picture book – Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Adrift at Sea — a bunch of awesome reviews!

AdriftAtSea_website “The text is terse and unembellished, leaving the images to capture the emotions through color and perspective—and they do so with compelling immediacy.”—Booklist

“[A] remarkable tale of perseverance that involved attacks from soldiers, a broken boat at sea, and a trip that was intended to last four days but went horribly awry….This is a solid informational resource that can be used for introducing a refugee’s experience.”—School Library Journal

“As she did in The Last Airlift and One Step at a Time, Skrypuch uses one child’s story to give moving insight into the experience of the many children who escaped war-ravaged Vietnam to start new lives….Deines’s (Elephant Journey) hazy oil paintings poignantly capture the family’s physical ordeal and anguish during their perilous journey.”—Publishers Weekly

“From the illustration of a lone boat adrift in a wash of dry heat that graces the cover of Adrift at Sea, to the dark and engrossing images of Tuan’s steps along the journey, Brian Deines’ art is evocative and integrative, resplendent in complementary colours of orange and golds and blues and purples.”—CanLit for LittleCanadians

“…detailed authors’ notes include history, photographs, and maps. The warm undertones in Deines’ oil paintings evoke tropical Vietnam.”—Kirkus Reviews

Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival

AdriftAtSea_website — The first picture book to recount the dramatic true story of a refugee family’s perilous escape from Vietnam

It is 1981. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a fishing boat overloaded with 60 Vietnamese refugees drifts. The motor has failed; the hull is leaking; the drinking water is nearly gone. This is the dramatic true story recounted by Tuan Ho, who was six years old when he, his mother, and two sisters dodged the bullets of Vietnam’s military police for the perilous chance of boarding that boat. Told to multi-award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and illustrated by the celebrated Brian Deines, Tuan’s story has become Adrift At Sea, the first picture book to describe the flight of Vietnam’s “Boat People” refugees. Illustrated with sweeping oil paintings and complete with an expansive historical and biographical section with photographs, this non-fiction picture book is all the more important as the world responds to a new generation of refugees risking all on the open water for the chance at safety and a new life. Continue reading “Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival”

The Best Gifts

The Best Gifts is the story of Sara and the important moments in her life. It starts with her birth and concludes when she welcomes her own baby. On each occasion, friends and family bring gifts to celebrate. In the end, though, the most cherished gifts are the ones that cannot be purchased. The first cherished gift Sara receives is her mother’s milk and the story comes full circle when she gives that same gift to her own baby.

Originally published in 1998, The Best Gifts has been fully revised, with all-new illustrations and updated breastfeeding resource information.

The Best Gifts has been a cherished baby book for fifteen years. This fully revised new edition with breathtakingly beautiful illustrations by Elly MacKay is sure to be cherished for generations to come.
Continue reading “The Best Gifts”

When Mama Goes to Work

When Mama Goes to Work follows several children and their working mothers as they move through their day. From morning to night, through the daily activities of work and play, children and parents keep each other in their thoughts even when they are apart.

Both children and parents will relate to the routine of work and play in When Mama Goes to Work. Secure in the knowledge that their mothers will return at the end of the day, confident children enjoy themselves and concentrate on learning and play while looking forward to being reunited with their mothers, when they will discuss their day, help with dinner, and other evening routines.
Continue reading “When Mama Goes to Work”

Marsha Skrypuch presentation at Banff Public Library, June 19th 7:30pm

Marsha Skrypuch, author of two books on the internment and internee descendant will be giving a reading and presentation on internment

at the Banff Public Library on June 19^th at 7:30pm.

This event coincides with the official opening of the Parks Canada Internment Pavilion

on 20 June 2013 at 2:00pm at the

Cave & Basin National Historic Site, Banff National Park, Banff, Alberta.

For further information contact 1-866-288-7931 or visit www.internmentcanada.ca

The Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund is now on Facebook.