Away

Love shines through in the sticky notes shared between a mother and daughter in this picture book about making time for family in the midst of our busy lives.

Between work and school, homework and housework, a mother and daughter don’t always get to spend as much time together as they’d like. Add to that a little girl’s fears about leaving home for the first time, and the need to stay close through handwritten notes becomes even more important. As the camp departure date gets closer, Mom does her best to soothe her daughter’s nerves. A visit from her grandmother helps to calm her fears and convince her that she’ll have a good time, even away from her mother and beloved cat. Camp ends up being a wonderful adventure - but nothing is sweeter than a back-at-home reunion.

Qin Leng’s watercolor illustrations are the perfect complement to Emil Sher’s simple text. This nuanced story about a parent and child’s unconventional way of connecting is full of humor and affection. Young readers will enjoy spotting Lester the cat as he paws his way into the story.

Key Text Features

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Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Emil Sher writes prose and plays for the young and the once-were-young. His first young adult novel, Young Man with Camera, was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award and was a CLA Book of the Year for Children Award Honour Book. Other works include Mittens to Share, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher, and two board books called A Button Story and A Pebble Story. Emil is a laureate of the 2014 K.M. Hunter Artist Award in Literature and a gold medal at the New York International Festival. Emil has written acclaimed stage adaptations of Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine and Ian Brown’s The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown.

Qin Leng lives and works as a designer and illustrator in Toronto. She graduated from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and has received many awards for her animated short films and artwork. Throughout her career, Qin has illustrated picture books, magazines and book covers with publishers around the world. Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin, written by Chieri Uegaki, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, and received the APALA Award for best picture book. Her most recent books include Happy Birthday, Alice Babette, written by Monica Kulling, and A Family Is a Family Is a Family, written by Sara O’Leary.