Mrs. Goodhearth and the Gargoyle
by Lena Coakley
illustrated by Wendy Bailey
Orca Book Publishers, 2005
ISBN 1-55143-328-1
At last a human has moved into great house. The Gargoyle longs for companionship but does not quite know how to reach out. He watches, waits and makes mischief until he is captivated by a silver spoon. The path to friendship is unlikely and just right, like the friendship that develops between an elderly lady and a creature fashioned from stone.
Praise for Mrs. Goodhearth and the Gargoyle
The theme of love and loneliness is beautifully served in this stunningly illustrated book...Lena Coakley's simple, well-crafted prose is well suited to a story where much meaning lies between the lines. Highly Recommended.
Canadian Materials
This is a lovely bedtime story, lyrical and cosy, and like nothing you've read before.
The Edmonton Journal
Perfect for storytimes, one-on-one sharing with a child who feels isolated, or any theme on caring.
Resource Links (chosen as one of their Best Books for 2005!)
How This Book Came To Be
When Maggie DeVries of Orca Book Publishers first phoned to tell me that this book was going to be published, I remember blathering to her: this is the most autobiographical story I've ever written. There was dead silence at the end of the line. I could hear her thinking: this book has two characters, a gargoyle and an old lady, which one is Lena? Well, the truth is, I see a lot of my childhood self in that gargoyle. When I was a young child I went to live with my grandmother: the Mrs. Goodhearth of my life to whom I dedicated the book. She had to put up with a child who was a least as lonely and probably twice as naughty as the gargoyle.
I wrote eight major drafts of the book, and at draft seven I almost gave up. Luckily, my friend, the Canadian author Anne Laurel Carter, helped me find the story.
On the Night of the Comet
by Lena Coakley
illustrated by Leslie Elizabeth Watts
Orca Book Publishers, 2004
ISBN 1-55143-287-0
On the night of the comet, when all cats can speak, two tigers and a snow leopard stop by Peter's house. They are on their way to the mountains to ask the Great Cat their questions. But Peter has a question of his own. With her tail long enough to wrap Peter up from head to toe, the great white snow leopard pauses in her quest to help him find some answers.
Praise for On the Night of the Comet
Peter’s inferred struggle with his mother’s death is subtly woven throughout the healing text and art.
School Library Journal
The story can be read simply as a surreal dream about cats...but it can also be an entry point into a discussion of some of our deepest fears. How far readers want to go with their questions is left entirely up to them.
Quill and Quire
• Chosen by Resource Links as one of the Best Books for 2004
• Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2004
How This Book Came To Be
Believe it or not, this book came to me in a dream. It sounds hopelessly flakey, I know, but there it is. The idea haunted me: two tigers and a snow leopard are on their way to see the great cat. Who is he? And what will they do when they get there? The finished book is much different, of course, but I hope I captured the air of strange mystery that I first felt when I woke up one morning with the idea in my mind.
After sharing this book with children the thing that has struck me is that they will get only as much of subtext of this story as they are ready for. They all know that it is about a boy who is sad and a Snow Leopard who comes to make him feel better. As for the mother, who in my mind has died, some children think she has gone on a trip, some think it is about divorce and some just take the story on face value.
