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list price: $18.95
edition:Hardcover
category: Children's Fiction
published: Apr 2016
ISBN:9781771471008
publisher: Owlkids Books Inc.

Maya

by Mahak Jain, illustrated by Elly Mackay

tagged: death & dying, emotions & feelings, imagination & play
Description

The electricity in Maya’s house has gone out again. She is afraid of the dark — and her fear has been even worse since her father died. Now it feels as if the darkness will never go away.

Maya’s mother distracts her with a legend about the banyan tree, which saved the world from the first monsoon by drinking up the floodwaters, and growing tall and strong. Later that night, unsettled by the noises around her, Maya revisits the story in her imagination. She ventures deep into the banyan tree, where she discovers not darkness but life: snakes move gently, monkeys laugh, and elephants dance. Maya pushes her imagination even further to call up memories of her father, helping to soothe her fear and assuage her grief.

Elly MacKay mixes miniature-paper-theater art with spellbinding shadow puppetry to play with darkness and light, giving Maya’s real, fantasy, and story-within-a-story worlds unique treatment—and making Maya’s world come alive on the page.

About the Authors

Mahak Jain

MAHAK JAIN is a writer and editor based in Toronto. Her work has been published in The New Quarterly, Joyland Magazine and Room Magazine. She completed her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph and was previously the Managing Editor at Owlkids and at Lobster Press. Maya is her first book for children.

Elly Mackay lives in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, with her husband, Simon, and little ones, Lily and Koen. She received her bachelor of fine art from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She creates her illustrations by inking yupo paper and cutting it into layers that she sets up in a miniature theater, somewhat like a Victorian Paper Theater. She plays with the lights and filters to create atmosphere and then photographs the scenes. In addition to illustrating her own picture books and those of other authors, Elly recently illustrated new covers for the Anne of Green Gables series (Tundra).
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
Age:
4 to 8
Grade:
p to 4
Awards
  • , Kirkus Best Picture Books of 2016
  • , Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens
  • , South Asia Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature selection, 2017
Editorial Reviews

"Richly poetic...engaging...gorgeous... Papa once told Maya that "a story was like a bird," flying us to somewhere unknown and always changing us. And so it is with this book."

— Canadian Children's Book News

"...the idea that bad things can turn good is clear, and kids will sense Maya's ultimate healing."

— The National Reading Campaign

"Beautifully illustrated... Highlight[s] the discovery of beauty and strength in unlikely places."

— Quill & Quire

"This story made me feel a little bit kind of happy and kind of sad. Some feelings that [Maya] had, I sometimes have. Sometimes I am sad too but still finding a way to be happy. She was scared and I get scared too. ...I love this book."

— Ayla, age 6, Kids Book Buzz

"Nothing short of magical, breath-taking and inspiring... Highly, highly recommended and very very close to essential."

— Kinderlit

"An atmospheric tale about loss, the power of story, and finding light in the darkness."

— School Library Journal

"An important and subtle story of love, loss, beauty, and joy."

— Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

"Recommended."

— Canadian Review of Materials

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