Family Potluck
Home Style Teachers / 10 May 2024

Family Potluckby Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Putut PutriPublished by Home Style TeachersReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$20.00 ISBN 9781778152931 Sixteen smiling, digitally-produced characters—including an infant in arms, a bespeckled elder, a girl in a wheelchair and a visually-impaired, non-Caucasian boy—surround a potluck-ready table on the cover of Ashley Vercammen’s children’s book, Family Potluck. Without reading a word of the story, I’m already applauding the author’s inclusive definition of “family”. I soon learn that the purple backpack-wearing main character is the daughter of a teacher, and the potluck will take place at school. The unnamed girl’s grandma and cousin will also attend in this the-more-the-merrier story for young readers. The book’s format will appeal to children who may be overwhelmed with large blocks of text and “too much happening” in the illustration department. This story unfolds across full-spread illustrations, each with a celery-green background for consistency, and large font text on just the left side of the page. The illustrations are simple and pleasant. The green chalkboard is wiped clean, there are no toys or other hazards on the floor, and there’s little else to draw the eye away from the characters themselves. First we meet a student named Bowen and his…

Sock Momster, The and Hunting With My Dad
Home Style Teachers / 9 November 2023

The Sock MomsterWritten by Mari Lemieux, Illustrated by Mario VianiPublished by Home Style Teachers$25.00 ISBN 9781778152917 Hunting With My DadWritten by Patty Torrance, Illustrated by Putut PutriPublished by Home Style Teachers$20.00 ISBN 9781998218028 Reviews by Shelley A. Leedahl Have an idea for a children’s book, perhaps featuring your own family members or pets? These days, with numerous self-publishing companies available to help new authors navigate the steps toward seeing their own work in print, there are perhaps more books than ever out there vying for coveted space in a child’s collection of titles. One of the best reasons to self-publish is that the whole process can happen quickly. With traditional publishers, writers can wait years to hear back about a manuscript (only to receive a rejection), or receive an acceptance and then have to wait years for the book to be released: I had a book accepted by a reputable trade book publisher in 2012, and it was released in 2019. Home Style Teachers is a Saskatchewan-based publisher that offers self-publishing services, including finding an illustrator for the story, if the author desires. It is the brainchild of Ashley Vercammen, whose own diverse, illustrated children’s books are included in Home…