Review by Toby A. Welch
https://reviews.skbooks.com/earth-angels/

I thought I was knowledgeable about angels. But Earth Angels opened my eyes that they are so much more than I thought. Angels aren’t just those things that sit atop Christmas trees. They are spiritual beings and attendants that, among other things, are messengers of God that guard us humans. 

Earth Angels is a chapbook, which I always appreciate for its tuckability factor. (A chapbook is a small publication, usually a paperback, that is not more than forty pages.) Chapbooks are ideal for tucking into your purse or bag and pulling out when you have a spare minute to read a page or two. In our fast-paced, distracted age, chapbooks check many boxes. 

Earth Angels is an enlightening book about angels that packs a punch with its twenty-six pages. The bulk of the book is information about angels. We read about the different types of angels: archangels, seraphim, cherubim, living creatures, and common angels. We then get more details about the purpose of angels. We learn the eight symbolic characteristics of the appearance of angels: bright lights, wings, a balance of masculine and feminine, agelessness, soft flowing clothing, symbolism, high vibrations, and other specifics that you need to pay attention to. Mutala also delves into a few of the more well-known angels and provides a list of suggested scripture readings.

Mutala is convinced she has a guardian angel that has protected her on numerous occasions. She shared a story of one of those times that occurred when she was nineteen-years-old. While driving, she hit a patch of oil and ended up in a ditch under a barbed wire fence. A man helped her get back on the road and Mutala is certain he was an angel. Hearing such stories, it does get your mind wondering about your own potential experiences with angels. 

I believe what Mutala was trying to do with Earth Angels is to encourage us mortals to become angels on Earth. My hunch could be off base but by striving to make the world a better place and living with goals of love and justice, we will help create a more peaceful existence for all. In these chaotic times we live in, I appreciate the reminder. 

Marion Mutala books are becoming a staple on my heaving bookshelf. Earth Angels is my sixth book of hers and they have all been interesting reads that left me thinking long after I finished them. In total, Saskatoon-based Mutala has nineteen published books and I look forward to many more. 

If you have any interest in angels and the power they potentially have, Earth Angels should be on your bookshelf, too. Or perhaps in your bag…

Review by ​Shelley A. Leedahl
https://reviews.skbooks.com/time-for-peace-is-now-the/

Prolific and award-winning Saskatoon writer Marion Mutala now has twenty titles to her credit—including the acclaimed children’s series Baba’s Babushka, poetry and a cookbook—and, during these globally turbulent times, she’s aptly re-released her 2015 chapbook The Time for Peace is Now. The book’s minimally illustrated (a blue dove with a leafed olive branch appears on the cover and throughout the book) by Kate Hodgson, with lovely calligraphy by A. E. Matheson.

Mutala has a history of promoting peace, love and equality in her books, and in the dedication for this small book she considers “World Peace,” and writes: “In the 21st century, society needs to teach children to find ways to solve problems peacefully. I ask myself ‘What am I doing today to promote peace?’” I would say the former longtime educator is doing much more than most with the publication of this title, inspired, she says “by the motto of Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad Khalifatul Masih III: ‘Love of all, hatred for none.’”

Each page is a prayer in itself, beginning and ending with the phrase: “The time for peace is now; now is the time for peace.” Between these phrases we read about the various people who desire peace, ie: “Nurses heal for it. Doctors cure for it. Hospitals nurture it”. Mutala’s passionate about the arts, and this comes across in the text: “Singers vocalize it. Musicians perform it. Dancers dance it. Writers craft it. Painters illustrate it. Actors entertain it. Conductors direct it.” She writes that even flowers, birds, animals, the sun, mountains, the moon and stars crave peace—as so do people from various cultures around the world.

I particularly enjoyed the naming of Creators that appears on “Paix 12” of the 17-page chapbook. From those we’re familiar with, ie: “Buddha, Allah, and Jehovah” to “Gitche Manitou,” “Tenri-O-no-Mikoto” and “Divine Mother and Master of All Things in the Universe”. In her brief Author’s Note, Mutala explains “There are 104 different names of Gods listed on [a] world religions website,” and the final four pages of the book includes each of these in a colourful calligraphic font.

The Time for Peace is Now was initially released by Happy Leopard Chapbooks as a limited edition, handmade chapbook, with all proceeds going to the charity NASHI, “a Saskatoon-based organization dedicated to addressing human trafficking, particularly in Ukraine.” In a 2015 Saskatoon StarPhoenix interview, Mutala said: “When I first wrote the Peace book, I didn’t know if it was going to be a story or a poem … Now I reckon it’s my prayer for peace.”

Whether one’s Creator is “Great Interconnectedness,” “Infinite Mystery,” “The Evolutionary Absolute,” “God,” or any other deity, Mutala believes that love is at the basis of all faith. This tiny, inclusive book tenderly raises awareness about the imminent universal need and desire for peace, and good on Mutala for flying the peace flag in this unique way.

Review by Michelle Shaw
https://reviews.skbooks.com/rainbow-makes-a-promise-a/

Marion Mutala really is a creative dynamo. A Rainbow Makes a Promise is her twentieth book and once again she beautifully combines poetry and music into a kaleidoscope of creativity.

Saskatchewan author Mutala is perhaps best known for her national best-selling and award-winning children’s book series, Baba’s Babushka: Magical Ukrainian Adventures, which was recently collected in a beautiful 175-page illustrated limited edition hardcover. But she’s also written poetry (her second book of poetry, Race to Finish, was published in 2021), a cookbook (Baba Sophie’s Ukrainian Cookbook) and even a crime novel set in Saskatoon (The Mechanic’s Wife). In an interview a few years ago, she said, “it seems the more I write the more ideas flow.” And that really seems to be true.

A Rainbow Makes a Promise celebrates the rainbow as a symbol of peace, love, and hope. Each page explodes with colour. The pictures are big and bold, and each page is bordered by a beautiful, colourful geometric Ukrainian embroidery motif. Mutala uses a variety of artwork styles throughout the book, including photos, watercolours, hand drawn illustrations and AI generated images.

The words of the book are simple but many of them resonated with me long after I closed the book, such as “I have never seen a war that helps the world to live” and “It is time to stand up to evil and never give up the fight” — those pages are appropriately illustrated with superheroes!

At the back of the book there is a QR code which the reader can scan and listen to Mutala herself singing the words of the song. Sheet music is also provided so the book really can be an immersive experience as you play and sing along yourself.
If you’re only just discovering Marion Mutala’s work or you’re a long-time fan, I think you’re going to enjoy A Rainbow Makes a Promise.

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
https://reviews.skbooks.com/baba-sophies-ukrainian-cookbook/

I’m no great wonder in the kitchen – if I am cooking, I usually turn to the internet for recipes. Recently, however, I’ve started buying cookbooks. Two reasons for this: firstly, each time I click on a recipe online, I have to wade through paragraphs of unnecessary text (i.e. “My uncle Bob just loves these blackberry muffins”) before the author even gets to the ingredients; and secondly, I just love actual books, and seeing the recipe on a printed page – often beside a photograph of whatever I’m attempting to make – feels like the right tact.

Thus, I was duly pleased when Marion Mutala’s latest book arrived in my mailbox because this time, the prolific and award-winning Saskatchewan writer has penned Baba Sophie’s Ukrainian Cookbook. I’ve previously reviewed Mutala’s excellent children’s books and poetry, and I know that from the words to the design, production to the print, this would be a quality book and downright practical too (and I need all the help I can get).

The Sophie of the title is Mutala’s mother, Sophie Marie (née Dubyk) Mutala (1918-2007), who was born near Mayfair, SK. The book’s dedicated to Sophie and her daughter penned a one-page, glowing tribute. Sophie was “born with a bag of flour in one hand and a Kaiser deck in the other,” Mutala writes. She explains that even as a child, Sophie helped her mother bake and “make perogies, wash clothes on a washboard, cut wood with her brother using a double-handed saw, fill mattresses with clean hay to sleep on, and make feather quilts.”

Yes, it was a different time, but the recipes that follow include “Ukrainian Specialties, Breads, Main Courses, Desserts, and Beverages” that have stood the test of generations and are considered mainstays for many, even Norwegian-German-Irish Canadians like me. There’s also a section called “Canning and Preservatives,” and a Miscellaneous section, which includes two recipes I’ll not need – for “Cooked Playdough” and “Sugar Starch for Doilies”, and two I will: “Non-Toxic Drain Clog Remover” and “Stain Remover.”

Reading through this cookbook reminded me of visiting Ukrainian friends as a girl in rural Saskatchewan. There are recipes for Perogies, Pyrohy, Varenyky; Holubsti (Cabbage Rolls); and Borsch. It was also like going to a community supper, where Carrot Loaf, Potato Casserole, and Saskatoon Berry Pie are up for grabs. There are also many original recipes included here, like Sophie’s Homemade Noodles and Mama’s Cookies. The dessert section is the largest in the book, and I think I gained weight just reading these scrumptious recipes!

There’s also a nod to the familiar Rosettes, which my Norwegian grandmother made every Christmas, and in the Bread section, Mutala’s included “Bannock (In the Spirit of Truth and Reconciliation).”

Each page has a colourful Ukrainian-stitch graphic on its borders, and recipe sections contain colour food photographs. I’m pleased to own this book, and I’ll be putting it to use – the Low-Calorie Soup recipe looks tasty and would be a good budget meal – this week.