author – Page 281 – Tundra Book Group

May 13, 2009May 7, 2025

Day 1: Festival of Trees 2009

The Ontario Library Association hosts the Forest of Reading Programs where readers vote for their favourite books. There are 7 different reading programs, categorized by grade level and age. The winner for each award were announced at the Festival of Trees at the Harbourfront Centre on May 13 and 14th. Honour books, books that also received a high number of votes, were also announced. Over 250,000 students in Ontario voted! More than 70 authors and illustrators attended, along with over 6,000 young readers in the audience. These kids know how to make their favourite authors and illustrators feel like a rockstar!

The Blue Spruce Award: Ages 4-7, Kindergarten to Grade 2
Winner: Chester by Melanie Watts
Honour books: Such a Prince by Dan Bar-El and Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Bill Slavin

The Red Maple Award: Ages 11-15, Grades 7-8
Fiction Winner: Out of the Cold by Norah McClintock
Fiction Honour books: Egghead by Caroline Pignat and Frost by Nicole Luiken
Non-Fiction Winner: Elizabeth MacLeod’s Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of the Ten Sovereigns
Non-Fiction Honour books: Ed Butts for SOS: Stories of Survival and Fire on the Water by Wendy Lewis

The White Pine Award: Grades 9-12
Winner: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Honour books: After River by Donna Milner and Gravity Journal by Gail Sidonie Sobat

Cary Fagan and DuÅ¡an PetriÄiÄ‡‘s My New Shirt was nominated for the Blue Spruce Award.

Congratulations to Ed Butts for SOS: Stories of Survival being named an Honour book! Student volunteers held signs and gave a small introduction before the authors and illustrators came up.

After the award ceremonies, students and teachers can meet the authors and illustrators, have their books signed, do arts and crafts, play games, and participate in various activities. Basically a literary fairground!

That is one giant Jenga!

The Hockey Hall of Fame had the Stanley Cup on display!

Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators! Thank you to all the organizers, volunteers, authors, illustrators, teachers, and students for all their work!

April 27, 2009May 7, 2025

Open Book Toronto: New Episode of Type

Artist, Leanne Davies and Tundra author, Linda Zeman-Spaleny interview each other on the latest episode of Type.

What is Type?

Type is an Open Book series of “co-interviews” in which authors are paired with creative people in other fields of art and culture such as fashion, art, culinary arts, music, film/TV, theatre, dance and more.

In each segment, our guests open up a discussion by asking each other about their respective work and inspirations. Full of natural curiosity and without any pre-set questions or previous encounters, this series is filled with the type of spontaneous, engaging conversation that can happen at really good dinner parties, cocktail parties and other chatty gatherings…and then stick in your head for days.

Type is presented on Novel-tv, a new web channel offered exclusively by Open Book and produced by Matt Austin of Spontaneously Combusted Films. The new episode can also be viewed on Open Book Toronto or on their YouTube channel.

Thank you to the Open Book Toronto team and to Matt for their wonderful work!

April 26, 2009May 7, 2025

Launch of: Our Corner Grocery Store

In a city inundated with giant, gleaming supermarkets, Toronto’s old-style neighbourhood corner store may be nearly extinct.

But there’s no hint of decline at the impressively cluttered greengrocer located in the tiny front room of a house near Hillcrest Park, in the St. Clair West area. Every weekday at lunch, the 20-by-20-foot shop, owned by Domenico Cozzi, 76, and his wife Rosa, 77, is overrun with ravenous school kids, who swarm in to buy Mr. Cozzi’s salami and provolone sandwiches, pop and candy….

In recent weeks, regular patrons have noticed that the Cozzis have been even more upbeat than usual. The reason: Their modest business, purchased with the house for $33,000 back in 1966, has become the subject of a new children’s book, Our Corner Grocery Store (Tundra), illustrated by Laura Beingessner.

– John Lorinc, The Globe and Mail

The publication of Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner’s new picture book, Our Corner Grocery Store, was celebrated on Saturday, April 25, 2009. Since the book is such a local story, Joanne Schwartz hosted a neighbourhood event at her home. Our Corner Grocery Store is based on Domenico’s grocery store which is located at 134 Tyrrel Avenue, Toronto. Domenico Cozzi and his wife Rosa, owners of the actual corner grocery store, came to celebrate the book’s release.

Laura Beingessner signing Our Corner Grocery Store. Look at the line-up of readers!

Joanne’s turn to sign!

Reading Our Corner Grocery Store in the front yard.

Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner thank everyone for coming. Thank you Domenico and Rosa for your inspirations and to everyone who came out and made the event such as success! Can you spot Domenico’s smiling face in the photo above? Also, thank you to John Lorinc for attending and writing the wonderful piece in The Globe and Mail.

April 21, 2009May 7, 2025

Author Lunch: Susin Nielsen

Susin Nielsen happened to be in town, so we invited her in for lunch on April 21, 2009. We really wanted to celebrate the success of Susin’s young adult novel, Word Nerd. Inspired from Word Nerd, the main character, Ambrose is always invited to eat with his Greek landlords – so we decided to have delicious Greek food!

Chicken Souvlaki No Peanut signs!

Left: Ambrose is a very good Scrabble player (he attends the West Side Scrabble Club), so we made food labels using Scrabble tiles!
Right: The wonderful cover of Word Nerd features a “no peanut sign” because Ambrose is severely allergic to peanuts. We kept with the design and had “no peanut” signs displayed in our food trays.

Susin's Cake Susin Nielsen
For dessert, we had this delicious chocolate truffle cake. Congratulations Susin! Word Nerd is nominated for the Canadian Library Association’s 2009 Book of the Year Award for Children!

Word Nerd centerpiece!

Most Promising Newcomer Trophy The “Most Promising Newcomer” trophy! Inspired again from Word Nerd, Ambrose wins this trophy from the Scrabble Club. You can download the file for the trophy here. Simply print and cut!

Susin Nielsen signing copies of Word Nerd for our guests. Thank you Susin for coming in and sharing your wonderful (and funny) stories with us!

April 20, 2009May 7, 2025

TINARS for Tots: Our Corner Grocery Store

This Is Not a Reading Series for Tots on Saturday, April 18, 2009 was presented by Pages Books & Magazine, The Little Paper, Bunch, and the Gladstone Hotel. TINAR’s “Neighbourhood Stories Day” featured Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner’s book, Our Corner Grocery Store. Also presenting that day was Frieda Wishinsky and Marie-Louise Gay’s Please Louise!

Our Corner Grocery Store by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Laura Beingessner

TINARS for Tots Parents have brunch while children are entertained by authors and illustrators!

Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner organized a wonderful arts and craft project:
Crafting Our Corner Grocery Store Colouring the grocery store and food items.
Cutting and..
pasting!

Joanne Schwartz, Winston, and Joanne Beingessner Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner with Winston, the TINARS mascot!