Pajama Press

We are thrilled to extend our congratulations to Jan L. Coates and Suzanne Del Rizzo, the author and illustrator of Sky Pig. This inventive picture book about a pig who wants—against all popular truisms—to fly has won the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. This is Coates’ and Del Rizzo’s first time being nominated for the award.

Jan Coates accepted the award Thursday night at the 8th annual Atlantic Book Awards Gala, hosted at Paul O’Reagan Hall in Halifax. The Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration, named for a long-time buyer for the now inoperative independent bookstore, The Book Room, is one of ten major prizes awarded at the gala each year. This is the first award win for Sky Pig, which is also nominated for the 2017 Shining Willow Award, and is a 2016 Best Books for Kids and Teens selection.

Pajama Press would also like to congratulate all the other award nominees and winners of the evening. Our nominated titles were in such good company; it is an honour to be recognized alongside some of the best artists and books rooted in Atlantic Canada.

Pajama Press thanks the Atlantic Book Awards for their continued dedication to promoting excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing.

Pajama Press is excited to announce that one of our titles and illustrators have been nominated for a 2017 Atlantic Book Award.

Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo is nominated for the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration

In Sky Pig, Jan Coates weaves a story of sweetness and whimsy, ingenuity and empathy. Plasticine artist Suzanne Del Rizzo brings dimension and energy to the tale of a pig who wants—against all popular truisms—to fly. He may never reach the sky on homemade clockwork wings, but Ollie still dreams as hard as ever a pig can dream. And Jack, a true friend, realizes that just because a pig can’t fly in the ways they have tried doesn’t mean he can never soar. An uplifting picture book for anyone who has tried and tried again.

From the Atlantic Book Awards website:

“The Atlantic Book Awards Society (ABAS) is a registered non-profit organization with the mandate ‘to promote and acknowledge excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing through an annual awards ceremony and related events.’

Currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the board of the Atlantic Book Awards Society is committed to being a truly regional organization with representation from all four Atlantic provinces.”

More information about the Atlantic Book Awards can be found on their website

See the full 2017 Atlantic Book Awards shortlist here

Pajama Press is thrilled to announce that three of our titles have been nominated for the 2017 Willow Awards.

French Toast, written by Kari-Lynn Winters and illustrated by François Thisdale, is a finalist for the Shining Willow Award.

In this picture book, Phoebe, the daughter of a white French-Canadian mother and a Jamaican English-speaking father, dislikes her school nickname of “French Toast.” Gently prompted by her blind grandmother, she uses descriptions of familiar foods from both cultures to explain the family’s varied skin colors—and realizes she can take ownership of the nickname proudly. Quill & Quire says it is “simply told and cleverly imagined” in their starred review.

Sky Pig, written by Jan L. Coates and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo, is also a finalist for the Shining Willow Award.

In Sky Pig, Jan L. Coates weaves a story of sweetness and whimsy, ingenuity and empathy. Plasticine artist Suzanne Del Rizzo brings dimension and energy to the tale of a pig who wants—against all popular truisms—to fly. He may never reach the sky on homemade clockwork wings, but Ollie still dreams as hard as ever a pig can dream. And Jack, a true friend, realizes that just because a pig can’t fly in the ways they have tried doesn’t mean he can never soar. An uplifting picture book for anyone who has tried and tried again. Sky Pig is also a 2016 Best Books for Kids and Teens selection. 

The Hill by Karen Bass is a finalist for the Snow Willow Award.

Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. After a night spent on the hilltop the teens discover something odd: the plane has disappeared. And worst of all, something is hunting them. Karen Bass, the multi-award-winning author of Graffiti Knight and Uncertain Soldier, brings her signature action packed style to a chilling new subject: the Cree Wîhtiko legend. Inspired by the real story of a remote plane crash and by the legends of her Cree friends and neighbours, Karen brings eerie life—or perhaps something other than life—to the northern Alberta landscape. The Hill was also a White Ravens 2016 selection, and a 2016 Best Books for Kids and Teens selection.

From the Willow Awards website:

“The mission of The Willow Awards is to promote reading by granting a “Willow Award” to the Canadian and/or Saskatchewan book(s) voted by Saskatchewan students to be the best of those nominated in designated categories for a specific year.”

For more information about these awards, please visit the Willow Awards website.

See the full list of 2017 Willow Awards finalists here.

“This is a story of a pig and his friend, Jack. Jack helps Ollie as much as he can, but when he realizes that pigs just can’t fly, he comes up with an idea that makes everyone cheer. The illustrations are made from plasticine, polymer clay…They’re creative and fun and children will be able to recognize milkweed fluff and watch gears in the pictures. This is a great story of never giving up and one of friendship.

Anything you didn’t like about it?  I liked everything about this book.

To Whom Would You Recommend this book? This is recommended for ages 3-6. The pictures are large and the text is simple, so it would make a great read-aloud for a young audience at a story time….

Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles?  Yes”
—Sandra Pacheco, ESL teacher, Washington, D.C.

Click here to read the full review

“Suzanne Del Rizzo’s plasticine art brings a different visual perspective to this children’s picture book of a pig who wants to fly….Good reading skills or parental read-aloud assistance will lend to this fun saga of a determined pig and his supportive friend.”

Click here to read the full review

Elliot by Julie Pearson, illustrated by Manon Gauthier

“Elliot’s parents love him, but they don’t know how to take care of him. When a social worker name Thomas comes, Elliot’s world turns upside down….”

Going for a Sea Bath by Andrée Poulin, illustrated by Anne-Claire Delisle

“When Leanne complains that bath time is boring, her father has some excellent, terrific and spectacular ideas…This title is also available in French as Un bain trop plein!”

Sky Pig by Jan L. Coates, illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

“Ollie the pig wants to fly. Jack would do anything to make Ollie happy.”

The Hill by Karen Bass

“After a night on the hilltop, the teens find everything in the forest has subtly changed… and the plane has disappeared. Even worse, something is hunting them.”

“…I really liked Sky Pig but I think the illustrations were my favorite part. They were made out of plasticine, paper, fuzz, and even watch gears. The illustrations were so detailed, I couldn’t stop looking at the pages. These illustrations make me want to make my own plasticine pictures. I really like looking for the mouse and chicken with her egg on every page. I like that even when Ollie failed over and over again, he kept getting up and trying new ideas to help him fly. His friend Jack was a very good friend who was always there to help Ollie follow his dreams.”
—Jewel, Age 8

Click here to read the full review

Sky Pig is one of School Library Journal​ blogger Elizabeth Bird’s picks for the best picture books of 2016!

Read about all of the selections here

This child-friendly story provides a message about persistence and friendship while the illustrations, created with plasticine, polymer clay, paper collage, and various found objects including milkweed fluff and watch gears, are particularly eye-catching.

Click here to read the full review

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“Pigs and flying are the stuff of idiomatic legend, but a porker named Ollie is determined to make it happen in this offbeat story from Coates (Rocket Man) and Del Rizzo (Gerbil, Uncurled). With help from a young human friend, Jack, Ollie tries several methods of getting airborne, such as strapping branches to his body like wings and creating a parachute/kite hybrid. Every attempt ends with an “oooooomph!” and a “plop!” Del Rizzo stages the action in three-dimensional mixed-media scenes made from plasticine, clay, and other materials, capturing the imaginative energy Jack and Ollie bring to the task (one impressive set of wings features steampunk-style gears and straps) and the stinging defeats Ollie suffers. By the fourth time readers see the pig banged up from a fall, though, they’ll probably be ready for the story to move on, which it does with the arrival of a hot-air balloon.”

Click here to read the entire review.

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