In My Backyard by Magriet Ruurs with paper sculpture illustrations by Ron Broda

With Canadian Children's Book Week coming up, I thought it appropriate to review In My Backyard, written by the Margriet Ruurs and Ron Broda, the illustrator who is touring Vancouver Island where I live. The title says it all in this delightful poetic celebration of nature close to home. "Welcome to my backyard! " Ruurs writes. "You will see that this is a busy place -- all year round." She with words, and Ron Broda with superb paper sculptures, proceed to demonstrate that nature is all around if you simply stop to look and listen. Spare poetic text is perfectly complimented by the rich and textured paper back drops on which Broda builds his multi-layered paper sculptures depicting slow-moving snails, helicoper-like humming birds, and bats catching insects on the wing. A legend at the end of the book supplements the text with more information as well as alerting the reader what to look for on each page. In My Backyard is a must for schools and libraries.

For information on Ron Broda's Victoria appearances, check out the Victoria Children's Literature Roundtable blog.