We would like to congratulate Sheila Heti, Esmé Shapiro, Sean Dixon and Lily Snowden-Fine who are the winners of the 2022 Bookstagang Best Books of the Year Awards for A Garden of Creatures and The Family Tree in the Conversation Starters category!
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.
The Family Tree By Sean Dixon Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735267664 | Tundra Books When her teacher gives her class a simple family tree assignment, Ada is stumped. How can she make her family fit into this simple template? Ada is adopted. She can see where to put her parents on the tree, but what about her birth mom? Ada has a biological sister, but her sister has different adoptive parents – where do they go on the tree? But with the help of her friends and family, Ada figures it out. She creates her family tree . . . and so much more. Loosely based on the author’s own experience, this moving story explores the different ways families are created and how the modern family is more diverse and welcoming than ever before.
Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we discuss ideas that are hounding readers and clue them into some relevant titles, in case they need a new literary obsession.
The holidays are just around the corner, so it would be perfectly reasonable to start talking about wintry or holiday books. But this week, we’re talking about something else: murder. Specifically, the murder of Enoch Drebber. The murder of this fictional Mormon kicks off the first story to feature fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the story was published in the 1887 edition of Beeton’s Christmas Annual, and first hit newsstands on December 1. The rest is literary history.
To celebrate 115 years of the world’s greatest detective, we’re recommending children’s books about, based on, or similar to the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes. Nearly any mystery story is – in some fashion – indebted to the stories about Sherlock Holmes. But with this roundup, we’ve focused on those that most clearly are an homage to the great detective, or – at the very least – have a distinctly Victorian flavor.
PICTURE BOOKS
What better way to start a young reader’s journey with Sherlock than a picture-book biography about the man who created him? Arthur Who Wrote Sherlock by Linda Bailey and Isabelle Follath chronicles the incredible life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: a doctor, adventurer, tireless campaigner for justice . . . and, of course, creator of the world’s greatest detective! Any kid with an interest in mysteries will love this lively story of the facts behind the fiction.
For a book of mysteries that many kids will know, and are conundrums worthy of Holmes himself, try Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?: And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries by David Levinthal and John Nickle. Who committed a B & E at the Three Bears’ family home? Did Humpty Dumpty really just fall off that wall, or was he pushed? A streetwise investigator delves into five fairy-tale criminal cases, and though Binky wears a fedora (rather than a deerstalker hat), his shrewd mind has much in common with the great detective.
As Holmes and Watson are to London, Sam Cat and Dudley Pig are to Busytown. And in Richard Scarry’s The Great Steamboat Mystery, the almost-dynamic duo have to solve a jewel theft during a wedding aboard a steamboat (instead of eating cake). The best part is that young readers can assist by finding clues and helping crack the case in this humorous story book.
CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE
Ghost and human child friends Simon and Chester may live in the here-and-now, but they are inspired by Sherlock Holmes in Cale Atkinson‘s graphic novel Simon & Chester: Super Detectives! In the duo’s first comic-book adventure, Simon is busy writing a mystery (a regular Arthur Conan Doyle!) when Chester discovers a detective costume, complete with deerstalker. The two quickly decide to start solving mysteries themselves – starting with how a strange (yet adorable) dog wound up inside their house! (Perhaps a far cry from The Hound of the Baskervilles.)
Though their adventures take place decades before the first Holmes story, Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelley make for effective tween alternatives to Holmes and Watson in Jordan Stratford‘sThe Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. The girls who grow up to become the first computer programmer and Frankenstein writer join forces to make a secret detective agency dedicated to unlocking only the most puzzling mysteries, whether those involve missing wills, counterfeit dinosaur bones, or coded messages from princesses.
And while Marthe Jocelyn‘s beloved Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series very explicitly takes inspiration from Agatha Christie and her fictional detectives (rather than Arthur Conan Doyle’s), there’s no denying these mysteries, inspired by the imagined life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot, have a touch of Sherlock in them. At the very least, they occupy the same era of British mystery – and now you can burn though all four books in the series (mysteries from fall through summer) in one handsome ebook bundle.
YOUNG ADULT
If you need a YA fix for your Sherlock jones, look no further than the Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer. Now a series of motion pictures starring Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Superman (Henry Cavill), the books star the teenaged sister of Sherlock Holmes, who finds herself investigating missing mothers, missing ladies of wealth, and even missing landladies (sometimes with the help of her talented older brothers, and sometimes while evading them!) And, like the Aggie Morton series, they are also available in one digital collection.
Equally intriguing is Shane Peacock‘s The Boy Sherlock Holmes series. From The Eye of the Crow, the first book in the saga, to Becoming Holmes, the sixth and final book, Peacock reimagines Holmes as a teen social misfit with an aristocrat mother and poor Jewish father whose wits are his only defense – and an incredible asset when solving baffling murders in Victorian London. (Additionally, the books feature no nightmarish food sequences like that Young Sherlock Holmes film!)
Though Sherlock Holmes is not referenced, Singaporean-Canadian Y. S. Lee‘s four-book series, The Agency, features secret assignments undertaken by heroines in a Victorian atmosphere. Mary Quinn, an orphan, is brought to Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls, which is a front for an all-female investigative unit who use disguises and wits to infiltrate everything from high society to damp cargo ships to solve the era’s most dastardly mysteries.
What if Sherlock Holmes had to solve the mystery of his own death? Well, Lemony Snicket is no Sherlock Holmes. But he has been poisoned in the book Poison for Breakfast (you can probably guess when the poisoning happens), and it’s up to the author to follow a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own murder plot – with more than a few diversions along the way in this archly comic novel.
Here at Penguin Random House Canada, we’re lucky to work with so many different publisher lists. This holiday season, we’ll be highlighting each one with a dedicated post to help you find the perfect gift (or your next read). Today’s post spotlights Candlewick Press.
A Very Mercy Christmas By Kate DiCamillo Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536213607 | Candlewick Stella Endicott felt joyful. She felt like something miraculous might happen. She wanted to sing. When Stella gets the sudden idea to go caroling, she has a little trouble getting someone to join her. Her brother, Frank, is not good at spontaneity. The Watsons are very involved in a precarious fruitcake attempt (but happy to send their pig, Mercy, out for the occasion). Eugenia Lincoln declines, a bit rudely, to accompany on her accordion, and Horace Broom is too busy studying planetary movement. Will Stella need to sing by herself – with enthusiastic contributions from the pig, the cat, and the horse she picks up on the way? Or does the evening hold a miracle Stella hadn’t expected? With tender affection for Mercy Watson and all her Deckawoo Drive friends, Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen offer a picture-book homage to the season that is perfectly suited for family sharing – perhaps with some cups of hot cocoa and a stack of well-buttered toast.
Christmas Street By Jonathan Emmett Illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius 26 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Board Book ISBN 9781536227529 | Candlewick Everyone is busy on Christmas Street! Who is baking gingerbread? Who is wrapping presents? And who’s that coming down the chimney? Find out in this follow-up to Alphabet Street. And after you read the rhyming story, lift the flaps to learn the letters of the alphabet and seasonal words. Then flip the book and have fun with the giant snowy concertina play-scene on the reverse! With two large, sturdy flaps on every spread; bright, cheerful artwork from Ingela P. Arrhenius, illustrator of the best-selling series of lift-the-felt-flap board books and the Peekaboo board book series; and a clever rhyming text from Jonathan Emmett, this is a charming Christmas alphabet book that little ones will return to again and again.
I Love You All Year Round: Four Classic Guess How Much I Love You Stories By Sam McBratney Illustrated by Anita Jeram 72 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536228540 | Candlewick When seeds, plants, and other creatures begin to change in the spring, Little Nutbrown Hare has lots of questions, including wondering what he will turn into one day. By summer, he notices colors everywhere – lovely greens, reds, and blues – but there’s one color he likes best of all. In autumn, the wind sends leaves flying, inspiring some hiding and chasing – and a funny surprise for Big Nutbrown Hare. And when wintertime comes, Little Nutbrown Hare makes a discovery: that “I Spy” is especially fun to play in the snow. Returning to shelves with a charming new cover, this collection of simple, endearing tales, starring two of the world’s most beloved characters, is perfect for sharing with little hares any time of year.
One and Everything By Sam Winston 48 Pages | Ages 7-10 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536215663 | Candlewick Once there were many stories in the world. There were stories with sunsets and wonderful tales filled with fairies and dinosaurs. But one day, a story decided that it was the best, the most important story ever. It called itself the One and started to consume every other story it came across. The One ate stories made of seas and others full of dogs. Soon it seemed that the One was all there was . . . or was it? Inspired by the Endangered Alphabets project, aimed at preserving cultures by sharing their unique scripts, author-illustrator Sam Winston uses writing systems such as cuneiform and Tibetan, Egyptian hieroglyphs and ogham to illustrate this book in his signature typography-based style, using symbols and letters that have relayed the world’s stories over the centuries.
Peppa Pig and the Christmas Surprise By Candlewick Press 32 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536228106 | Candlewick It’s Christmas morning, and Santa has left presents under the tree for everyone. But no one is more delighted than Grandpa Pig, whose gift is something he’s always wanted: a drone! Everyone rushes outside to try it out, and Peppa and George love watching where it flies. But when its battery runs low, the drone is supposed to fly home. Where is that? Could it be . . . the North Pole? As Peppa and George watch and wait, they spot friends having wintry fun while Grandpa’s gift flies farther and farther away. What kind of Christmas surprise will it take for him to get it back?
Sunday Funday: An Activity for Every Weekend of the Year By Katherine Halligan Illustrated by Jesus Verona 112 Pages | Ages 7-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536227482 | Candlewick Make every Sunday a fun day with an amazing activity to keep you busy each weekend of the year. From gardening projects and obstacle courses to creative crafts and recipes, there’s something fun to do no matter what the weather is. Packed with fifty-two seasonal activities for all ages, this book will be sure to make every weekend a fantastic one.
This Is Not My Hat By Jon Klassen 35 Pages | Ages 2-5 | Board Book ISBN 9781536228052 | Candlewick When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: Or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement C. Moore Illustrated by Matt Tavares 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536217995 | Candlewick The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. Once upon a time, children imagined St. Nicholas as a stern, skinny bishop who was as likely to dole out discipline as Christmas presents. But thanks to the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” – written by Clement C. Moore in 1822 and published the next year in the Troy Sentinel – a plumper, merrier St. Nick was born, transformed into the sleigh-riding, chimney-diving jolly old elf we now call Santa Claus. With gorgeous monochrome illustrations by Matt Tavares that are meticulously true to pre-Victorian times, this reissue of the holiday favorite ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas honors the poem’s original language in a definitive keepsake volume.
Two-Headed Chicken By Tom Angleberger 208 Pages | Ages 7-10 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536223217 | Walker Books US Anything is possible in the multiverse, including a madcap adventure starring a plucky two-headed chicken. But look out – there’s a chicken-hungry moose in pursuit! In this fourth wall-breaking graphic novel, our double-headed hero is chased through dozens of bizarre universes, from an ocean planet with a disturbing mermoose (that you can never unsee) to a world where chickens drive cars, and even to a land covered with . . . pizza sauce? With each BZOOP! of the universe-hopping Astrocap, the only thing to expect is the unexpected. Packed with jokes, quizzes, and games, the two-headed chicken’s wacky escapades will remind readers of such favorites as Dog Man and CatStronauts. Absurdist superstar Tom Angleberger makes his original graphic novel debut with this lightning-fast caper that will have readers laughing out loud and eager for each new page.
Where’s Waldo? Destination: Everywhere! By Martin Handford 32 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Paperback ISBN 9781536228908 | Candlewick Have you ever wondered which of his many adventures Waldo loved best? Seek the answer in this paperback collection of some of Waldo’s most iconic journeys. Everyone’s favorite bespectacled explorer has been many places – the land of dragon flyers, a Jurassic arena of sports-loving dinosaurs, even the set of black-and-white movies in Hollywood. Join Waldo as he handpicks his favorite journeys of all time, revisiting twelve of his most fantastic travels in a paperback collection with a fresh cover and a surprise at the end of the book. Eye-boggling games await Waldo-watchers alongside every scene in this tribute to Waldo’s many years wandering the world.
At Tundra Book Group (Tundra Books, Puffin Canada, and Penguin Teen Canada), we think all our books are brilliant, and it’s nice when others think so too! Congratulations to our authors and illustrators; these are our starred books of 2022!
THREE STARS:
Night Lunch By Eric Fan Illustrated by Dena Seiferling 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735270572 | Tundra Books “Via the glow of streetlamps, the luminous moon, and the cart’s twinkling light, Seiferling (The Language of Flowers) theatrically illuminates the nighttime action,” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly “It’s difficult to create stories that plug directly into the looping logic of the minds of very young children that are also smart and engaging enough for adults in charge of bedtime reading.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire “An inspired inversion of the sleep-pushing picture book.” – Starred Review, Shelf Awareness
The Puffin Keeper By Michael Morpurgo Illustrated by Benji Davies 112 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271807 | Puffin Canada “A memorable story of the healing powers of art, nature, and human kindness.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews “Morpurgo’s spare, deeply felt prose, with undercurrents of the otherworldly, creates an irresistible momentum for this elegant story of the sea and a destiny fulfilled.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly “Whether on land or at sea, this tale of lasting friendship delivers adventure and charm in spades. A welcome addition to most collections.” – Starred Review, School Library Journal
TWO STARS:
My Self, Your Self By Esmé Shapiro 48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880234 | Tundra Books “A sublime joy” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews “Shapiro envelops big ideas within this whimsically affirming exploration of individuality and selfhood.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
Rodney Was a Tortoise By Nan Forler Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735266629 | Tundra Books “Wry, observational writing by Forler and loose, frequently funny vignettes by Ling Kang give this tale of loss its own distinctive, endearing resonance.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly “This tender story about losing a friend and making room for a new one ends on a realistically hopeful note.” – Starred Review, The Horn Book
ONE STAR:
A Garden of Creatures By Sheila Heti Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro 40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735268814 | Tundra Books “The discussions are thoughtful but direct, with no euphemisms or straightforward answers . . . . A beautiful and unconventional meditation on loss and love.” – Starred Review, Booklist
Arthur Who Wrote Sherlock By Linda Bailey Illustrated by Isabelle Follath 56 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735269255 | Tundra Books “Bailey, the author of Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, writes with a sure sense of her audience . . . . Follath’s droll illustrations capture the look of the Victorian era, the drama of Doyle’s imagination, and the dry wit of Bailey’s text. A lively, memorable biography.” – Starred Review, Booklist
Baby Squeaks By Anne Hunter 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735269095 | Tundra Books “The gift of gab proves deeply funny in Hunter’s (Where’s Baby?) earnest portrait of early language acquisition.” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
Fight Like a Girl By Sheena Kamal 272 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735265578 | Penguin Teen Canada “Kamal’s raw novel about a young fighter from a working-class background fittingly pulls no punches when it comes to examining the lasting impact of familial trauma. Trisha’s search for the truth will stay with readers, as will the satisfying feeling that they have finished reading a truly complex page-turner.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
Flowers Are Pretty . . . Weird! By Rosemary Mosco Illustrated by Jacob Souva 36 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735265943 | Tundra Books “Using wordplay (“Bee honest” and “bee-lieving”) and puns galore, a bee explains how flowers are both wonderful and weird.” – Starred Review, School Library Journal
Kumo: The Bashful Cloud By Kyo Maclear Illustrated by Nathalie Dion 64 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735267282 | Tundra Books “Sprinkled with Japanese vocabulary, Kumo will impart a new appreciation for clouds and show readers how it can sometimes be frightening to step into the world, then reassuring them that others are willing to help when we overcome our bashfulness.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire
Midnight and Moon By Kelly Cooper Illustrated by Daniel Miyares 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735266308 | Tundra Books “The story’s gentle drama and quiet heroics of two characters with disabilities make this a wonderful read that also affirms being introverted, nonverbal, or shy.” – Starred Review, Booklist
Super Family: Simon and Chester #3 By Cale Atkinson 96 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735272439 | Tundra Books “Atkinson’s mastery of facial expressions is unmatched in comics today, and the combination of visual and written humor with genuinely sweet revelations about the nature of familial love is so perfectly balanced it’s simply superb.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
The Grave Thief By Dee Hahn 344 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735269439 | Puffin Canada “Fast-paced and full of magic, this debut is sure to be a smash hit with fantasy and adventure lovers. Readers should come prepared with a box of tissues, however, as there are some tearjerker moments. Recommended first purchase.” – Starred Review, School Library Journal
Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf: A Counting Story By Davide Cali Illustrated by Marianna Balducci 36 Pages | Ages 3-6 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735269910 | Tundra Books “[A] a clever take on metafiction . . . Creative visuals and storytelling make for an absorbing read and a great bridge for both math and writing activities.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
Wrong Side of the Court By H. N. Khan 312 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735270879 | Penguin Teen Canada “H.N. Khan’s Wrong Side of the Court is finely crafted and well paced, it’s hard to believe it’s his literary debut. Toronto’s infamous Regent Park is brought vividly to life in the novel, and Khan creates relatable, true-to-life characters. He also portrays the multiculturalism of Toronto well, gradually immersing the reader in Fawad’s South Asian culture.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire
Iron Widow By Xiran Jay Zhao 400 Pages | Ages 5-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774883198 | Penguin Teen Canada The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall of China. It doesn’t matter that the girls die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But when she gets her vengeance, it becomes clear that she is an Iron Widow, a rare kind of female pilot who can sacrifice males to power up Chrysalises instead. To tame her frightening yet valuable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest male pilot in Huaxia, yet feared and ostracized for killing his father and brothers. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will take over instead, then leverage their combined strength to force her society to stop failing its women and girls. Or die trying.
P.S. Look at our author hard at work signing all 3000 copies at our warehouse back in September!
