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The National Reading Campaign’s “What Did You Read Today?” contest winners have been chosen! Read on for the message shared with us today from the National Reading Campaign.

What did you read today? Public Campaign

Congratulations to the 10 winners of the contest for the general public: Josh Siemens, Waldheim, SK; Kathy Whelan McNiff, London, ON; Jill Dean, Saskatoon, SK; Mark Young, London, ON; Charlotte Brotschi, Toronto, ON; Margaret MacDonald, Lethbridge, AB; Michael Donnelly, Toronto, ON; Natalie Brea Van Apeldorn, Vancouver, BC; and Dave Binsette, Tecumseh, ON.   They had been invited to tweet their answer to #whatdidyoureadtoday? for a chance to win a Glo e-reader, generously provided by Kobo. In recognition of the thousands of enthusiastic entries, Kobo donated an additional $10,000 to the National Reading Campaign.

The contest for children involved thousands of kids from Nanaimo to Halifax. The winning schools & libraries are: Taylor Evans Public School in Guelph, ON; Woodhaven Middle School, Spruce Grove, AB; Vancouver Island Regional Library (Nanaimo Harbourfront Branch), Nanaimo, BC; Cardiff Elementary School, Cardiff, ON; Maple Leaf School, Winnipeg, MB; Torquay Elementary School, Victoria, BC; James McQueen Public School, Ajax, ON; Shediac Library, Shediac, NB; Montreal Children’s Library (Jean Rivard Branch), Montreal, PQ; and Lord Elgin Public School, Fergus, ON.

Each winner will receive $1000 worth of Canadian books for their school or library. The National Reading Campaign is grateful to the following publishers for contributing prizes: Annick Press, Cormorant Books, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Publishers, Groundwood Books, Hachette Canada, Harper Collins Canada, Kids Can Press, Nimbus Publishing, Orca Book Publishers, Pajama Press, Penguin Canada, Scholastic, Second Story Press, Simon & Schuster, and Tradewind Books. We’re working on the public campaign, and will launch the advertising element in the fall.

The #whatdidyoureadtoday? contest may be over, but the National Reading Campaign is just beginning!!

On Saturday I drove down to Princeton NJ (in a mini van full of Brooklyn kidlit peeps!) to attend the 7th Annual Princeton Children's Book Festival, hosted by the Princeton Public Library. What an awesome, fun-filled day. I got to meet lots of kids and their parents, a bunch of librarians and teachers, AND several authors and illustrators whose work I've admired over the years. Ohh, and I signed a good amount of books too! And THEN, the owner of JaZams bookstore, Joanne Farrugia, graciously opened up her home to us authors and illustrators for one fantastic after-party (w/ crab cakes and champagne — yummm!) An all round success of a day, I'd say :)

just one tiny piece of the large crowd

my table

the musical entertainment

Bad Kitty!

another piece of the crowd

an adorable Happy Like Soccer fan :)

Congratulations to Caitlyn Vernon, whose Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest has been named a finalist for the 2012 Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize. The winners will be announced at an awards gala at the Union Club of Victoria on October 10 at 7:30. Tickets are $15 and are available now at Bolen Books, Munro’s Books, Ivy’s Bookshop and the Victoria Book Prize Society (250-589-8430).

About Nowhere Else on Earth
You don’t have to live in the Great Bear Rainforest to benefit from its existence, but after you read Nowhere Else on Earth you might want to visit this magnificent part of the planet. Environmental activist Caitlyn Vernon guides young readers through a forest of information, sharing her personal stories, her knowledge and her concern for this beautiful place.

Full of breathtaking photographs and suggestions for ways to preserve this unique ecosystem, Nowhere Else on Earth is a timely and inspiring reminder that we need to stand up for our wild places before they are gone.

Visit the book’s dedicated website at www.greatbearrainforest.ca to view photos from the book, download the study guide and access additional resources.

Or Purchase Nowhere Else on Earth from Orca Book Publishers.

The SPD* will be touring several magazines this month, and it’s open to students in NYC ($15 for non-members; FREE for SPD members). You’ll be touring the offices of Men’s Health, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Inked, People en Español and Seventeen magazines. For more info, click the image or this link: SPD.ORG - Student Outreach.

* The Society of Publication Designers is dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design. Read more on their About page.

Kit Pearson, award-winning children’s author, will discuss her new books, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth, and talk about her life as an author at the next Victoria Children’s Literature Roundtable on Monday, January 21. The Whole Truth won the CLA Book of the Year Award for Children and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award in 2012. The Whole Truth was shortlisted for the Bolen Book Prize 2012.

Event Details:
January 21, 2013
7:30 pm

The VCLR is open to the public. Members free, drop-ins $5, students $4. Meetings are held at the Nellie McClung Branch Library, 3950 Cedar Hill Road. Doors open at 7 pm.

For more information about the Roundtable, call 250-598-3694, find it on Facebook, or visit: www.victoriachildrensliteratureroundtable.blogspot.com.

What a great venue for a book launch!

John Lekich will launch his new new novel, The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls, at Vancouver’s Books to Cooks on Friday, May 11, at 6:00pm.

The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls follows fifteen-year-old Henry Holloway. Henry isn’t immoral, he’s just hungry. His mother died when he was nine, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Andy and his friends, all amiable small-time crooks. When Uncle Andy is sent to prison, Henry takes up residence in an abandoned tree house in order to escape the notice of Social Services. His mission? To survive on his own while preserving his cherished independence. Fortunately, Henry possesses all the skills it takes to be a successful house burglar.

Henry is an unusually resourceful and considerate burglar—often tidying up the places he robs—until he’s caught. The terms of his probation? He must live with the Wingates, a strange family in a small town called Snowflake Falls.

Henry is just getting used to his temporary family when the newly liberated Uncle Andy and his criminal friends draw him into a plan to rob the citizens of Snowflake Falls. Will Henry be loyal to his uncle or will he break with the past and do the right thing? You’ll have to come to the book launch (and get your hands on a copy!) to find out.

In a recent review, the Toronto Star said, “Dry humour, a slightly insane imagination and a highly personable hero make Lekich’s new novel wholly refreshing….Delightful.”

We hope you’ll come out to the launch to meet John and celebrate his new novel. Signed copies of The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls will be available for purchase. This event is free; please call 604-688-6755 to RSVP.

You can also visit the book’s dedicated website for learn more about John and to read an excerpt of The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls.

Book Launch Details: 
WHO: John Lekich and The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls
WHERE: Books to Cooks, 1740 West 2nd Avenue (half a block east of Burrard)
Vancouver, British Columbia (604-688-6755)
WHEN: Friday, May 11, at 6:00pm

We hope you’ll join fantastic local authors and illustrators Eva Campbell, Mary Elizabeth Nelson, Kari Jones, Robin Stevenson, Tom Ryan, John Wilson and Mark Zuehlke as they launch their new books tonight at Union Pacific Coffee Shop in Victoria.

Come meet the authors, have some refreshments and get your books signed. All ages welcome!

Event details:
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 7:00PM
Union Pacific Coffee Shop, 537 Herald Street, Victoria, BC

For more information, contact Leslie Bootle at (250) 380-1229 or leslie@orcabook.com.

Touring the Subarctic is amazing, though not for the faint-hearted! It’s nerve wracking, sitting in folding canvas seats in tiny planes tossed about in bad weather. But the people of NWT are warm and friendly, the children delightful and the communities fascinating.

I was escorted along the great Mackenzie River, (the Sahtu area), by Janine Hoff and Adam Hill from Hay River Library system. Both know the north and were prepared for all variables—and variables we had. The B&B booked in Fort Good Hope had run out of fuel, so we couldn’t stay there. Strong winds and a blizzard grounded us in Tulita, so we never made it to Deline. Traveling to tiny settlements without restaurants or stores meant we hauled in our own food, so Adam and Janine cooked for me. They also propped me up on ice and sold books. Janine also cheerfully reorganized flights and accommodations—not easy in communities where often there is only one place to stay!

My presentations were well received by both children and adults. The Elders who attended were sometimes illiterate but told stories themselves and encouraged their grandchildren to read. They were fascinated by my stories.

The books and presentations were front and centre, and I was delighted to hear I had “fantastic turnouts.” The communities are tiny, and when 30 people attend, that’s 10 percent of the population. If only we could get that attention in Vancouver or Toronto!

My head is full of memories—sparkling snowdrifts and 18 hours sunshine. Whiteouts. The woman who came back to a second presentation and gave me beaded earrings she’d made as a thank you. The boy who attended three presentations in Tulita, and kept buying “another book please.” The intrepid pilots of the tiny planes, who also handled our luggage and coolers of food in icy conditions. Two little girls dancing in a mud puddle in Fort Good Hope. The beautiful “Painted Church” on the bluff overlooking the Mackenzie. The smell of traditionally tanned moose hide. The short-eared owl that flew towards us on the riverbank, and skeins of snow geese travelling up the great Mackenzie.

Above all I will never forget the beautifully painted “Welcome Andrea Spalding” banners in the school entrance halls heralding the bright-eyed children sitting before me. Yes, the people of the North captured my heart, and the landscape stirred my soul. I felt honoured to visit this part of Canada so few are privileged to see.

Thanks to the Book Centre for sending me on such a splendid adventure. My special thanks go to Janine and Adam for sharing their beloved Subarctic with me–and especially for producing sushi and buffalo lasagna within an hour’s reach of the Arctic Circle. That took some foresight!

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

Fame and fortune could be yours by entering the first ever Orca Book Publishers Video contest.

The Fame: The winning video will be featured in an upcoming Orca online ad

 The Fortune: The winner will receive $100 worth of books from Orca

Here’s how to enter:

Submit a video (30 seconds or less) that either….

a) tells us how you’ve used Orca books to engage struggling or reluctant readers

OR

b) features a struggling or reluctant reader telling us why they like Orca books.

You can submit your video to videocontest@orcabook.com.
If you have any questions or encounter any technical difficulties, please email us at videocontest@orcabook.com
 or call us at 1.800.210.5277.

Here are some details of an event I'll be running in Tokyo in August with SCBWI. Please do come along if you're able!


SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day with John Shelley:

Breathing Life Into Your Pictures
Power up your pictures! Give your illustrations vitality and zest! This SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day featuring illustrator John Shelley will focus on techniques that children’s illustrators use to create resonance in their work and will explore how visual psychology works to convey mood, emotion, and movement. The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment to be completed in advance of the workshop provides an opportunity for illustrators to develop their craft through open critiques at the event.

Time:  Sunday, August 19, 2012, 9:00 am-5:00 pm

Place:  Tokyo Women's Plaza, Audiovisual Room, A & B
5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (by the Children's Castle and United Nations University). For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm

Fees:  

Full program: (includes all sessions plus sketch review and open critique of the Action and Emotion Assignment): SCBWI Members 5,000 yen; Non-Members 8,000 yen. Advance registration and advance payment required; email contact (at) scbwi.jp. Advance payment is due by July 10, 2012.

Audit/At the door: (includes all sessions but does not include sketch review or critique of Action and Emotion Assignment) Members 4,000 yen; Non-members 7,000 yen. Reservations required: email contact (at) scbwi.jp.

This event will be in English. Japanese interpretation is available with advance request.

This Illustration Day is made possible in part through an Illustration Grant from SCBWI.

Schedule:

9:00-9:20 Registration

9:20-9:30 Opening Words

9:30-10:30 Drama in Pictures
Using examples from children’s books past and present, this talk will focus on how composition can improve depth and energy, how illustrators use color, texture, space, and lighting to affect mood and create tension and atmosphere in their work.

10:45-11:45 Character Dynamics
Movement of characters is crucial to narrative in children’s books. This session will focus on the use of posture and detail to emphasize character. Using example illustrations, we will consider how gesture, motion and composition can improve narrative flow and energy.

11:45-1:15 Lunch--bring a bento or enjoy lunch at a nearby cafe

1:15-3:00 Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment—Discussion and Open Critiques of Artwork

The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment will be completed prior to the event—illustrators will illustrate either 1. a book jacket for a middle-grade (readers age 8-12) or early reader book; OR 2. a picture book double-page spread. Sketches will be reviewed in advance by John Shelley via email before illustrators complete the final artwork. Sketches and final artwork will be on display at the event for these open critiques and discussion. To receive the assignment details, please see above about registration and fees, and email contact (at) scbwi.jp before July 10, 2012.

3:15-4:15 Panel Presentation on Promotion and Opportunities for Illustrators featuring illustrators John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa

How does evolving technology open up opportunities for artists? How do illustrators survive in a changing market? In a world swamped by digital media how does an illustrator stand out from the crowd? These questions will be discussed by a panel of illustrators including John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa.

4:15-4:45 Q&A and Wrap-Up Discussion<

Are you excited about the upcoming launch of Seven (the Series)? Seven adventures from seven fantastic YA authors: Eric Walters, John Wilson, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Norah McClintock, Sigmund Brouwer and Shane Peacock. And all seven titles will be released on the same day!

To help you decide which of the seven adventures to read first, Orca Book Publishers is releasing an excerpt from one book each month leading up to the series launch on October 10, 2012. The excerpt for August is from Sigmund Brouwer’s Devil’s Pass.

About Devil’s Pass
Seventeen-year-old Webb’s abusive stepfather has made it impossible for him to live at home, so Webb survives on the streets of Toronto by busking with his guitar and working as a dishwasher. When Webb’s grandfather dies, his will stipulates that his grandsons fulfill specific requests. Webb’s task takes him to the Canol Trail in Canada’s Far North, where he finds out that there are much scarier things than the cold and the occasional grizzly bear. With a Native guide, two German tourists and his guitar for company, Webb is forced to confront terrible events in his grandfather’s past and somehow deal with the pain and confusion of his own life.

Visit www.seventheseries.com to download an excerpt of Devil’s Pass or any of the five previously published excerpts.

Canada’s National Exhibit kicked off on August 17, and this year we hope you’ll visit the Ex…not for the music, not for the fair rides, not for the bacon-wrapped-deep-fried-Mars-bars, but for the BOOKS! The picture books, to be specific.

The Ontario Library Association (OLA) will soon be marking the 1o-year anniversary of the Blue Spruce reading program. The anniversary event will be held at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto from Aug. 17, 2012 to Sept. 3, 2012.

The Blue Spruce program brings Canadian children’s picture books to Ontario children in kindergarten through grade two. Over 70 Blue Spruce books will be featured, at the Ex, including two recent Orca picturebooks: Jeffrey and Sloth (Kari-Lynn Winters and Ben Hodson) and Buttercup’s Lovely Day (Carolyn Beck and Andrea Beck).

The Blue Spruce exhibit will feature craft activities for children based on the themes of the nominated titles, illustrator signings and more. Author Kari-Lynn Winters will be on hand August 18 and August 31 from 2-5pm in the Arts, Crafts and Hobbies building of the exhibition, so we hope you’ll head down and pay her a visit. And maybe you can grab a Mars bar while you’re at it…

Teachers and librarians are always looking for new ways to connect with children and teens categorized as “reluctant readers.” On September 25, 2012, you can participate in a free hour-long webinar that addresses that need.

Joining Orca’s publisher, Andrew Wooldridge, will be a reading specialist and literacy coach, along with a representative from Saddleback Educational Publishing. The webinar will cover strategies and resources effective in reaching struggling readers ages 10 and up, as well as present books that combine high-interest topics with accessible writing. You’ll also hear about new releases and best-selling series from Saddleback Educational Publishing and Orca Book Publishers.

Register now.

Have a question about “reluctant readers”? Please email hiloquestions@orcabook.com before September 24 and we will attempt to answer your query in the webinar. Questions addressed during the webinar will receive a sampling of current titles valued at $100. So keep them coming!

Webinar details:

Tuesday, September 25, 2012 1:00 pm (Central Daylight Time)

The launch of Seven (the Series) is just around the corner, and just a few days after the launch, three of the seven authors (Norah McClintock, Shane Peacock and Richard Scrimger) will team up at the Vancouver Writers Fest to discuss their parts in the project. If you plan to be in the Vancouver area on October 16, 2012, this would be a fantastic event to attend. Tickets are available to individuals and school groups, and you can download a study guide right from the online ticket office.

Purchase tickets to Seven: the Series at the Vancouver Writers Fest
Learn more about Seven (watch the trailer and download excerpts too!) at www.seventheseries.com 

Event Details
Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2012—1:00-2:30pm
Location: Granville Island Stage
Cost: $17 / $8.50 for student groups BUY NOW

Event Description:
A unique and ambitious series is launching just days before this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest—seven Young Adult novels published simultaneously, stemming from the fictional instructions of a dying man to his seven teenaged grandsons. Each grandson is thrust into challenging and sometimes dangerous events to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes—ranging from tattooed gangs close to home, to near-impossible tasks set in Iceland, France, Spain or Tanzania. Three of the seven exceptional Canadian authors chosen to write these stories will talk about their part in this unusual project. Readers can look forward to Scrimger’s sense of humour, McClintock’s sense of mystery and Peacock’s dark plotting.

With only one book left to cover, we’re reaching the end of the “25 Days of the BTBA” series, which means that the announcement of the finalists is right around the corner. Literally.

Next Tuesday, April 10th, fiction panelists Jeff Waxman will be here in Rochester for a special Reading the World Conversation Series event, during which he’ll reveal the BTBA finalists in poetry and fiction.

Before he unveils the shortlists (which will also be posted here as soon as he reads them off), we’ll talk about the evolution of the award, the role of the BTBA in general book culture landscape, how the panel came to make its decisions, and so on. Seeing that Jeff works at the University of Chicago Press and 57th St. Books, he has a unique perspective on literary awards and promoting international literature.

Following our talk and the unveiling of the finalists, we’ll read a few pages from a few of my favorite titles on the list. (We don’t have enough time to read from all of them—anyone want to camp out in the Welles-Brown room?—but we want to at least highlight a few of the books in a special way.)

(NOTE: Cover images on this were chosen randomly by Nate for design purposes only. Read nothing into this. And having the list in front of me, I can only reiterate—read nothing into this poster.)

Also, this means that over the three weeks building up to the celebration of the two winners—which will take place on Friday, May 4th at 6pm at McNally Jackson Books during the PEN World Voices Festival—we will be highlighting all of the poetry finalists and running short excerpts from the ten fiction finalists. Which means you have almost one more month of BTBA stuff to look forward to . . .

Join me this Saturday, April 21st, along with 50 other Vancouver artists. Buy a 5-pack of cards, then trade them with everyone else in the room for the ones you want. ~Luc

The creators of Hot One Inch Action present CARDED! a one-night only show of art reproduced on trading cards. The work of 50 artists is presented on trading cards and made available for art lovers to collect and trade. These 2.5″x3.5″ cards are displayed on the gallery wall and the audience is offered the opportunity to buy random cards in mixed packs of five for $5. Want a specific card? Get into some fast paced trading action with the people around you. How bad do you want that card!?

When drafting up a plan for your leisure time this weekend be sure to include some green activities because this Sunday is Earth Day 2012! Earth Day, an annual event celebrated worldwide every April 22, is an opportunity for people of all ages to take positive actions towards the preservation of our delicate natural environment.

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 in the United States. Many consider the first Earth Day celebration as the start of the environmental movement. That day, more than 20 million Americans participated in informational sessions aimed at raising awareness around the growing issue of environmental pollution. Today, Earth Day is a global event celebrated in a multitude of ways around the world, unified by the common goal of educating and engaging individuals in positive environmental action.

Here at Orca we have made a longstanding commitment to publishing books with an environmental theme—from the Orca classic Siwiti—A Whale’s Story and In the Company of Whales by whale researcher and wild salmon activist Alexandra Morton to more recent titles like The Salmon Bears—Giants of the Great Bear Rainforest and The Sea Wolves—Living Wild in the Great Bear Rainforest both by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read.

Other environmentally-themed titles include Nowhere Else on Earth—Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest by Caitlyn Vernon and Generation Us—The Challenge of Global Warming by Andrew Weaver. Click any of the above links to be taken to the books’ dedicated websites, where you’ll find excerpts, resources, downloads and more.

At Orca we know that environmental education can be very powerful, which is why we have published many titles that take this often-complex subject matter and make it easily accessible. As well as providing environmentally educational content, Orca is committed to conducting responsible publishing practices by printing virtually all our books in Canada on Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC) paper while making every effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle. (And hey! Almost all Orca titles are available in ebook format so you can go “green” with you reading materials. Learn more about Orca ebooks.)

Now, you might be wondering, what can I do this Earth Day? Here in Canada, Earth Day is celebrated in a variety of different ways around the country. In Victoria, BC, approximately 5000 west coasters gather to take part in Victoria’s Earth Walk. In the East, over 2000 Oakvillians gather to participate in Ontario’s Waterways Clean-up. If your curious about the events happening in your community you can visit the