The Animals’ Ark by Marianne Dubuc is a secular account of the classic tale. Readers meet all kinds of creatures, rendered in expertly faux-childish pencil crayon drawings. When a flood hits, animals make the most of their long boat ride. They play to while away the time, and the drawings reflect these imaginative interactions – ladybugs playing dominos and a chameleon hiding in a tiger’s stripes. The starry night before they find land is especially evocative. Perhaps there are some lessons in here, too – how to make the most of inclement weather, that stormy days end – but they are overshadowed by the animals’ joyful antics. Noah is mentioned at the very end of the story (referred to previously as a “kindly man”), should you want to segue into the biblical version.

The letter D is for “drizzle / rainy / puddle / jumping / best barefoot.” In Alpha Bones Candy, Lp Camozzi takes readers through the twenty-six letters, and each is a rich world full of activity. Before delving into the alphabet, readers learn the ABC book is written in Modern Tanka poetry form, a freer version than traditional Japanese Tanka, in which syllable count is specific. The poems are cheeky, funny, a little sad, and maybe a touch adult (“help you / hold you / heal you / will that be / all?”). It’s the kind of book grown-ups won’t mind going through again and again, should it become a favourite of the young reader. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with son Zach Camozzi, whose black- and-white illustrations are imaginative riffs on the poems. If kids learning the alphabet get a bit lost in the text, they’ll be absorbed in finding the list of items that begin with the hero letter (and learning some news words, too: zodiac, wobbegong, ibex horn, for example). They can also colour in the rich, detailed, and playful drawings. Using the foundation of our language, the Camozzis create a world that will be engrossing to both kids and their mentors.

Away Running follows two very real and likeable seventeen-year-old boys on a trip to Paris. It’s no ordinary backpacking adventure, however.