels like a character in the book. While the ‘meat’ of the story takes place in Kivalliq, numerous chapters take place in Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto. Nature herself plays a massive role as well; from wildfires to wild animals to vibrant seasons, this book is filled with outdoorsy content.  I found Whitman to be an expressive writer. What I mean by that is he has a talent of making it easy for readers to sense very clearly what he is writing about. For example, when talking…