Fall 2009 – Page 12 – Tundra Book Group

September 23, 2009May 7, 2025

Telling Tales – A Family Festival of Stories

Sunday, September 20, 2009 was the first annual Telling Tales Festival. The festival was held in the beautiful Westfield Heritage Village in Rockton, Ontario. Tundra authors and illustrators that presented were Cary Fagan, Janet Wilson, Ken Setterington, Richard Scrimger, and Shane Peacock. Here are some of our photos from the day, courtesy of Lauren from Tundra!

Q&As with Richard Scrimger!

Janet Wilson and Richard Scrimger Janet Wilson and Richard Scrimger.

A fan of Into the Ravine by Richard Scimger.

Shane Peacock reading Shane Peacock reading at the Jerseyville Railway.

Fans of Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes by Shane Peacock.

Thank you to everyone who attended and to the team of organizers. A big, huge round of applause to Susan Jasper for all her hard work! Next year’s Festival will be held on Sunday, September 19, 2010!

September 22, 2009May 7, 2025

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival 2009

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival is now in its 21st year! This year it was held on Sunday, September 20, 2009 – noon ’til 6:00pm. Here are a few photos from the day:

Driving into Eden Mills, we knew we were going the right way!

This painting on a building near the South Gate Entrance:

Publishers’ Way: The Bookshelf had books for sale by author reading at the Festival. Author signings were in the booth next to the Bookshelf. Other Publishers also had booths on this street.

The Food Court: lots of delicious foods from samosas to organic ice cream!

Curtis Parkinson reading from The Castle on Deadman’s Island at the Common during the Young Adult Authors set at 1:30pm.

Also reading was Cary Fagan at the Children’s Area at 1:30pm and Edo van Belkom at the Children’s Area at 4:30pm. Please visit our page on facebook for more photos.

We would like the thank all the hardworking volunteers for making the festival such a success! The next EMWF‘s big day of readings will be on Sunday, September 19, 2010.

September 21, 2009May 7, 2025

Launch of: Bird Child

Nan Forler celebrated the launch of her debut picture book, Bird Child, on Saturday, September 19, 2009. The book launch was held at The Great Hall in Conrad Grebel University College from 2-4pm. Have a look at all the Bird Child related activities from the launch in our gallery below:

For more photos from the event, please visit our facebook page. Thank you to Tricia and Bronwyn of Words Worth Books for attending and selling copies of the book at the event. Also, many thanks to Nan’s family and friends, all the volunteers, the dancers, and the musicians!

“Magical and ethereal do not typically describe tales of bullying, but this lyrical combination of realism and fantasy defies expectation…. The complex images and constantly shifting visual perspective perfectly match the ambiguous nature of the text. This is a beautiful book with a somber tone, buoyed by Eliza and Lainey’s triumph in imagining possibilities. They do not fight the bully, but defy him by becoming friends.” – School Library Journal

On Saturday, October 3, Nan Forler will be reading at The Freckled Lion bookstore during a special story time at 10:30am.
On Saturday, November 14, Nan Forler will be reading at McNally Robinson Booksellers at 3:00pm.
On Tuesday, November 17, Nan Forler will be reading at the Toronto Public Library’s Locke Branch at 2:00pm.

September 19, 2009May 7, 2025

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Y’arrr! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Here are some treasures for ye!

A Thousand Years of Pirates
Written and illustrated by William Gilkerson
ISBN 978-0-88776-924-5
Ages 10+ | 96 Pages | Hardcover
Governor General’s Award-winning author and artist William Gilkerson has spent years researching and painting their colorful history. From the terrible Black Beard to the fascinating Granuaile, or Grace O’Malley as the English called her, they have come to life under his brush. One can almost hear the creak of timbers, the snap of canvas while turning the pages. This gift book is a rich treasure in its own right.

Kidnapped
Adapted by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Cam Kennedy
ISBN 978-0-88776-843-9
Ages 10+ | 64 Pages | Paperback
This new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, the dramatic and epic adventure story about a seventeen-year-old desperate to secure his inheritance, brings together two creative giants from the world of graphic novels – the absolute “dream team” of artist Cam Kennedy and scriptwriter Alan Grant.

The Ancient Ocean Blues
Written by Jack Mitchell
ISBN 978-0-88776-832-3
Ages 10-13 | 200 Pages | Paperback
Anyone who thinks ancient history is dry will think again after dipping into these ocean blues. Here, political corruption, intrigue, high-seas adventure, romance, and comedy are all presented in abundance by the likable Marcus Oppius Sabinus, a teenager with a very contemporary attitude. Marcus is unwittingly involved by his cousin in “promoting” the ambitious young Julius Caesar in an upcoming Roman election. Given very little choice but to accept his assignment, Marcus travels to Greece, but not before he is sidelined by shipwreck, enslavement, and pirate attack. Oh, yes, and the beginnings of love.

X Doesn’t Mark the Spot: Tales of Pirate Gold, Buried Treasure, and Lost Riches
Written by Ed Butts
ISBN 978-0-88776-808-8
Ages 11+ | 88 Pages | Paperback
Ed Butts’s tales of adventure, of shattered hopes, and, occasionally, of dreams come true expose the greed and the challenges that motivated the searchers. A few of them got lucky. But X didn’t mark the spot for most of these adventurers – and that means undiscovered treasures still lie ready to ignite the imagination.

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by DuÅ¡an PetriÄiÄ‡
ISBN 978-0-88776-895-8
Ages 8-11 | 128 Pages | Hardcover
He’s back! After Jacob Two-Two’s father writes a very important novel, the family makes plans to move to Canada. They board the SS Spring-a-Leak for a journey across the ocean. But something is wrong on the SS Spring-a-Leak. Will the intrepid Shapiro and the fearless O’Toole really be left on a desert island? Will Jacob Two-Two be made to walk the plank? Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas is a treat for those who know Jacob and for those who are about to meet one of the most endearing characters in children’s literature.

September 9, 2009May 7, 2025

Guest Post: Michael Mazo and Michael Soloviov

Do you remember the previous guest post by Michael Mazo and Michael Soloviov? Well now we have a behind-the-scenes look at how the author and illustrator collaborated!

Finding inspiration from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, author Michael Mazo and illustrator Michael Soloviov created their own version of Robert Ford vs. Jesse James. In their adaptation, Julius the Elder and William the Upstart, are the two characters from their debut picture book Brothers.

Michael Mazo: So the illustration that I kindly wanted Mr. Soloviov to create was like this one. As you can see I’ve been taking art classes. One of the dogs is raising his paws in victory. The other is on his knees in defeat. It’s an old western town. It’s meant to look like a gunfight, like the gunfight in Back to the Future 3:

MM: I really wanted Julius to show the utter agony of defeat (like a defeated athlete on his knees). Mr. Soloviov replied with, “Oh yeah, Mike, so you’ve seen a lot of dogs on their knees?” But he is a magician and can do anything. This was the first draft:

MM: I only asked for one correction: to make our hero’s stomachs bigger and stuff their cheeks (especially William because he is the winner):

MM: And this is the final illustration. The only corrections I asked for were to dress the dogs (and put bones where guns would go) and add some hay rolling across the street like in a movie:

MM: And then I kindly asked Mr. Soloviov to take the text I wrote and make it look like it came from an old newspaper. You can see the result by clicking here and click here to view the original New York Times story about Jesse James.