In this roundup of Canadian children’s publishing news: Governor General’s Literary Awards reward Groundwood, Chouette branches out beyond Caillou, Ben Clanton brings the “unicorn of the sea” to a picture book, five books compete for Canada’s richest kidlit prize, and a sports journalist pens a nonfiction title celebrating female athletes who really hit it out of the park.
Groundwood Books Sees a Double Win for GG Awards
The winners were announced Tuesday for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, one of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards. It was a successful night for Groundwood Books, an imprint of House of Anansi Press, who published the winning books in both kids’ categories.
The winner in the children’s category for text was Alberta-based author Martine Leavitt for her YA novel Calvin, about a teenage boy dealing with his diagnosis of schizophrenia. The jury described it as a “transcendent exploration of reality and truth told in spare, beautiful prose.”
In the illustration category, the prize went to Ontario-based brothers-in-law Jon-Erik Lappano and Kellen Hatanaka for their picture book Tokyo Digs a Garden, which introduces children to the idea of environmentalism. Of this book, the jury said it created a “richly ornamented dream landscape that simultaneously suggests a digital and an organic world.”
This year’s announcement marks the 80th anniversary of the Governor General’s Literary Awards. The winners in all seven categories, in English and French, will be presented with their awards – including a $25,000 (CDN) prize – by Governor General David Johnston on November 30, at an event in Ottawa.
Two New Imprints from Caillou’s Publisher
Chouette Publishing, the Montreal-based company behind the bestselling Caillou books, is branching out with two imprints launching in the next year. Both imprints will be aimed at children ages up to six, but with different approaches to reaching children.
“We’ve been dedicated to creating Caillou books for almost 30 years, something we will continue to do,” says Simon Payette, Chouette’s licensing and business development manager. “But we have the publishing expertise and we know the children’s book market, so we’re eager to put that to good use. It’s a stimulating and challenging time for us.”
Crackboom! Books, which will feature picture books with unique formats, launched this month with Goodnight, Sleepy Animals. This debut title, with illustrations by Christine Battuz, is a board book with a built-in nightlight — just “press the moon, light up the room,” as the instructions explain. According to Payette, the goal with Crackboom! Books is to “delight and surprise” young children with visually stimulating and engaging books.
Meanwhile, launching next April, the City Monsters imprint will feature a series of books each focusing on a different big city in the world, teaching kids about well-known landmarks. The first title will be New York City Monsters, written by Anne Paradis and illustrated by Lucile Danis Drouot. Each page features an illustrated city landmark – such as the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and the Museum of Natural History – and if you look closely, in between the crowds and buildings, friendly little monsters are hiding everywhere.
“Kids will be able to get to know their country better and recognize and name places that everyone should know,” Payette says. “The books also help to sharpen observation and counting skills, since there is a set number of little monsters to find on every page.”
Also coming from Chouette next spring will be City Monsters books for several other cities, including Chicago and San Francisco.
Picture Book Celebrates the ‘Unicorn of the Sea’
Children are naturally curious about animals, but they might be especially drawn to the narwhal, a fascinating species of whale with a long, tusk-like tooth protruding straight out of its head. Ben Clanton’s new picture book Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea (Tundra), which was released this month, capitalizes on this little-known creature and amps up the cuteness in a series of comic-like stories about happy-go-lucky Narwhal and his new friend Jelly the jellyfish.
“I was a reluctant reader, so I keep that very much in mind when making books,” says Clanton. “I think kids will be drawn to the humor, the pace, the off-the-wall-ness of it. But more than anything, Narwhal and Jelly are very approachable characters, and ones I hope kids will take and make their own stories with.”
Clanton became interested in narwhals in 2012, when he happened to pick up a photography book called Polar Obsessions by Paul Nicklen, who was born and raised in Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory. Clanton began drawing cartoon versions of narwhals and other aquatic creatures, and pitched the idea to publishers.
“I was captivated by the images,” he says. “I thought, can this thing be for real? I think I’d heard of them before that, but I’d never really delved into this fascinating creature. After that I had narwhals on the brain. I have a sketchbook with me wherever I go, and I just started doodling more and more narwhals.”
His publisher, Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, has created a marketing campaign that involved mailing out kits to more than 70 bookstores across Canada and the U.S., in which Narwhal and Jelly T-shirts, buttons, and wearable clay narwhal tusks could be found.
“We’ve been thrilled with the response on social media as booksellers have been sharing their photos of Narwhal-themed events and staff dressed in Narwhal gear,” says publicity and marketing manager Pamela Osti.
Next year, a follow-up book will be released, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, where Narwhal and Jelly use their imaginations to pretend they are superheroes. A third book is planned for 2018.
Five Kids’ Books Competing for $30,000 TD Award
The TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award is the richest prize in Canada for a children’s book, giving $30,000 (CDN) every year to one English and one French title. The winners will be announced this year at two separate gala events – the French title in Montreal on November 1 and the English title in Toronto on November 17.
The five shortlisted titles for the English grand prize include: Melanie Florence’s free-verse picture book Missing Nimama (Clockwise Press), illustrated by François Thisdale; Carolyn Beck’s picture book That Squeak (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), also illustrated by Thisdale; Kenneth Oppel’s gothic middle-grade novel The Nest (HarperCollins); Willow Dawson’s picture book The Wolf-Birds; and Michelle Barker’s picture book A Year of Borrowed Men (Pajama Press), illustrated by Renné Benoit.
This is the 12th year that TD has sponsored the award, administered with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Alan Convery, director of community relations for TD Bank Group, says it’s part of the bank’s commitment to creating opportunities for young people. “It became apparent to us [in 2004] that there wasn’t a substantial prize, outside of the Governor General’s Award, that recognized quality Canadian children’s literature,” says Convery. “So we thought, how do we make ourselves the Giller Prize of the children’s world? Essentially we want to help encourage more authors and illustrators in Canada to keep producing that work, and to drive the next generation.”
Convery explains that encouraging literacy in children is in the bank’s best interests in the long-term, too – creating a love of reading means kids will stay in school longer, which leads to better-paying jobs, and more contributions to the overall economy, he says. According to him, the grand prize for the TD Award goes to a book (in each of Canada’s official languages) that children will want to read over and over again, and that has special meaning that stands out in modern Canadian literature.
Above and beyond the two grand prizes, the rest of the author-illustrators and publishers who are finalists also receive $2,500 each. In addition, on the same night, several other major children’s book awards – not sponsored by TD – are presented. Overall, more than $120,000 in prizes will be given away, in children’s book categories that include nonfiction, historical fiction, mystery, sci-fi and fantasy, among others.
Leveling the Playing Field for Women in Sports
Kristina Rutherford grew up in an athletic family, and when she was young, she dreamed of playing in the NHL. Now, she’s a senior writer for the Canadian magazine Sportsnet, covering all kinds of sports from amateur to pro, and even the Olympics. Level the Playing Field: The Past, Present, and Future of Women’s Pro Sports (Owlkids Books) is her first book, and it’s aimed at kids ages 10–14. The book takes a look at the challenges faced by women competing in professional sports, and how things have improved in recent decades. Throughout, Rutherford writes about star athletes across many sports, from tennis player Serena Williams to UFC fighter Ronda Rousey and race car driver Danica Patrick.
“I don’t think that every female professional athlete aspires to be a trailblazer, but they sort of all are, just because it’s such a new movement,” Rutherford says. “You can play a lot of sports as a woman today and get paid for them, and that just wasn’t the case not too long ago.”
The book is sprinkled with interviews Rutherford conducted with female pro athletes, who speak candidly about having to deal with other people’s reactions to them playing sports. UFC fighter Miesha Tate admits in the book that when she tells strangers she fights other women for a living, she gets asked, “Isn’t that dangerous? Don’t you worry about your face?”
According to Rutherford, her hope is that young women who read her book will learn about why the current inequality exists between men’s and women’s sports, but will also see hope for the future, and understand that they can be a part of the future of sports. She was elated to see how much attention female athletes received at the Rio Olympics this year, such as 16-year-old Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak, who won the gold for the 100-metre freestyle swim.
“At the Olympic games there was so much attention on the women, and it was so refreshing,” Rutherford says. “But in general, we need to do a better job of paying attention to these big events and these female athletes who do things like that every single day. It’s about more than sports; it’s about equality at the end of the day. I do feel like it’s important.”
