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Bradley McGogg, The Very Fine Frog is number 1!
Munro’s Books: Kids’ Books Bestsellers
1. Bradley Mcgogg, The Very Fine Frog By Beiser, Tim
Rachel Berman signed copies of Bradley McGogg, The Very Fine Frog at Munro’s Books on May 16, 2009. Photos courtesy of Munro’s Books:
Rachel Berman signing books and posters.
Debbie Willis and Rachel Berman at Munro’s Books.
On Saturday, it was “Look Again Day” at This Is Not A Reading Series for Tots, presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Bunch, Gladstone Hotel, and the Little Paper. Marla Stewart Konrad presented her two books, Getting There and Mom and Me:
Also at TINARS for Tots that day was Rebecca Upjohn presenting Lily And The Paper Man and there was a tribute to Tomi Ungerer of The Three Robbers & Moon Man.
Then on Sunday, it was the TINARS Literary Arcade! TINARS set up listening stations in the ballroom of the Gladstone Hotel as part of Doors Open Toronto. Featured authors and illustrators included: Joanne Schwartz, Laura Beingessner, Claudia Dey, Lisa Foad, Stacey May Fowles, Hilary Leung & David Bruins, Ibi Kaslik, Damian Rogers, Zoe Whitall, and Nathan Whitlock.
Check out the window display at Pages Books & Magazines, located at 256 Queen Street West, Toronto, M5V 1Z8. Photos courtesy of Pages Books & Magazine.
This is going to be a busy weekend for Toronto!
From 10:00-1:00pm on Saturday May 23, Pages Books will be hosting “Look Again Day” for TINARS for Tots at the Gladstone Hotel. Doors open at 9:30am, so get there early for a good seat! Marla Stewart Konrad will be presenting Getting There and Mom and Me.
Then, as part of Lit City and Doors Open Toronto, two of our authors will be reading at Canada’s National Ballet School. On Sunday May 24, at 11:00am, we have Linda Maybarduk (former Soloist with The National Ballet of Canada) reading James the Dancing Dog. Right after at 11:30am, Cary Fagan will be reading Beyond the Dance (co-authored with The National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancer, Chan Hon Goh). At 12:30pm Veronica Tennant reads from On Stage Please.
Another event hosted by Pages Books is the TINARS Literary Arcade this weekend! This will also be part of Doors Open Toronto on May 24 from 12:00 to 4:00pm at the Gladstone Hotel. Joanne Schwartz and Laura Beingessner of Our Corner Grocery Store fame will be in attendance!
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 Dušan Petričić‘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!
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.