Join MOCA on December 3 for our Monthly Reading Sessions, developed in partnership with Groundwood Books. Multidisciplinary artist Matt James will read from his picture book Nice Try, Charlie! Following the reading, James will lead an arts-based activity where participants will explore using found objects in sculpture, playfully transforming everyday objects into something new!
The reading and activity will both take place on our Ground Floor. This reading series builds on the collection of children’s books sourced from Groundwood Books and Another Story Bookshop as part of Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition I AM YOUR RELATIVE, which took place earlier this year.
Look out for our final Reading Session for the exhibition season on January 7, 2023 with ThinkCities author Andrea Curtis.
About the Book
Nice Try, Charlie! is a new picture book about friendship and community from Matt James, acclaimed author and illustrator of The Funeral.
With his cart full of treasures and big green hat, Charlie is a neighbourhood fixture. When he finds a pie, he sets off to find the owner — and helps some friends along the way.
Poignant and funny, this story is an ode to resourcefulness and the compassion that turns neighbours into friends. Charlie and his friends might not have much — but they have each other.
About the Author
Matt James is an author, illustrator, painter, and musician. Matt’s books have won many prestigious awards including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book Award, and the Governor General’s Award for Illustration. His author-illustrator debut, The Funeral, was named a New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2018. His paintings can be found in private collections in Toronto, New York and Berlin. Matt lives in Toronto.
Groundwood Books is known for award-winning books that reflect the experiences of children both in Canada and around the world. Inspired by the belief that children’s books can be important and necessary without sacrificing warmth, beauty, playfulness and humour, Groundwood’s list is characterized by its emphasis on fiction and non-fiction about and for children whose stories might not otherwise be told.
