The Adventures of Miss Petitfour Archives - Page 2 of 3

June 5, 2018June 5, 2018

Camp Penguin

Summer is almost here (the official first day is June 21, 2018) and we know some of you are gearing up for the ultimate reading experience.

If you haven’t already, visit your local bookstore – some with #CampPenguin displays already – to find the next book on the reading guide. You’ll be able to pick up a #CampPenguin poster, reading trail map, and merit badge stickers!

Black Bond Books:

Bookmark PEI:

Kidsbooks:
Kidsbooks Camp Penguin 1 Kidsbooks Camp Penguin 3

Now, all you have to do is pull out a lounge chair, pitch a tent, or set up your hammock with a cool beverage nearby as you leisurely read your favorite middle-grade books. Don’t forget to wear a hat and to apply sunscreen if you’re going to be outdoors for a long period of time!

We’re also hosting a contest where you can win 3 of the 15 hand-selected #CampPenguin titles! Continue your summer reading fun by clicking here. Good luck!

April 2, 2018March 26, 2018

International Children’s Book Day 2018

International Children's Book Day
Since 1967, on or around April 2, Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, people around the world celebrate International Children’s Book Day to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books.

We thought we’d spotlight our incredibly talented international authors and illustrators today. Here are 10 books that you should look out for:

Can You Find My Robot’s Arm?
By Chihiro Takeuchi
ISBN 9781101919033
07/04/2017
Hardcover | Ages 2-5
Chihiro Takeuchi is a renowned paper cut artist living in Osaka, Japan. In 2015 and 2016, Chihiro was part of a select group of artists to exhibit at the prestigious Bologna Book Fair. She has created several books in Japanese. Can You Find My Robot’s Arm? is her first children’s picture book in English.

From the Heart of Africa
Collected by Eric Walters
ISBN 9781770497191
01/02/2018
Hardcover | Ages 6-9
Illustrators in this book include Joe Morse, Canada; Maaike Beker, South Africa; Eugenie Fernandes, Canada; Sindiso Nyoni, Zimbabwe; Toby Newsome, South Africa; Eva Campbell, Canada; Thomas Gonzalez, USA; Roge, Canada; Xanale Puren, South Africa; Loveis Wise, USA; Iain McIntosh, UK; Melinda Josie, Canada; Jeannie Phan, Canada; Setor Fiadzigbey, Ghana; and Eliscer Elliott, Canada.

Petra
By Marianna Coppo
ISBN 9780735262676
02/06/2018
Hardcover | Ages 3-7
Marianna Coppo is an author/illustrator from Italy. She studied editorial illustration at MiMaster in Milan, and now focuses on freelance illustration in Rome. She is one of the curators of Tentacoli, an independent label which specializes in fanzines and handmade products. Petra is her first picture book.

Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms
By Robert Paul Weston
Illustrated by Misa Saburi
ISBN 9781101918746
02/20/2018
Hardcover | Ages 3-7
Robert Paul Weston was born in Dover, England, but did most of his growing up in the small town of Georgetown, Ontario. Since then, he’s also spent time living in the US, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and has been nominated for the Journey Prize and the Fountain Award for Speculative Fiction. He has written several novels for young readers, including Zorgamazoo, Dust City, and Blues for Zoey. Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms is his first picture book. He currently lives in London, England.

The Adventures of Miss Petitfour
By Anne Michaels
Illustrated by Emma Block
ISBN 9780735263222
03/27/2018
Trade Paperback | Ages 6-9
Emma Block is the author and illustrator of Tea and Cake and has illustrated several books for children. She has worked for clients including Orla Kiely, UNIQLO, Anthropologie, Time Out, and Hallmark. She likes charity shops, tea and very sharp pencils. Her art is inspired by the people she meets in her everyday life, old photos, vintage clothes, travel, 1950s illustration, and 1930s jazz.

The Golden Glow
By Benjamin Flouw
ISBN 9780735264120
5/15/2018
Hardcover | Ages 4-8
Benjamin Flouw graduated from a CG animation school in France and moved to London to create backgrounds for Cartoon Network’s show The Amazing World of Gumball. He is now based in Paris where he works as a freelance designer and illustrator for films and advertisements, with clients such as Variety, Martha Stewart Living, and American Express. His influences run from mid-century illustrators like Miroslav Sasek and Mary Blair to 90’s low-poly video games. The Golden Glow is the first picture book he has both written and illustrated.

Great Dog
By Davide Cali
Illustrated by Miguel Tanco
ISBN 9781101919170
5/29/2018
Hardcover | Ages 3-7
Davide Cali began his career in 1994 as a cartoon writer for the Italian magazine Linus. He began writing children’s books in 2000, and since then he has published over one hundred books for children, including Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs and Cinderella and the Furry Slippers. Cali has won a Bologna Ragazzi Special Award, the Switzerland Enfantaisies Prize, the Baobob Prize, the Belgium Libbylit Award, and France’s SNCF award. His books have been published in France, Italy, Austria, the United States and Canada, and translations of his books have been published in eighteen countries. Davide lives in Genoa, Italy.

Award-winning artist Miguel Tanco is a children’s book author and illustrator. He teaches illustration and organizes creative workshops for kids in Spain, where he was born and raised, and in Italy. He has published over forty children’s books including You and Me, Me and You; Les Farfelus; and The Story of Cyrano de Bergerac. He lives in Milan with his wife Federica and their two great sons, Pablo and Javier.

If a Horse Had Words
By Kelly Cooper
Illustrated by Lucy Eldridge
ISBN 9781101918722
06/05/2018
Hardcover | Ages 4-8
Lucy Eldridge is a traditional artist who works primarily in watercolor and gouache to create beautiful, whimsical illustrations. She finds inspiration for her work from a variety of things, including pebbles found on the beach, biscuits, origami paper, dictionaries, maps, Chinese brush painting, clouds, trees, trinkets, and cats. Lucy illustrated the middle-grade novel Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird. This is her first picture book. She is based in Brighton, UK.

Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Júlia Sardà
ISBN 9781770495593
08/28/2018
Hardcover | Ages 5-8
Júlia Sardà is an artist who has illustrated many books for children, including The Liszts by Kyo Maclear, and number of classics such as Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Her work has been published around the world in many languages. She lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Tales from the Inner City
By Shaun Tan
ISBN 9780735265202
10/02/2018
Hardcover | Ages 12+
Shaun Tan is an artist and author living in Melbourne, Australia. He has written and illustrated numerous acclaimed books that have enjoyed tremendous crossover appeal, including The Arrival, The Red Tree, and The Singing Bones, as well as picture books for children including The Rules of Summer. Shaun has worked as a theatre designer, a concept artist for Pixar, and has directed a short film, The Lost Thing, which won an Academy Award. He has won many awards for both individual works and his body of work, including a World Fantasy Award for Best Artist in 2001, a Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, both in 2011.

June 6, 2017June 6, 2017

Q&A with the PRHC Young Readers team

This is the last week for which the Penguin Shop will feature the Tundra takeover for our 50th anniversary. We hope you get a chance to visit (we’re giving away lots of goodies and hosting a contest in-store). Don’t forget, we have story time and crafts on Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 1:00 pm.

While we wait for Thursday to arrive, we thought you’d like this little Q&A we did with some of our team members!

TARA, VP AND PUBLISHER, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE CANADA YOUNG READERS
Instagram: @tarawalker19

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Reading stories, looking at art and working with incredibly talented and devoted writers and illustrators.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books with all my heart. I read and reread them all. I drew pictures of the characters: the clothes they wore, the food they ate, their meager belongings. I pretended my Barbies were Laura and her family. There was something so comforting and appealing to me about the little world they occupied, the simplicity of their lives and their close family ties, especially Laura’s relationship with her Pa. And Garth Williams drawings … perfection.

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
Winifred Liszt: because she makes lists of her favorite cheeses and favorite Bowie songs.
Narwhal: because he has great banter and loves a good waffle.
Ooko: because I think he’d be my best Debbie.

LYNNE, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR, FICTION, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE CANADA YOUNG READERS
Twitter: @LynneMissen1

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Working with people who love books as much as I do, especially children’s books.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
One that I remember vividly is A Fish Out of Water, which (I’ve just discovered) was written by Helen Palmer, a children’s book author and editor, whose husband was Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr Seuss). For some reason this story of a boy who fed a goldfish too much and it kept growing and growing, moving from a bathtub to a pool until help arrives and it goes back to a normal size remains vividly in my mind. I had a series of goldfish around then but they didn’t get bigger, they just died.

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
I would love to have Annie Magruder and her dog Carson (Carson Crosses Canada) over — as long as they brought some delicious food from their travels across Canada! I want to drive across Canada myself and would love to hear more about their adventures.

LIZ, SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Working with a great group of people who love kids books; reading them, talking about them, creating them.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends was a wonderfully silly book and seemed to be written just for me!

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
I think Narwhal from Narwhal and Jelly would be the life of the party (and he would be more than alright with waffles served for dinner). The Dixie Chicks from Count Your Chickens would be great to have around for musical entertainment. And I’d love to see what Pepper from A Pattern for Pepper would wear to a dinner party!

SAMANTHA, EDITOR
Instagram: @Twinkiethekidd
Twitter: @Twinkiethekidd
Tumblr: @Twinkiethekidd

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Getting to work with writers and illustrators is such a wonderful thing! I love being able to help creators shape and perfect their work, whether it’s working with an artist on a composition for a picture book or a novelist on a particularly tricky plot point. It’s also nice to know that the work I’m doing helps get books into the hands of children. I loved reading as a kid, and so many books really stuck with me – I’m glad I get to help create that experience for kids reading today.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
My favourite was definitely Ferdinand the Bull. The black and white illustrations are so fantastic, and the writing is funny and kind of weird. I was also really fond of The Olden Days Coat by Margaret Laurence and The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier.

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
Arlo the Armadillo, so that he could tell me about his travels. The bed from The Pirate’s Bed because he seems like a nice guy and I could take a nap at dinner that way. And the dinosaur from Adventures with Barefoot Critters because I think we have a lot in common (we are both very clumsy).

JESSICA, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
The hope that a book I’ve worked on will help a kid out there feel less alone, find out something they needed to know about themselves or the world, or just make them laugh a little.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
One of my favourite books was The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes – there was something delicious about how he really didn’t learn his lesson (the rain cleaned the dishes so he didn’t have to) and that he drank out of a flower vase and an ashtray rather than wash any dishes!

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
I think I’d like to have dinner with the Fitzgerald-Trouts and Mr. Knuckles. Maybe we could have a picnic at his laundromat (and shake down the vending machine for dessert).

LIZA, SALES DIRECTOR
Instagram: @Lizamo67
Twitter: @Lizamo67

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Talking about kids books all day!

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
Are You My Mother? By P.D. Eastman

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
Miss Moon so we could talk about our dogs!
Lydia Blankenship from The Serpent King so she could take me shopping and we’d hang out and talk about our lives.
Miss Petitfour – we would have a picnic dinner of pastries and cheese surrounded by adorable cats!

PAMELA, PUBLICITY & MARKETING MANAGER
Instagram: @pamelaosti
Twitter: @pamelaosti

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
Meeting our readers and seeing their faces when they meet their favourite author. It’s incredibly moving and rewarding.

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
Bread and Jam for Frances.

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
Miss Mousie because she rocks, Sadie because she is my childhood spirit animal.

SYLVIA, MARKETING & PUBLICITY COORDINATOR
Instagram: @sincerely.syl
Twitter: @sincerelysyl

1. What is your favourite thing about your job?
The rare chance I get to see sketches or final art when it comes in. We have so many talented illustrators!

2. Tell us about your favourite book as a child.
A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban, I wanted my own tea set so badly! I showed signs of wanting to host dinner parties at a very early age.

3. Which Tundra character(s) would you want to have dinner with and why?
Colette because she would tell me fabulous stories about the Mile End. Narwhal and Jelly because they also love to eat waffles for dinner.

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016

Case Covers

A few weeks back, we featured an interview between the founders of the newly minted Undies award – Carter Higgins and Travis Jonker. Now, we’re excited to share our eligible titles for the inaugural Undies:

If I Had a Gryphon_Undies — **Picture Book:** *If I Had a Gryphon* by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Cale Atkinson

Miss Moon_undies — **Picture Book:** *Miss Moon, Wise Words from a Dog Governess* by Janet Hill

**Picture Book:** *Counting with Barefoot Critters* by Teagan White

The Darkest Dark_Undies — **Picture Book:** *The Darkest Dark* by Chris Hadfield, illustrated by the Fan Brothers

We also dipped into our back list titles to share some of the great jacket and case designs from the past few years:

**Picture Book:** *This Is Sadie* by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad

**Picture Book:** *Adventures with Barefoot Critters* by Teagan White

Mos Mustache — **Picture Book:** *Mo’s Mustache* by Ben Clanton

Miss Petitfour.JPG — **Middle Grade Novel:** *The Adventures of Miss Petitfour* by Anne Michaels, illustrated by Emma Block

Which ones are your favorite?

November 3, 2015October 5, 2015

Introducing Miss Petitfour

MissPetitfour05

Miss Petitfour is an expert at baking and eating little cakes. She also has the most marvelous, everyday adventures. Her favorite mode of travel is by tablecloth, and on windy days she always takes her sixteen cats out for an airing.

Join Miss Petitfour and her feline companions as they embark on five magical outings, including a quest for “birthday cheddar” and a visit to the village’s annual Festooning Festival.

And if you prefer books in which nothing ever happens, books in which people (and cats) sit by the fire with buttery shortbread biscuits and steaming mugs of cocoa, books full of interesting facts that will never come in useful, and books with digressions and meanwhiles and long words and lists, then you will find plenty of that here too.

So fetch a tablecloth and turn to the first page of this book. “Sometimes, all you must do is reach out your hand for something wonderful to happen . . . ”