From my discovery of Neil Bantock's Griffin and Sabine books, I have sought out books that play with form. (Even earlier, I fell hard for Anastasia Krupnik's To-Do lists which appeared as handwritten notes on lined paper in Lois Lowry's books.) Recently, Kim Belair's and Ariadne MacGillivray's Pure Steele (2013) struck
For the past couple of weeks, I have been listening to Joseph Boyden's Through Black Spruce on my daily walks. I was walking in full summer, listening to descriptions of winter in Moose Factory in Northern Ontario. The clusters of cloud in the story were from the exhaust of snowmobiles in
It begins with Butterworm "the neighborhood's oldest resident", the tale slipping between his bared teeth: Courtney Crumrin: The Night Things, written and illustrated by Ted Naifeh (Oni Press 2012). He introduces readers to Courtney Crumrin, who is new in town. Her parents have run out of credit and have begged rooms with
Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods (2014) Comprised of five long and two short works, these tales are peopled with losses and lonelinesses. Hues of red, black and white dominate the volume, with other colours used sparingly for contrast. Panel use is unpredictable, with images sometimes boxed but often sprawling and
Of course I made a reading list. Then, I saw Vasilly’s list. (You probably already know where this is heading.) Her list has many temptations on it, including some of my favourites. But I have been looking for a reason to read the rest of Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet series since I
