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2024 Ezra Jack Keats Award

Each year since 1985, the Ezra Jack Keats Award has been given to early career authors and illustrators who create children’s books that reflect our diverse culture. We would like to congratulate Sarah Gonzales who won this year’s award for her illustrations in the picture book, The Only Way to Make Bread!

On winning the Illustrator Award, Sarah Gonzales said: “The EJK Award illuminates human uniqueness and togetherness, the traits of  Keats’ work that inspire me.  In my resilient  immigrant family, we were strong, as individuals and as a group. With Cristina’s beautiful words I hoped to represent the strength of sharing as a community, and the happiness of baking bread.”

The Only Way to Make Bread
Written by Cristina Quintero
Illustrated by Sarah Gonzales
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735271760 | Tundra Books
A delicious exploration of all kinds of breads, from sourdough to bannock to bao, that will tickle your taste buds and warm your heart.
What’s the only way to make bread?
You might use white flour in your bread, or whole wheat flour or corn flour.
You might use water or milk, maybe an egg or two.
You’ll use a handful of this, a dash of that, a bit of this and a splash of that.
Some dough will rise, some dough will bubble. Sometimes it will be sticky, sometimes it will be shaggy.  
What’s the only way to make bread?
Your way!
This tasty celebration of all kinds of bread will tempt bread lovers big and small. No matter what kind of bread YOU like to make, this book is for you!

Click here for a The Only Way to Make Bread recipe and art card!

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Tuesdays with Tundra

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

And Then There Was Us
By Kern Carter
232 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774883402 | Tundra Books
Coi is just eighteen years old, but has already survived years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother. After being kicked out of her mother’s house at age fourteen, Coi has lived with her father, and together they’ve created a peaceful life. That peace ends suddenly when her mother dies. While Coi struggles to find kindness in her heart for the woman who only hurt her, she starts having lucid dreams, forcing her to relive moments of abuse and emotional trauma that eventually led to Coi’s abandonment. Her mother’s passing also reopens the door to her mother’s side of the family, including her beloved younger half-sister, Kayla, her stepfather and her grandmother. Each of them challenge Coi’s long-held views about her mother, especially Kayla, who, Coi realizes, is taking their mother’s loss hard. As she reconnects with her family, Coi learns to see parts of her mother she never experienced, and for the first time since she was abandoned, opens her heart to forgiveness.

And Then There Was Us is also available today in audiobook!

What Does Little Crocodile Say At the Birthday Party?
By Eva Montanari
40 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774881576 | Tundra Books
What sounds does Little Crocodile hear at their own birthday party?
The decorations go whirr whirr
The band goes ooom pa pa
The wish goes whoosh
The cameras go click
The balloon goes pop
And the crocodile says . . . WAHHHH!
In this charming book of sounds, Little Crocodile experiences the highs and lows of a birthday with friends and family, ultimately enjoying their day . . . after a small meltdown, of course! Little ones will delight in the adorable illustrations and fun read-aloud, and parents will delight in the sly humor and familiar emotional rollercoaster of a toddler’s day.

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.

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Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. This title is now available in stores and online!

Métis Like Me
Written by Tasha Hilderman
Illustrated by Risa Hugo
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774881125 | Tundra Books
Are you Métis like me? A group of children of Métis descent share and explore all the ways they celebrate and experience their heritage – enjoying traditional foods like bannock bread and Saskatoon berries; crafting with beads; sharing stories, dance, music and songs. Each child shares a different way they enjoy honoring their backgrounds and weaving parts of the rich tapestry that makes up Métis culture. One child, though, has grown up disconnected from their history, and can’t join in with the others in the same way. But they soon see it’s never too late to learn, celebrate or become a part of a community in which Métis and non-Métis alike can discover the richness of an often-overlooked culture. This rhythmic, jubilant book will encourage young readers of all backgrounds to celebrate their own heritage and learn more about Métis history, and contains back matter including an author’s note, recipe and dictionary to further inspire.

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

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Creator Spotlight: Shannon McNeill

At Tundra Books, we want you to get to know and love our authors as much as you know and love their books. Our creator spotlight series will introduce you to the people behind some of your favorite titles . . . this week, say hello to Shannon McNeill!

About the Author:

SHANNON MCNEILL is a Canadian author-illustrator living in San Diego, California. She is a passionate advocate for children’s art education and volunteers in her community as an art teacher. She enjoys taco shops, reading aloud, weird plants, drawing in her car and spending time with her family in Southern California.

Fast Five with Shannon McNeill:

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

I wouldn’t mind trying out one of those secret NY Public Library apartments.

What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?

Sunshine.

Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

Late, long breakfast on a lazy Sunday.

What’s your “dance like nobody’s watching” song?

“Águas de Março” by Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina is a really good “sing like nobody’s listening” song. I mumble the Portuguese and it’s so beautiful I could listen to it 100 times in a row.

What do you look for in a friendship?

The ability to spend long hours browsing used books after a long lazy breakfast.

Books by Shannon:

Sparkles, No Sparkles
By Shannon McNeill
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270398 | Tundra Books
A frog has no sparkle.
A poodle has no sparkle.
A pigeon has no sparkle.
Not to worry! A cape has sparkle, a crown has sparkle and boots have sparkle.
Some wily animals decide to hit the stage, leaving the actors without costumes. After the animals get their moment in the spotlight, chaos ensues . . . but luckily there are some chicks with sparkle to save the day.

Wheels, No Wheels
By Shannon McNeill
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270374 | Tundra Books
A llama has no wheels.
A turtle has no wheels.
A cat has no wheels.
Not to worry! A skateboard has wheels, a tractor has wheels and a bike has wheels.
Some wily farm animals decide to go for a ride, leaving the farmer without her wheels. After the animals go and go and go and go, chaos ensues . . . but luckily there are some truck driving chicks to save the day.

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Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. This title is now available in stores and online!

The Lightning Circle
Written by Vikki VanSickle
Illustrated by Laura K. Watson
224 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882498 | Tundra Books
After having her heart broken, seventeen-year-old Nora Nichols decides to escape her hometown and take a summer job as an arts and crafts counsellor at an all-girls’ camp in the mountains of West Virginia. There, she meets girls and women from all walks of life with their own heartaches and triumphs. Immersed in this new camp experience, trying to form bonds with her fellow counselors while learning to be a trusted adviser for her campers, Nora distracts herself from her feelings, even during the intimate conversations around the nightly campfires. But when a letter from home comes bearing unexpected news, Nora finds inner strength in her devastation with the healing power of female friendship. Presented as Nora’s camp journal, including Nora’s sketches of camp life, scraps of letters, and spare poems, The Lightning Circle is an intimate coming-of-age portrait.

The Lightning Circle is also available today in audiobook!

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

Tundra Book Group