A Happy New Year's Day

Adиle Ashby, a library consultant, is the former editor of Canadian Materials for Schools and Libraries.

Ste. Justine, the Quebec village near the Maine border, in which The
Hockey Sweater and The Boxing Champion took place, is the setting for
another of Carrier’s nostalgic trips into rural Quebec’s past. The
focus of this story is New Year’s Day 1941. It was an important one
because it was the first Carrier remembers. He was four. The preparation
leading up to that day began in August when his grandmother picked
cherries to make cherry wine. In September, the villagers got the
sleighs ready for the New Year’s Day parade. In December, the women
began the baking.

When the magic day arrived, the family gathered at Carrier’s
grandmother’s for the traditional dinner, followed by drop-in guests,
the parade of sleighs, the miracle of a long-distance phone call to an
absent uncle in Montreal, presents, music, and so much affection that
little Carrier hid in the pile of fur coats to escape from the aunts who
wanted to kiss him.

All the warmth of the wonderful read-aloud text is reinforced in
Pelletier’s naif-style illustrations. This is a picture storybook
rather than a picture book and will be appreciated by all ages.