Singing Away the Dark, by Caroline Woodward, illustrated by Julie Morstad (Simply Read Books, $18.95)
SINGING Away the Dark resonated deeply with me as it brought back memories of my school days in Prince Rupert.
Instead of trudging down a plank road in the dark to catch a water taxi to school as I did, the girl in this story leaves her home in the winter dark and walks through the fields and woods to meet the school bus. She is young and alone and clearly apprehensive about having to venture forth. The minimalist-style illustrations reveal her anxiety and aptly depict the spooky aspect of the woods and the empty and vast landscape. We are told she is just six years old and, like most children, she is equipped with a very active imagination. The worst fears of childhood are ones that are nebulous and hard to define, and unseen shapes and fearful noises rank as pretty fear-inducing to my mind. This little girl is truly frightened but she is also aware that she has an important task, which is getting herself to the school bus on time. Rather than give up and return home (as I am sure some of us would have been tempted to do) she struggles to find a way to release her fear by singing. In a small but heroic manner she gets herself through "Wild Beast Valley" and endures the snow and howling winds from the north in the milelong trek. It is clear that she has achieved an important victory when she reaches the comfort and security of the bus. The end notes tell the reader that the author grew up on a Cecil Lake homestead in the Peace River area where "all the children are brave and tough and where she really did walk a mile to her school bus stop."
The illustrations are simple and totally effective, from the endpapers with their repeating print of winter trees against a snowy background to the simple drawings against white backgrounds. Sometimes the little girl is a tiny figure in a two-page spread and the reader can see the scope of the world she inhabits. Later, when she has achieved her goal, she is shown as a much larger figure dominating the centre of the illustration.
This is truly a lovely little book and its theme of overcoming your fear is universal. I look forward to seeing more books from this very successful author-illustrator team. Other titles that have a similar theme or that depict the winter landscape effectively are as follows:
? Mary of Mile 18 by Ann Blades;
? Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian;
? Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost,
illustrated by Susan Jeffers; ? It's Winter by Linda Glazer;
? The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats;
? First Snow by Kim Lewis;
? Counting on Snow by Maxwell Newhouse;
? The Cabin Key by Gloria Rand;
? Belle's Journey by Marilynn Reynolds, and
? Brave Irene by William Steig.
Fran Ashdown is the children's librarian at Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library. She is brave and tough, too. For more library information, check out www.nvdpl.ca.
