Splash Into Summer Giveaway Winner

Thank  you for joining us for the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners! Did you have fun?

Before we announce the winner of the prize pack, I asked my colleagues to share some of their favourite frozen treats during the summer, and here’s what they had to say:

“Soft vanilla ice cream… Yum!” – Alison
“A lime slushy.” – Kathryn
“A creamsicle!” – Pamela
“Ice cream sandwiches!” – Sylvia (that’s me)

Okay, time to add all our subscribers and comment entries, pull up the magical random generator, and it tells us…

Number #177, congratulations to Sherry S, who enjoys fruit slushes during the hot summer weather!

Please check your inbox for an e-mail from us. You will be getting our Splash into Summer prize pack:

THANKS AGAIN to everyone who participated!

Splash Into Summer

We’re celebrating summer with the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners. Thank you for joining us!

What do you have to do to enter? Leave a comment below telling us your favourite frozen treat during the summer. Our e-mail subscribers are automatically entered to win. If you haven’t subscribed yet, do so for one extra entry. Simply enter and verify your e-mail using the Subscribe widget at the top, right corner of this blog.

Details: This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the U.S.A. only. Please read our rules for more information.

Dates: This giveaway starts on Wednesdays, May 25, 2011 and ends on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at midnight. One winner will be selected and announced on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 to receive the prize pack.

Splash into reading with our prize pack:

Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas
By Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Hardcover | 112 pages
Ages 8-11 years
ISBN 978-0-88776-895-8
eBook 978-1-77049-071-0
“Fagan has produced a lively tale of pirates, transatlantic voyages, and the usual heedless parents…” – Books for Young People: Books of the Year, Quill & Quire


Into the Ravine
By Richard Scrimger
Trade Paperback | 264 pages
Ages 11+
ISBN 978-0-88776-822-4
“Scrimger is a deft and funny storyteller who understands early adolescent boys, their dreams, and their realities…. A funny, scary, exciting, and spot-on adventure.” –Booklist

Would You
By Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 176 pages
Ages 9-12 years
HC ISBN 978-0-88776-816-3
TR ISBN 978-1-77049-223-3
eBook 978-1-77049-022-2
“The opening chapters give little hints of the intensity of Jocelyn’s…exquisitely honed novel…. Although the plot line sounds like that of a standard weeper, the author resists the urge to magnify emotions. Natalie reacts honestly, neither beautifully nor nobly…. The light touch with which Jocelyn handles her difficult material is best seen when Claire is declared brain-dead and taken off life support: the humanity in the author’s treatment affords the readers a sense both of grief and of peace.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

Giveaway hops are when each blog host their own giveaway, the idea is that you “hop” from one blog to another – perhaps discovering a new blog that you’ll start following. So after you enter our giveaway, hop to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer or Page Turners to visit the next blog!

New York, New York

We know that a lot of you will be in New York for BookExpo America this coming week. And who doesn’t love the Big Apple, especially when there are new books involved? If you’re around on Sunday, we would like to invite you to a party! A book party! Here are the details:

When: Sunday, May 22, 2011
Time: From 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Where: Shoofly (Shoofly has been a teeny star in NYC since 1987, the first to showcase European footwear for children. They carry shoes from newborn to big kids, prewalkers to stiltwalkers, walkers to hikers.)
Address: 42 Hudson Street, New York City, NY 10013
Phone: 212-406-3270
Who will be there: Co-creators of Ones and Twos, the mother-and-daughter team of Marthe Jocelyn and Nell Jocelyn! Marthe has created over 25 books. Ones and Twos is Nell’s first!

Please come for refreshments and fun to help us celebrate this beautiful picture book, created by one mother, one daughter, two artists…

Then, there’s BEA of course! If you aren’t able to party with us on Sunday, you can meet our authors and illustrators during their signings at the Autographing Area.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Janet Willen
From 11:00 to 11:30am at Table 19
Five Thousand Years of Slavery provides the suspense and emotional engagement of a great novel. It is an excellent resource with its comprehensive historical narrative, firsthand accounts, maps, archival photos, paintings and posters, an index, and suggestions for further reading. Much more than a reference work, it is a brilliant exploration of the worst – and the best – in human society.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Marthe Jocelyn and Nell Jocelyn
From 2:00 to 2:30pm at Table 19
Marthe Jocelyn’s ability to present important-to-learn concepts to the very young has garnered accolades from around the world. Ones and Twos is her first book collaboration with her nineteen-year-old art student daughter, Nell, and, together, they explore numeracy, sorting, and pairing. Each brightly illustrated page invites children to identify familiar objects ranging from kites to socks, from one nest to the two birds sitting in it. Ones and Twos gives little toddlers and their caregivers much to discuss and to enjoy together, and it introduces an exciting new creative team.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Marthe Jocelyn
From 3:00 to 3:30pm at Table 24
In 1855, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to his publisher, complaining about the irritating fad of “scribbling women.” Whether they were written by professionals, by women who simply wanted to connect with others, or by those who wanted to leave a record of their lives, those “scribbles” are fascinating, informative, and instructive.
Many of the women in “Scribbling Women” had eventful lives. They became friends with cannibals, delivered babies, stole horses, and sailed on whaling ships. Others lived quietly, close to home. But each of them has illuminated the world through her words.

Don’t forget to stop by Tundra Books at booth #4431. Alison and Pamela will be there to answer any questions and to tell you about our new and upcoming books.

May Pub Date Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered our fifth Pub Date Giveaway of the year! We used trusty random.org to generate the winning number:

13 for Friday the 13th? Well, it’s a lucky day for:

Congratulations to Lesley Morrison! You will be receiving Ludmila Zeman’s Sindbad, Sindbad in the Land of Giants, and Sindbad’s Secret.  Please check your inbox for an e-mail from us.

Thank you to everyone who entered. Our next Pub Date Giveaway will be on August 9, 2011 – the start of the fall season! Stay tuned for our new releases!

Festival of Trees 2011


The Ontario Library Association hosted another successful Forest of Reading Festival of Trees at the Harbourfront Centre on May 11 and 12th. It is always one of our highlights of the year to see hundreds of readers cheer for their favourite books.


As usual, the yellow school buses line up along Queens Quay West after delivering students from all over Ontario to the festival.


Tundra went in with four nominated titles this year. In the Blue Spruce category, we have Jane Barclay and Renné Benoit’s Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion. Can you spot Jane Barclay on stage? She’s the author taking a photograph of the audience.

Congratulations to Dave Whamond, My Think-A-Ma-Jink was named the winner of the Blue Spruce Award.


Another rewarding parts of the festival are the author and illustrator signings. Just look at the number of readers lining up!


We found Monica Kulling signing autograph sheets and copies of It’s a Snap! George Eastman’s First Photo, illustrated by Bill Slavin. Bill wasn’t able to attend, but he and Esperança Melo lent Monica their Brownie camera (made by George Eastman) to show all the kids.

Congratulations to Ashley Spires, Binky the Space Cat won the Silver Birch Award – Express category!


Ann Love and Jane Drake were there to sign Talking Tails: The Incredible Connection Between People and Their Pets. Their book was nominated for the Silver Birch Award – Nonfiction.

Congratulations to Valerie Wyatt and Fred Rix, their book How to Build Your Own Country was named the winner!


S&B Books also had a tent to sell all the nominated titles. They are the official sponsor and wholesaler for the Forest of Reading program.


We also noticed that the children could leave little notes and messages for their favourite authors and illustrators. Very cool idea!


Thank you to all the organizers, volunteers, authors, illustrators, teachers, and students for all their work! Again, congratulations to all the authors and illustrators! Until next year!

Tundra Book Group