A village is torn apart by its residents' inability to communicate, until a little girl shares the gift of punctuation in this humorous illustrated parable. Chaos reigns in the village of Babble! All day, the residents fight, yell and argue, and no one is heard or understood . . . until a mysterious little girl arrives and gives the locals something very strange: a period. But what is this thing that looks like a freckle or a spot? The villagers don't even know how to ask. However, as the girl begins to share more gifts -- a question mark, quotation marks -- the residents slowly learn how to communicate. But when more fights arise and disaster strikes, can punctuation truly save the day?

Cakes, cookies or pie? A rivalry among local bakers is the basis for this deliciously sweet, off-the-wall picture book. Monsieur Oliphant's cake shop, the only bakery game in town, has long had customers lining up outside its door for Oliphant's delicious jelly rolls and marvelous wedding cakes . . . until the day cookie concocter Mademoiselle Fée takes over the old shoemaker's shop. And it isn't long before the divine piemaker Madame Clotilde soon moves into the old bric-a-brac shop. Three different bakers all trying to outclass one another means their little cul-de-sac is packed with customers every day and night, so, one morning, when everyone is bumpling and jostling each other with their cakes, cookies and pies, a food disaster -- a massacre of cream, a devastation of crumbs -- is inevitable! Only one little girl has the drive (or appetite?) to find a solution, but can it last? This madcap tale of frenzied cooks and zany eats (and one very lucky town) will delight readers with a sweet tooth of any age!

The first title in a hilarious new chapter book series for emerging readers. Isabel and Zoë are favorite friends — most of the time. They have side-by-side cubbies. And they never take off their friendship bracelets. But sometimes, Isabel isn’t Zoë’s favorite friend at all. Because sometimes, the fun things they do end in a no-fun way. Like getting sent to the principal’s office because of Isabel’s shenanigans. Now Zoë’s mad at Isabel, and Isabel’s miserable. Isabel’s trying everything to win her friend back. Will getting a new puppy help Isabel mend her friendship with Zoë? There’s a new girl in town for early readers to love, love, love — and she comes with a fluffy sidekick!

Isabel and Rollo are back … but, who’s in the doghouse now? Isabel’s dog, Rollo — “the cutest, funniest puppy” — just doesn’t seem like himself lately. Besides not fitting into her best friend Zoë’s doll clothes anymore, he’s become much harder to handle. Like when he pulls away from both girls to chase a squirrel — then keeps running! Or when he eats everyone’s ice cream right off the table! Sure, Isabel bent the rules (or, um, had no rules?) for Rollo when he was a baby. But now he’s a teenager — and he’s out of control!! Is there a cure for this? Has Isabel created a monster?! Kids won’t be able to look away!

Isabel and Zoë are thrilled to be starting Fun in the Sun Camp! It’s too bad Isabel’s dog, Rollo, isn’t allowed, but the songs, wiener roasts and swimming will make up for that, right? Wrong! The counselors won’t let them do anything fun! So, Isabel and Zoë start their own Bigger Amount of Fun in the Sun Camp in the backyard, with Rollo, instead. But is ketchup safe for dogs? And what will they do about Mr. Entwistle, Isabel’s neighbor who lives on the grumpy side of the fence?

At last, it's Jasper John Dooley's turn to be Star of the Week at school. Unfortunately, nothing turns out as planned. His Show and Tell falls flat. A new baby at his friend Ori's house steals his spotlight. And worst of all, the new baby has only-child Jasper wondering if his own family is too small. When Jasper decides to build himself a brother (named Earl) out of wood, Earl's schoolyard shenanigans send Jasper to the principal's office! But with a little help from family and friends, things turn around for Jasper. And by the time Friday arrives, he is once again sure that he has what it takes to be a star. Jasper John Dooley: Star of the Week is the first in a series of chapter books featuring a charismatic and funny central character. An only child with active, loving parents (and a most impressive lint collection), Jasper John Dooley is a true original.

Every Wednesday, Jasper John Dooley plays Go Fish for jujubes with Nan at her apartment. They ride up and down in the elevator as many times as he wants. And they use a trunk of old clothes for games of Dress Up Nan. So how can she go away on a cruise to Alaska for a week and leave him behind? Thinking about it makes Jasper feel funny. It's like all the air is seeping out through a hole in his belly. ?It just feels pththth.? After Jasper accidentally staples his belly at school and gets two more holes, one Band-Aid alone isn't enough to keep the air inside him all week --- it takes thirty-four Band-Aids to patch him up! Will Jasper find a way to survive his time apart from Nan? This title from the chapter book series by Caroline Adderson beautifully and age-appropriately conveys how it feels to love someone dearly, and to miss them terribly. It would make an excellent starting point for classroom discussions or writing assignments about these emotions. With its engaging and entertaining story, it will also be a favorite for independent reading time. Jasper John Dooley is a quirky and memorable character who is funny and just a bit irreverent. And Adderson's depictions of life in early elementary school are spot-on: particularly hilarious are the capitalized descriptive names, such as when Jasper gets in trouble for ?doing a Very Dangerous Thing at recess.?

Pudding Tat is born on the Willoughby Farm in 1901 -- just another one of Mother Tat's kittens. But it turns out that Pudding is anything but ordinary. He is pure white with pink eyes that, though beautiful, do not see well, and hearing that is unusually acute. He finds himself drawn to the sweet sounds of the world around him -- the pattering heartbeat of a nearby mouse, the musical tinkling of a distant stream. Soon the sounds of adventure call to Pudding, too. But before he can strike out into the wide world on his own, he hears a voice -- coming from right inside his own ear. A flea has claimed Pudding as his host. The bossy parasite demands that Pudding take him away from the lowly barn and the drunken singing of his fellow fleas. He doesn't want adventure but a finer life -- one where he can enjoy a warm bed and blood flavored not with mice, but with beef tenderloin and cream. Fortunately for this mismatched pair, the world is an extremely interesting place in 1901. Over the next decade and a half, Pudding and his flea find themselves helping to make history -- a journey over Niagara Falls in a barrel, a visit to the Pan-American Exposition on the day President McKinley is shot, a luxurious stay in Manhattan with songwriter Vincent Bryan, a terrifying trip on the airship America, and a voyage on the ill-fated Titanic. Through each narrow escape, the call to adventure for the cat, and luxury for his disgruntled flea, beckons them on, right to the devastation of a World War I battlefield. Then Pudding is filled with a new longing, one that brings him, with his flea's help now, full circle and back home.

Pierre and Paul are back for another imaginative bilingual adventure Pierre and Paul are back for another adventure! Pierre speaks French and Paul speaks English, but that doesn't stop them from being friends and exploring together. Today is garbage day, so the duo sets out to find hidden treasures in the trash. Treasure map in hand, they encounter poisonous swamps, dark forests, a dragon, and even a tsunami! (Or maybe just a garbage truck driving through a puddle). When the tsunami sweeps away their treasure map, they think all is lost--until they finally find a treasure lying out in plain sight. Told half in French and half in English, this second book in the Pierre & Paul series uses simple phrases and clues in the illustrations to make the story accessible to readers in both languages. Full of imagination and playful illustrations, this vocabulary-learning tool is an engaging story of friendship.

Longlisted for CBC Radio's Canada Reads 2016,  Three and a half weeks after his wedding, Ross Alexander is driving home from a tennis game with his new bride when a wayward tennis ball rolls under his feet. As his wife Iliana removes her seatbelt to retrieve the ball, a truck slams into the car, and she ends up paralyzed and in a coma. So begins this extraordinary portrait of a fated marriage. Ross struggles with the guilt over the consequences of his wife's paralysis and for the imagined life that is now forever lost. He turns to an exploration of Buddhist principles to ease his pain. He must also contend with his codependent twin sister, Bonnie, mother of his adored nephew, who is jealous of the other woman in her brother's life. Iliana must deal with her new existence as a wheelchair-bound wife, her husband's feelings of alienation, and their aching and growing lack of intimacy. In this stunning new novel, acclaimed writer Caroline Adderson shows how lives can change forever because of one fateful moment. With characters that are achingly real, Adderson demonstrates why she is one of Canada's most talented and significant writers.

When the "grownup virus" hits, kids who live in the same apartment building must cope with strange new rules and extended time at home with parents and siblings. And they survive brilliantly, each in their own way. Twin boys throw themselves into an independent research assignment on prehistoric people and embrace their own devolution. A budding track star is encouraged to run laps on his balcony by a neighbor who has a secret crush on him. A classroom troublemaker reaches out to a teacher when his own father begins to exhibit signs of mental illness. A young entrepreneur saves himself and his hairdresser mother from financial collapse by renting out the family dog. And a girl finds a way to communicate with her hearing-impaired neighbor so that they can spy on the rest of the building. The stories follow the course of the pandemic, from the early measures through lockdown, as the kids in the building observe the stresses on the adults around them and use their own quirky kid ingenuity to come up with ways to make their lives better. Funny, poignant and wise, this book will long outlive even the pandemic.