“The images for this story are marvelously engaging and rendered in oil and watercolour pencil. The illustrator plays with light and dark, depth and line providing a rich sense of closeness to each scene - cold feels cold, leather can almost be touched.
Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates will make an excellent contribution to Canada's current hockey collection of illustrated hockey stories and can be read aloud to grades K-2.”
“Bobby and the Hand-Me-Down Skates” is brilliantly illustrated by Jennifer Phelan. It’s no secret on these pages and in my own life I am an ardent fan of illustrated books and cartoons and Phelan does not disappoint on these pages. Bobby smiles whether crestfallen or thrilled to be playing hockey. There’s a level of comfort in that imagery. He beams brighter with new skates but even more so on the final page.
Orr, Kootstra and Phelan have crafted a wonderful piece of storytelling packaged by clearly loving illustrated landscape.”
“You know how some books look really cool…they have lovely fabric covers, and simple, stylized illustrations, and then you open them and the contents are banal, generic and disappointing?
This is not one of those books.
…
The first time I read this book, I shed a tear, and even now, it reminds me of the strong bonds we make as children. You don’t have to have owned a dog, to love this book, you just need to know what it’s like to have loved and lost, or to have put your heart on the line.
Jennifer has done a lovely job of illustrating this touching book, using a simple color palette, and many two-page scenes.
It is touching, engaging, considered and sweet, and is a beautiful reminder of how good it feels, to care for, and connect with, others [animal, or otherwise]
…
If you have ever put your heart on the line, this will remind you of how that feels."
While she makes The Log Driver's Waltz about the log driver and a girl who yearns to dance with him above all others, Jennifer Phelan also makes the story a detailed homage to the task of the log drivers. She creates movement, integral to the work and the dancing, with line and shape that reflects the original animation of the film with astounding success. It's an organic take on the log driver's story.
“My name is Claire and I am 4 3/4 years old. My mom sings me the Log Driver’s Waltz every night at least once. We really like it so much. We live in Toronto (in Cabbagetown). I like the pictures that you made in your book. My favourite picture is the log driver. Where do you live? Well, I have to go bed now. I hope that you keep making books. Good night!
“I adored this book from across a store and bought it before I even opened it (thus judging by the cover)! As I read it I wanted to simultaneously sing, dance and grab a box of pencil crayons and start to do my own art. My granddaughter and I looked up Wade Hemsworth online and learned about this iconic songwriter. I confess to having been sadly ignorant about his wonderful output. Now we can belt out the lyrics with gay abandon.”
“…each illustration looks subtly well loved, like it has been folded up and carried around in a pocket all day. The colour palette is snug and homey, with rusty oranges, black-ish greens, and tinges of pink when love starts to bloom. Most images bring to mind a crisp fall day during magic hour… Phelan steps lightly, but decisively, in interpreting The Log Driver’s Waltz, preserving the song’s inherent birl without overshadowing the agency and decision-making power of a girl.”
This emotionally resonant, retro-style debut about a boy and the dog who moves in and out of his life is “sure to be a book worth revisiting,” our reviewer, Tom Lichtenheld, said.
“Hey, Boy,” a debut picture book by Benjamin Strouse and Jennifer Phelan, is the story of a young man’s life and a dog that weaves in and out of it. A boy, with the help of some strategically dropped kibbles, meets and takes in a dog. Mom decides the boy is too young to handle a pet and takes it to the pound (why does Mom always have to be the bad cop?), where it’s adopted by an older couple. Inspired by energetic visits with the dog, the boy is determined to grow up quickly so they can reunite permanently. As the boy matures and goes off to college, he never forgets the dog, but his visits are less frequent. Eventually, the couple — now too old to care for the dog — ask the boy to adopt him, which he happily does. Boy and dog are finally reunited, and the boy modifies their adventures to accommodate the dog’s now diminished abilities, so the messages of patience, love and loyalty continue to the end. Aesthetically, the book feels retro yet fresh, with a canvas-textured cover, letterpress-inspired type and block-print-style illustrations. Like a new old friend, it’s sure to be a book worth revisiting.
"Strouse and Phelan perfectly complement each other in this meditation on the passage of time. Deceivingly simple text and illustrations belie the complex themes and artistic skill of its creators. In pacing and use of negative white space, the two channel Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. However, this existential work is more Zen-like. Phelan’s smartly designed spreads take readers on a visual journey from cover to end pages, and as the adult boy tells his old friend once more about the adventures they will have, his dreams unfold like the wind.
Luminous."
