Guest Post: Monica Kulling on Non-Fiction Fun!
TD Summer Reading Club 2013
The TD Summer Reading Club is an inclusive, bilingual program that strives to engage all children in the joy of reading during the summer months. This program is a joint initiative between TD Bank Group, Toronto Public Library, and Library and Archives Canada. Every year a theme is selected from suggestions made across the country. This year’s theme is GO!
Children who register for the TD Summer Reading Club at their local library receive a free promotional reading kit and are encouraged to earn nine collectible stickers by reading books over the summer. They are also invited to participate in programs organized at their local library and share their love of reading with children across the country through the TD Summer Reading club website.
Here are some of the Tundra titles that are being featured in the reading lists this year, make sure you check them out at your local library!
Getting There
Written by Marla Stewart Konrad
Travel in Style: Ages 3-6
Hardcover | 24 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-867-5
From the moment we take our first steps, it seems we are always on the move. Pictured here are the many and unusual ways we get around. Whether they go on their own two feet, by wheeled vehicle, water craft, animal power, or by air, children find some unorthodox and truly imaginative ways to “get there.”
The Flying Canoe
Retold by Roch Carrier
Illustrated by Sheldon Cohen
Translated by Sheila Fischman
Travel in Style: Ages 7-12+
Hardcover | 24 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-636-7
On New Year’s eve, 1847, eleven-year-old Baptiste finds himself far from his friends and family and his home in La Beauce. He has come to the woods of the Ottawa Valley to live and work among “the finest lumberjacks in Canada.” As the New Year approaches, Baptiste and the lumberjacks grow more and more homesick. Resolved to see their families again before the stroke of midnight, the crew board a magical canoe that lifts them into the air, across villages, and closer to home.
Cyclist BikeList: The Book for Every Rider
Written by Laura Robinson
Illustrated by Ramon K. Perez
Travel in Style: Ages 8-12+
Trade Paperback | 64 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-784-5
Bikes are becoming an ever-more vital part of daily life for people of all ages. Laura Robinson combines fascinating history (the first bike was propelled by the rider’s feet pushing against the ground) with useful and fun information, including tips for the way to dress for safe and efficient biking; what to eat for maximum body efficiency; and how to select and maintain a bike.
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance
Written by Marthe Jocelyn
Discover Art: Ages 9-12+
Hardcover | 288 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-663-3
Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.
Please click here for more information about Matt James, the illustrator who created the artwork for this year’s Reading Club!
Shortlist for the 2013 Sunburst Award
The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award to recognize stellar writing, named after the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb (1926–2009), one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian science fiction.
The shortlisted works in the young adult category are:
The Green Man
By Michael Bedard
Hardcover | 320 Pages | Ages 10+
ISBN: 978-1-77049-285-1
eBook: 978-1-77049-293-6
“Fifteen-year-old O—short for Opehlia, but don’t call her that—spends the summer with her Aunt Emily, whose poor health means that Emily is as much nurse as niece. A well known poet in her day, Emily now runs a ramshackle secondhand bookstore called The Green Man, and over the course of the summer O will discover that it is not only her aunt who is haunted by the past. The author’s lyrical prose illuminates this haunting love story to the written word, and its power to captivate, enchant, and possess. Sympathetic characters, a creeping evil which must be defeated, and an endearing phantasmagorical Dead Poets Society inhabiting a bookshop are only some of the delights in this heavenly read.” —Jury Comments
Bright’s Light by Susan Juby
Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Rebel Heart by Moira Young
Congratulations to the five shortlisted authors!
The awards will be presented in the fall of 2013. The jurors for the 2013 award are: Rebecca Bradley, Tony Burgess, Shari Lapeña, Barbara Roden, and Leon Rooke.
Tuesdays with Tundra 30
Tuesdays with Tundra is a monthly post on our new releases. The following books are available today in stores and online!
Smokescreen
Written by Nancy Hartry
Hardcover | 208 Pages | Ages 12+
ISBN: 978-1-77049-405-3
eBook: 978-1-77049-406-0
Nothing in Kerry’s life prepares her for her first summer job. Stationed as far north from Toronto as Florida is south, unqualified and inexperienced, she perceives hazards around every tree. What does she know about fieldwork? Or black bears? Or men? Absolutely nothing—all she’s done with her life so far is competitive dance. If her mother only knew what this job required!
Kerry’s new partner, Yvette, is unlike anyone she’s ever met and something about her doesn’t add up. Her boss is a chauvinist pig and out to get them. When forest fires break out, Kerry and Yvette are drafted for fire duty and sent deeper into the bush—even closer to the fire. As all of northwestern Ontario goes up in flames, Kerry vows to find out what is really going on and uncovers a crime of international scope and scale that will threaten her life.
Smokescreen is an adrenalin pumping adventure, pitting two resourceful young women against nature and man at their most greedy. Truth and lies. Fire and darkness. Who will triumph when nothing is what it seems?
Noni Is Nervous
Written by Heather Hartt-Sussman
Illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 2-5
ISBN: 978-1-77049-323-0
A unique hardcover picture book for two to five year olds, this is the story of a lovely little girl who is nervous about many things. Noni finds a way to control her nerves and work through her anxiety, making life much more bearable for everyone!
Noni is nervous about playdates, and global warming, and most of all, about the first day of school. Her parents are worried too, and even her brother is a little wary. But Noni finds a friend, someone a little more outgoing than herself, and discovers that through friendship, she can belong and succeed in a world that once filled her with dread. The story is a universal one about the power of friendship and belonging, delightfully illlustrated by award-winning illustrator Geneviève Côté.
Pub Date Giveaway: In the comments below, please tell one of the two new July release from Tundra you would love to read and one lucky reader will receive their requested book! One request per person and please review our rules. This giveaway ends at midnight on Monday, July 15, 2013!
UPDATE: Congratulations to Teresa on winning a copy of Noni Is Nervous.
Giveaway: Nana’s Summer Surprise
Giveaway: Happy first day of summer! In the comments below, tell us what your summers plans are. One lucky reader will win a copy of Nana’s Summer Surprise. One entry per person and please review our rules. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the United States and ends at midnight on Sunday, June 30, 2013. UPDATE: A winner has been selected!
Nana’s Summer Surprise
Written by Heather Hartt-Sussman
Illustrated by Georgia Graham
Hardcover | 32 Pages | Ages 4-6
ISBN: 978-1-77049-324-7
In this third book of related titles, our hero must face one more hurdle in accepting his nana’s new “family.” Nana’s new husband, Bob, has a granddaughter named Hortense. They were friends last summer—but over the winter she’s changed and the tentative friendship they shared seems a thing of the past. In this charming picture book about growing up, there is also a message about getting along and finding common ground, even when it’s not at all obvious that that common ground will exist! A heartwarming picture book about blended families and overcoming the differences that children face when they mature at different paces.