A roundup of interviews with…

Open Book Toronto logoOnce again, the wonderful team at Open Book: Toronto interviewed some of our Spring 2010 authors and illustrators. Many thanks to Clelia and Amy for their hard work! Click on the links below to read Open Book: Toronto’s interviews with:

You can take a look at the Fall 2009 Ten Question interviews here. Stay tuned for interviews from our Fall 2010 authors and illustrators!

The Clean Air Commute

This year, the 2010 Clean Air Commute takes place during June 14-18. For that week, try biking, walking, telecommuting, taking public transit, driving a hybrid, carpooling, or even just giving your car a tune-up. Who knows? You might discover a more enjoyable way of commuting.

Yes You Can!
Your Guide to Becoming an Activist
Written by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Trade Paperback
Pub Date: October 2010
Ages 11+  |  176 pages
ISBN 978-0-88776-942-9

  • Did you know? Ann Love, is one of the founding members of Pollution Probe!
  • Did you know? One of Pollution Probe’s first big campaigns was directed at phosphate pollution.

I was in WWF today and noticed they have an interesting campaign add-on to the Clean Air Commute. WWF is encouraging people to pin a car-key on their shirts as a way of pointing out that their choice to cycle or walk is a deliberate alternative to driving. Either you or your parents could do that – choose a sturdy fabric and a strong safety pin to attach the key prominently to the front of your shirt or jacket. So, you do a good thing for the environment and you make the point so that others will think about walking or cycling too… – Ann Love

Cyclist BikeList
The Book for Every Rider

Written by Laura Robinson
Illustrated by Ramón K. Pérez
Trade Paperback
Ages 9+  |  64 pages
ISBN 978-0-88776-784-5

  • Issues concerning cyclists vs. bikers covered in Cyclist BikeList – Mike Marino, The Florida Times-Union/Jacksonville.com
  • Book hits just the right gear – Paul Jankowsky, Owen Sound Sun Times
  • The Bicycle Nut with Laura Robinson discussion Cyclist BikeList – Jerry, The Bicycle Nut

Bring the kids and spend an afternoon with author Laura Robinson and discover the joy of cycling. Laura will be launching Cyclist BikeList with Octopus Books on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

For more information on the Clean Air Commute or to register your workplace, please visit their website: www.cleanaircommute.ca

Cool Woods

The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement has been signed by most of the Canadian forestry industry and environmental activists! Read the article from the Globe and Mail here or take your own trip around the world’s boreal forest:

Cool Woods
A Trip around the World’s Boreal Forest

Written by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Illustrated by Andrew Kiss
Hardcover | 80 pages | Ages 9+
ISBN 978-0-88776-608-4
The boreal forest is the last great forest wilderness on earth. It drapes across the subarctic right around the world. It pervades our myths and folklore. It provides us with wood and water. It freshens the very air we breathe.

  • Winner of the Skipping Stones Honor Award in the Ecology and Nature Books category

Praise for Cool Woods:

“…totally right on…” – The Globe and Mail

“…informative and beautiful…. The text conveys a sense of wonder along with its many facts…. [L]ovingly detailed paintings…teem with life…. [T]he authors provide a glossary, an index, and an indispensable map for this intriguing trip, and many young readers will be inspired to find out more.” – Quill & Quire

“[Andrew] Kiss makes visible just how magical the forest can be….” – Toronto Star

“…a remarkable look at the last great forest on Earth…each chapter is full of wonderful information…But the real merit of this book is the obvious passion that the authors feel for saving and preserving this unique and vital ‘lungs of the Earth’ environment” – Victoria Times Colonist

“Useful as an introductory resource…designed to pique curiosity and send learners off in search of more information – or a boreal forest in which to wander.” – Green Teacher

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

Tundra Book Group