Children’s Books
by Jeff Pinkney
The Parry Sound Air Orchestra
Dev, an eleven-year-old newcomer to Parry Sound, gets a chance to be guest conductor at the Festival of the Sound’s, Music Scores, youth concert. He’s also in try-outs for the U-12 summer hockey selects. The big game is Saturday afternoon at two-o’clock, but so is the concert! Classical music has reached out and grabbed him, and he loves it, but he loves hockey too! Will Dev follow his heart? Will it be in time for the opening face-off or to lift the baton for the opening notes?
Reading Age: 8-12 years
Grade Level: 4, 5 & 6
Print Length: 90 pages
SeaFlea Bookworks, May 2025
EXCERPT
“Be sure to take your practice shots. Bobby Orr shot pucks in his garage every night. The harder you work at practice the better. Gotta run, Dev. Love you, bye-bye.”
As I give the phone back to Gramps, he says with a wink, “Mozart worked hard at practice, too.”
That night I keep dreaming of music notes turning into hockey pucks, and back into music notes again
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Soapstone Signs
One spring, a nine-year-old boy is visited by a master soapstone carver named Lindy, who gives him four pieces of soapstone.
The primary secret to carving, the boy learns, is recognizing that each piece of soapstone already holds its true form inside. Lindy teaches the boy to listen to the soapstone and look to the world around him for signs as to what to carve. As the seasons change, the young boy’s experiences lend him opportunities to develop his carving skills and become attuned to the signs around him. He eagerly awaits the following spring, which will bring Lindy’s return and a chance to show off his carvings.
First prize – TWUC/CANSCAIP 11th Annual Children’s Writing Competition
Best Book for 2015, Red Star (denoting a title of exceptional caliber) -Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Reading Age: 6 – 9 years
Grade Level: 1-4
Print Length: 64 pages
Orca Book Publishers, Nov 2014
EXCERPT
Today, when Lindy finishes a carving, I become curious.
“How do you know what you will carve next?”
He pauses, looking thoughtful. “You ask the stone,” he says.
“Whatever it is going to be, it is already there.”
“How does the stone answer you?”
“Sometimes, you might be given a sign, and then you will know what to carve.”
I hold the soapstone to my ear all the way home but it does not speak to me. I ask it lots of questions but it doesn’t reply. I hold it up to a lamp, but I still can’t see into it. I cradle the stone until it is as warm as I am, but I still don’t know what it’s meant to be.
Soapstone Porcupine
The dog shows up the way snow does on a winter’s day.
She just drifts in and stays, becoming the friend of a nine-year-old boy. The boy and the dog set out on an adventure that ends in a quandary involving quills and a big brother who swears to take revenge on the porcupine. But Lindy, a Cree elder and master carver, reminds the brothers of the importance of the great porcupine. After a day spent carving in town, the boy learns some truths about human nature and realizes that sometimes, like the porcupine, you must put your quills up to keep from getting pushed around.
Soapstone Porcupine is the second book, after Soapstone Signs, narrated by a nine-year-old boy. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
Reading Age: 6 – 9 years
Grade Level: 1-4
Print Length: 64 pages
Orca Book Publishers, Mar 2018
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