Congratulations to David A. Roberson and Maya McKibbin for Little Shoes (published by Tundra Books), the winner of the 2026 annual Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award! Later in the fall, we will be celebrating this award-winning book by this author-illustrator duo as well as all finalists for this year’s award.
In Little Shoes, the setting of dusk and nighttime play a significant role in the way David A. Robertson and Maya McKibbin build the story’s visual and emotional landscape. As James’ churning thoughts keep him up at bedtime, his room is shaded with blacks and dark blues with his orange shirt and the moon as bright accents. His mind swirls over scientific facts about the cosmos. As he rises from his bed and turns to the sky, the stars and the moon illuminate a glowing white path to his mother who reassures him. They share kokōm’s Night Sky Stories, and a star blanket cloaks James and his mother as they are surrounded by the warmth and light of constellations and ancestors.
As restlessness creeps in for another night, readers are introduced to a black and pink figure with tangled threads, suggesting a deeper darkness lingering in James’ mind. Once again, his kokōm’s Night Sky Stories lead him to his mother, enveloping them in warmth and light.
The following evening, James attends a march with his kokōm. McKibbin hints at the significance of this particular stroll by bringing the colour orange back into the foreground. There is much to ponder when James observes the many sizes of shoes at the residential school memorial. It is at this point that the black and pink figures with claws and sharp edges return, overtaking the page and mirroring James’ overwhelming thoughts of those who attended residential schools.
Throughout the story, shoes represent movement, weight-bearing, and absence and loss, but also the possibility of walking towards light. James discovers that the cosmos are not to fear, but a source of community, connection, and comfort. McKibbin’s deliberate colour palettes reveal the boy’s emotional arc through the darkness that frames each page. Meanwhile, Robertson grounds him with the forces of family and the natural world while subtly contrasting different worldviews of the sky. Together, they create a moving portrait of a child learning to find his way through darkness, held by the stories and love that connect generations.
Our three finalists for this year’s Sheila Barry Best Picture Book Award are:
Head Full of Clouds by author, Joanne Schwartz, and illustrator, Afsaneh Sanei (Tundra Books)
The One About the Blackbird by author, Melanie Florence, and illustrator, Matt Jones (Tundra Books)
A Pond, A Poet, and Three Pests by author, Caroline Anderson, and illustrator, Lauren Temaki (Groundwood Books)
Head Full of Clouds is an imaginative celebration of play, friendship, and nature. The lively rhythm captured in the words and images in this book invite readers to sharpen our own powers of observation and discover the wonder in the world around them.
The story captures a specific moment in time: rousing from a dream whose spirit and imagery still lingers in the dazed consciousness of early morning. The clouds mentioned in the title are far from stormy. They are dreamlike, bringing glistening rain and a jolt of inspiration. Joanne Schwartz’s lyrical text evokes a blending of the senses: rain becomes undulating pools of a vast marine habitat; music is visible and “carried along on the breeze”; a crisp apple delights with its perfect colour, shape, and sweetness; and a dog finds happiness in the smell of the earth.
Afsanah Sanei’s cheerful art juxtaposes the girl’s inner imaginings with her outward expression, particularly through the many reflections throughout the story. A smirk in the mirror contrasts with the girl who has sprung from bed with confusion on her face. Her bedroom floor becomes a puddle while fish swim from the ceiling. The girl frolics beside a pond while her reflection calmly salutes the arc of the pigeons she has set in motion. Throughout the day, the ordinary and whimsical exist side by side: her breakfast companion is a bunny in a petticoat, while her movements—upside down, reaching, jumping, running, hugging, or simply sitting and observing—assign a distinct mood to each spread.
When the girl encounters a friend, she is no longer the mere observer as she receives something tangible: a hug. The fish return to enrobe the two girls during their embrace, and when the two girls have a tea party, we see that the friend is the one wearing rabbit ears and a petticoat. These final pages are a reminder that play often teeters between the beauty of the real and the imaginary.
The One About The Blackbird is an intergenerational story about a boy and his grandfather who live in a house full of music. Grandfather has a huge collection of vinyl records and plays different instruments. Jack loves it best when Grandfather plays the song about the blackbird.
The Beatles’ song, ‘Blackbird’, written during the civil rights movement, conveyed a message of hope and encouragement to those facing discrimination. That message is universal. The song and image of a blackbird in flight resonate as Jack struggles to learn to play the guitar, perseveres, becomes a professional musician, then ‘flies away’.
The illustrations are nostalgic, evocative of a time: vinyl records, a turntable record
player, the couch with a patchwork quilt, the old radio, a sleepy cat. Some illustrations were done with acrylic paint on Masonite; others are textured, painted three dimensional models.
Illustrations reveal time passing and Jack’s struggles. Small contained images show a single chord learned, then another. Patience, frustration, and joy are reflected in their faces and actions. The small boy with a big guitar grows until the guitar is just the right size. Jack’s leaving is shown in a tender, emotional sequence of images without text. Grandfather and Jack hug, Grandfather waves, the van drives off, a blackbird flies overhead, and then a blackbird flies alone. Poignant.
When Jack returns, details reflect years of change. Grandfather has a walker. Jack resembles Grandfather as a younger man. the same glasses, mustache, and haircut. It is his turn to place the guitar in Grandfather’s lap who suffers memory loss. As Jack plays the blackbird song, Grandfather’s memory for that music is restored.
The story comes full circle.
A Pond, A Poet and Three Pests, written by Carolyn Adderson and illustrated by Lauren Tamaki, is inspired by the Japanese haiku ‘Old Pond’ by Matsuo Basho in 1686. The story offers a literal explanation of the classic haiku. A haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry which is known for its short three-line structure and can feature a fleeting moment in nature.
The haiku ‘Old Pond’ is intended to capture a moment when a frog jumps into a pond. The story cleverly breaks down what could have happened in the pond prior to the frog leaping into it.
Through the story we are transported to the moment in time when Basho sits in a quiet where he “closes his eyes to think”. Three “pests” attempt to draw the attention of Basho; a carp, a lily and a mosquito. Each one making their own case for why Basho should take notice of them. But alas it is the leap of the frog that captures his attention and is ultimately the inspiration for the Haiku.
The story offers an interesting potential perspective into the thought process of the ancient poet. Is this how Basho was inspired to write the haiku? We will never know but it is a fun way to think about where his creative inspiration could have manifested.
The text of the story is delicately intertwined with poignant illustrations. Beautiful green and blue tones are used throughout the book emulating a feeling of coolness one might experience near a pond. Each of the “pests” come to life on the pages through careful use of splashes of colour.
Additionally, the use of strong black lines creates dramatic impact and movement throughout the story.
The author note offers a challenge to the readers to go outside, close your eyes, listen, feel, smell. Perhaps we could be inspired to write a haiku as Basho might have been.
Once again, congratulations to all of these authors and illustrators for your outstanding work this year!
