Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!

Billy and the Giant Adventure
By Jamie Oliver
Illustrated by Mónica Armiño
336 Pages | Ages 8 – 12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774884140 | Tundra Books
One pinch of adventure, a dash of friendship, a sprinkle of mystery and a HUGE spoonful of magic . . . Jamie Oliver, bestselling author and internationally renowned chef, delivers the perfect recipe for a page-turning children’s fiction debut! Billy and his friends know that Waterfall Woods is out of bounds; strange things are rumored to have happened there and no one in their village has ventured past its walls for decades . . . But when they discover a secret way in, Billy and his best friends, Anna, Jimmy and Andy, can’t resist the temptation to explore! Only to quickly discover that the woods are brimming with magic and inhabited by all sorts of unusual creatures, including a whole community of sprites who need the children’s help! With magical battles, a long-lost mythical city, fantastical flying machines, epic feasts and one GIANT rescue – not to mention some mouth-watering recipes at the back – get ready for an adventure you’ll never forget!

Billy and the Giant Adventure is also available today in Audiobook!

New in Audio:

The Marrow Thieves
By Cherie Dimaline
Read by Meegwun Fairbrother
7 hours 8 minutes | Audiobook
ISBN 9781774885475 | Penguin Teen Canada
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden – but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.

We can’t wait to see you reading/listening to these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.

Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!

Champions of the Fox: Thieves of Shadow #3
By Kevin Sands
464 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882405 | Puffin Canada
Follow my instructions, and when our task is done, I will release you.”
Commanded by the magical artifact known as the Dragon’s Eye, junior con artist Callan and his friends are eagerly reaching the end of the epic quest that will finally free him from the Eye’s sinister hold. But their final task is their most ambitious: sneaking into the emperor’s private island prison and rescuing a man from a jail cell that has been locked tight for nearly a century. This impossible heist will strain the gang’s unique abilities to thieve and deceive everyone from the guards, the city elite, the warden, and even the nefarious local crime boss who warns them to stay away. As the friends plan out their last and most difficult con job, Callan begins to question what they’re helping the Eye to achieve. Aided by magical hints and fitful dreams, Callan slowly uncovers the Eye’s true desires. To his horror, he realizes that he may be the one being conned all this time . . . and his mistake could cost the world’s entire existence.

Champions of the Fox is also available today in Audiobook!

Murtagh
By Christopher Paolini
656 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882962 | Penguin Teen Canada
The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air – and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems. In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.

New in Paperback:

Green Mountain Academy
By Frances Greenslade
240 Pages | Ages 10-14 | Paperback
ISBN 9780735267862 | Tundra Books
After a family trip turned disastrous when their truck broke down in the middle of an old logging road in Oregon, Francie is now back in British Columbia. People try to make things as “normal” as possible for her, but they don’t understand that trying to be normal in your old life that’s exploded is the worst feeling in the world. Luckily for Francie, the wilderness is still soothing, and an opportunity to attend the Green Mountain Academy, a tiny boarding school perched on the side of a mountain, seems perfect. It’s a new start, with new friends and a chance at a new family. But when a winter storm hits, knocking out all the power, news that a small plane has gone missing unsettles Francie. Knowing that the chance of survival in the middle of a wild nighttime snowstorm diminishes over time, Francie is compelled to leave the cozy school and set out into the icy cold, swirling snowstorm.

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

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!

Freddie the Flyer
By Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail and Fred Carmichael
Illustrated by Audrea Loreen-Wulf
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880807 | Tundra Books
When Freddie was young, he saw a plane up close for the first time when it dropped off supplies at his family’s remote bush camp. He was instantly hooked. Freddie has flown for nearly seventy years, doing everything from supply runs to search and rescue to transporting dog teams to far-flung areas. This book celebrates Freddie’s early dreams of flying and his later achievements. Readers move with Freddie through the year, hearing about his journey as a pilot and leader, while learning the names of the months in Gwich’in and Inuvialuktun at the same time. Art from Inuvialuit painter Audrea Loreen-Wulf perfectly captures the incredible Western Arctic as well as Freddie’s love for aviation.

Pluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a Lid (Pluto Rocket #2)
By Paul Gilligan
88 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735271937 | Tundra Books
Joe Pidge, king of the neighborhood, and Pluto Rocket, an alien who’s new in town, have become fast friends, with Joe acting as Pluto’s guide on her secret mission to discover what life in the neighborhood is really like. But on Joe’s tour (where he shows Pluto the best fire escape and the best garbage can in the world!), it becomes clear that Joe has never actually left his tiny slice of the planet . . . Pluto encourages Joe to get out of his comfort zone, but Joe delays by creating an outlandish list of supplies they’ll need to get before they go! Is Joe Pidge afraid of leaving his safe little neighborhood? And if that’s tough, imagine how Joe feels when his hat, his trademark super-flavio look that helps him stand out from the other pigeons, goes missing. Thankfully, Pluto is here to help save the day in the second book of this hilarious graphic novel series from Paul Gilligan, creator of the syndicated comic strip Pooch Cafe!

Pluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a Lid is also available today in Paperback!

The Three Little Mittens
By Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880111 | Tundra Books
Dotty and Other Dotty are a matching set of mittens. When another mitten, Stripes, loses her partner and becomes a single mitten, they don’t feel the need to include her. She doesn’t “match” them, so she is banished to the dark, lonely pocket of the Little Girl who owns them. Before long, however, Dotty loses her partner, and now she doesn’t match the reunited pair of Stripes and Other Stripes, who in turn banish her to the pocket. “YOU don’t match!” they tell her. When the Little Girl, who has been listening to their conversations, weighs in with a huge question (“Why do you have to match?”), the mittens are shocked. Then comes their realization that “matching” often means leaving someone out. This prompts the Little Girl to break a fundamental rule of fashion so that individual mittens (and maybe even socks! or shoes!) can be themselves – and everyone can belong. A warm and fuzzy story with lots of laughs, this latest picture book from Linda Bailey explores what it feels like to be excluded and included and celebrates one-of-a-kindness!

The Tragically Hip ABC
By The Tragically Hip
With Drew Macklin
Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer, Julia Breckenreid, Monika Melnychuk and Bridget George
32 Pages | Ages 5-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774881248 | Tundra Books
A love letter to The Tragically Hip, one of Canada’s most beloved bands, this ABC picture book features illustrations from four renowned Canadian illustrators. The Tragically Hip, fronted by the late Gord Downie, is a legendary, bestselling Canadian band. And now, almost forty years of music can be appreciated in a brand-new way: an ABC picture book! From “A is for Ahead by a Century” to “N is for New Orleans is Sinking” all the way to “Z is for Frozen in My Tracks,” this illustrated ode to the band will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Featuring art from Canadian illustrators Clayton Hanmer, Julia Breckenreid, Bridget George and Monika Melnychuk, this is the perfect gift for Hip fans old and new!

New in Paperback:

Alis the Aviator
By Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
Illustrated by Kalpna Patel
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Paperback
ISBN 9781774883648 | Tundra Books
Come along on an aviation journey with Alis! This spunky female guide will take you through an ABC of planes featuring gorgeous cut-paper art. An A to Z of planes past and present, this book has stunning cut-paper art and a cute-as-a-button guide named Alis. Named for Dr. Alis Kennedy, likely one of the first Indigenous women to obtain a commercial pilot licence in Canada, Alis will take you on an aviation tour from the Avro Arrow to the Zeppelin and everything in between. Meticulously researched and uniquely crafted, this is a one-of-a-kind book that will delight aviation fans big and little.

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.

Cover Reveal: The Gulf

Tundra is very excited to be publishing The Gulf on March 5, 2024! Written and illustrated by Adam de Souza, The Gulf is a graphic novel for YA readers that follows a group of friends in their final days of high school who run away from home in order to join a commune.

Scroll down for the full cover plus a Q&A with Adam de Souza!

Cover Art: Adam de Souza
Cover Design: John Martz

The Gulf
By Adam de Souza
240 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover and Paperback
ISBN 9781774880739 | Tundra Books
Release Date: March 5, 2024
Ever since Oli found a pamphlet for a remote island commune as a kid, it’s all she can think about. Now that she’s nearing the end of high school, feeling frustrated with the mounting pressure to choose a career and follow a path she has no interest in, the desire to escape it all has been steadily increasing.

Everything comes to a head when Oli’s relationship with her best friend goes south and she claps back at a school bully with more than just words. Oli flees to find the commune on a Gulf Island off the coast of Vancouver, taking with her Milo, who can’t help but hide his feelings behind the safety of a video camera, and Alvin, a shy teen who sees more than he lets on. Behind them trails Liam, Oli’s ex-best-friend and sometimes love interest, who wants to apologize for the way things went down. All four are grappling with a world that cannot be changed . . . and simply trying to find their place in it.

This YA anti-coming-of-age road trip adventure, by talented up-and-coming comic artist Adam de Souza, captures at once the angst and humor of being a teen during a time of great transition.


Q&A with Adam de Souza

Where did the initial inspiration for The Gulf come from?

The story came from reflecting on my own aimlessness during the final years of high school, as well as my interest in alternative lifestyles. A decade removed from high school while writing this story, I felt I could finally put a name to what that aimless feeling was a symptom of, and that’s what I was inspired to write about.

Why did you choose the Gulf Islands as the main setting for this story?

I have spent a lot of time exploring the various Gulf Islands on the Salish Sea throughout my life and they’re among my favorite places to spend idle days. They’re wild in this unique and distinctly West Coast way and I hoped to capture that visually. Their seclusive nature seems to attract people that make a living in the precarious cracks of what we deem normal; the islands are places where I find it easy to imagine a different way of living.

What is one thing that makes Oli’s “coming-of-age” story unique?

I wanted to write a story about a character who reflected the experience I had when I “came-of-age.” You expect some grand epiphany or that the things that don’t make sense will snap into some understandable order, but that moment never came. Oli’s story is meant to be an anti-coming-of-age story that rallies against the notion that “it will all make sense when you’re older” because it’s okay if it doesn’t – and it frankly makes sense that it won’t – but at least we can try and untangle it together into something more equitable.

You are both the writer and illustrator; how did you go about creating the book? Does art or dialog come first to you?

The whole story of The Gulf came from a specific wordless sequence at the climax of the book. There were a few other scenes that I drew out after that, but generally it’s a bit of a push and pull between visuals and writing. After I draw out a key sequence, there’s a lot of scaffolding outward that has to happen via writing. While scripting, I try to make sure that I am writing around an absent image instead of leaning directly into prose.

Were you influenced/inspired by other media such as movies, books, art, etc.?

Most of my inspiration for writing comes from reading books and watching movies. Knowing how to express a lot of what The Gulf is on a thematic level came from reading about communes and what those societies were grounded in philosophically and politically.

How many cover drafts did you do before this one was finalized?

I submitted around ten different designs for the cover alongside what became the final design. Picturing the book sitting on a bookshelf in a store made it hard for me to choose so I was happy to defer to the team at Tundra.

How did you create the cover? What tools or programs do you use?

The covers started as small “thumbnails” in my sketchbook. I scan those drawings onto my computer and then I do a more solid sketch on my iPad in color. After a cover is chosen, I ink it on paper with a pen and I color most of my work digitally in Clip Studio, Procreate, or Photoshop.

How is working on this book different from your other projects, like your comic strip “Blind Alley”?

There’s a sort of laissez-faire quality to writing a comic strip that comes from the four-panel form; you can’t rush anything as you have only the smallest little bites of story. I have a plan for my comic strips, but there’s nothing formalized and no maximum page count. For better or worse, the weekly structure allows me to follow any whims that catch my fancy. I am definitely a writer who loves to chase down a tangent and I find those character, setting, or “vibe” building moments incredibly important.

Writing The Gulf was almost the opposite in terms of process. The story was outlined, scripted, and then drawn out before being committed to ink. It involved a lot of collaboration and was a rewarding process. By the time I actually started to ink the book, I felt like I knew the story and characters inside and out, which made me feel more confident in my decisions. The process of working this way has encouraged me not to shy away from actually spending time scripting.

What books have you been reading lately?

I have been reading The Half-Life by Jonathan Raymond as well as The Social Instinct by Nicola Raihani. I’ve also slowly been reading through the Moomin comics, which are delightful and always make me feel like drawing.

Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!

Anne Dares
By Kallie George
Illustrated by Abigail Halpin
72 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735272101 | Tundra Books
Anne is excited to be a guest at a party at Orchard Slope, the home of her kindred spirit, Diana Barry. But when the dares start and mean Josie Pye makes the others feel bad, Anne can’t stop herself from challenging Josie to a dare . . . which leads to Anne being dared to climb the house and walk along the ridgepole! Anne’s dangerous dare ends in injury . . . and teaches her an important lesson. But Anne must pluck up her courage again when she is chosen to recite at a Christmas concert! How can Anne perform in front of so many people? And what is shy Matthew Cuthbert hiding from the family?

The Little Books of the Little Brontës
By Sara O’Leary
Illustrated by Briony May Smith
40 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735263697 | Tundra Books
Many years ago, the four motherless children of the Brontë family – Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne – lived in a windswept house by the moors with their father. Although their lives were often filled with sadness and their world was only as large as the distance they could walk, their INNER worlds were bound only by their imaginations. Hungry for stories, these children devoured novels and poetry, history and fables. And with the gift of a group of toy soldiers, they were inspired to make their own stories, and their own tiny books . . . a passion that would last them a lifetime. A moving and atmospheric story about the power of imagination, the joy of storytelling and the love of books, The Little Books of the Little Brontës will enchant both those who love these literary sisters and those who are learning about them for the first time. Includes an author’s note, timeline of the Brontës’ lives and a fun craft with instructions on creating your own little book.

New in Paperback:

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse
By Marthe Jocelyn
Illustrated by Isabelle Follath
368 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735270848 | Tundra Books
After an invigorating but not exactly restful trip to a Yorkshire spa during which she survived a near brush with death and foiled a murderer, aspiring writer Aggie Morton and her friend Hector are thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at a camp by the sea and watch real paleontologists at work. The famed husband and wife team of the Blenningham-Crewes are about to become even more famous with the recovery of the fossilized bones of an ichthyosaur from the sea by Lyme Regis. This news has already caught the attention of an American millionaire, a British museum and a travelling circus owner, who each want the bones for their own collections. Tensions are running high throughout the camp, from the cook, to the collectors, to the Blenningham-Crewes themselves, and become downright dangerous after Aggie and Hector make a discovery of their own: a body on the beach. Not a fossil, but a human body. 

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.