The latest wacky and wonderful collection of children’s poetry, Governor General’s Award winner JonArno Lawson’s The Hobo’s Crowbar presents a world of word botchers and bird watchers, of vile versifiers and vigilante interventionists, of nobodies and somebodies, big guys and small fries. Lawson’s world is one of logic and language, of wit and words, of contradictions and conundrums, but it is also a world in which looking and learning go hand-in-hand, with laughter never far behind. The book is as fun to see as it is to say, and vibrant woodcuts by artist Alec Dempster are a perfect accompaniment to Lawson’s poems. Together, they help to expose the highs and lows of life, and celebrate goofiness, absurdity and the profound truth of human experience.

When a ten-year-old boy befriends a mysterious hobo in his southern Colorado hometown in the early 1940s, he learns about evil in his community and takes his first steps toward manhood by attempting to protect his new friend from corrupt officials. Though a fictional story, Alex and the Hobo is written out of the life experiences of its author, José Inez (Joe) Taylor, and it realistically portrays a boy's coming-of-age as a Spanish-speaking man who must carve out an honorable place for himself in a class-stratified and Anglo-dominated society. In this innovative ethnography, anthropologist James Taggart collaborates with Joe Taylor to explore how Alex and the Hobo sprang from Taylor's life experiences and how it presents an insider's view of Mexicano culture and its constructions of manhood. They frame the story (included in its entirety) with chapters that discuss how it encapsulates notions that Taylor learned from the Chicano movement, the farmworkers' union, his community, his father, his mother, and his religion. Taggart gives the ethnography a solid theoretical underpinning by discussing how the story and Taylor's account of how he created it represent an act of resistance to the class system that Taylor perceives as destroying his native culture.

Princess Mow Mow refuses to be left behind during her owners travels. She chooses to ride on the roll bar of her automobile. She attracts loads of attention from all types of people. Hobo Kittys owner does not agree with the sacrifices the political leaders of the country expect from the middle-class homes. She goes off the grid, departing her household and looking for a better life or just some peace in her soul. She soon realizes the jury is a mistake with the crazy cat on board. The cat soon adopts the name Hobo Kitty. Hobo Kitty wants to assist in many rescues of people and animals, placing them both in harms way. The adventure never really gives her a chance to search her soul and resolve her psychological issues.

The latest wacky and wonderful collection of children’s poetry, Governor General’s Award winner JonArno Lawson’s The Hobo’s Crowbar presents a world of word botchers and bird watchers, of vile versifiers and vigilante interventionists, of nobodies and somebodies, big guys and small fries. Lawson’s world is one of logic and language, of wit and words, of contradictions and conundrums, but it is also a world in which looking and learning go hand-in-hand, with laughter never far behind. The book is as fun to see as it is to say, and vibrant woodcuts by artist Alec Dempster are a perfect accompaniment to Lawson’s poems. Together, they help to expose the highs and lows of life, and celebrate goofiness, absurdity and the profound truth of human experience.

In 1948 Joseph Kinnebrew was a little boy becoming aware of his place in a bigger world. Back then his territory was small, he was maturing from age six to eight. Living with his family on a steep hill running down to Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington, Joseph, in those days just Joe, with his dog Skipper, and neighborhood pal Freddie with his dog Chipper were serious adventurers. Young boys, “persons of curiosity”. In this entertaining chronicling Kinnebrew shares two summers of idyllic childhood, sometimes serious, sometimes hilariously comedic experiences of little boys growing up, still attached to their mothers who fed, healed and comforted them. Valuable lessons they would carry forward into the remainder of their lives. Joe’s life ahead with uncommon abilities would be exceptionally accomplished. He tells a story of charming innocence, emotions and evolving beliefs along with how he and Freddie struck gold on the steep hillside of a gully, shared secrets with Skipper and Chipper, and ditched Davy who told everyone his father owned the Wonder Bread company. Exploring the beaches of Puget Sound these boys played marbles inside their fort deep in dense blackberry brambles, safe from troublesome little girls and babysitters. They built many “forts” to spy on dreaded hobos who resided at the bottom in the gully near their homes. Parents had forbade them going to the gully where it was said the hobos kidnapped children and sold them into slavery sending them to Arabia. And then profound and lasting lessons for impressionable little boys from their encounters and friendship with Bobbie the older seriously handicapped young man who lived nearby. Kinnebrew provides magical and captivating glimpses into his childhood. Two years later, in 1950 his family moved to the Midwest, Joe forever leaving behind his best friend, Freddie, towering fir trees, salt water, mountains, and his compelling innocence. Little Boys, Big Dreams is an unforgettable touching recollection of precious unspoiled youth.

I was about to leave when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. It was a large leather bound manuscript. It looked ancient. My hand began to tingle as I took it in my hand. On the cover it said simply, Chosen. As soon as I opened to the first page, I felt as if I were falling, floating, nothing solid. My name is Emma Carter, but soon the world would know me by a different name. A name that was as ancient as the book I held in my hand. What happened next would change my life forever.