We’ve been busy. In March we launched a new website design. On April 1st we moved into a wonderful new office with the luxury of enough space for everyone to have desks (imagine!) and a nice, comfy sofa for our visitors. The high ceilings give us lots of room to display our illustrators’ framed picture book art and all our published books are showcased on a long row of bookcases. We are all finding it a very creative environment to work in. We hope this is evident in all the new books on our awesome Fall list which are presented in this catalogue.
In May, four of our authors won major awards. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch won the OLA Forest of Reading Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award for One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way. This is Marsha’s second time winning the Silver Birch Award, and Pajama Press’ second time too! Jill MacLean won the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature for Nix Minus One. It is the third time Jill has won this prestigious award and we are thrilled to have Nix Minus One added to her honours. Karen Bass attended the Canadian Library Association convention in Victoria to accept the CLA’s Young Adult Book Award for her novel Graffiti Knight. Rob Laidlaw won the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award for English Non-Fiction for his celebrated work, No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs. Pajama Press congratulates our accomplished authors and we look forward to letting everyone know of any developments on new awards!
I am very excited about our lead title for Fall 2014. A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison has been a labour of love for our Senior Editor, Ann Featherstone, who is a huge fan of Ted Harrison’s art and had the pleasure of meeting him years ago. Since I signed this fabulous illustrated biography, Ann has masterfully overseen every detail. The result is spectacular and we thank Ann for all her hard work with authors Margriet Ruurs and Katherine Gibson.
Our Pajama Press team is a joy to work with: Erin Woods, Rebecca Buchanan, Ann Featherstone, Catherine Mitchell, Ellen Nodwell, Pat Thornton Jones, and Richard Jones. They all contribute hugely to the success and longevity of our company.