The Tea Party In the Woods
By Akiko Miyakoshi, Kids Can Press, 32 pages, $18.95
The hardest part of letting children do things on their own, for me anyway, is knowing that what you're really doing is giving them an opportunity to fail. Kids know this, too, which is why this amazing book resonated with all three of us. Kikko is carrying a pie to grandma's when she trips, squashes it, then follows the wrong footsteps to a house. Inside, gentle animals are having a tea party. They help Kikko fix the pie and get her to grandma's, causing Frida to gleefully point out that sometimes mistakes makes fun things happen. I've promised to try to remember that.
The Bureau of Misplaced Dads
By Éric Veillé, illustrated by Pauline Martin, Kids Can Press, 34 pages, $18.95
Sometimes it's more important to be silly than important. The Bureau of Misplaced Dads is silliness at its best. A boy loses his dad, then goes to a building devoted to housing found, but not yet collected, dads. Phoenix loved the room where bearded dads chew mint-flavoured bubble gum. Frida loved choosing from the selection of dads available, should you decided to adopt a new one. It's possible that the story resonates on the residual fear of losing your father, either at the mall or forever, but we just thought it was beautifully goofy.
Mr. Postmouse's Rounds
By Marianne Dubuc, Kids Can Press, 24 pages, $18.95
Like the land line and the video rental store, the days of the postman are numbered – just one more reason to read Mr. Postmouse's Rounds immediately. The simple narrative follows Mr. Postmouse as he delivers the mail to various animals. It didn't take long for Phoenix or Frida to realize that the real stories are in the illustrations. Each page features a cut-away of a creature's house. Mr. Snake has several recognizable shapes in his belly. Mr. Wolf has a room devoted to sheep. Every time we read this book, we noticed new things in the drawings. Fantastic!