Acclaimed illustrator Jennifer Phelan reimagines Wade Hemsworth’s iconic log driver in a beautiful, contemporary picture-book adaptation of a beloved Canadian classic.

If you ask any girl from the parish around

What pleases her most from her head to her toes

She’ll say I'm not sure that it’s business of yours

But I do like to waltz with a log driver

Based on the perennially popular Canadian folk song and animated short film of the same name, The Log Driver’s Waltz showcases a spunky, independent young woman whose parents are keen for her to marry. The town’s well-to-do doctors, merchants, and lawyers try to impress her, but it’s the humble log driver—with his style, grace, and joie de vivre—who captures her attention. When she and the log driver finally meet on the dance floor, their joy leaps off the page.

With homages to the original film, and celebrating the flora, fauna, and folk art of this great land, The Log Driver’s Waltz brings a hallmark of Canadian childhood to life.

Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter, most notably the creator of “The Black Fly Song,” and, of course, “The Log Driver’s Waltz.” After Hemsworth’s passing in 2002, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson declared his songs “so much a part of our folklore . . . that we didn’t realize anyone had written them.” 

Wade Hemsworth's profile page

Jennifer Phelan is a soulful visual communicator. She finds magic in the understated details surrounding her sense of place. Home informs her creative identity and her vision whether in a suburb, a forest enclave community or the pedestrian and pet friendly Toronto Junction neighborhood, where she now lives with her artist husband Gleb and their two cats. Jennifer is an award-winning illustrator with published works in American Illustration, 3x3, and Creative Quarterly. Hey, Boy is her first children’s book. See more at: J-Phelan.com.

Jennifer Phelan's profile page

“A quintessentially Canadian picture book. . . . Gloriously illustrated by Toronto’s Jennifer Phelan. For all ages.”

The Montreal Gazette

"A thoughtful, female-driven interpretation of the classic folk song. . . . [E]ach illustration looks subtly well loved, like it has been folded up and carried around in a pocket all day."

Quill & Quire