Archive for the ‘Next Round’ Category

Pajama Press is very proud to announce that nine of our Spring 2017 books are featured in the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids & Teens. Adrift at Sea by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho and illustrated by Brian Deines is a Starred Selection All the World a Poem by Gilles Tibo and […]

On Multicultural Children’s Book Day we are pleased to celebrate books written by or in collaboration with people of various cultures. Knowing this collection should be larger, we encourage submissions from authors and illustrators from every background. This is the fourth year running for Multicultural Children’s Book Day mission is to raise awareness for the […]

Pajama Press is excited to announce that four of our titles have been nominated for the 2017 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Awards. The Hill, written by Karen Bass, is nominated for the Red Maple Award. Click here to view the The Hill classroom discussion guide. Elephant Journey, written by Rob Laidlaw and illustrated […]

John Spray writes an engaging story that pulls us in from the first page as Arthur and his family attempt to flee to safety. Readers will find themselves cheering for Arthur as he faces one obstacle after another and will enjoy the personal photos that give us an even closer glimpse into the life of […]

 “The rise of Arthur Biyarslanov, known as the Chechen Wolf, and his journey from refugee to soccer star to Olympian are chronicled in a narrative biography that is both inspirational and timely. Opening with the Biyarslanov family’s flight from Chechnya in a sequence that could be straight out of a movie, the book draws the […]

Next Round: A Young Athlete’s Journey to Gold takes the podium as one of CBC Books’ selections in their “15 Books for Young Readers during the Rio 2016 Games.”

The 2016 Olympics are on in Rio and the media will be trumpeting the success stories of many an athlete, but Chechen-born Canadian boxer Arthur Biyarslanov has a story like no other.  And it’s a story that John Spray, benefactor of the TD Children’s John Spray Mystery Award, tells with inspiration and appreciation in Next […]

“Arthur looked around the small, two-bedroom apartment in Baku, Azerbaijan, in disbelief. This can’t be our new home, he thought, a lump in his throat. There was no yard to play in. There were no fruit trees to climb. He suddenly missed his home in Chechnya very badly. He closed his eyes and saw his […]

Dameon Okposio of Below the Belt Magazine has posted a timely and supportive video review of Next Round: A Young Athlete’s Journey to Gold by John Spray on the DO Boxing Show. Since Arthur is currently competing for Canada in the Rio Olympics, we’re pleased to share both Dameon’s review and our transcription of it. […]