Stories About Friendship

The Ottawa Public Library is back to share stories about Friendship. This month’s post is by Ann-Marie (Annie) Miller, Supervising Librarian, Children’s Department at the Ruth E. Dickinson Library.

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The world is just a better place when you have a friend.  Sometimes it is not all that easy to be a friend, or to have one.  Friendship is never instant or guaranteed.  Nevertheless, the process of becoming a friend can be rewarding.  Here are a few books celebrating the joys of friendship in its many forms.

Bear Can’t Sleep by Karma Wilson; illustrated by Jane Chapman

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1126750026

 If you have yet to meet up with Bear and his circle of friends, this latest book is a great introduction to the series.  Bear should hibernate, but he just cannot get to sleep.  This is when his friends -  Mouse, Hare, Badger, Gopher, Mole, Raven and Wren -  all gather round to help out.  In rhyming text and luscious illustrations, we read about the friends making hot milk and singing lullabies.  When Bear sits up and begins to tell a story for his friends, he finally puts himself to sleep.  There are lots of books about Bear and his friends and you can read these stories to children from newborn to 5 years old.

Giraffe and Bird by Rebecca Bender

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/617329026

 Giraffe and Bird annoy each other all the time.  Bird makes faces at Giraffe; Giraffe sticks his tongue out at Bird; Bird tweets in Giraffe’s ear; and Giraffe glares back at Bird.  So it goes all day long each one annoying the other until finally they just walk away.  When the big storm comes in at night, though, each one wishes the other was close by.  So, in the lonely light of day, they seek out one another once again.  Giraffe and Bird are the most annoying of friends but they just cannot abide being apart. This is only the first of four Gerald and bird stories each one illustrated with Rebecca’s expressive drawings.   They will help to shed a little light on sibling struggles for those two to five years old in your household.

Poetree by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds; illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1174168026

 Shy Sylvia delights in writing poetry for her favourite tree.  She hides her poems in the tree’s branches and one day a new poem falls out of the tree landing at her feet.   Someone else is writing poems. At first Sylvia believes that the tree is writing back to her;  that the tree is a new friend.  Then Sylvia finds out that it is Walt, a classmate, who is writing the poems.  Sylvia and Walt form a new friendship composing poems for their tree and for one another while sitting together under the branches.  Their poems are a delight to read.  This is a lovely, rich story joyfully illustrated for those 5 to 7 years old.

Harold and Hog Pretend For Real! by Dan Santat

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1167672026

Every Grade One child loves to read about Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie.  Harold and Hog idolize them, too, and do their best to pretend to be Elephant and Piggie.  They discover that Hog is too careful to be Piggie and Harold is too carefree to be Elephant.  However, it is still fun to pretend to be best friends when you actually are best friends. A great addition to the early reading shelf for children 5 to 7 years old.

 Come Over to My House by Dr. Seuss; illustrated by Katie Kath

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/983845026

 If your child started out reading with Hop on Pop and The Cat in the Hat, they will dive into this slightly more advanced reader with enthusiasm.  In finely crafted rhyming text, Dr. Seuss takes us on a worldwide adventure exploring houses and customs on every continent.  It doesn’t matter where you are in the world the reader is invited to ‘come over and play’.  We find that all houses all over the world are alike ‘when a friend asks you in’.  This book will expand your child’s world and keep those 6 and 7 years old reading.

Wolfie & Fly Band on the Run by Cary Fagan; illustrated by Zoe Si

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1078918026

Renata Wolfman is always called Wolfie by her neighbour, Livingston Flott.  Wolfie calls Livingston, Fly. Wolfie likes to read and learn new things; Fly likes to have imaginative adventures.  There is a talent show coming up at school and Wolfie’s parents are encouraging her to enter.  Wolfie is happier just learning about her interest of the day – helicopters.  That is all before Fly comes in through the window with his guitar and gets Wolfie drumming along with to his new song.  Fly’s imagination takes off and before long it’s like the two of them are on stage in a stadium performing before thousands of screaming fans.  When they come back to the kitchen, they are ready to take on the annual Talent Show.  An entertaining story for those 7 or 8 years old.

Tom Swift Inventor’s Academy: the Drone Pursuit  by Victor Appleton https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1167734026

Tom and Noah have spent the weekend building a surveillance drone and now they want to test it out in the hallways of their school, the prestigious Swift Academy.  When their drone is spotted, they park it unobtrusively in the ceiling just outside a classroom.  When they go to retrieve the drone after class, it is gone.  So, begins the mystery.  Who has taken the drone, where is it now and why was it taken?  Tom and his friends worry that the theft is mixed up with an attempt to hack into the high tech company next door – the company owned by Tom’s father.  It takes quite a lot of adventuresome sleuthing to uncover the truth.  This is an exciting early novel for children 9 to 12 years old.  There are more mysteries to come in this series.

Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1145907026

A fatherless boy and a newly captured polar bear are an unlikely pair to form the bonds of lifelong friendship yet this is exactly what happens when they meet.  The boy, Arthur, is a runaway looking for his Father’s family and hoping to obtain his inheritance.  The bear is a gift from the King of Norway to the King of England and the year is 1252.  Arthur’s only hope of gaining passage to England is to sign onto the ship transporting the bear and to become the bear’s caregiver.  As it turns out, Arthur has a way with animals and the pair develops a true understanding of one another.  Whether they are dealing with the bullies on board ship, a pirate attack, a shipwreck or their run through the countryside, Arthur and the bear stick together. This novel is based on the true story of a pale bear kept in the menagerie at the Tower of London by King Henry III.  The bear lived for many years and this version suggests it was because of the gentle care given to it by his friend, Arthur. A unique plotline for this age group but there is enough adventure here to engage those 10 to 12 years old.

Hidden Gem 

Gus & Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar by Keith Richards; illustrated by Theodora Richards

https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/792141026

 Yes, this is a picture book by that Keith Richards and it is illustrated by his daughter, Theodora.  The book recounts Keith’s close relationship with his Grandfather formed during their long walks together throughout Keith’s childhood.  Grandfather Gus lived in a ‘house full of instruments and cake’ and had been a ‘soldier, a baker and the leader of a dance band’.  It was Gus who handed Keith his first guitar and challenged him to learn how to play it.  Each double page spread is illustrated with Theodora’s fanciful drawings. This is a book and CD set which means you can have the text read to you by Keith himself.  The back matter includes a set of family photos.  This is what I call a picture book for adults.  Keep the tissues close at hand.

Great Graphic Novels 2020

The Ottawa Public Library is back to share some great graphic novels books with us. This month’s post is by Lise Dumas, Supervising Librarian, Children's and Teen Services at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

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For those who love graphic novels, the Ottawa Public Library has some new and exciting reads for all ages.  Here are some of the most interesting graphic novels for kids that have come out so far in 2020: 

Trespassers by Breena Bard.

This story follows Gabby and her family on their summer vacation at their lake home. Gabby, a voracious reader, would prefer to spend her time reading during her vacation, but her parents have decided she should spend some time with Paige, the daughter of the family next door. Although reticent at first, Gabby befriends Paige and the two decide to write a story about an unsolved real-life mystery at one of the empty homes on the lake. This mystery involves the disappearance of the homeowners one night after a party. The two girls, with the help of their younger brothers, will try to uncover the lake house mystery and overcome hurdles in their friendship over the course of their vacation. The characters are simply drawn and the art will likely appeal to young readers. For ages 8-12.

The Big Break by Mark Tatulli

Middle schoolers Andrew and Russ who are trying to win a video contest by making a movie about the legendary Jersey Devil. Their long-term friendship is tested when Russ begins a romance with Tara, a cool girl at school. While Russ is ready to grow up, Andrew is not; he still loves drawing and his action figures. This story reflects the trials of growing up and how even a great friendship can be strained - but also, that it’s okay to have new friends and have separate interests. With an engaging cast of characters including a very adventurous librarian, Andrew, Russ and Tara embark on an exciting escapade to find the Jersey Devil and finish their movie. The drawings are very expressive and the colours are vivid. For ages 8-12.

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

For ages 8-14, this story is about thirteen-year old Moth Hush, who lives in Founder’s Bluff Massachusetts. Moth is obsessed with all things “witchy” and is pleased to find out that she is from a family of witches. Moth discovers she has powers on Halloween but unfortunately, her mother forbids her from practicing witchcraft, as the family has a dark past involving witch hunts and family drama. Moth is pushed to choose between her Mother’s rejection of witchcraft and her Grandma’s encouragement to embrace her powers and leave to the human world. Moth must find her own way and bring her family together again in this fun, exciting adventure. The autumn colours, the setting and the subject make it a great Halloween read.

Go With The Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann 

This graphic novel speaks of the trials and tribulations of periods in high school. Sasha Chen worries that she will be known throughout high school as ‘period girl’ when she gets her first period the day she wears white pants. With the help of Brit, Abby, Christine and Sasha, they take on the school administration to get the school to stock the bathroom hygiene dispensers to destigmatize periods. When the school administration refuses to address this woman’s health issue citing budget cuts, all while funding new football uniforms, the girls decide to campaign for change. The book addresses first love, political activism, and the power of friendship. The images are all drawn in black and white and fittingly coloured in pink and red. For ages 10-14.

Operation: Hat Heist! By Jason Platt

This is the second book in the Middle School Misadventures series. Newell is a huge fan of a TV series called The Captain and watches the show with his Dad. The show is about a WWII Captain who gets sucked through the Bermuda triangle into another dimension. Newell’s Dad goes to great lengths to obtain an authentic captain’s hat for him only to have the hat stolen from Newell’s backpack at school and then confiscated by the principal. With the help of his friends and an eight-grader named Ethan, Newell concocts a heist to retrieve his hat before his Dad finds out it is missing. The results are unexpected and hilarious. The artwork is eloquent, and a variety of techniques are used such as monochromatic flashbacks and full-page scenes. This book will appeal to fans of Big Nate and Diary of Wimpy Kid. For ages 8-12.

Water Safety Tips with KidsCanSwim Canada

Drowning can happen very quickly. Families and caregivers play a vital role in teaching kids to learn to swim and behave safely in and around water. Joining us on the blog today is locally-owned swim school, KidsCanSwim Canada.

Located in Ottawa’s West End, KidsCanSwim boutique facility specializes in small class sizes and science-based learning. Their personalized approach, sparkling clean pools, and commitment to delivering an exceptional experience to you and your child makes for an enjoyable swimming lesson for all. AND you don’t have to worry about cold water! Their pool is a constant 32°C warm, with UV-filtered water and sparkling clean change rooms.

We asked the team at KidsCanSwim to share with us some important tips that everyone should be familiar with when it comes to water safety:

Never swim alone

Consider bringing a buddy or two with you while you swim. If someone gets in trouble the other can call for help! Never grab on to your buddy to save them, use a rescue aid such as a lifejacket or a noodle to reach for them from a safe stable distance.

Always wear a lifejacket or PFD

This applies to more than just boating! Any sort of activity where there is a risk of falling in the water either from a great height or a great speed is a major risk for even the best of swimmers. Did you know there is a difference between lifejackets and PFD’s? A lifejacket is an emergency device designed to keep its occupants head upright and provide buoyancy while a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) is simply designed for buoyancy. When choosing your lifejacket or PFD consider a bright colour so you can stand out in a body of water.

Take swimming lessons

While this might be obvious, swimming lessons are a very powerful defence against accidental drownings. Consider a program such as KidsCanSwim that will focus on fast progression of swimmer’s swimming abilities and water safety elements.

Take a lifesaving course

If you are passionate about water and want to learn lifesaving skills that can be applied in everyday life consider registering for a bronze medallion or bronze cross course. These courses are specifically designed to equip candidates with skills to perform various rescues in a variety of different scenarios. First aid courses are also an option, they are short and provide a wide variety of tools for anyone!

Watch your kids while swimming

The majority of accidental drownings happen when kids are swimming unsupervised and an accidental drowning can happen in as little as 30 seconds or roughly 2 Instagram stories. Always watch your kids when they are swimming,  even when there are lifeguards around. Lifeguards are there to respond in emergency situations – you are always responsible for your child’s safety in and around water.

To keep your kids safe around the water visit KidsCanSwim’s website and register for one of their private or semi-private classes, which have recently re-opened with safety measures in place to keep families safe.  Find out more by visiting them online at https://www.kidscanswimcanada.ca, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram!

Disclosure: This is a paid, sponsored blog post with KidsCanSwim.

Diefenbunker Museum: Canada’s Cold War Museum

Despite living nearby, I had never brought my daughter to the Diefenbunker Museum until this summer. It had been on our to-do list for a long time, and I am so glad we finally got to visit. Not only were we looking for an escape from the summer heat, I wanted her to see for herself why this underground museum is so unique.

The Diefenbunker, located in Carp, Ontario, is a massive four-story underground bunker, built between 1959 and 1961. During the Cold War, top officials were to take shelter here in the event of a nuclear war. It was active as Canadian Forces Station Carp until 1994. Today, it operates as a not-for-profit, charitable museum.

Visiting the Diefenbunker is not only an engaging way to teach older kids about the Cold War, but a place preserved in time that will show kids and adults alike what it was like to live in the 1960s and what it’s like to live in an underground military station (especially with there replica Canex canteen from 1977). Adult visitors will love seeing telephones and computers from their youth and, if you’re with kids, they may enjoy teasing you about it (something my daughter really enjoyed). 

There are many ways to tour the Diefenbunker Museum. You can book a guided tour, explore on your own or you can download their audio guide from their website.

The museum is well organized, clean and every exhibit has a written explanation of what you’re looking at (and the description is just the right length that you have enough time to read it before your kids move on to the next exhibit). 

If your kids are really young, this probably isn’t the museum for you. They don’t want children running around and the exhibits are not as hands on as in other museums, but there is a lot to see, do and learn. If you have a child who is into history, learning about the military or wars, or is into learning about technology then they will love this museum. My daughter enjoyed seeing how far technology has come over the years as well as how some of the technology used forty years ago is still in use today.

She also loved learning about the construction of the Diefenbunker and seeing the rooms of where the Prime Minister would have stayed and worked. She also loved seeing how the CBC Radio had its own space in the Diefenbunker, learning who would be allowed into the bunker and who would not be allowed, and touring a huge bank vault that once housed a lot of gold. 

A few years ago Lara brought her children, who at the time were 5 and 8 years old to the museum, and she shared her experience here. Needless to say, they had fun!

If you’re looking for a different kind of museum that takes you underground and transports you to a completely different time, then the Diefenbunker Museum is a great way to spend an afternoon.

At the time of writing this blog post, the Museum was open daily from 10 am to 4 pm. Parking is free and admission was: Adults: $17.50, seniors: $16.50, students: $13.00 , youth: $11.00, family rate: $48.50, and children 5 and under are free.

You can buy tickets online or in person. The museum is underground and the entrance to the museum consists of three (3) ground barriers at each doorway. For more information on museum accessibility, please click here. There are bathrooms onsite, a gift shop, and although there was no food available onsite at the time of our visit, Carp offers some great restaurants including Alice’s Village Café, Ridge Rock and The Carp Custom Creamery.

Family Friendly Campgrounds Close to Ottawa

Summer 2020 is the year of camping for many families. Lara shared how her kids love backyard camping, which is a lot of fun, but if you’re also looking to get away and out of urban (or suburban) Ottawa, check out these family-friendly campgrounds close to Ottawa. Some are provincial parks and some are privately owned. Before you book a site or visit, check what facilities/activities are available and continue to follow public health advice, including physical distancing by keeping at least two metres from others, wearing a face-covering when physical distancing may be challenging or not possible, washing hands regularly with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

Cardinal KOA 
609 Pittston Road
Cardinal, ON K0E 1E0
Phone: (613) 657-4536

Located an hour away from downtown Ottawa, this family-friendly campground has amenities for kids including a heated pool, a splash pad, kids climbing wall, a big bouncer, a mini-golf and a pirate ship playground (please note: at the time of writing this, these were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions). Activities also include hayrides on Saturdays and movies under the stars on Saturdays evenings. Summer Saturdays also include activities such as arts and crafts sessions, soccer and bike races.

Cedar Cove Resorts
100 Cedar Cove Road
White Lake, Ontario K0A 3L0
Phone: (613) 623-3133

Located about 45-minutes from Kanata in White Lake (just past Arnprior, Ontario), Cedar Cove offers seasonal sites and weekend camping. There is also a grocery store, pool, sandy beach, restaurant, volleyball courts, a playground (please note: at the time of writing this, the playground was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions). and more. White Lake offers fantastic fishing too and they sell worms and tackle on-site!

Murphy’s Point
2243 Elmgrove Road, R.R. 5
Perth, Ontario K7H 3C7
Phone: (613) 267-5060

 Located on Big Rideau Lake, Murphy’s offers a sandy beach, walking trails, weekend activities as well as an early 1900s mica mine you can book free tours of, as well as family-friendly interpretive programming from June to Labour Day weekend. You can also rent canoes and kayaks for an additional fee (please note: at the time of writing this, these were unavailable to rent due to COVID-19 restrictions) and there is a small general store that sells ice cream and popsicles. If you’re lucky, Chuck Commanda will be onsite building a birch bark canoe (hopefully he’ll be back in 2021). 

Lac Phillippe Campground
300, Lake Philippe Road, La Pêche (Ste-Cécile-de-Masham),
Québec
613-239-5000

The largest camping sector in Gatineau Park with a family atmosphere, located 3 kilometres from the registration kiosk, and close to services, amenities and beaches. 206 campsites, wooded and semi-wooded. Close to Wakefield and offering many trails and beautiful views of the lake, this is one of our favourite campgrounds. 

Rideau River
2680 Donnelly Drive
Kemptville, Ontario K0G 1J0
613 258-2740

Located on the historic Rideau Waterway, this is a nice family campground with shaded campsites. It’s only 40 minutes away from Ottawa and surrounded by many small towns that are also worth exploring. You can rent canoes and kayaks for an additional fee (please note: at the time of writing this, these were unavailable to rent due to COVID-19 restrictions), which is a great way to explore the waters of the Rideau – or if you have a motorboat, you can fish for muskie or bass. 

Wesley Clover Campgrounds
411 Corkstown Rd
Ottawa, ON. K2K 0J5
613-828-6632

Open from June to mid-October, Wesley Clover offers family-friendly camping without travelling very far! Just 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa in a tree-filled setting, this campground is the perfect urban getaway – especially if you are new to camping or have young kids and want to try camping someplace closer to home. There are beautiful urban trails, places to bike and a fire put. There is no water to swim or fish in, but if you’re looking for a night outdoors in a rural setting, Wesley Clover is the perfect campground for that.

Voyageur Provincial Park Campground
1313 Front Road, Box 130
Chute-à-Blondeau
K0B 1B0 613-674-2825

With four beaches on the Ottawa River, Voyageur offers lots of space for families to relax and swim. They also offer a summer nature interpretation program and great fishing right from shore! There are also walking trails and many picnic areas. Great for a day or a weekend stay.

What campgrounds are your family’s favourites?