Serpent’s sadness stymies monster doc
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Dot is a monster mender — a different kind of veterinarian — in Christine Baldacchino’s Monster Mender (Groundwood, 32 pages, hardcover, $22), treating gryphons with broken beaks and chimeras with the sniffles.
Dot is stymied when she can’t cure a sea serpent’s sadness with her usual bandages and salves. The story thoughtfully shows children ages 3-6 that anyone, no matter their size, can be struck by sadness. They’ll learn that time and just being present are helpful — that even when there is no cure, there can be “better.”
Ilona Iske’s representation of the sea monster’s swirling sadness depicts a realistic struggle.
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Fly Away Home by Betty Quan (Groundwood, 40 pages, hardcover, $22) is a tender story for children ages 3-6, tracing the journey of birds trying to fly home to safety. Together with other animals, they face attacks by crows and bobolinks, but finally make it with the help of doves and larks.
Alin Duzakin’s subtle illustrations simultaneously show adults and children in silhouette, laden with bundles and sacks. The number of people increases with each page, and they face unspoken adversity until they reach their loved ones and a new home. Children who have fled troubled homelands will see themselves in these pages.
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Everyone feels lonely sometimes. Published in November 2025, The Coziest Place on the Moon (Enchanted Lion Books, 44 pages, hardcover, $26) is an enchanting story by science writer and poet Maria Popova.
Children ages 5-8 will identify with Re, a creature of an ambiguous species who goes to live in a cave in the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon — quiet, nook-like, with consistent temperatures. But Mi has had the same idea. Each occupies their own corner, meeting “here” at Earthset, “where you can never feel lonely, not really.”
Illustrator Sarah Jacoby’s use of black as well as sweeping colours mirror the moonscape’s magic, reflecting both science and imagination.
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How can the most popular sport in the world be a force for environmental stewardship?
In One Goal: How Soccer Can Save the Planet (Groundwood, 36 pages, hardcover, $22) Heather Camlot outlines efforts being taken all over the world to make soccer an environmentally responsible sport, including innovations such as a water collection system on soccer fields in parched South Africa, which collects and cleans 17 million litres of rainwater annually, producing potable water for people. Another initiative is South Korea’s use of Buddhist temples to accommodate tourists instead of building new hotels.
Children aged 9-12 will be fascinated and inspired by One Goal, featuring colourful art by Drew Shannon.
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Veteran Winnipeg writer Carol Matas has penned A Storm Unleashed (Scholastic, 236 pages, softcover, $13), a gripping, authentic novel published in September 2025 about Mia, a young girl trying to focus on her hobbies and visiting with her grandparents with her beloved dog, even as the Nazi stranglehold increasingly restricts Jewish life in Germany before the Second World War.
Children aged 9-12 will revel in this compelling story that recounts a lesser-known aspect of the Nazi plan to terrorize and subjugate people.
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Here for a Good Time by Kim Spencer (Swift Water Books, 256 pages, softcover, $27) is a novel for teens aged 14 and up that probes the intergenerational trauma of the residential school system through the life of Morgan, a teenager in Prince Rupert, B.C.
Morgan’s focus on school and a future are challenged when her mom abandons the family and her fisherman father dies suddenly. Spencer deftly describes Morgan’s confusion, but finally shows how letting good people into her life can break the cycle of damage and lead to understanding, reconciliation and a way forward.
Harriet Zaidman is an award-winning writer for young people. Her historical novels recall significant events in Canadian history as they affected young people.
