Most Lost Authors at TPL

This is a somewhat dubious yet somehow flattering list that Toronto Public Library has put together; our very own Robert Munsch tops the list of authors most likely to be stolen, never returned or simply misplaced. "I am happy to see that thieves like my books and will continue to try to serve the needs of the reading underworld,” said Munsch, taking the news rather well. For more on this check out the Star's article.

THE WALLS AROUND US by Nova Ren Suma

 

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma $23.95, Hardcover ISBN: 9781616203726 Publication date: Mar. 24, 2015 Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers   - Toronto Star, confirmed for YA-themed Arrivals column, scheduled for Aug. 9 issue

A popular Dinosaur book with a movie tie-in tidbit!

Dinosaurs—The Grand Tour (779212) Jurassic World had the highest-grossing box office opening weekend in US history and has continued strong at the box office—and that’s driving strong sales of our book. Sales anecdote: Jack Horner, who contributed field notes for the book (super-helpful for anyone who wants to go dino-hunting in North America), was the inspiration for the character of Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park.

What To Expect When You're Reading YA

PW does a great job of summing up trends in teen books. This season, publishers are continuing to respond to subjects out there that are very topical: mental illness, gender identity, etc. To read the full article click here.

Leo: A Ghost Story

Leo: A Ghost Story has totally charmed the pants off of anyone who has read it. Below is an adorable video with kids talking about whether or not ghosts exist. I am personally still undecided ;).

Magical Summer Books for Kids

49th Shelf has together a delightful list of summer reads for kids; one of my faves See You Next Year.

Chronicle Books

I've had the privilege of selling Chronicle Books for over 20 years. PW recently did an article that gives a behind the scene look at their kids' program. Check it out!

Top 100 Canadian Kid's Books of All Time

So many lists....it's great to see a Canadian Kid's one! And perfect timing for the summer.

If you enjoyed GONE GIRL, you will enjoy reading this Dewey Pick from my spring list  -

The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor

$31.95, Hardback

ISBN: 9781616203689

Publication date: May 5, 2015

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Reviewed in Toronto Star, “A Love, and Woman, Lost”, May 31, 2015

FUN HOME - a favourite backlist title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - won big last night at the Tonys, taking home five awards, including Best Musical!  Author Alison Bechdel was on stage to share in the glory!

Tony Awards for FUN HOME

BEST MUSICAL 

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL – SAM GOLD 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL – MICHAEL CERVERIS

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL – LISA KRON 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – JEANINE TESORI AND LISA KRON

 

FUN HOME: A Family Tragicomic

Alison Bechdel

9780618871711

$19.95 Paperback

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

 

 

 

 

One of my Dewey Picks this spring will be featured in Canadian House and Home

 

Design Mom by Gabrielle Stanley Blair $39.95, Hardcover ISBN: 9781579655716 Publication date: Apr. 7, 2015 Publisher: Artisan   Canadian House & Home, book review + online feature.

 The Little Prince has been adapted to FILM and will release in December.  Here is some advance media coverage.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry $32.99, Hardcover ISBN: 9780544671645 Publication date: Oct. 6, 2015 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   First reports from Cannes on The Little Prince movie are in, and the response overall have been very good.   - Variety: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/the-little-prince-cannes-review-1201503230/ - The Playlist: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/cannes-review-the-little-prince-is-a-visually-glorious-and-extremely-moving-adaptation-of-the-childrens-classic-20150522 - Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/little-prince-le-petit-prince-797581

Jeff Kinney's Bookstore

An Unlikely Story opens on May 30th. The NYT did an awesome profile of the store and the work behind it. I did not know that a number of other authors such as Larry McMurtry and Louise Erdrich had also taken the same path. Click here for the full story!

Toronto Poetry Map

What a lovely idea! I am a huge fan of George Elliot Clarke who helped put together is awesome Poetry Map together with Toronto Public Library. They are also asking for suggestions.

Best Graphic Novel Publisher in the World!

Whoot whoot! What a shout out for D+Q. Read the full article here.

May the 4th Be With You! A Behind-the-Scenes look at Star Wars Epic Yarns

Really interesting behind-the-scenes video of how twin brothers Jack and Holman Wang created the felt characters and scenery from the super fun Star Wars Epic Yarns books! 

Toronto author Amanda Orlando celebrates the launch of her new specialty cookbook: Allergen-Free Desserts to Delight Your Taste Buds - A Book For Parents and Kids (987-1-6322-337-3)

An Edgar Award Winner!

James Klise's The Art of Secrets (987-1-61620-482-2) has won the 2015 Edgar Allan Poe award for best YA Mystery Fiction.

Authors for Indies Day This Saturday May 2nd!

Don't forget to go out and meet the authors hanging out at your favourite independent bookstore.
Authors For Indies has a complete listing of who is where. Kidsbooks has a food truck from Vij's! Susan Juby, Dav Pilkey, Dennis Lee...over 400 authors will be out and about...what are you waiting for?

Happy Friday!

The Joy of Missing Out

In the age of social media we, as a society, have become obsessed with sharing our experiences with the world. But when we're trying to capture that perfect instagrammable moment, we tend to miss out on truly experiencing that moment for ourselves.

Christina Cook, author of The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World, was recently on CBC's The Current to discuss the benefits of "unplugging" from social media and experiencing life from beyond a phone screen.

Listen to the full conversation over on the CBC website!

Wild Ideas

Wild Ideas is a new picture book from the creative minds behind You Are Stardust, Elin Kelsey and Soyeon Kim.

The folks at Kirkus have given Wild Ideas a starred review, calling it "a work that will be read and examined again and again, with something new to be discovered at every turn. Profound and entirely wonderful."

You can head on over to the Owlkids website to check out podcasts on the science behind the book, learn more about the creators, and watch cool videos!

Greatest 11 Children's Books of all Time

Personally I am a big fan of lists; normally they come at the end of the year with everyone's round ups and my reading pile grows ever so much bigger. The BBC asked a number of critics, authors and those who know to come up with the greatest children's books of all time. There really are not any surprises here; I think we should assume that these are 11 of the greatest kids books and I personally think it would be more interesting to see what the next 11 are...I bet they are a more diverse selection.

Which Bennet Sister Are You?

Here is a fun quiz from Buzz feed...turns out I'm Jane!

Happy Easter!

Blown Away: The Perfect Picture Book for A Blustery Spring Day

Rob Biddulph has won the 2015 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize with his debut picture book Blown Away. The book, which also won the best illustrated book category, is only the second picture book to take home the £5000 Waterstones prize. 

It's the perfect book for spring, featuring a windy day, a brand-new kite and an unexpected flight that leads a penguin off on an adventure! Check out this fun short video that introduces some of the new friends this fearless penguin meets along the way!

Jeff Kinney is starting his own bookstore!

Jeff Kinney, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, is opening up an independent bookstore in Massachusetts!

Why? Here's what he has to say: "Bookstores have always been such a big part of my life and my wife’s life, and we wanted to do something about it. We wanted to provide our kids and our community with a place where they could be exposed to new ideas, cultural events, and other people who love to read. This is not a vanity project. I think a lot of people are expecting me to create a Wimpy world, but we don’t want that. That wouldn’t serve the community very well. The reason that we wanted to create a bookstore in our town of Plainville is because, quite frankly, I feel angry that so many bookstores have gone away."

Read the full story over on The Telegraph!

Adult colouring books by Johanna Basford selling like hotcakes!

British illustrator Johanna Basford's whimsical adult colouring books, Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, have sold over one million copies worldwide! ONE. MILLION. COPIES. These colouring books have been so successful that they've been translated in 14 languages all across the world. Check out the full story over at The Daily Mail.

The Guardian reviews The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

Rachel Cooke from The Guardian has just posted a rave review for Scott McCloud's graphic novel The Sculptor, which she describes as "philosophical inquiry meets hipster cool" and "utterly gripping." 
She also recommends The Sculptor to anyone who is a fan of David Mitchell's work!

Alan Kitching and Monotype

A very cool short film that goes behind-the-scenes at letterpress typographer and designer Alan Kitching's studio! His book Alan Kitching's A-Z of Letterpress comes out in April.


Alan Kitching and Monotype from Monotype on Vimeo.

The Improbable

The Improbable is a cool new collection of monthly reviews written by booksellers for booksellers. Some of the reviews come from indies such as 192 Books and Printed Matter in New York City, Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Seminary Co-op Bookstores in Chicago and Skylight Books in Los Angeles. To sign up for the monthly reviews go here. Enjoy!

Literary Hub - One Stop Spot for Book Lovers

Grove Atlantic will collaborate with a digital publisher for a new literary website similar to HuffPost but for book lovers.  One of the contributing editors will be Roxane Gay!  The site is scheduled to go live April 8 and it is called Literary Hub.  It will focus on literary fiction and nonfiction.  It will highlight personal essays, book excerpts and author interviews.
http://lithub.com

All The Libraries

How awesome is this! Daniel Rotsztain is in the middle of sketching all of the branches at Toronto Public Library. Above is my childhood branch. You can see the rest of hi work at All the Libraries. Enjoy!

Publishing Children’s Books That Matter

This week is freedom to read Week. Sheila Barry, Publisher of Groundwood Books wrote the is article for Freedom to Read 2015. Below are her key points which I'm sure we can all agree on!

• Every Canadian school should have a library and a librarian.
• School libraries should be open every day that the school is open.
• Children should be able to visit the library both with their classes and on their own at recess or lunchtime.
• School libraries should contain a wide range of reading material on a wide range of subject

Click here to read the entire article.

PW's Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2015!

Publisher's Weekly has chosen the cream of the crop in a myriad categories from fiction to memoir, history to poetry, mystery to music, and more! Check out their picks for the most notable books of Spring 2015!

Brandon Stanton on Ellen!

Ellen chats with Brandon Stanton, the man behind the Humans of New York blog and author of Humans of New York and Little Humans. Very moving!