Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!
Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door By Cary Fagan 160 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880159 | Tundra Books Andie Gladman is your typical kid – she lives in a small town, doesn’t have many friends and quietly puts up with taunts from the school bully, Myrtle Klinghoffer. But one day, a new neighbor moves into the house next to Andie’s family . . . and he looks awfully familiar. Could he be famous author Hans Christian Andersen? Andie sure thinks so, and the arrival of this well-known writer inspires Andie to write her own poems (with a feminist twist) based on his classic fairy tales. Her newfound hobby leads her to make a friend and finally feel some excitement about her previously quiet life . . . but will a shocking revelation change everything for Andie?
Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door is also available today in Audiobook!
House of Ash and Bone By Joel A. Sutherland 336 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880968 | Tundra Books Seventeen-year-old Josephine Jagger is a talented writer with special abilities she doesn’t fully understand. Over the years she has developed methods to cope with the voices she hears in her head, but the old house her family has inherited in Vermont makes Josephine question what’s real and what’s not more than anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s filled with shadows, and whispers, and the unshakable feeling of being watched. Josephine then catches her first glimpse of a shadowy woman with long hair, pale skin, an impossibly wide smile and hollow pits for eyes. Her name is Dorcas, the ghost of a witch who died three hundred years ago. She has summoned the family to Vermont to ensnare them – then consume them – in order to rise from the grave and live again . . .
House of Ash and Bone is also available today in Audiobook!
Mama’s Sleeping Scarf By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writing as Nwa Grace-James Illustrated by Joelle Avelino 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774882696 | Puffin Canada Chino loves the scarf that her mama ties around her hair at night. But when Mama leaves for the day, what happens to her scarf? Chino takes it on endless adventures! Peeking through the colorful haze of the silky scarf, Chino and her toy bunny can look at her whole family as they go through their routines. With stunning illustrations from Joelle Avelino, Mama’s Sleeping Scarf is a celebration of family, and a touching story about the everyday objects that remind us of the ones we love.
New in Paperback:
How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps By Nicola Winstanley Illustrated by John Martz 36 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Paperback ISBN 9781774883631 | Tundra Books Step one: fill the bath Step two: put the cat in the bath Step three: put shampoo on the cat Step four: rinse the cat Step five: dry the cat Seems simple, right? One problem: the cat has no intention of doing ANY of these things! Watch as the steps keep changing, the cat keeps escaping, the girl keeps eating cookies and the mess keeps escalating. Soon it’s not just the cat who needs a bath – it’s the whole house!
Narwhal and Jelly: Super Pod Party Pack! By Ben Clanton 136 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback ISBN 9781774883730 | Tundra Books A double helping of Narwhal and Jelly in a brand-new format! Join the underwater duo in this two-book graphic novel bind-up of their first two adventures – with extras like drawing guides, a superhero name generator and a pod pledge! A podtastic offering for new and old fans alike! This paperback bind-up of the first two Narwhal and Jelly titles (Unicorn of the Sea! and Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt) is full to the brim with personality, hilarity and most importantly, waffles. Join Narwhal and Jelly on their very first meeting, all the way to them becoming superheroes!
We can’t wait to see you reading these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.
Here at Tundra Books, we are all huge movie and T.V. lovers and we get extra excited when what we see on the screen is adapted from our very own books! Keep reading to find out which of your favorite Tundra titles are set to hit the big – and slightly less big – screen!
Picture Books
Wilding Pictures, the Toronto-based indie production company, has acquired the rights to the book series Professor Goose Debunks Fairy Tales and is set to make a loose adaptation of the book series as its first kids project.
Professor Goose Debunks Goldilocks and the Three Bears By Paulette Bourgeois Illustrated by Alex G. Griffiths 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735267305 | Tundra Books Mother Goose’s fairy tales are NOT based in science, and her great niece Professor Goose thinks it’s time to share the truth. Join Professor Goose as she – literally – travels through the pages of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, fact-checking, exposing the flaws and explaining the science. Bears don’t live in cottages – they prefer dens! The smallest bowl of porridge wouldn’t be “just right” – it would have been the coldest! Professor Goose is delighted to see Baby Bear use the scientific method and Goldilocks’s fight or flight response. And maybe Goldilocks should have used a GPS so she wouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place? Jammed with jokes and wonderfully silly illustrations, this book entertains while it introduces basic scientific laws and rules to young readers. At the back of the book, readers will find Professor Goose’s instructions on how to engineer their own chair for a (teddy) bear!
Professor Goose Debunks The Three Little Pigs By Paulette Bourgeois Illustrated by Alex G. Griffiths 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735267329 | Tundra Books Release Date: February 13, 2024 The second in a fractured fairy tale series by the author of Franklin the Turtle! Join Professor Goose in this STEM-filled picture book as she fact-checks classic fairy tales and shares the science behind these flawed stories. Mother Goose’s fairy tales are NOT based in science, and her great niece Professor Goose thinks it’s time to share the truth. Join Professor Goose as she – literally – travels through the pages of The Three Little Pigs, fact-checking, exposing the flaws and explaining the science. Did you know that pigs run in a zigzag pattern? And that there’s no way a wolf’s breath would be strong enough to blow down anything, even if he has his whole pack with him? And that hay bales are strong enough to resist most up, down and sideways forces? Sounds like the perfect material for building a house! . . . Or, not. But not to worry – Professor Goose is armed with helpful hints on how to make a structure strong enough to withstand hurricane forces! Jammed with jokes and hilarious illustrations, this book entertains while it introduces basic scientific laws and rules to young readers. At the back of the book, readers will find Professor Goose’s new, carefully researched fairy tale ending as well as her favorite facts about coding!
Toronto-based company Portfolio Entertainment and Treehouse have taken Cale Atkinson’s Where Oliver Fits and have expanded it into nine animated short videos as well as a Christmas special.
Where Oliver Fits By Cale Atkinson 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781101919071 | Tundra Books Oliver has always dreamed about where he will fit. Will he be in the mane of a unicorn? The tentacle of a pirate squid? The helmet of an astronaut? When he finally goes in search of his perfect place, he finds that trying to fit in is a lot harder than he thought. But like any puzzle, a little trial and error leads to a solution, and Oliver figures out exactly where he belongs. Where Oliver Fits is a sweet and funny story that explores all the highs and lows of learning to be yourself and shows that fitting in isn’t always the best fit . . .
Image courtesy of The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, with animation partner Factory, is developing How to Make Friends with a Ghost as a new stop-motion animation series for kids ages 5 -9 years old.
How to Make Friends with a Ghost By Rebecca Green 40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Paperback ISBN 9781774880401 | Tundra Books What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren’t looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you. A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.
Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort production company has launched a new show on Fubo called “Bedtime Stories With Ryan.” This 15-episode series features Reynolds reading new and classic bedtime stories including The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt, Night Lunch, and Narwhal and Jelly: Peanut Butter and Jelly.
The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt By Riel Nason Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler 48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735264472 | Tundra Books Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can’t whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot. He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up. But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he’s a quilt . . . and he realizes that it’s OK to be different.
Night Lunch By Eric Fan Illustrated by Dena Seiferling 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735270572 | Tundra Books Noses sniff the air as mouthwatering smells waft down city streets, luring growling bellies to the Night Owl. Inside this elegant, horse-drawn establishment, a feathery cook works the grill, serving up tasty dishes for shift-workers and operagoers alike: a mince pie for Fox, a ham sandwich for Badger and puddings for little Possums. Mouse, a poor street sweeper, watches as the line of customers swells, ever hopeful that someone will drop a morsel of food – but Owl’s cooking is far too delicious for more than a crumb to be found. As the evening’s service winds down, weary Owl spots trembling Mouse. Has he found his own night lunch, or will he invite this small sweeper inside for a midnight feast for two? From the imagination of two acclaimed picture book creators, together for the first time, this dreamlike picture book is a magical ode to Victorian lunch wagons. Evoking the sounds, sights, smells and tastes of the city at night, Night Lunch reveals how empathy and kindness as well as dignity and gratitude can be found – and savored – in the most unexpected places.
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Narwhal and Jelly Book #3 By Ben Clanton 64 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback ISBN 9780735262461 | Tundra Books When Jelly wonders what a unicorn is, Narwhal explains that they’re pretty much narwhals of the land (!) – and then gets carried away with a grand plan to see one. With the help of Star, Narwhal’s wish comes true in the wildest, weirdest way: Narwhal gets some land legs and takes their first step ashore. After some wibble-wobbling and a bit of practice, Narwhal is soon galloping along in search of unicorns, though Jelly is a little land sick. Before they know it, Star has the duo blasting off to a magical planet where everyone is a unicorn! But Jelly’s out-of-this-world adventure makes him feel out of his comfort zone, and he wishes he were at home . . . can Narwhal cheer Jelly up and also party down with their new unicorn pals?
Middle Grade
ABC Signature, the production company subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, has picked up the film rights for David A. Robertson’s middle-grade fantasy series The Misewa Saga.
The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga #1 By David A. Robertson 256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735266124 | Puffin Canada Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home – until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything – including them.
The Great Bear: The Misewa Saga #2 By David A. Robertson 240 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735266155 | Puffin Canada Back at home after their first adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan each struggle with personal issues: Eli is being bullied at school, and tries to hide it from Morgan, while Morgan has to make an important decision about her birth mother. They turn to the place where they know they can learn the most, and make the journey to Misewa to visit their animal friends. This time they travel back in time and meet a young fisher that might just be their lost friend. But they discover that the village is once again in peril, and they must dig deep within themselves to find the strength to protect their beloved friends. Can they carry this strength back home to face their own challenges?
The Stone Child: The Misewa Saga #3 By David A. Robertson 256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735266186 | Tundra Books After discovering a near-lifeless Eli at the base of the Great Tree, Morgan knows she doesn’t have much time to save him. And it will mean asking for help – from friends old and new. Racing against the clock, and with Arik and Emily at her side, Morgan sets off to follow the trail away from the Great Tree to find Eli’s soul before it’s too late. As they journey deep into the northern woods, a place they’ve been warned never to enter, they face new challenges and life-threatening attacks from strange and horrifying creatures. But a surprise ally comes to their aid, and Morgan finds the strength to focus on what’s most important: saving her brother’s life.
The Portal Keeper: The Misewa Saga #4 By David A. Robertson 256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880258 | Tundra Books Release Date: October 10, 2023 Eli and Morgan experience life-changing revelations in this new adventure in the award-winning, Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series. While exploring World’s End, an area in Aski they’ve just discovered, Morgan and Emily delight in their developing relationship, while Eli struggles to understand his new-found power: the ability to locate a portal. A shocking turn of events leads them to a new village, Ministik, where the animal beings who live there are going missing. Horrified to discover who is responsible, the children vow to help and turn to friends, old and new. But it’s getting harder and harder to keep the two worlds separate, especially when details of a traditional legend change everything. Forever.
Art images courtesy of Studio Ghibli and IMDB
Studio Ghibli and acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki have loosely adapted Genzaburo Yoshino’s middle-grade novel How Do You Live? into the animated feature film The Boy and the Heron set to open the 2023 Toronto Internation Film Festival.
How Do You Live? By Genzaburō Yoshino Foreword by Neil Gaiman Translated by Bruno Navasky 288 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271883 | Puffin Canada Anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite childhood book and a beloved Japanese classic, this uplifting coming-of-age story brings philosophy, history and wonder together, available in English for the first time. The streets of Tokyo swarm below fifteen-year-old Copper as he gazes out into the city of his childhood. Struck by the thought of the infinite people whose lives play out alongside his own, he begins to wonder, how do you live? Considering life’s biggest questions for the first time after the death of his father, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom. As the old man guides the boy on a journey of philosophical discovery, a timeless tale unfolds, offering a poignant reflection on what it means to be human. But when Copper betrays one of his new friends, how will he ask for forgiveness – and how can he forgive himself? How Do You Live? is the inspiring, transformative story of a young man who, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars and uses his discoveries to answer the question of what kind of person he will grow up to be.
Young Adult
Picturestart, the production company behind book adaptations like Wonder and The Hunger Games, has obtained adaptive rights to Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow for a film franchise with J.C. Lee set to write the screenplay.
Iron Widow By Xiran Jay Zhao 416 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735269958 | Tundra Books The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often 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 she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected – she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead. To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way – and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!
A Super Scary Narwhalloween: A Narwhal and Jelly Book #8 By Ben Clanton 76 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735266742 | Tundra Books In the hilarious eighth book of this blockbuster graphic novel series, Narwhal and Jelly celebrate the spookiest time of the year – Halloween – with a super twist! Dive into three new stories that are sure to fright and delight! Narwhal loves Halloween – it’s a great excuse to dress up in a spooky and silly costume, like a ghost, a mermaid, a banana or maybe even Marlow the Mustachioed Moose. It’s a skeleTON of fun! Jelly isn’t dressing up, though – he’s a little scared of this time of year, and would prefer to hunker down in a hidey-hole until Halloween is over. But when a scary sea monster makes an appearance and swallows Narwhal (gulp!), can Jelly, with the help of some super friends, pluck up the courage to save his best bud?
Narwhal and Jelly Books 6-8 is also available today in Audiobook!
New in Paperback:
Super Family: Simon and Chester #3 By Cale Atkinson 96 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback ISBN 9781774880005 | Tundra Books Welcome to the world of Simon and Chester, ghost and boy duo extraordinaire. Chester lives with his Grandma, his cat Mr. Pickles and Simon the ghost. Lately Chester has been feeling like he’s missing out when he sees other families out doing fun family things. So when Chester gets the opportunity to join his friend Amie and her family on a trip to the water park, he is IN. Meanwhile, Simon is off to his yearly ghost conference, excited to finally have something to show off about (haunting his VERY OWN HOUSE, for example) to the cool ghosts. Maybe they’ll even accept him into their group! Will things go as planned? Well, let’s put it this way: both Simon and Chester are about to learn a thing or two about the old saying “The grass is always greener . . .”
We can’t wait to see you reading these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.
Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!
I Am a Meadow Mermaid By Kallie George Illustrated by Elly MacKay 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271371 | Tundra Books A little girl dreams of adventures in the water and feels the spirit of the ocean all around her . . . even though she lives on the prairie, with flat land as far as the eye can see. But she won’t let a little detail like that stand in the way of being a meadow mermaid! Frolicking in the “waves” of wheat and “oceans” of grass, spying sea horses and . . . a shipwrecked sailor? Even if that shipwreck is actually an overturned bike and the sailor a new kid from a neighboring field, it’s still a chance to make a new friend, one with an imagination as expansive and a love of the ocean as deep as the little girl’s own. This fanciful, whimsical picture book will charm young mermaids and little pirates everywhere, and inspire them to embrace the spirit of the ocean in the things around them, no matter where they live!
Something More By Jackie Khalilieh 336 Pages | Age 12+ | Hardcover ISBN 9781774882139 | Tundra Books Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
Something More is also available today in Audiobook!
New in Paperback:
Followers By Raziel Reid 336 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735263826 | Tundra Books After a disastrous date results in her arrest, sixteen-year-old Lily Rhode is horrified to discover her mugshot is leaked on a gossip website. Lily is the niece of Whitney Paley, a Hollywood housewife and star of reality show Platinum Triangle, a soap-opera-style docu-series in the vein of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Hills, revolving around several glamorous families living in the Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills neighborhoods of Los Angeles. When Lily’s mom kicks her out of their trailer home in the Valley, Whitney (Lily’s mom’s estranged sister) invites her to live with her, her movie-star husband, Patrick, and their daughter, Hailey. Lily is set up in the pool house and thrust into the company of reality-star offspring – kids who are born with silver spoon emojis on their feed. Lily’s cousin Hailey and the other teens have lived their entire lives on camera and are masters of deception, with Hailey leading the pack. As Lily learns from the Paleys how to navigate her newfound fame, she finds herself ensnared in the unfolding storylines. What Lily doesn’t know is that she’s just a pawn being used on the show to make the Paleys look sympathetic to viewers while distracting from on-set sexual misconduct rumors surrounding super hero dad Patrick Paley . . . Is Lily safe under Patrick’s roof? Or will Lily be Patrick’s downfall? If she isn’t destroyed by Hailey first. When Lily catches the eye of Hailey’s designated leading man Joel Strom – it’s war!
Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness By Ben Clanton 80 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback ISBN 9780735262553 | Tundra Books Dive into four new stories about Narwhal and Jelly becoming substitute teachers! The two best friends come across an enthusiastic school of fish one morning. Unfortunately, Mr. Blowfish, their teacher, has come down with a cold, and class will have to be cancelled . . . until Professor Knowell (Narwhal) and Super Teacher (Jelly) volunteer to help out! The first subject is Wafflematics, in which Narwhal and Jelly calculate the number of waffles needed to feed the class. That’s what we’re chalking about! Next up is a super-fun science scavenger hunt, followed by a game of “Tag! You’re Awesome!” at recess. Narwhal’s teaching methods may be unconventional, but with Jelly’s help, the two teach (and learn) with their trademark positivity and humor. Before they know it, the day is over . . . but what grade will Narwhal receive from Jelly?
We can’t wait to see you reading and listening to these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.
Want to know what everyone else has been reading and loving lately? Every month we will share our list of top ten bestselling kids’ books that we publish into North America. Here are the Tundra and Puffin Canada titles for the month of September 2022 – how many have you read?
1. Narwhal and Jelly Series By Ben Clanton Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271364 | Tundra Books Narwhal is a happy-go-lucky narwhal. Jelly is a no-nonsense jellyfish. The two might not have a lot in common, but they do both love waffles, parties and adventures. Join Narwhal and Jelly as they discover the whole wide ocean together. A wonderfully silly early graphic novel series with each volume featuring three stories. The series celebrates the value of positivity and creativity.
2. Night Lunch By Eric Fan Illustrated by Dena Seiferling 48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735270572 | Tundra Books Noses sniff the air as mouthwatering smells waft down city streets, luring growling bellies to the Night Owl. Inside this elegant, horse-drawn establishment, a feathery cook works the grill, serving up tasty dishes for shift-workers and operagoers alike: a mince pie for Fox, a ham sandwich for Badger and puddings for little Possums. Mouse, a poor street sweeper, watches as the line of customers swells, ever hopeful that someone will drop a morsel of food – but Owl’s cooking is far too delicious for more than a crumb to be found. As the evening’s service winds down, weary Owl spots trembling Mouse. Has he found his own night lunch, or will he invite this small sweeper inside for a midnight feast for two? From the imagination of two acclaimed picture book creators, together for the first time, this dreamlike picture book is a magical ode to Victorian lunch wagons. Evoking the sounds, sights, smells and tastes of the city at night, Night Lunch reveals how empathy and kindness as well as dignity and gratitude can be found – and savored – in the most unexpected places.
3. The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga #1 By David A. Robertson 256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735266100 | Puffin Canada Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home – until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything – including them.
4. The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt By Riel Nason Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler 48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735264472 | Tundra Books Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can’t whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot. He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up. But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he’s a quilt . . . and he realizes that it’s OK to be different.
5. Ghostlight By Kenneth Oppel 400 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735272330 | Puffin Canada The story of the tragic death of sixteen-year-old Rebecca Strand and her lighthouse keeper father is just an elaborate tale Gabe tells tourists for his summer job on the Toronto Island. Or so he thought. When his ghost tours awaken Rebecca’s spirit, Gabe is drawn into a world far darker than any ghost story he’s ever heard. Rebecca reveals that she and her father were connected to The Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from “the wakeful and wicked dead”—malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But now the Order has disappeared and Viker is growing even stronger, and he’ll stop at nothing to wreak chaos and destruction on the living. Gabe and his friends – both living and dead – must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost souls.
6. How to Teach Your Cat a Trick in Five Easy Steps By Nicola Winstanley Illustrated by Zoe Si 52 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735270619 | Tundra Books Step one: Decide on a trick Step two: Get some treats ready Step three: Hold the treat in your hand and ask your cat to do the trick Step four: Watch your cat do exactly what you asked him to do Step five: Reward your cat for doing the trick Simple, right? This spoof on an instruction manual features an increasingly bewildered human, a nonchalant cat, a very good dog and a know-it-all narrator . . . who really doesn’t know it all. How DO you teach a cat a trick? Read on to find out!
7. Kumo: The Bashful Cloud By Kyo Maclear Illustrated by Nathalie Dion 64 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735267282 | Tundra Books Kumo is a cloud whose only wish is to float unseen. When she’s assigned cloud duty for the day, she feels overwhelmed by self-doubt and her fear of being noticed. But after learning that closing your eyes isn’t a good solution to your troubles, Kumo pulls her fluff together and does her duties – drifting, releasing rain and providing shelter – meeting some new friends along the way and inspiring the imagination (and capturing the heart) of a small daydreamer like her. Kyo Maclear’s sweetly humorous and lyrical parable about shyness, vividly brought to life by Nathalie Dion’s ethereal illustrations, is an affirmation of the pleasures of community and the confidence that can arise from friendship and visibility.
8. My Self, Your Self By Esmé Shapiro 48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880234 | Tundra Books From the way you button your coat to the way you tap your toes, from the top of your head to your adorable tummy, there are so many reasons to love your self, and so many reasons to be loved. Join a group of endearing forest creatures as they bake and eat cranberry-butter-pie muffins, sing silly songs at bath time and stop to smell the chestnut-nettle roses, all the while exploring their individuality. This joyously affirming picture book from the inimitable Esmé Shapiro encourages the youngest readers to get to know and love and be kind to their wonderful selves and the equally wonderful selves around them.
9. How to Make Friends with a Ghost By Rebecca Green 40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Paperback ISBN 9781774880401 | Tundra Books What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren’t looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you. A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.
10. 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 In this clever counting book, the big bad wolf doesn’t want to tell a long story. He wants to get to the eating part. But the reader has other ideas. From a pig soccer team to a pig for every letter of the alphabet to 101 pigs in an animated movie, the stories get more and more fantastical . . . but they’re always too short and they ALL end the same way. Using an abacus as the basis for her illustrations, Marianna creates beguiling little pigs and a menacing but slightly bored wolf that perfectly complement the inventive story by Davide Cali. Come for the counting, stay for the storytelling! This book has it all.
