Category: Tundra Books

Posted on

Big Ideas for Little Readers

Here at Tundra Book Group we have many books to help start conversations about big thoughts and feelings your little readers may have. As part of #FindYourselfInABook this January, we have created a list of beautiful children’s books, plus educators’ guides and activity sheets, to explore those big ideas!

A Garden of Creatures
By Sheila Heti
Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735268814 | Tundra Books
Two bunnies and a cat live happily together in a beautiful garden. But when the big bunny passes away, the little bunny is unsure how to fill the void she left behind. A strange dream prompts her to begin asking questions: Why do the creatures we love have to die, and where do we go when we die? How come life works this way? With the wisdom of the cat to guide her, the little bunny learns that missing someone is a way of keeping them close. And together they discover that the big bunny is a part of everything around them – the grass, the air, the leaves – for the world is a garden of creatures. With its meditative text, endearing illustrations and life-affirming message, A Garden of Creatures reveals how the interconnectedness of nature and the sweetness of friendship can be a warm embrace even in the darkest times.

Bug in a Vacuum
By Mélanie Watt
Ages 5-9 | Tundra Books
ISBN 9781770496453 | Hardcover
A bug flies through an open door into a house, through a bathroom, across a kitchen and bedroom and into a living room . . . where its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance – the five stages of grief – as it comes to terms with its fate. Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel?

Check out the educators’ guide and activity sheet.

Kumo: The Bashful Cloud
By Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Nathalie Dion
64  Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267282 | Tundra Books
Kumo is a cloud whose only wish is to float unseen. When she’s assigned cloud duty for the day, she feels overwhelmed by self-doubt and her fear of being noticed. But after learning that closing your eyes isn’t a good solution to your troubles, Kumo pulls her fluff together and does her duties – drifting, releasing rain and providing shelter – meeting some new friends along the way and inspiring the imagination (and capturing the heart) of a small daydreamer like her. Kyo Maclear’s sweetly humorous and lyrical parable about shyness, vividly brought to life by Nathalie Dion’s ethereal illustrations, is an affirmation of the pleasures of community and the confidence that can arise from friendship and visibility.

Little Echo
By Al Rodin
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880623 | Tundra Books
Have you ever heard an Echo?
They live in lakes and tunnels and caves.
But have you ever seen an Echo?
Little Echo lives alone in a cave. Shy, she hides away, echoing the noises around her. But Little Echo isn’t just shy – she’s lonely. And when Max comes to the cave one day, in search of treasure, Little Echo starts to discover that maybe she has a voice of her own.

My Self, Your Self
By Esmé Shapiro
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880234 | Tundra Books
From the way you button your coat to the way you tap your toes, from the top of your head to your adorable tummy, there are so many reasons to love your self, and so many reasons to be loved. Join a group of endearing forest creatures as they bake and eat cranberry-butter-pie muffins, sing silly songs at bath time and stop to smell the chestnut-nettle roses, all the while exploring their individuality. This joyously affirming picture book from the inimitable Esmé Shapiro encourages the youngest readers to get to know and love and be kind to their wonderful selves and the equally wonderful selves around them.

Check out the activity sheets.

Rodney Was a Tortoise
By Nan Forler
Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266629 | Tundra Books
Bernadette and Rodney are the best of friends. Rodney’s not so good at playing cards, but he’s great at staring contests. His favorite food is lettuce, though he eats it VERRRRRRY SLOOOOOWLY. And he’s such a joker! When Bernadette goes to sleep at night, Rodney is always there, watching over her from his tank.  As the seasons pass, Rodney moves slower and slower, until one day he stops moving at all. Without Rodney, Bernadette feels all alone. She can’t stop thinking about him, but none of her friends seem to notice. Except for Amar. Rodney Was a Tortoise is a moving story about friendship and loss. It shows the importance of expressing kindness and empathy, especially in life’s most difficult moments.

Check out the activity sheet.

The Invisible Bear
By Cecile Metzger
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266872 | Tundra Books
A bear sits in his quiet, colorless home in a forgotten place. He feels invisible; no one comes to see him, and he spends his days alone. Then someone moves in next door. Madame Odette is sound and sunshine, and at first, the bear isn’t sure about this colorful new neighbor. But through an act of kindness, the bear and the Madame Odette meet, and as time goes by, they become friends. And in the end, they are both forever changed by the gifts they bring each other. The first book from author-illustrator Cécile Metzger, The Invisible Bear is a powerful and beautiful meditation on the beauty of friendship and how two people can save each other just by being themselves.

The Unforgettable Party
By Noemi Vola
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270909 | Tundra Books
Caterpillar is SO bored. But everyone knows the best cure for boredom: a marvelous, super-long, super-fun, unforgettable party! He already has everything he needs: apple juice, confetti, decorations, party hats and star stickers to stick on your face. Everything is perfect, except for one missing ingredient: FRIENDS. Unfortunately, none of Caterpillar’s friends are available. Caterpillar is SO sad. But then he comes up with an ingenious solution: using a marker, he creates six new friends . . . on himself! After introducing themselves and shaking each others’ hands (or feet), it’s time for the party to begin. They dance, they play, they put on costumes and even eat seven feet of pizza. It’s a marvelous time! But what happens when the party is over? Will Caterpillar’s new friends leave him? Find out in this delightfully quirky picture book.

Thingamabob
By Marianna Coppo
44 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735265790 | Tundra Books
What is a thingamabob? A thingamabob can be anything . . . and so can you! A sweet, empowering picture book about self-discovery from the acclaimed author-illustrator of Petra. In the beginning, the universe was one great big thing. Then that thing exploded into gobs and gobs of thingamabobs. All of the thingamabobs had a purpose . . . all except for one small, shapeless thingamabob. No one knew what it was for. It wasn’t this or that. It wasn’t here or there. What’s the use of this thingamabob? But everything changes for Thingamabob when it makes a friend in the park. And Thingamabob realizes that if you aren’t one thing . . . you can be everything!

Check out the activity sheet.

Time Is a Flower
By Julie Morstad
56 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267541 | Tundra Books
What is time? Is it the tick tick tock of a clock, numbers and words on a calendar? It’s that, but so much more. Time is a seed waiting to grow, a flower blooming, a sunbeam moving across a room. Time is slow like a spider spinning her web or fast like a wave at the beach. Time is a wiggly tooth, or waiting for the school bell to ring, or reading a story . . . or three! But time is also morning for some and night for others, a fading sunset and a memory captured in a photo taken long ago. In this magical meditation on the nature of time, Julie Morstad shines a joyful light on a difficult-to-grasp concept for young readers and reminds older readers to see the wonders of our world, including children themselves, through the lens of time.

Check out the activity sheet.

Posted on

ALA LibLearnX 2023

Hello book lovers! The Tundra Books team is headed down south to ALA’s LibLearnX happening in New Orleans on January 27th to January 30th. We’ll be showcasing many of our wonderful titles at booth 225! Come by and say hello to our Fiction Publishing Director, Lynne Missen; Editorial Director and Author, David A. Robertson; Marketing and Publicity Senior Associate, Sam Devotta; and our Marketing and Publicity Associate Director, Sylvia Chan!

On Saturday, January 28th at 1:30pm to 2:45pm please join our authors David A. Robertson and Cherie Dimaline with moderator Andrea Rogers in the Morial Convention Center, Room 391-392, for a panel on Decolonizing Library Shelves through the Rise of Indigenous Children’s Authors.

We will also be hosting a number of signings at booth 225! This is based on first come, first serve. One copy per person while quantities last and you must be in line for the signing to receive a complimentary copy.

Looking for literary assets for your schools and libraries? We’ve got you covered, ask about our posters, bookmarks, buttons, art cards, stickers, pop sockets!

And don’t forget to follow us online @tundrabooks as we post live from the show floors!

Posted on

Find Yourself in a Book

Here at Tundra Book Group we have many books to help conversations around mental health for young readers. As January is self-love month, we have created a list of beautiful children’s books anyone can find themselves in, and to help celebrate who you are!

Celebrate yourself

My Lala
By Thomas King
Illustrated by Charlene Chua
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735269347 | Tundra Books
Lala wakes up one morning and decides that she owns the world. Quick as a fox, she bounds to her box of treasures and finds her shiny red dots – to mark what is hers, because there’s nothing that’s not! Lala’s bear gets a dot, as does her blankie, boots, and even the markers she uses to make scrawls on her walls. When she finishes labeling everything in her room and goes to label her dad-daddy’s socks, Lala realizes that she’s out of dots! But when Lala discovers that she can simply create her own red dots, will anything be safe from Lala? Join rambunctious Lala on her quest to own the world in this joyful picture book that celebrates confidence and positive thinking.

My Self, Your Self
By Esmé Shapiro
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880234 | Tundra Books
From the way you button your coat to the way you tap your toes, from the top of your head to your adorable tummy, there are so many reasons to love your self, and so many reasons to be loved. Join a group of endearing forest creatures as they bake and eat cranberry-butter-pie muffins, sing silly songs at bath time and stop to smell the chestnut-nettle roses, all the while exploring their individuality. This joyously affirming picture book from the inimitable Esmé Shapiro encourages the youngest readers to get to know and love and be kind to their wonderful selves and the equally wonderful selves around them.

Listen to your voice

Kumo: The Bashful Cloud
By Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Nathalie Dion
64  Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267282 | Tundra Books
Kumo is a cloud whose only wish is to float unseen. When she’s assigned cloud duty for the day, she feels overwhelmed by self-doubt and her fear of being noticed. But after learning that closing your eyes isn’t a good solution to your troubles, Kumo pulls her fluff together and does her duties – drifting, releasing rain and providing shelter – meeting some new friends along the way and inspiring the imagination (and capturing the heart) of a small daydreamer like her. Kyo Maclear’s sweetly humorous and lyrical parable about shyness, vividly brought to life by Nathalie Dion’s ethereal illustrations, is an affirmation of the pleasures of community and the confidence that can arise from friendship and visibility.

Little Echo
By Al Rodin
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880623 | Tundra Books
Have you ever heard an Echo?
They live in lakes and tunnels and caves.
But have you ever seen an Echo?
Little Echo lives alone in a cave. Shy, she hides away, echoing the noises around her. But Little Echo isn’t just shy – she’s lonely. And when Max comes to the cave one day, in search of treasure, Little Echo starts to discover that maybe she has a voice of her own.

It’s okay to ask for help

The Pink Umbrella
By Amélie Callot
Illustrated by Geneviève Godbout
80 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781101919231 | Tundra Books
When it’s bright outside, Adele is the heart of her community, greeting everyone who comes into her café with arms wide open. But when it rains, she can’t help but stay at home inside, under the covers. Because Adele takes such good care of her friends and customers, one of them decides to take care of her too, and piece by piece leaves her little gifts that help her find the joy in a gray, rainy day. Along with cute-as-a-button illustrations, The Pink Umbrella celebrates thoughtful acts of friendship.

Tough Like Mum
By Lana Button
Illustrated by Carmen Mok
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735265981 | Tundra Books
Kim’s mum is tough. Everyone says so. She can deal with unruly customers at the Red Rooster with a snap of her fingers. Kim is tough, too. She doesn’t need to wear a hat to keep her ears warm. And she can make soup all by herself, even without the stove. Kim and her mum are tough. But Kim is learning that sometimes toughness doesn’t look like what you’d expect. In this tender exploration of a mother-daughter relationship, Kim and her mother learn that in order to support and truly take care of each other, they need to be tough – and that sometimes being tough means showing vulnerability and asking for help.

It’s okay to feel down

The Invisible Bear
By Cecile Metzger
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266872 | Tundra Books
A bear sits in his quiet, colorless home in a forgotten place. He feels invisible; no one comes to see him, and he spends his days alone. Then someone moves in next door. Madame Odette is sound and sunshine, and at first, the bear isn’t sure about this colorful new neighbor. But through an act of kindness, the bear and the Madame Odette meet, and as time goes by, they become friends. And in the end, they are both forever changed by the gifts they bring each other. The first book from author-illustrator Cécile Metzger, The Invisible Bear is a powerful and beautiful meditation on the beauty of friendship and how two people can save each other just by being themselves.

What’s Up, Maloo?
By Geneviève Godbout
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266643 | Tundra Books
Maloo the kangaroo has lost his hop. Can his friends help him find it again? This sweet picture book explores the idea of sadness and the importance of friendship through ups and downs. No other kangeroo can hop like Maloo! But one day Maloo’s friends find him stepping instead of hopping. What’s wrong, Maloo? His pals look for ways to help Maloo regain the spring in his step. With patience, support and a little “hop” from his friends, Maloo gets his bounce back. Simple text and adorable art convey the power of friendship over a gloomy mood in Geneviève Godbout’s charming debut as both author and illustrator.

Coping with grief isn’t easy

A Garden of Creatures
By Sheila Heti
Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro
40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735268814 | Tundra Books
Two bunnies and a cat live happily together in a beautiful garden. But when the big bunny passes away, the little bunny is unsure how to fill the void she left behind. A strange dream prompts her to begin asking questions: Why do the creatures we love have to die, and where do we go when we die? How come life works this way? With the wisdom of the cat to guide her, the little bunny learns that missing someone is a way of keeping them close. And together they discover that the big bunny is a part of everything around them – the grass, the air, the leaves – for the world is a garden of creatures. With its meditative text, endearing illustrations and life-affirming message, A Garden of Creatures reveals how the interconnectedness of nature and the sweetness of friendship can be a warm embrace even in the darkest times.

Bug in a Vacuum
By Mélanie Watt
ISBN 9781770496453 | Hardcover
Ages 5-9 | Tundra Books
A bug flies through an open door where its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance – the five stages of grief – as it comes to terms with its fate.

Rodney Was a Tortoise
By Nan Forler
Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266629 | Tundra Books
Bernadette and Rodney are the best of friends. Rodney’s not so good at playing cards, but he’s great at staring contests. His favorite food is lettuce, though he eats it VERRRRRRY SLOOOOOWLY. And he’s such a joker! When Bernadette goes to sleep at night, Rodney is always there, watching over her from his tank.  As the seasons pass, Rodney moves slower and slower, until one day he stops moving at all. Without Rodney, Bernadette feels all alone. She can’t stop thinking about him, but none of her friends seem to notice. Except for Amar. Rodney Was a Tortoise is a moving story about friendship and loss. It shows the importance of expressing kindness and empathy, especially in life’s most difficult moments.

Posted on

Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. The following titles are now available in stores and online!

Anne’s Tragical Tea Party
By Kallie George
Illustrated by Abigail Halpin
72 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback
ISBN 9780735267350 | Tundra Books
Anne loves having pretend tea parties by herself. She even decorates her room with branches and colorful leaves for the occasion. Marilla Cuthbert, who adopted Anne in the last year, wishes Anne would act a little more sensibly. One day, Marilla comes up with a plan to keep Anne out of mischief – Anne can host her very own tea party and invite her kindred spirit, Diana Barry! Anne is thrilled, and sets out to host the most lovely and grown-uppish tea party she can muster. But when she makes Diana sick by accidentally giving her the wrong drink, Diana’s mother is furious. Can Anne be forgiven? Will she ever be allowed to play with Diana again?

Code Name Verity
By Elizabeth Wein
ISBN 9781774882757 | Paperback
Ages 12+ | Penguin Teen Canada
October 11th, 1943. A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun. When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? A universally acclaimed Edgar Award winner, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. This updated edition features a brand-new short story, essay from the author, a discussion guide, and more.

We can’t wait to see you reading these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.

Posted on

Tundra Telegram: Books That Raise the Bar

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we articulate the issues readers are dreaming about, and Mat-tell you about some books that we figure you’ll love.

Like most of social media, the gang at Tundra Books were buzzing with the release of the trailer to filmmaker Greta Gerwig‘s seemingly bananas film, Barbie. The teaser got us thinking about the other doll-based movie of 2023 we’re champing at the bit to watch: M3GAN. (Team-up when?) We’ve got dolls on the brain. Besides, who doesn’t want to unwrap a new doll as a holiday gift?

As a holiday present to you readers in this final Tundra Telegram of 2022, we’ve collected the best books featuring dolls that we publish. (Batteries not included.) See you with new recommendations in 2023!

PICTURE BOOKS

A little doll’s world is blown wide open in Gemma and the Giant Girl by Sara O’Leary and Marie Lafrance. Gemma lives in a forgotten dollhouse with her doll parents, never growing old and living a monotonous existence. But everything changes when a giant (!) opens the dollhouse and introduces her to the larger world, whether she likes it or not.

If you like stories about dolls, but wished they intersected more with modernist literature, Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule and Rebecca Green is the picture book for you! The author of some of the more surreal and absurd stories of the twentieth century was not inured to the charms of a doll. In 1923, when he encountered a girl distraught over the loss of her doll, the writer put his chops to the test by sending the girl letters in the hand of the doll, whom he suggested was traveling the world on grand adventures. (Now Franz Kafka’s Barbie is a movie I’d also like to see!)

It may lack a hot-pink palette and waterslide, but the dollhouse in Giselle Potter‘s This Is My Dollhouse is a true testament to one girl’s creativity and imagination. A little girl proudly walks readers through her handmade dollhouse, pointing out the wallpaper she drew, the fancy clothes she made, and the little elevator she made out of a paper cup. But when she sees her friend Sophie’s “perfect” storebought house, her pride wavers. Soon, though, both girls realize how much more wonderful creative play can be.

We can’t pretend the holidays are barreling down upon us, and The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by the late, great Patricia C. McKissack and Jerry Pinkney, is the perfect holiday doll book. Set during the Great Depression, Santa Claus doesn’t deliver presents to Nella’s family every year. But Nella’s really hoping that this year she and her two sisters will each get a beautiful Baby Betty doll. When the doll is unwrapped, Nella takes the doll and refuses to share before realizing – even with a really cool doll – it’s no fun to play by yourself.

Of course, there is a cornucopia of official Barbie books from which to select. If we were to highlight one, it would be seasonal favorite, Barbie: The Nutcracker (A Little Golden Book). Barbie stars as Clara in this retelling of the classic ballet. Does Ken play the Nutcracker or the Mouse King? You’ll have to read to find out for yourself!

And you’ll have to wait until July for The Story of Barbie and the Woman Who Created Her by Cindy Eagan and Amy Bates, but this picture book biography of Ruth Handler is worth the wait. After noticing how her daughter preferred to play with “grown-up” paper dolls rather than baby dolls, Handler designed a doll that would inspire little girls to use their huge imaginations to picture their futures, and wound up creating the most famous doll ever. If you preorder now, it should arrive just in time for the feature film!

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

Before there was Barbie, there was Miss Kanagawa. The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson is based on a real historical phenomenon: in the late 1920s, 58 friendship dolls were sent from Japan to America. This book follows the story of one such doll, Miss Kanagawa, and the stories of four American children who interact with her – from New York to Seattle, from the Great Depression to the modern day – like a handheld Forrest Gump.

Die-hard Barbie fans know it can be difficult to repair a plastic doll. But it wasn’t always this way. The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough and Heather Maione features Jewish sisters in New York City who play carefully with the dolls in their parents’ doll repair shop (!) until they’ve been fixed and need to be returned to their owners. When World War I breaks out, so does an embargo on German-made goods which threatens the shop, so it’s up to the sisters (naturally) to come up with a financial idea to save the family from poverty.

Of course, as readers get a bit older, the dolls get creepier. Case in point, the ultimate in creepy doll stories, The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter. When Alice heads to a small town where her mom finds work as a live-in nurse to an elderly woman, she discovers a dollhouse in the attic that’s an exact replica of the woman’s house. Soon she wakes to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed – a girl who looks like one of the dolls in the house, and things just get eerier from there.

That may remind you of the godmother of creepy doll books, The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, which is nearly 40 years old! As in Charis Cotter’s book, protagonist Amy begins to believe the dolls and the dollhouse are moving by themselves. And, stranger still, they may be trying to tell her something about how her great-grandparents died. The 35th anniversary edition even has a foreword from scary doll aficionado, R. L. Stine!

YOUNG ADULT

YA tends to not feature as many actual dolls, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Raziel Reid‘s over-the-top Barbie-themed satire Kens. At Willows High, a group of tyrannical, handsome gays – the Kens (not unlike their plastic namesakes) – rule over the student populace with Mean Girls-esque verve. Where can uncool queer Tommy Rawlins fit into this dangerous high school hierarchy? When he is given the chance to become the next Ken, should he take it? Is life in plastic really that fantastic?

Older readers often begin to get a taste for fashion design, and what better what to practice that than with Sewing Clothes for Barbie by Annabel Benilan? Readers can sew Barbie 24 stylish outfits, from aerobics outfits to ski wear – and even a mermaid costume (?). Without any knowledge of the behind-the-scenes process, I think it’s safe to say the Barbie film’s costume designer must have used this book as a principal reference.

Tundra Book Group