Category: illustrator

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The 100th International Women’s Day

March 8, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day! Let’s celebrate by learning more about these amazing women:

“Scribbling Women”
True Tales from Astonishing Lives
Written by Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 208 pages
Ages 14+
ISBN 978-0-88776-952-8
eBook 978-1-77049-230-1
In 1855, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to his publisher, complaining about the irritating fad of “scribbling women.” Whether they were written by professionals, by women who simply wanted to connect with others, or by those who wanted to leave a record of their lives, those “scribbles” are fascinating, informative, and instructive.

The Matchless Six
The Story of Canada’s First Women’s Olympic Team
Written by Ron Hotchkiss
Paperback | 200 Pages
Ages 11+
ISBN 978-0-88776-738-8
“…the book provides a fresh slant on the history of the Olympics and on women’s athletics in the early twentieth century.” – Booklist

Silent in an Evil Time
The Brave War of Edith Cavell
Written by Jack Batten
Paperback | 144 Pages
Ages 10+
ISBN 978-0-88776-737-1
eBook 978-1-77049-005-5
“This exceptional biography reads like an adventure novel…. The woman’s life is laid out logically and succinctly in this revealing work. The author does not glorify her; he shows her as a real person and not just as a mythologized heroine. The historical facts are well explained and Cavell is placed clearly in context. Her legacy is portrayed objectively and her impact is well documented.” – School Library Journal

Laura Secord
A story of Courage
Written by Janet Lunn
Illustrated by Maxwell Newhouse
Hardcover | 32 Pages
Ages 8+
ISBN 978-0-88776-538-4
“A round of applause for the latest Laura … which gives readers an excellent story and the broadest appreciation for the time period…. A fitting tribute to a determined woman, this book inspires readers to hope that each of us, if called upon, could be so noble.” – Quill & Quire

Heart and Soul
The Story of Florence Nightingale
Written by Gena K. Gorrell
Paperback | 152 Pages
Ages 10+
ISBN 978-0-88776-703-6
“This fascinating book is filled with little-known facts, photographs and drawings of Nightingale’s personal life, and descriptions of her era’s social mores and medical profession, all of which make her achievements more astounding.” – VOYA

Emily Carr
At the Edge of the World
Written by Jo Ellen Bogart
Illustrated by Maxwell Newhouse
Hardcover | 40 Pages
Ages 10+
ISBN 978-0-88776-640-4
“This beautiful biography … will interest a wide variety of readers … high quality full colour reproductions of the artist’s paintings appear on the right hand page, and the text and black and white illustrations detailing the artist’s life are on the verso…. The finely detailed line drawings … by folk artist Maxwell Newhouse capture the very essence of Emily’s appearance, her charming pets and her vigorous creativity. The text is thoughtful, sensitive and respectful…. Jo Ellen Bogart is able to give the reader a glimpse into the creative heart of an artist and let readers know about the person in a very accessible and readable book….” – Highly Recommended, CM Magazine

Capturing Joy
The Story of Maud Lewis
Written by Jo Ellen Bogart
Illustrated by Mark Lang
Trade Paperback | 32 Pages
Ages 8-12
ISBN 978-0-88776-568-1
“Bogart handles the story of Lewis’s difficult and impoverished life with great tact. Her declarative style says more than the mere words ever could … a lovely picture book… [that] will inspire curiosity about and admiration for this remarkable woman.” – The Telegram

She Dared
True Stories of Heroines, Scoundrels, and Renegades
Written by Ed Butts
Illustrated by Heather Collins
Trade Paperback | 128 pages
Ages 11-14
ISBN 978-0-88776-718-0
eBook 978-1-77049-008-6
“She Dared introduces young readers aged 10 to 14 to these famous – and infamous – women and to what women with will and wherewithal can accomplish.” – Today’s Parent

Tell No One Who You Are
The Hidden Childhood of Regine Miller
Written by Walter Buchignani
Trade Paperback | 192 pages
Ages 9+
ISBN 978-0-88776-817-0
“Tell No One Who You Are is an extraordinary and moving book…. This is a story that will make readers want to know more, and the afterword, appendices and bibliography do an admirable job of providing a context for Régine’s story. Highly Recommended” – CM Archive

In the Bag!
Margaret Knight Wraps It Up
Written by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by David Parkins
Hardcover | 32 pages
Ages 5-8
ISBN 978-1-77049-239-4
Margaret Knight devoted her life to inventing, and is best known for the clever, practical, paper bag. When she died in 1914, she had ninety inventions to her name and over twenty patents, astounding accomplishments for a woman of her day.

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Tuesdays with Tundra 9

Tuesdays with Tundra is a monthly post on our new releases. The following books are available today in stores and online!

Amazing Animals: The Remarkable Things That Creatures Do
By Margriet Ruurs
Illustrated by W. Allan Hancock
Hardcover | Ages 6-9
ISBN 978-0-88776-973-3
Did you know that the oldest insect lived more than 350 million years ago? That’s more than 100 million years before the dinosaurs! Did you know that a slug has three noses, an octopus has three hearts, and that an earthworm has no eyes, no nose, no ears, and no lungs, but it has five hearts?

By compiling facts that astound her and whet her own curiosity, Margriet Ruurs encourages young readers to observe the natural world around them and to share her sense of wonder and respect for it.With stunning art and bright, brief text, Amazing Animals is a perfect introduction to a host of creatures – many of them endangered.

Nearly Nonsense: Hoja Tales from Turkey
By Rina Singh
Illustrated by Farida Zaman
Hardcover | Ages 5-8
ISBN 978-0-88776-974-0
Nasrudin Hoja was a mullah (teacher) in Turkey. He was a busy man – he worked in a vineyard, gave sermons at the mosque, and was sometimes even a judge. He did all of this with a nagging wife, a constant stream of uninvited visitors, and many animals. Although Hoja’s life wasn’t easy, his heart was always light and his observations about life held a witty twist. For instance, when his donkey got lost, his neighbors offered sympathy, but Hoja found the bright side: “Imagine if I were riding the donkey at the time. I’d be lost too!”

Though the ten Hoja stories presented by Rina Singh and richly illustrated by Farida Zaman are funny, each one contains such insight into human nature that Sufi teachers use them to illustrate their teachings. Traditional Turkish Hoja stories are much-loved throughout Asia, and Nearly Nonsense brings them to a North American readership sure to enjoy them and, through laughter, to learn from them.

Also check out this fun video that Rina Singh made!

Pub Date Giveaway: Which book would you love to get your hands on? Leave us a comment below and one lucky reader will receive a copy of their requested book, courtesy of Tundra! One request per person and please review our rules. This offer ends at midnight on Thursday, March 10, 2011!

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Tuesdays with Tundra 8

Tuesdays with Tundra is a monthly post on our new releases. The following books are available today in stores and online!

Noni Says No
By Heather Hartt-Sussmann
Illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Hardcover | Ages 2-5
ISBN 9781770492332
Noni can do many things: she can give her baby brother his bottle, she can help her mother in the kitchen, and she can even walk over to her friend Susie’s house. But Noni just can’t say “no.” When she was very small, it was easy saying “no” to everybody, but now that she has a best friend, she wants to please. Noni can’t say “no” to her friend, even when it means she has to hand over a precious toy, or when it means agreeing to a hideous haircut, or even giving up her bed at a sleepover. But when Noni finally finds her voice, the consequences are not what she – or the reader – expects.

Strutting It! The Grit Behind the Glamour
By Jeanne Beker
Trade Paperback | Ages 11+
ISBN 9781770492240
eBook 9781770492585
Who wouldn’t want to wear gorgeous clothes, travel the world, hang out with stars, have adoring fans – and get paid a fortune for it? But is that what the life of a model is like?

World-famous fashion guru Jeanne Beker offers a unique insider’s look at the reality behind the glitz. She demystifies the industry for those who are thinking about a career in modeling and for those who simply want the scoop on an intriguing world. Strutting It! is full of fascinating information, from getting discovered to finding a personal style, from the team of people behind every model to the education a good model should have.

With a foreword by modeling superstar Coco Rocha, Strutting It! is packed with biographies of successful models, lots of black-and-white photos, and the great humor and common sense Jeanne Beker is known for.

Pub Date Giveaway: Show us some love! Which book would you love to get your hands on? Leave us a comment below and one lucky reader will receive a copy of their requested book, courtesy of Tundra! One request per person and please review our rules. This offer ends at midnight on Thursday, February 10, 2011!

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Guest Post: Intern Meets Superconference

Hi Everyone!

My name is Alison and I’m happy to introduce myself as Tundra’s new intern. I’m four weeks in and still excited to come into work to find myself surrounded by so many amazing children books! The walls here echo with stories….

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the OLA Superconference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on February 4th and 5th and help out at the Tundra stand. It was a great exhibition and an opportunity to get a peek at what’s new and exciting in the publishing world. It was also nice to meet so many friendly librarians and people who work so hard at getting the right books into the hands of the right kids!

OLA - the colourful worlds of publishers and libraries collide!

We had a lot of traffic at the Tundra booth for the author book signings. Marthe Jocelyn, Susin Nielsen, Heather Hartt-Sussman, Cyndi Sand-Eveland, Rina Singh, Farida Zaman, Monica Kulling, Ed Butts, and Christopher Moore signed copies of their latest Tundra books and answered questions about their stories and the inspiration behind them. (There were several requests for signed copies of Monica Kulling’s Merci Mister Dash! to be addressed to special friends of the canine persuasion, of which I’m sure Mister Dash would approve.)

I had created little signs announcing the time slots for the author signings. Of course, as a good little intern should, I made sure to double-check the spelling of all of the author’s names. But alas, there was one that slipped through, and I was quite embarrassed to realize at the last-minute that I had spelled Susin Nielsen’s name as “Susan.” Unfortunately, I’m sure she gets that a lot! I quickly turned that “a” into an “i” with a black marker but the mistake was pretty glaringly obvious (even little mistakes are scary when you’re an intern and you’re continually trying to prove your competence!). But, when Susin came around to sign Dear George Clooney, she was very sweet and not at all annoyed about it, and we joked that the now-massive “i” was done on purpose to remind others not to make the likely-common mistake. Oops!

Ed Butts signing copies of Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes

On Friday afternoon, the seventh annual CANSCAIP Mass Book Launch was held at the Expo. Twenty authors and illustrators went on stage to give pretty entertaining “infomercials” and insights into their latest titles. It was interesting to see the wide range of personalities going into the creation of current Canadian children books. From Tundra, Marthe Jocelyn (Folly), Richard Scrimger (Me & Death), Farida Zaman (Nearly Nonsense), and Veronika Martenova Charles (Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales), each did an excellent job giving a teaser snapshot of their books and describing what makes them relevant for young readers.

Marthe Jocelyn reading an excerpt from Folly at the CANSCAIP Mass Book Launch

This week Tundra’s going to another conference – Reading for the Love of It – February 10th and 11th at the Sheraton Centre. I’m looking forward to interacting with another incredibly important part of the kids + books equation: the teachers!

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OLA Best Bets 2010

Each year the OLA Best Bets Committee selects the top 10 Canadian picture books, fiction and non fiction for children and fiction for teens. The list will be featured at OLA Superconference at the Child and Youth Expo session on Friday, February 4 at 2:10 pm. Here are the Tundra titles that made the 2010 lists:

Junior Fiction:
Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom by Susin Nielsen
Honourable Mention to The Secret Fiend by Shane Peacock

Junior Non Fiction:
Honourable Mention to Hudson by Janice Weaver, illustrated by David Craig

Young Adult Fiction:
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn
Honourable Mention to Winter Shadows by Margaret Buffie

Tundra will also be hosting author signings at our booth: #720

Thursday, February 3, 2011:

  • 11:00 am Marthe Jocelyn will be signing chapbooks of “Scribbling Women” and F&Gs of Ones and Twos.
  • 12:00 pm Susin Nielsen will be signing Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom.
  • 12:45 pm Heather Hartt-Sussman will be signing F&Gs of Noni Says No.
  • 1:30 pm Cyndi Sand-Eveland will be signing Dear Toni.
  • 3:30 pm  Rina Singh and Farida Zaman will be signing Nearly Nonsense.

Friday, February 4, 2011:

  • 10:00 am Monica Kulling will be signing F&Gs of Merci Mister Dash!
  • 12:00 pm Ed Butts will be signing Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes.
  • 1:00 pm Christopher Moore will be signing From Then to Now.

Signing times are subject to change. We are giving away a limited number of F&Gs, chapbooks, and books, it would be best to arrive on time to line-up! See you there!

Tundra Book Group