Day 2: Festival of Trees 2010

Here we are at day 2 (click here for Day 1) of the Forest of Reading’s Festival of Trees! Today we attended all three Silver Birch Award ceremonies to cheer for our authors and illustrators.

The day starts off with the Silver Birch Award’s Nonfiction category. Mark Thurman is busy watching the presenters talk about the authors. *Waving to the creators of Alien Invaders* Jane Drake spots us in the first photo and then Ann Love does!

Alien Invaders didn’t win, but congratulations to Larry Verstraete, his book At the Edge did!

Next up, Shane Peacock’s Death in the Air was nominated in the Silver Birch Award’s Fiction category.

Death in the Air didn’t win, but congratulations to Robert Paul Weston, his book Zorgamazoo did!

The last ceremony of the day, we had two nominees for the Silver Birch Award’s Express category. Cary Fagan with Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit and Cyndi Sand-Eveland’s Dear Toni. Will we win anything?

Drumrolls and the finalists are announced, both of our authors are in it! Congratulations to Cary Fagan, Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit was named a Silver Birch Express Honour Book! Listen to the scream, cheers, and chants!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqwN5YsOi6c]

Wait for it… Cyndi Sand-Eveland’s Dear Toni is the winner of the Silver Birch Express Award!!!

Doesn’t the award look great?

The instant stardom!

Congratulations to all our authors and illustrators, thank you to each and every one of you for coming out to the festival and the award ceremony! Most of all, thank you to all the readers who voted!

Sweet Congratulations

The Information Book Award Winner of the 2009/2010 Red Cedar Book Awards is…

Sweet! The Delicious Story of Candy
Written by Ann Love and Jane Drake
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Trade Paperback | 64 pages
Ages 9-12
ISBN: 978-0-88776-962-7

Through time and across continents, stories of sweets and their inventors intrigue and entertain us. Learn about primal sweets – from honey, sweet milk, and nuts to sugar candy, chocolate, and “sweet” stories of success.

Sweet! The Delicious Story of Candy takes us through history from 4,000 B.C., when islanders in Papua New Guinea cut sugarcane for its sap, and 2,600 B.C., when the first-known beekeepers produced honey to embalm the dead, to 500 A.D., when the Chinese made pear and plum syrups from unripe fruit, and all the way through to the world’s first chocoholics and modern-day candy factories.

From cravings to the scoop on ice cream, Ann Love and Jane Drake present a comprehensive and irresistible story of candy through the ages, complemented by a detailed timeline and playful illustrations from artist Claudia Dávila.

Congratulations to Ann Love, Jane Drake, and Claudia Dávila! To prove that they know what they’re doing, look who’s been nominated for next year’s award!

2010-2011 Red Cedar Information Book Nominees:
Alien Invaders: Species that threaten our world
Written by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Illustrated by Mark Thurman

2010-2011 Red Cedar Fiction Nominees:
Dear Toni
Written by Cyndi Sand-Eveland

2010 Silver Birch Express Nominee

We have another video clip today. Dear Toni is nominated for the Silver Birch Express Award!

Cyndi Sand-Eveland created a video clip – watch her sketch and read from Dear Toni:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEFs_2PgwcE]

The winner of the Silver Birch Express Award will be announced at the Festival of Trees, taking place on May 12-13, 2010 at the Harbourfront Centre. For more information, visit the Forest of Reading website. Vote for Dear Toni!

Dear ToniDear Toni
By Cyndi Sand-Eveland
ISBN 978-88776-876-7
Hardcover
136 Pages
Ages 8-11

2010 SYRCA Willow Awards

The following Tundra books are nominated for the 2010 Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Award:

Bird Child
By Nan Forler
Illustrated by François Thisdale
ISBN 978-0-88776-894-1
Hardcover
32 Pages
Nominated in the Shining Willow category (kindergarten – grade 3)
Bullying and the ability to rise above it are at the heart of this strikingly beautiful picture book. All school-aged children have either bullied, been bullied, or witnessed bullying, and all too often, they feel powerless to stop what has been set in motion.

Dear Toni
By Cyndi Sand-Eveland
ISBN 978-0-88776-876-7
Hardcover
136 Pages
Nominated in the Diamond Willow category (grades 4-6)
When sixth-grader Gene Tucks moves south, she dreads being the new kid at school and almost everything else about her life as a “nobody.” But what she dreads most is the hundred-day journal-writing assignment her teacher has given the class. His brilliant idea is to have the journals locked in the town museum’s vault for forty years so that future grade-sixers can read them.

Word Nerd
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 978-0-88776-875-0
Hardcover
256 Pages
Nominated in the Snow Willow category (grades 7-9)
In this brilliantly observed novel, author Susin Nielsen transports the reader to the world of competitive Scrabble as seen from the honest yet funny viewpoint of a boy who’s searching for acceptance and for a place to call home.

The Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Award allows over 10,000 students and young adults to read and vote for their favorite books. Award winners will be announced at a gala that will be held in the spring. For more info on the SYRCA Willow Awards, please visit www.willowawards.ca.

Congratulations to the abovementioned authors and illustrator!

The 2010 OLA Forest of Reading® Nominees

Yesterday, the Ontario Library Association revealed the short-listed nominated titles for the 2010 Forest of Reading®. All nominated titles have been posted to the Reading Program page of the OLA website, which you can visit at http://www.accessola.com/reading.

Tundra would like to congratulate Tim Beiser, Rachel Berman, Cyndi Sand-Eveland, Cary Fagan, Shane Peacock, Jane Drake, Ann Love, Mark Thurman, and Susin Nielsen!

Blue Spruce Award (JK-Grade 2)
Bradley McGoggBradley McGogg
The Very Fine Frog

By Tim Beiser
Illustrated by Rachel Berman
ISBN 978-88776-864-4
Hardcover | 24 Pages
Ages 2-5
“… The rhyming verse is so fresh and the illustrations so full of personality and emotion that we quickly forget the slight premise and simply enjoy Brad’s neighbourhood kitchen crawl…. Tim Beiser does a bang-up job…. Rachel Berman locates this moveable feast in a gentle setting, rural and mildly Edwardian…. The slight contrast between words and pictures creates a delicious tension and a welcoming world for all diners and sojourners.” – Feature Review, Quill & Quire

Silver Birch Award – Express (Grades 2-4)
Dear ToniDear Toni
By Cyndi Sand-Eveland
ISBN 978-88776-876-7
Hardcover | 136 Pages
Ages 8-11
“The novel is written in diary format and peppered with often-humorous sketches depicting the various activities, thoughts, pets, and people that make up Gene’s life. Girls, especially, will relate to the protagonist and feel as if they are reading personal notes from a close friend.” – School Library Journal

Ten Lesson for Kaspar SnitTen Lessons for Kaspar Snit
By Cary Fagan
ISBN 978-88776-835-4
Paperback | 192 Pages
Ages 8-12
“Ten Lessons for Kaspar Snit is full of clever dialogue and comic situations, but it is also an action-packed, inventive, page-turner with several surprises. Much of the humour can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, and the supportive, caring family dynamic of the Galinski-Blande family is pleasing…. The tone of the book is always light, with wisecracks being made even when the action heats up…” – Highly Recommended, CM Magazine

Silver Birch Award – Fiction (Grades 4-6)
Death in the AirDeath in the Air
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His Second Case
By Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-88776-851-4
Hardcover | 264 Pages
Ages 10-14
“In the first novel, we see many of the characteristics of the adult detective being formed through his first exciting adventure. In Death in the Air, this development continues and we get to know young Sherlock even better….This novel is written for the young adult, but adult readers will also find it satisfying. Peacock places demand on the reader, expecting intelligence and curiosity. The fast-paced adventure is a treat.” – The Globe and Mail

Silver Birch Award – Nonfiction (Grades 4-6)
Alien InvadersAlien Invaders
Species that Threaten Our World

By Jane Drake and Ann Love
Illustrated by Mark Thurman
ISBN 978-88776-798-2
Hardcover | 56 Pages
Ages 9-12
“In a clear, informal text, illustrated with handsome color paintings, this intriguing science book discusses particular plants, animals, bacteria, and viruses that humans have, deliberately or accidentally, introduced to a new habitat.” – Booklist

Red Maple Award (Grades 7-8) and Golden Oak Award (Adult Learners)
Word NerdWord Nerd
By Susin Nielsen
ISBN 978-88776-875-0
Hardcover | 256 Pages
Ages 9+
“This is a tender, often funny story with some really interesting characters. It will appeal to word nerds, but even more to anyone who has ever longed for acceptance or had to fight unreasonable parental restrictions.” – Starred Review, School Library Journal

The Festival of Treesâ„¢ will be taking place on May 12-13, 2010 at the Harbourfront Centre.

Tundra Book Group