CCBC September 2018 Newsletter

Contents

News from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre & Friends
Links We Love
September Book List: New Beginnings
Author Corner: Michelle Kim
Illustrator’s Studio: Kelly Hill
Booksellers’ Picks
Staff Pick

News from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre & Friends

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Come Visit the CCBC at Word on the Street Toronto

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Links We Love

Articles and videos of interest to educators

The CCBC’s Most Anticipated Fall Reads

Ontario Librarian Creates Online Guide for Teachers to Find Available Indigenous Course Content

VIDEO: Tundra Illustrator Studio: Lesley-Anne Green

10 Animals Who Have Broken Into the Library 

How to Illustrate a Children’s Book

Festival of Trees Shines Celebrity Spotlight on Children’s Authors

Find Your Next Read Based on Your Hogwarts House

My Son Will Not Read Books ‘For Girls’ — Because They Don’t Exist 

13-Year-Old Collects 3,000 Books for Indigenous Summer Literacy Camp

8 Books That Need to Be in Every Classroom in Canada

VIDEO: The Evolution of YA: Young Adult Fiction, Explained 

Winnie-the-Pooh’s Canadian Connection

11 Uplifting Quotes from ‘Anne of Green Gables’ That Will Help You Get Through The Rest of 2018

Mable Murple’s Book Shoppe: The Nova Scotia Bookstore Where Imaginations Soar

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September Book List: New Beginnings

For a lot of people, September and the end of summer mark a new beginning: a new class, a new school and a new start. Here are books about starting over, whether that means in a new school, a new town or even a new country.

Picture Books
Arto’s Big Move Written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo Owlkids Books, 2014 ISBN 978-1-77147-066-7 IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 2-3 Arto has lived his whole life in the cold North. When his family prepares to spend a year in the South, Arto is not happy. He wears his woolly clothes in the desert, pretending he never left the North. But when Arto makes a new friend, he slowly sheds his layers and discovers that it’s not so bad to adapt to your surroundings. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	From Far Away Written by Robert Munsch and Saoussan Askar Illustrated by Rebecca Green Annick Press, 2017 ISBN 978-1-55451-939-2 IL: Ages 3-9 RL: Grade 2 Written as a collaboration between a young girl and best-selling author Robert Munsch, this book is based on the real-life experience of Saoussan Askar, who emigrated with her family from war-torn Lebanon when she was just seven. This updated edition, with revised text, including a new note from Saoussan and new illustrations, is more relevant today than ever. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers
My Beautiful Birds Written and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo Pajama Press, 2017 ISBN 978-1-77278-010-9 IL: Ages 6-10 RL: Grades 2-3 Fleeing from a home destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, Sami is consumed with worry about his pet pigeons left behind. Even in the relative safety of a refugee camp, the boy struggles to adjust, shattered by thoughts of what he has lost. One day, when new birds fly into the camp, Sami, at last, begins the long road to healing. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	Wallpaper Written and illustrated by Thao Lam Owlkids Books, 2018 ISBN 978-1-7714-7283-8 IL: Ages 4-7 RL: n/a New from the creator of Skunk on a String comes Wallpaper, a wordless picture book in Thao Lam’s signature paper collage style. It tells the story of a young girl whose family moves into a new house. Outside, she can hear other kids playing, but she’s too shy to say hello. So she picks at the old wallpaper in her room ― revealing an entryway to a fantastic imaginary adventure world behind the walls. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers
Junior & Intermediate Fiction
Anne Arrives Written by Kallie George Illustrated by Abigail Halpin Tundra Books, 2018 ISBN 978-1-7704-9930-0 IL: Ages 6-8 RL: Grades 2-3 Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert need help on their farm, so they’ve adopted what they hope will be a sturdy, helpful boy. Instead, Matthew finds Anne awaiting him at the train station — imaginative, brash, redheaded Anne-with-an-e. With her place at the Cuthberts’ at risk — particularly if nosy neighbour Mrs. Lynde has anything to say about it — Anne will have to learn patience, understanding and what it takes to make Green Gables her true home. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	Cammie Takes Flight Written by Laura Best Nimbus Publishing, 2017 ISBN 978-1-77108-467-3 IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grade 5 In this sequel to Flying with a Broken Wing, Cammie navigates life at her new school, armed with her estranged mother’s address. She enlists a new friend’s help in tracking down her mother. Will Cammie learn why she was abandoned and be able to start her new life? Or will she find more secrets? Can she ever put the past behind her? Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers
Ebb & Flow Written by Heather Smith Kids Can Press, 2018 ISBN 978-1-77138-838-2 IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 5-6 Last year, Jett and his mother had moved to a new town for a fresh start after his father went to jail. But Jett soon learned that fresh starts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. When he befriended a boy with a difficult home life, Jett found himself in a cycle of bad decisions that culminated in the betrayal of a friend — a shameful secret he still hasn’t forgiven himself for. Will a summer spent with his unconventional grandmother help Jett find his way to redemption? Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	Restart Written by Gordon Korman Scholastic Press, 2017 ISBN 978-1-338-05377-7 IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 4-5 After falling off a roof, Chase wakes up with no memory of his life. At school, he’s shocked to discover what kind of person he was. Determined to reinvent himself, Chase learns redemption doesn’t come easily. Soon it becomes not only a question of who Chase is — but of who he was… and who he’s going to be. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers
Young Adult Fiction
10 Things I Can See From Here Written by Carrie Mac Alfred A. Knopf, 2017 ISBN 978-0-399-55625-8 IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10 Maeve struggles with severe anxiety, and it’s not something she can just talk herself out of. Now she is moving to Vancouver to live with her dad. Between her dad’s wavering sobriety, her pregnant stepmom’s home-birth plans and a new relationship with Salix, a carefree local girl, can Maeve navigate through all the potential catastrophes to be there for the people she loves? Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	The Agony of Bun O’Keefe Written by Heather Smith Penguin Teen Canada, 2017 ISBN 978-0-14-319865-9 IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9 It’s Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O’Keefe has lived a shuttered, lonely life with her negligent mother, who is a hoarder. One day, Bun’s mother tells her to leave, so she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother’s house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family — a family of friends who care. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers
Escape From Syria Written by Samya Kullab Illustrated by Jackie Roche Colour by Mike Freiheit Firefly Books, 2017 ISBN 978-1-77085-982-1 IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8 From Samya Kullab, a Canadian reporter based in the Middle East, comes this harrowing and timely tale of courage and determination. Amina narrates her family’s odyssey after their home in Aleppo is destroyed. They must endure refugee camps, risk ocean crossings and escape the terror of jihadist militias in order to reach safety in Canada. A gripping portrait of an ongoing worldwide crisis. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers	Once, in a Town Called Moth Written by Trilby Kent Tundra Books, 2018 ©2016 ISBN 978-0-7352-6306-2 IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8 Ana is not your typical teenager. She grew up in a tiny Mennonite colony in Bolivia, from which her mother fled when Ana was a young girl. Now Ana and her father have also fled, and Ana doesn’t know why. She only knows that something was amiss in their tight-knit community. Arriving in Toronto, Ana has to fend for herself in this alien environment, completely isolated in a big city with no help and no idea where to even begin. And all the while, she searches for the mother who left so long ago, and tries to understand her father — also a stranger in a strange land, with secrets of his own. Amazon | Indigo | Canadian Bookstores | Wholesalers

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Author’s Corner: Michelle Kim

Michelle is a filmmaker, actor and author of the middle-grade novel Running Through Sprinklers.

Born in Surrey to a human-rights-lawyer father of British descent and a fashion-designer mother of Korean descent, Michelle attended schools in North Surrey and South Surrey. It was on a school trip to the local library to hear an author speak that Michelle decided she wanted to be a writer.

A former journalist for the BBC in London, Michelle now works in the film industry; her directorial debut, The Tree Inside, which she also wrote and starred in, played at film festivals across North America and South Korea and won audience choice awards for best feature film at the Northwest Filmmakers Festival in Portland and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.

Running Through Sprinklers is a coming-of-age novel set in Surrey about two girls who have been best friends their whole lives and the year they grow apart. The novel is published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, a literary children’s book imprint of Simon & Schuster USA. Since its release in April, Michelle has facilitated writing workshops and spoken to classrooms in schools and libraries in New York and BC.

First, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get started as an author? What is your writing process like?

Running Through Sprinklers is set in Surrey — a suburb southeast of Vancouver. It is also where I grew up and where I started to write. Once, in elementary school, our class visited the local library to hear an author read from his book and talk about his writing process. It’s funny, because I have this distinct memory of him wearing jeans and talking about how he created his own schedule and worked from home and it completely blew my mind. Growing up, my dad wore suits and had to commute 45 minutes to an hour each way to get to his office. Since I loved writing already, I remember leaving the library thinking, “I want THAT job.”

I’ve always written stories; I was in French Immersion Program, so most of my stories early on are in French. After some time, I started to write stories in English, and for English class in Grade 4, I wrote a 12-page story called “The Blueberry Patch” about a girl who takes a bath and finds herself in an underwater garden where there is a blueberry patch and in order to return, she has to find a golden blueberry. Basically, it was the fantasy U-Pick. Anyway, my teacher told my mom she thought I’d be a writer. Needless to say, I tracked Mrs. Jones down and invited her to my book launch in April — she was very thrilled to hear the news and it was so so wonderful to see her!

My writing process involves carrying a small notebook around and taking notes whenever I think of something that might work for the story. Many times, it’s something that has struck me as beautiful — for instance the particular shade of peach in the sky as the sun goes down. Then I sit down and write the notes down. Another part of the process involves me just sitting down to write, which actually feels more like meditation to me. I like for my writing room to be very quiet and I write whatever comes to mind and I try not to just judge it or censor anything. Then next part is making sense of everything (!), filling in the gaps, and putting it all together. Then, I get into the finer points of editing.

Running Through Sprinklers is your debut novel. What aspects of publishing your first novel were a surprise to you? What has been one of the highlights of the whole experience so far? What books have inspired you as a reader and as a writer?

Writing the book was a complete joy… but trying to get it published was really difficult and heartbreaking. I received many rejections, for a very long time, but I think it was good because what I learned from that experience was that what others thought didn’t matter — I liked to write, for myself. One day, during some rare cosmic alignment, I sold the book to Simon & Schuster USA and the team at Atheneum. After that, it was smooth sailing — from working with my editor (which was a dream), to working with the publicity teams, to meeting (and getting hugs from) the kids reading the book! Now, I’m excited to get back to writing.

Do you have any activity suggestions or tips for teachers who would like to use your book in the Classroom?

I tried to evoke the five senses while writing Running Through Sprinklers. I suggest teachers do a 5-senses workshop with different “stations” or tables with an object that evokes a particular sense. Bubble wrap is fun for the “SOUND” table and roasted Korean seaweed for the “TASTE” table.

What projects are you working on now? Can you tell us about any upcoming books?

I’m a bit superstitious when it come to talking about what I’m working but I will say that I am working on another novel and it’s within the same world as Running Through Sprinklers. Since I’m also a filmmaker, I’m also hoping to adapt Running Through Sprinklers for the screen, as well.

Find out more about Michelle’s work at www.hapanessmedia.com

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Illustrator’s Studio: Kelly Hill

Kelly Hill has worked in book publishing for 20 years, and is a Senior Book Designer at Penguin Random House Canada. She has designed books for many Canadian authors, including Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Miriam Toews, Ami McKay, as well as international authors Kate Atkinson and Alexander McCall Smith. Kelly has also designed many children’s books including This is Sadie (by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad), Colette’s Lost Pet (written and illustraed by Isabelle Arsenault), The Adventures of Miss Petitfour (written by Anne Michaels, illustrated by Emma Block) and Red Sky at Night (written and illustrated by Elly MacKay). She was also the designer behind the reissues of Tundra’s Anne and Emily series’, which featured the artwork of Elly MacKay, and the Alcuin award-winning hardcovers of the same series’.

Anne’s Colors and Anne’s Numbers are Kelly’s first books. She lives near Eugenia, Ontario with her husband, two daughters and their yellow lab, Jack.

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get your start as an illustrator?

I’ve worked in publishing for 20 years and as a book designer for most of those, designing fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks and children’s books. I also love to sew and had proposed sewn and embroidered covers for the redesign of the Anne of Green Gables series that Tundra was doing a few years ago. Tara Walker, the publisher, liked the idea, but pointed out that the artwork looked too young for the readers of those novels. So I came up with the idea of an Anne alphabet book in this style, while Tundra, at the same time, was developing an entire Anne of Green Gables program including concept board books — which they offered to me as an illustrator. It was very happy situation of all of us being in the same place at the same time with the same kinds of ideas.

We love how you use hand embroidery to make unique depictions of a character we all know. Can you walk us through the artistic process for your illustrative work?

I start with loose sketches, but have to refine those to solid lines, almost like a colouring book, so that I can create a pattern of the shapes I need. Then I cut the shapes out of fabric — I often try a few different fabrics, until everything is working together. Once all the shapes are laid out like a collage, I use my ($100, 20-year-old, very basic) sewing machine to stitch them to the background fabric. And then the parts I’ve left for hand embroidery come next, like the hair, braids, clothing details, flowers and eyes. Finally the “pages” are photographed and I add some freckles, smiles and rosy cheeks in Photoshop.

Can you tell us about your illustration style and how it came about? Which artists have served as an inspiration?

My mother, who is an expert in all things crafty, tells me that my sewing technique is called raw-edge machine applique. I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, but this style developed a few years ago when everyone I knew was having babies — I sewed pillows with names on them, buntings with words and simple pictures, playmat quilts. Then, as I went further into picture-making and developing an illustration style, I knew I it was important to me to be able see the stitches and textures and shadows and not to hide the sewing or fraying edges as traditional quiltmakers would. My favourite thing is to watch a reader touch my book as though they expect it to be three-dimensional. While I was working on these books I was inspired by illustrator Christian Robinson for his deceptively simple shapes and collages, Mary Blair for her retro colour palettes and joyful characters; and even Holly Hobbie, who I remember adoring as a kid.

You are also a book designer at Penguin Random House Canada. What has the transition from designing books to illustrating them been like?

I’ve found it difficult to separate the designing from illustrating with my own books — where does the art-making end and the designing begin?  It’s all very interconnected for me.

I love both the designing and illustrating, but a big difference is that designing is a behind-the-scenes activity, whereas illustrating puts you front and centre. (I’m a little more comfortable behind the scenes!)

Anne’s Colours and Anne’s Numbers are your debut books — even with your familiarity with the world of  publishing, was there anything that took you by surprise when it came to publishing your own book?

I’ve heard authors say that when you publish a book and it goes out into the world it doesn’t belong to you anymore, and I didn’t really understand what that meant until I published my own. You don’t have any control over what people think or say about your work, so once I got over that, I started enjoying the experience a lot more. Also, working in publishing, I know that it takes an entire team to put a book out: from editors to publicists, production to sales people, but it’s been especially thrilling (and even heart-bursting!) to see it all happen in support of my own books.

What is next for you? What projects are you working on now?

I’ve just finished the art for the next two books in my Anne series for Tundra: Anne’s Alphabet and Anne’s Feelings will be out next May. Of course, I’m flirting with some ideas for my next possible book project. And then there’s my life as a book designer: it turns out, thankfully, there are always more books that need covers!

Images courtesy of Kelly Hill.

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If your independent bookstore would like to participate in this feature, please contact us.

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Staff Pick

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Next Month

Look for our October newsletter early next month: we’re getting ready for Halloween with some spooky books. Look forward to interviews with Joel Sutherland and Kim Smith!

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