Tundra Books – Page 275 – Tundra Book Group

May 14, 2009May 7, 2025

Day 2: Festival of Trees 2009

Here is the second day of the 2009 Festival of Trees! You can read about Day 1 here. On day 2, the Silver Birch Awards were announced.

Silver Birch Award: Ages 7-11, Grades 3-6

Fiction Winner: The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan
Fiction Honour books: Eye of the Crow – The Boy Sherlock Holmes by Shane Peacock and Swindle by Gordon Korman

Non-Fiction Winner: Gold Medal for Weird by Kevin Sylvester
Non-Fiction Honour books: Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn’t
Know About Food by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod and Brave Deeds: How One Family Saved Many by Ann Alma

Express Winner: Dear Sylvia by Alan Cumyn
Express Honour books: Feather Brain by Maureen Bush and Boy in Motion – The Rick Hansen Story by Ainslie Manson

Shane Peacock signing Eye of the Crow.

Just look at the line-ups for autographs!

More games and activities for the students.

Once again, congratulations to the authors and illustrations and a big thank you to everyone made the event such a success! Until next year!

May 13, 2009May 7, 2025

Day 1: Festival of Trees 2009

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 DuÅ¡an PetriÄiÄ‡‘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!

May 7, 2009May 7, 2025

Have a Happy Mother’s Day!

Don’t forget that Mother’s day is May 10th this year. Tundra celebrates Mother’s Day with these great books:

Mom and Me
By Marla Stewart Konrad
ISBN 978-0-88776-866-8

All royalties from the sale of these books go to support World Vision’s work with children.

Mom and Me is a collaboration with World Vision that looks at how moms and children from around the world interact with each other, and emphasizes the special bond they share. The overall message for children is: Mom is always there for me and ‘she loves me like nobody else.’

– Editor’s Pick, Canadian Living

Mama Robot
By Davide Cali, illustrated by AnnaLaura Cantone
Translated by Marcel Danesi
ISBN 978-0-88776-873-6

Mama Robot is a testament to mothers around the world as a young boy discovers what motherhood is really about, and what makes his mama so special.

…this humorous story captures the conflicted feelings kids have towards their parents…. Mama Robot is a perfect melding of text and illustration….

– Starred Review, Quill & Quire

How It Happened in Peach Hill
By Marthe Jocelyn
ISBN 978-0-88776-907-8

How it Happened in Peach Hill is by turns funny, suspenseful, and heartbreaking as it explores the world of those who peddle hope and comfort for profit.

…a rollicking coming-of-age story that ends with dreams realized in unexpected ways….Readers will not soon forget this unconventional mother-and-daughter team.

– Starred Review, School Library Journal

April 27, 2009May 7, 2025

Open Book Toronto: New Episode of Type

Artist, Leanne Davies and Tundra author, Linda Zeman-Spaleny interview each other on the latest episode of Type.

What is Type?

Type is an Open Book series of “co-interviews” in which authors are paired with creative people in other fields of art and culture such as fashion, art, culinary arts, music, film/TV, theatre, dance and more.

In each segment, our guests open up a discussion by asking each other about their respective work and inspirations. Full of natural curiosity and without any pre-set questions or previous encounters, this series is filled with the type of spontaneous, engaging conversation that can happen at really good dinner parties, cocktail parties and other chatty gatherings…and then stick in your head for days.

Type is presented on Novel-tv, a new web channel offered exclusively by Open Book and produced by Matt Austin of Spontaneously Combusted Films. The new episode can also be viewed on Open Book Toronto or on their YouTube channel.

Thank you to the Open Book Toronto team and to Matt for their wonderful work!

April 26, 2009May 7, 2025

Launch of: Our Corner Grocery Store

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.