In this series, Ottawa Magazine’s Vanessa Ortynsky rounds up four kids’ books by local writers and illustrators. From a super hero to a tightrope walker, the books create vibrant characters and colourful worlds of adventure and imagination for them to inhabit. Who knows? They may even get your non-reader reading.

CHARTER FOR CHILDREN SERIES
The idea for the series came to Dustin Milligan after completing his first year of law at McGill. Only just beginning to get his head around Canadian law, Milligan became concerned about the common citizen’s ability to understand the complicated judicial system. Combining his love for both literature and law, he set forth to create an educational series introducing children to the basic principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He plans to release 14 books, each set in a different province or territory, and addressing a different right or freedom. So far, six books have been released including Anne of Green Tomatoes, A Large Jaw in Moose Jaw, The Case of the Missing Montreal Bagel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Lobster, and The Plight Beneath the Northern Light.

As a University of Ottawa alum and former Senate page, Milligan is currently working on a book that will be set on Parliament Hill. Published by Ottawa’s DC Canada Education Publishing, two of the book’s three illustrators, Meredith Luce and Corey Tibbits are also based in the city. Tongue-in-cheek references to Canadian icons and Canadiana, including a few shout-outs to Tim Hortons and double-doubles, add to the local feel of the series.

The series is available online at www.dc-canada.ca, and at various bookstores in Ottawa including Collected Works and Octopus Books. Hardcover books are $16.95, paperbacks $11.95.