Susan Ouriou

Susan Ouriou's first novel explores a season in the life of three women, two sisters - on an artist, the other a codemaker - and their mother. The women have made their separate ways from Montreal to Mexico, the land of their father and husband gone missing ten years ago. Their reunion is a grudging one and their love often aching, uncertain, and flawed. The women's family resembles that of the damselfish, a family of dear enemies where each member...

"Winter is coming, and Poppy and Sam's tiny garden neighbors are getting ready to hibernate. After stocking their pantries for the colder days ahead, Poppy and Sam settle in for a long winter's nap as well. But what is Poppy doing wrong? She can't sleep and nothing seems to work! Determined to hibernate like her friends, Poppy sets out with Sam to ask the other creatures for their deep-sleep secrets. But advice from the bees (snuggling into a honeycomb),...

"Hibernation is hard when a craving comes! Case in point: Sam suddenly wakes up his pal Poppy in the middle of their winter slumber with a hankering to make rosehip jam. Full of determination, Sam sets out into find his friends in the snowy forest, and they help him assemble the ingredients and supplies he needs -- but on his way home, Sam gets trapped in a winter storm! He finds shelter in a cave, only to discover someone else is already hibernating...

Hélène is an outcast in her grade. Her only consolation is reading Jane Eyre. Even seeing a lovely fox doesn't make her feel better, but maybe a new friendship will.

This book presents children with the opportunity to go beyond simply learning to count from zero to ten. It encourages very young children (and older ones as well) to create their own meanings and make their own connections between the text and the art.

Novelist and poet Claude Le Bouthillier draws on his Acadian and New Brunswick heritage to create Phantom Ships.