Bubble Book Day: Celebrate Reading as a Family

Family Day is a rich time for stories and reading, and there is no better time to explore BC offerings for the young.

While Family Day in BC is still relatively new, perhaps we can adopt the Icelandic tradition “Jolabokaflod”—which translates to ‘Christmas Book Flood’ and was birthed from the times of WWII, when foreign imports were restricted and paper was not. Over the decades it has come to be a tradition to exchange books on the holiday eve, followed by a fireside read with hot chocolate or other beverages. 

This year, as we continue to social distance, we could kick off an inaugural Bubble Book Day, and settle in for a good read! Or, in this case, nine good reads…

Children Together with Grandparents

A Day With Yayah by Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Julie Flett (Tradewind Books)
Picture book ages 0-6

This is Nicola Campbell’s fourth picture book for children. Set in the Nicola Valley, three children harvest wild potatoes, rhubarb, celery, and lightning mushrooms with their Yayah (grandmother), and learn the Nlaka’pamux language. Flett’s contemporary collage illustration brings together the wonder of the day—the wisdom, the learning, the colours of flora and earth. Altogether, there is a sense of gratitude for the planet. A perfect read for looming spring.

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Beep Beep Bubbie by Bonnie Sherr Klein, illustrated by Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal (Tradewind Books)
Picture book ages 0-6

Bubbie (grandma) gets a motorized scooter, and Kate (granddaughter) is wondering how this will change their lives: Will Bubbie still be Bubbie in that scooter? They go shopping for Rosh Hashanah at Granville Island Market, and the scooter is a big part of the fun they have! Little brother Nate is fascinated by the tooting horn, and Kate makes new friends. They end up naming the scooter Gladys; friends have many forms!

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Awesome Wildlife Defenders by Martha Attema (Ronsdale Press)
Ages 8-11
Releases May 2021

Rebecca, age eleven, is struggling with panic attacks. Immersion in a class project on endangered species becomes a source of healing in myriad ways. Most significantly, she makes a new friend, a class-mate named Cedar, who also has some need of answers and healing. Cedar’s grandfather takes them both to an event featuring Raptors, and there is a magic-filled moment when Rebecca experiences a great horned owl landing on her wrist. Altogether, a story of a time of significant pre-teen growth and connecting.

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The Street Belongs to Us by Karleen Pendleton Jimenez, illustrated by Gabriela Godoy (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Ages 8-12
Releases May 2021

Set in 1984 Los Angeles, this is the story of two good friends who decide to explore their street after machines dig it up. The friends dig even further and unearth more. Even after Alex’s Grandmother suggests—from her experiences of the Mexican Revolution, Spanish Flu, and immigration—that they leave the uncovered untouched. It is a story of identity, history, family, friendship, and unconditional acceptance.

Early Readers

Meg and Greg: Frank and the Skunk by Elspeth Rae and Rowena Rae, illustrated by Elisa Gutierrez (Orca Book Publishers)
Ages 6-8

Best pals, Meg and Greg, go to camp and experience all the wonder of that, the swimming, canoeing, crafting, cooking, and singing. They also have a run-in with a skunk! 

This is the second in the Orca Two Read line designed for shared reading between a child learning to read or struggling to read and an experienced reader, following Duck in a Sock. The stories have special features to help a child with dyslexia or another language-based learning difficulty find reading success.

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Riley Can’t Stop Crying by Stephanie Boulay, illustrated by Agathe Bray-Bourret, translated by Charles Simard (Orca Book Publishers)
Ages 6-8
Releases March 2021

Riley, age four, cannot stop crying. His sister, Regina, tries to help him. It occurs to her that whatever is causing his distress is not from without, but from within, from his very self. This is an encouraging and insightful story of a family learning about each other, their selves, building self-worth, and healing love.

Older Readers – Young Adult

Travesía: A Migrant Girl’s Cross-Border Journey/El Viaje De Una Joven Migrante by Michelle Gerster, illustrated by Fiona Dunnett (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Ages 12 and up

Travesía is a bi-lingual graphic novel, a story of 15 year old Gricelda, crossing the Mexican-American border, with her mother and younger brother. It is set during the 2006 political uprising in Oaxaca, and filled with heartbreak and hope: will the new country be the place they’ve imagined it to be? 

Nonfiction – Young Adult

Kuei, My Friend: A Conversation on Racism and Reconciliation by Natasha Kanapé Fontaine and Deni Ellis Béchard, translated by Deni Ellis Béchard and Howard Scott (Talonbooks)
Ages 12 and up      

Kuei, My Friend is a collection of letters that create a vivid conversation about racism and reconciliation, between an Innu poet and Québécois-American novelist. They both write from their own lives—their experiences, and their questions. The exchange is frank and honest and explorative, respectful, and social bridge-building.

And last: Stage play for older (and multiple!) readers 

Bring the family back on board for this one!

Jabber by Marcus Youssef, forward by Denis Foon (Talonbooks)
Ages 12 and up

This is the story of the unlikely friendship between Fatima and Jorah. Fatima transfers to a new high school when anti-Muslim graffiti shows up on the walls of her old school, and she meets Jorah, who lives with anger issues. They navigate new territory for both of them, and begin to cross boundaries—personal, cultural, and inherited religious and political, too.