Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

Readers of Marie-Louise Gay’s stories ask her many questions. After reading Caramba, they wondered, “Can your cat fly?” After reading Stella and Sam, they enquired, “Are you Stella?” In Any Questions? the award-winning author and illustrator answers these and many others, focusing in on one she hears often, “Where does a story start?”

Using a charming mixture of fictional and nonfictional elements, Gay draws herself into this story and leads three children on a tour of her process. She demonstrates how stories sometimes start with colours, drawing the children into blue seas and purplish gray storms. Gay shows how scribbles and doodles become characters and ideas, and then she starts a new story in the middle of the book.  The children sit in the treetops of a forest she creates, asking questions and conjuring up the story with her.

Gay’s story-within-a-story takes many turns as she shows how one idea fits while others don’t. Kids will enjoy seeing familiar characters – Caramba soars across one page on a paper airplane, and Stella pulls Sam in a toboggan on another. Paren'ts, librarians, and teachers will love the inspiring explanations provided in this accessible look at the making of a story. Answers to all questions posed are provided at the back of the book.

Dedicated “To all the children with endless questions, and to their paren'ts, teachers and librarians, who try to answer them,” Any Questions? is an empowering investigation of storytelling. Don’t be surprised if you and your readers begin your own tale once you finish this one.

Jen Bailey teaches in the Professional Writing Program at Algonquin College, Ottawa. She holds an MFA in Writing from VCFA, and writes for children and young adults.