Children’s books: Jamaican girl ready for a big, scary move
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2026 (253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Moving is nerve-racking, even for young children. In The Last Last by Wendy J. Whittingham (Groundwood, 32 pages, hardcover, $22), written for children ages 3-6, a little girl tries to memorize every sensory experience that’s precious about the home in Jamaica she’s leaving, as illustrated with rich colours by Brianna McCarthy.
At first the girl is nervous in her new home, but curiosity takes over, and soon she becomes interested and fascinated by the new (and colourful) world around her.
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Wind, Stop Blowing! by Laura Alary (Skinner House, 32 pages hardcover, $28) shows a young boy who spends his life running from the wind because it disturbs his idea of perfection. When the wind doesn’t listen, his efforts become more extreme until he’s living in isolation. Finally, Benjamin realizes that when the wind (or life) makes a mess of your plans, he should take a breath and sometimes have fun.
Sue Teodoro captures the wind’s swirling currents and Benjamin’s incredulity. This subtle storybook about balancing emotions will please children ages 4-8, and hopefully teach them a useful life lesson.
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Louis Braille, Ludwig Van Beethoven and Steven Spielberg are only three of the 133 books in the Little People, Big Dreams series (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 32 pages each, hardcover, $20 each) by Maria Isabel Sãnchez Vegara, which trace the lives of notable musicians, athletes, designers, actors, inventors, etc. whose promise and drive propelled them from childhood based not just on talent, but hard work.
Different illustrators represent each luminary through their lives. Two-page biographical essays and pictures follow. There are enough choices to inspire any child ages 4-7.
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Poetry can be about flowers, love and blue skies, but it can also be about spiders and salty fish bones. In Nightmare Jones — Poems (Groundwood, 56 pages, hardcover, $17) Toronto’s Shannon Bramer explores the dark corners of the soul to conjure icky, uncomfortable poems for children ages 9-12.
Caldecott Honour winner Cindy Derby’s watercolour washes, infused with black and mystery, will leave readers considering the many issues raised in the poems.
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Unicorns are vanishing from Wonderville. Tiny, a giant who hasn’t had his growth spurt, sets out with friends to find them in How to Rescue a Unicorn (Nimbus, 264 pages, softcover, $15), a crisply written, jaunty adventure by Nova Scotian Andy Tolson, his second book in the Quests of Tiny Wilde series.
On their journey, the group battles pirate trolls and trickster pixies who mean them harm. Kids 8-12 will learn Tiny’s magical world has real-world problems such as family estrangement and the loss of those we love.
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Science lovers from 8-12 will learn about monarch butterflies in The Monarch Effect: Surviving Poison, Predators and People (Scholastic Focus, 320 pages, hardcover, $27). Author Dana L. Church writes in friendly, conversational language about these regal insects, from the discovery of their migration patterns in the 1970s to the minutiae of their development and survival.
Church talks about the challenges facing monarchs in this changing world, and the role science plays in helping them.
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The Forest King’s Daughter by Elly Blake (Little, Brown, 400 pages, softcover, $26) is a complex fantasy world for youth ages 14-18, skilfully built with clans that have seemingly irreconcilable enmities. Cassia’s faith in her father ebbs away in a believable way as events unfold. Her relationship with a boy from the rival tribe is complicated and funny, and shows that opposites do attract.
Harriet Zaidman is an award-winning children’s writer and reviewer. Her most recent novel, What Friends Are For, was released in October 2025.
