Category: Toronto

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It’s Wedding Season!

Let’s turn our attention away from the G20 Summit for a moment and focus on amour! June is all about weddings and to celebrate, we’re holding a contest to WIN 1 copy of Nana’s Getting Married by Heather Hartt-Sussman and Georgia Graham, AND 1 copy of Here Comes the Bride by Beatrice Masini and Anna Laura Cantone.

All you have to do is be one of the next 5 people to subscribe to Talking with Tundra!  Just click on the ‘Subscribe’ tab, above and if you’re fast, you win two beautiful picture books and get access to daily updates on what’s new and exciting in kids’ books!  How easy is that?

Here’s Nana’s Getting Married author, Heather Hartt-Sussman reading to kids at TYPE Books’s beautiful new Forest Hill location on June 13th.

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Veronica Tennant Unveils Art from On Stage, Please at Sick Kids Hospital

Author of the Tundra classic, On Stage, Please and former Prima Ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada, Veronica Tennant C.C, unveiled an art installation at the Hospital for Sick Children yesterday evening.   Donated by artist Rita Briansky, the permanent installation is part of a special gallery in the Hospital’s Sears Cancer Clinic.

Briansky’s fourteen etchings from On Stage, Please will accompany a glass mosaic titled “Pomp and Be Bop, Revisited”, a re-design of an original piece designed by the late Gundar Robez.

The new Clinic, which opened in January 2010, features colourful décor, including original works of art by clinic patients and fun activities to keep children of all ages entertained.

Originally published in 1977, On Stage, Please was written while Veronica Tennant was principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.  Over thirty years later, this entrancing story of a young girl’s first steps in the world of dance remains a favourite among young dancers in Canada and abroad. 

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Launch of: Folly

Last night, we celebrated the launch of Marthe Jocelyn’s new releases at Ben McNally Books.

Here is Marthe Jocelyn before all the guests arrive. Please, look at all the lovely books!

The guests arrive and Marthe Jocelyn is busy, busy!

Busy signing books!

Group photo! Former Publisher of Tundra Books, Kathy Lowinger, is back from a vacation and came to say a few words about working with Marthe Jocelyn.

Marthe Jocelyn reading the first section of Folly.

Thank you to the wonderful team at Ben McNally Books! Thank you to everyone that came out to say “hello” to Marthe! It was nice seeing Gillian O’Reilly, Shannon Howe Barnes, and Meghan Howe from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. They came with the new issue of Canadian Children’s Book News too! Here’s a little snippet of what the issue contained:

“…Rather than crafting a bleak, grimy and desperate tale, Jocelyn enriches her story with the inclusion of love and desire to paint a wonderfully textured portrait of some of England’s poor. Savvy teen readers will enjoy drinking from this sometimes saucy literary concoction. A toast to the spirited author and her great-grandmother….” – Lian Goodall

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2010 Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards

 

Congratulations to Eva Wiseman! Puppet is the winner of the 2010 Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards in Youth Literature.

Jury citations:
Puppet recounts the story of a blood libel trial that took place in Tisza-Eszlar, Hungary, in 1883, marrying historical accuracy seamlessly with dramatic events and rounded characters. Moral dilemmas are treated with subtlety: the chief witness against the Jews is a young Jewish boy, Morris Scharf, desperate to free his father and brainwashed by the authorities to believe his own lies. Meanwhile, his gentile friend. Julie, the story’s engaging young narrator, struggles with her own dilemma: Should she reveal evidence that will exonerate the Jews? Maintaining the suspense of a good detective story, Puppet keeps the readers on the edge of their seats until the truth comes out, dramatically, at the end of the trial. But Wiseman goes beyond plot, evoking the atmosphere of an impoverished Hungarian town whose visitors find relief in blaming Europe’s traditional scapegoat for their hardships. The Jury commends Puppet for introducing young readers to a relatively unknown event, and for broaching moral issues that will provoke intense discussions at home and in school.

Please join us at the award ceremony!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
8:00 PM | FREE
Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC
750 Spadina Ave (at Bloor Street)

Tundra Book Group