The Wrench

Bob's tricycle is broken and he needs a wrench to fix it.

He ventures out to buy one at the Megamart, where slick salesman, Mr. Mart, convinces Bob that it's not a wrench he needs, but a fridge hat...singing pajamas...a screaming machine! Bob spends all his money on things that he really doesn't need and before he knows it has no money and no wrench.

Lively illustrations and quirky hand-lettering make The Wrench a delight to read while also conveying an important message about consumerism and excess.

Elise Gravel is an award-winning author and illustrator. Well known for her odd critters and unusual drawing style, Elise creates books that are popular with adults and children alike. In 2012 she won the Governor General's Award for French-language illustration for La clé à molette, the original French version of The Wrench. This is her third book with Orca, following A Potato on a Bike and I am Scary. Elise lives in Montreal with her husband, two daughters and two cranky cats.

Charles Simard is a Québécois editor and translator from Tiohtià꞉ke / Montréal. He works as poetry, fiction, and nonfiction editor for Talonbooks in Vancouver on Coast Salish Territory. His published work includes the essay Littérature, analyse et forme: Herbert, Tolkien, Borges, Eco (EUE, 2010) and a number of translations for Orca Book Publishers, including Elise Gravel's The Wrench and Myriam Daguzan Bernier's dictionary of sexuality, Naked!. As a lexicographer, he has collaborated on the making of the popular linguistic suite Antidote in its bilingual editions. He holds a PhD in literature from Université de Montréal and was a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of New York's Graduate Center.