Tundra is very excited to be publishing Once Upon a Sari on May 7, 2024! Written by Zenia Wadhwani and illustrated by Avani Dwivedi, Once Upon a Sari is a picture book about a little girl who gets into her mom’s saris and makes a glorious, colorful mess while discovering the memories attached to each sari.
Once Upon a Sari By Zenia Wadhwani Illustrated by Avani Dwivedi 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880944 | Tundra Books Release Date: May 7, 2024 Avani is having a wonderful time looking at all of her mother’s saris, but she soon realizes she’s made a big mess. When her mom comes in, Avani expects a scolding, but instead, her mom sits down with her and tells her about the memories associated with each sari: memories of weddings and celebrations, memories of when and where the sari came from. And, in case of one very special sari, memories that were passed down from her parents and grandparents. A beautiful and vibrant reflection on how what we wear connects us to big and small moments in our lives, Once Upon a Sari is a colorful feast for the eyes and the heart.
Also by Avani Dwivedi:
My Bollywood Dream By Avani Dwivedi 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536228427 | Candlewick It’s Friday night, and on the bustling streets of Mumbai, a girl heads out with her family to the cinema. As she rides through the winding blocks with her maa, baba, and bhai, old melodies fill the car. And as she captures the sights and sounds of the city with her camera, she imagines a movie unfolding before her eyes. A choreographed dance sequence atop a long line of cars! When they arrive at the screening, the room is abuzz with people from all walks of life, waiting to lose themselves in the show. And finally comes the best part: time for everyone to jump up and dance! First-time author-illustrator Avani Dwivedi offers a buoyant, whimsically illustrated love letter to Mumbai and Bollywood – and to children everywhere eager to take mastery of their dreams.
Lunar New Year marks the first new moon of the lunar calendar, and is celebrated all over the world! To ring in the Year of the Dragon, we’ve created a list of children’s books to help you celebrate.
Bizzy Bear: Chinese New Year By Benji Davies 8 Pages | Ages 0-2 | Board Book ISBN 9781536232011 | Candlewick Press A festive new title in this phenomenal board book series. Bizzy Bear and his friends get ready to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebrations in this novelty board book full of tabs to slide, push, and pull. Follow Bizzy Bear and enjoy a night of fun festivities!
Dim Sum Palace By X. Fang 48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774881989 | Tundra Books Liddy is so excited about going to the Dim Sum Palace tomorrow with her family that she can’t sleep. So when a delicious smell wafts into her room, she hops out of bed, opens her door and steps into . . . an actual palace of dim sum! There are dumplings, baos, buns and more delicious treats than one girl can possibly eat. Liddy just has to take a bite, but she slips and falls . . . into a bowl of dumpling filling. The chefs are so busy rolling, folding and pinching dough that they don’t notice they’ve prepared a most unusual dumpling for the Empress – a Liddy dumpling! Worst of all, she looks good enough to eat . . .
First Festivals: Lunar New Year By Ladybird Illustrated by Debby Rahmalia 12 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Board Book ISBN 9780241629628 | Ladybird Discover the celebration of Lunar New Year with this bright, interactive lift-the-flap book! Featuring simple text, gorgeous illustrations and satisfying lift-the-flaps, this book explores common traditions and helps young children understand the importance of this special holiday. Lift the flaps to reveal gifts being opened, a dragon dance being performed, a lantern taking to the skies and firecrackers and fireworks exploding in the night sky. The First Festivals series invites children to explore the world’s culture from the comfort of their home, encourages the development of hand-eye coordination and is recommended for children aged 2 and over.
Happy Lunar New Year! (Sesame Street) By Sonali Fry Illustrated by Barry Goldberg 26 Pages | Ages 0-3 | Board Book ISBN 9780593648902 | Random House BFYR Celebrate the Lunar New Year on Sesame Street with Ji-Young, Lily, and Elmo! Elmo learns about different Lunar New Year celebrations from his friends on Sesame Street. Ji-Young tells Elmo about Soellal, which is celebrated in Korea. And Lily the tiger shares traditions from her Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. This colorful board book is filled with good fortune and fun for everyone! It makes a great Lunar New Year gift for young boys and girls.
I Want to Be Spaghetti! By Kiera Wright-Ruiz Illustrated by Claudia Lam 56 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593529874 | Kokila Even from Ramen’s small shelf in the supermarket, they see spaghetti propaganda everywhere. They want to be celebrated, too. Maybe, Ramen misguidedly thinks, I have to change to be loved like that. “I want to be spaghetti!” they proclaim to the dismay of the rest of the instant noodle section. But when Ramen’s brought home and placed in a warm bowl of broth alongside new friends like Chashu, Narutomaki, and Nori, they realize they’ve always been perfect exactly the way they are.
Lunar New Year: A Celebration of Family and Fun By Mary Man-Kong Illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan 32 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593649466 | Golden Books Every year, millions of Asian families come together to celebrate the first new moon in the sky. Now preschoolers can learn about the zodiac animals, the delicious food, the exciting parades, and all the fun traditions. Filled with colorful illustrations and simple, yet informative text, this Big Golden Book is perfect for reading again and again to the whole family. Happy Lunar New Year!
Night Market Rescue By Charlotte Cheng Illustrated by Amber Ren 32 Pages | Ages 4-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593531723 | Rocky Pond Books A stray dog stumbles upon the gift of friendship – and maybe even the promise of home – while wandering the delight-filled night market in Taipei. While resting on a stoop, Gogo smells something sweet and spicy on the breeze. It leads him to a place he’s never been – a bustling night market where vendors sell delicious treats. As he wanders, sniffing for scraps, GoGo discovers something else as well: a little girl who has gotten separated from her parents. He knows he can help and guides her through the market . . . to where her worried parents wait for her – with open arms for their daughter and GoGo, their new pet!
Rainbow Shopping By Qing Zhuang 40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780823449774 | Holiday House On a rainy Saturday, a young girl feels as gray as a pigeon. Since moving from China to New York City, Mom, Dad, and Grandma have been very busy working. But a trip to Mom’s favorite Chinatown store to find the best produce, seafood, and spices for dinner just might turn the girl’s day around. Later on, Dad steams, boils, fries, and stir-fries all the ingredients while girl and Grandma taste-test. After cozy goodnights, a final dream spread shows the family walking hand-in-hand in rainbow colors – an affirmation of love and support even on rainy, gray days. Inspired by Qing Zhuang’s experience as a first generation Chinese American, Rainbow Shopping explores a young child’s feelings of loneliness and discovery with tenderness and humor. Qing uses watercolor, colored pencil, and crayon to beautifully recreate NYC’s Chinatown neighborhood. Filled with warmth and details of city life, this story about a working-class family is one readers can return to again and again.
Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu By Ying Chang Compestine Illustrated by Crystal Kung 40 Pages | Ages 5-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593533055 | Rocky Pond Books The story of Rapunzel where she’s being locked in a tower by a witch is a good one – but it’s not totally the truth. The real story is about a young princess in China named Ra Pu Zel who doesn’t want to talk to princes or look proper. What Pu Zel wants is to cook and eat in peace, her long hair neatly braided to keep it out of her food. And when she gets tired of everyone telling her what to do, she locks herself in a tower with her dog Bao. Although princes from everywhere try to convince her to come down, it’s not until a young chef arrives with an intriguing food to share that Ra Pu Zel finally has a reason.
Ten Little Dumplings By Larissa Fan Illustrated by Cindy Wume 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735266193 | Tundra Books In the city of Tainan, there lives a very special family – special because they have ten sons who do everything together. Their parents call them their ten little dumplings, as both sons and dumplings are auspicious. But if you look closely, you’ll see that someone else is there, listening, studying, learning and discovering her own talent – a sister. As this little girl grows up in the shadow of her brothers, her determination and persistence help her to create her own path in the world . . . and becomes the wisdom she passes on to her own daughter, her own little dumpling. Based on a short film made by the author, inspired by her father’s family in Taiwan, Ten Little Dumplings looks at some unhappy truths about the place of girls in our world in an accessible, inspiring and hopeful way.
The Goblin Twins By Frances Cha Illustrated by Jaime Kim 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593480212 | Crown BFYR Doki and Kebi are two Korean magical goblin twin brothers who couldn’t be more different! Kebi loves to scare people (maybe a little too much) and explore! Doki would rather give people bags of gold when he’s not reading a book! Despite their differences, Doki and Kebi are inseparable. When it’s time for the goblin tricksters to move, the brothers decide to make their new home together in a strange, unknown land . . . New York City! As they prepare for the new customs of Halloween, Doki and Kebi are in for a surprise in this new holiday adventure inspired by the Korean mythology of dokkaebi.
Hello book lovers! The Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers team is headed to downtown Toronto for the OLA Super Conference on January 25th and 26th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. We’ll be showcasing many of our children’s books at booth 718/720/722/724! Come by and say hello to our many staff volunteers.
We will also be hosting author signings! This is based on first come, first served: one copy per person while quantities last. 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 catalogs, bookmarks, art cards, and more!
And don’t forget to follow us online @tundrabooks and @penguinteenca as we post live from the show floors!
Tundra is very excited to be publishing Team Park on September 10, 2024! Written by Angela Ahn, Team Park is about Evan Park who, after a wrist injury derails his plans to take part in an upcoming ninja competition, decides to enter into a local race – this time, with his whole family!
Team Park By Angela Ahn 240 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774883433 | Tundra Books Release Date: September 10, 2024 Eleven-year-old Evan Park’s dad believes boys should play team sports, but as much as Evan has tried to like soccer and other team sports, he just doesn’t. And when an accident causes Evan to break his wrist, he is determined that once he heals, he’ll work on finding his thing. Alone. Inspired by his athletic physiotherapist, Evan decides to compete in an upcoming Dominator Ninja Junior Edition competition. It will be part rehab, part fun. If he trains hard enough, he’ll finally have something to put on his empty shelf in the family trophy cabinet. Maybe that would make his dad proud of him for once. But klutzy Evan strikes again! With a newly injured wrist, he can forget about competing in Dominator Ninja – he can’t even hold chopsticks. When his sister encourages him to look beyond a solo competition, they discover a local family race which is more about the experience than the results. Can Evan shift his perspective to rally the whole family to do this event . . . together?
Also by Angela Ahn:
Double O Stephen and the Ghostly Realm By Angela Ahn 288 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Paperback ISBN 9780735268296 | Tundra Books Stephen loves pirates. What he doesn’t love is his name: Stephen Oh-O’Driscoll. He believes when his Korean mother and Irish father gave him this name, that it was just one cruel setup for being teased. Giving things the proper name is important, which is why Stephen thinks that it’s time to update the definition of “pirate.” They’ve got a bad rep, and maybe they deserve some of it, but Stephen still likes a few pirate traditions, like bandannas and eyepatches – he’s just not that into stealing things from people. He has the perfect new word: piventurate. A sailor who passionately seeks adventure. That’s what he wants to be. When he gets suspended from school for doing proper piventurate-in-training things (using sticks to practice sword fighting), his mother doesn’t let him sit around doing nothing, instead she takes him to a museum. At the museum everything changes. Stephen finds himself in a strange new place, face-to-face with a real pirate. A pirate ghost. Captain Sapperton needs Stephen’s help to cross to the other side, and his former ghost crew are intent on making sure Stephen follows through, whatever it takes. Stephen is about to discover the true meaning of piventurate, and much to his surprise, his adventure will not only take him farther into the ghostly realm, but also closer to home, where long-held family secrets reveal surprising ties to the spirit world.
Peter Lee’s Notes From the Field By Angela Ahn Illustrated by Julie Kwon 312 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Paperback ISBN 9780735268265 | Tundra Books Eleven year-old Peter Lee has one goal in life: to become a paleontologist. Okay, maybe two: to get his genius kid-sister, L.B., to leave him alone. But his summer falls apart when his real-life dinosaur expedition turns out to be a bust, and he watches his dreams go up in a cloud of asthma-inducing dust. Even worse, his grandmother, Hammy, is sick, and no one will talk to Peter or L.B. about it. Perhaps his days as a scientist aren’t quite behind him yet. Armed with notebooks and pens, Peter puts his observation and experimental skills to the test to see what he can do for Hammy. If only he can get his sister to be quiet for once – he needs time to sketch out a plan.
Swimming into Trouble: Julia on the Go! #1 By Angela Ahn Illustrated by Julie Kim 176 Pages | Ages 7-10 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774881880 | Tundra Books Available February 13, 2024 As a member of the Vipers Swim Team, Julia Nam’s always in the pool. Mountainview Community Center is like her second home, not only because swimming at the aquatic center is her favorite thing in the world, but also because her parents run the center’s sushi café. Julia would much rather be in the pool than sitting behind the counter of Sushi on the Go! watching other people swim. She’s the youngest swimmer on the team, but definitely not the slowest. Julia can’t wait for Personal Best Day – the most important day for all of the swimmers. If their times are good enough, they can enter a big regional swim meet. But then the worst thing happens. A sharp pain in Julia’s ear reveals an infection and she’s forbidden to swim for ten days. How can she get timed during Personal Best Day when she’s not allowed in the water? Julia is desperate to get back in the pool, even if it means having to go behind her parents’ backs in order to do so. But Julia’s solution lands her in a sticky situation, and it’s going to require the entire community center to come together to help her out of it!
Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. This title is now available in stores and online!
New in Paperback:
The Everlasting Road By Wab Kinew 272 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735269057 | Tundra Books Devastated by the loss of her beloved older brother to cancer, Bugz returns to the place where she can always find solace and strength: the Floraverse. Over the past year, she has gained back all that she had lost in that virtual world, and while the remaining ClanLess members still plot against her, she is easily able to overcome their attacks. Even better, she’s been secretly working on a bot that will be both an incredible weapon and a source of comfort: Waawaate. With the Waawaate bot looking exactly like the brother she misses so much – even acting so much like him – Bugz feels ready to show him off to Feng, who has become a constant companion in the Verse, and she cannot wait to team up with both friend and bot to secure her dominance once and for all. But Feng has his own issues to deal with, especially when news that his parents are alive and want to contact him threatens to send his new life on the Rez into upheaval. As they work through their complicated feelings of grief and loss, Feng and Bugz find themselves becoming ever closer. But disturbances in the Floraverse cannot be ignored, especially when Bugz realizes that her Waawaate bot is growing in powers beyond her control . . .
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