Laura Eby, NWT Literacy Council Youth and Adult Services
I read Amy Poehler’s Yes Please at lightening speed during my recent plane rides to and from Winnipeg. I didn’t want to put it down, and was laughing out loud and smiling most of the way. It’s a quick, fun read full of stories and hilarious anecdotes as well as thoughtful insights and advice about working hard to make a career and a life while finding your ‘currency’ and doing what you love. This will be one of my go-to gifts for friends this year.
Adam Hill, Community Library Literacy Coordinator, NWT Library Services
I came across Sweetest Kulu, by Celina Kalluk while shopping for new library books in The Yellowknife Book Cellar and knew I had to have it for myself. The artwork on the cover was enough reason to buy it. When I opened the book I found a beautiful poem about a little 'Kulu' receiving gifts from Arctic creatures. As an impatient father-to-be, this book helped me realize what qualities I hope to teach my 'Kulu' when she arrives. This book is even more special after discovering that the Nunavut author was a childhood friend with my wife.
Katie Randall, NWT Literacy Council Youth and Adult Services
My sister gave me Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book, by Anita Silvey, for Christmas a few years ago and I have a few people in mind to give it to this year. The book is a compilation of 110 well-known personalities such as authors, actors, politicians, singers and athletes who write about what books changed them, and why. I love children’s books, and the larger lessons we learn from them. If you have someone on your list who shares this love, this is a great book for them!
Carolyne Whenham, Literacy and Curriculum Coordinator, Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency
In Sisters in the Wilderness, by Charlotte Gray, two sisters with established literary credentials in Britain, each marry, and find themselves immigrating to Canada. They endure the hardships and prosperity of developing land for farming in Upper Canada. Gray weaves her biography of these two women who were the strength behind the success of their family. It is fascinating that these two women relentlessly continued their writing careers even when times were so tough it was hard to keep their families fed.
Kathryn Barry Paddock, NWT Literacy Council Family and Community Literacy Coordinator
This year, I am giving the book What if? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe, the creator of the webcomic xkcd.com. Randall Munroe is a former NASA roboticist. In this book, he answers hypothetical questions posed by fans of his webcomic. I chose this book for a teen who loves to think about absurd things that may happen, and their possible repercussions. Here is just one example from the book. "What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of the corresponding element?" I think this book will make for some entertaining reading during the holiday season.
Best wishes and happy reading this the holiday season!
