Pajama Press

“This book captures the real-life journey of three elephants from the Toronto Zoo to their new home at an animal sanctuary in California, the story also framing the difficulties of wild animals in captivity and our changing understanding of zoos and their purposes. From acclimatizing the elephants to their travel crates, to transporting the crates by crane onto transport trucks, and then those transport trucks’ long, winding journey across the continent (which includes the drivers dousing the wheels with water as the brakes start to overheat while they’re climbing up and down mountains in Utah and Nevada), Laidlaw’s words and Deines’ illustrations work perfectly together to bring this tale to life.”

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“Bear on the Homefront (September), by Stephanie Innes, Harry Endurulat, and Brian Deines, follows up their acclaimed book, A Bear in War, to tell the story of Canada’s “wartime guests,” the British children who were evacuated to Canada during World War Two.

Iconic Canadian painter Ted Harrison’s own life story is told in A Brush Full of Colour (October), by Margriet Ruurs and Katherine Gibson, which is filled with full-colour examples of his work.

A young girl facing life’s usual aggravations must also contend with the fact that her real parents are actually the king and queen of Papua New Guinea in Princess Pistachio (October), by Marie-Louise Gay.

In Dance of the Banished (August), by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, an Anatolian refugee is thrown into a Canadian internment camp when World War One breaks out, leaving his fiancée in peril in their homeland.”

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“In this third person rendition, Deborah Ellis creates characters that aren’t all loveable Ann[e] of Green Gable types. Farrin is a defiant perhaps selfish teen with a razor sharp mind who hates her mom. Besides writing stories, she has no goals until she meets Sadira, a kind and smart girl who comes to the aid of all…A story that illuminates, astounds and perhaps will grow empathy for other cultures and sexualities.”

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Today Quill & Quire and 49th Shelf both shared lists of Spring 2014 books they are eagerly anticipating from Canadian publishers.

Quill & Quire says, “This season, shelves will groan under the weight of titles from some of kidlit’s most beloved Canadian authors. Fresh off her Norma Fleck Award win for her non-fiction title Kids of Kabul, Deborah Ellis will release a novel in April with Pajama Press. In Moon at Nine ($19.95 cl.), Ellis reaches back to 1988 Iran to tell the story, based on true events, of Farrin and Sadira, two teenaged girls whose love for each other is illegal – and punishable by death…

Two books featuring the doomed ocean liner Empress of Ireland will arrive this spring. In February, Sylvia McNicoll’s Revenge on the Fly ($12.95 pa.) will be released by Pajama Press. Leaving behind England (and the graves of his mother and baby sister) 12-year-old William sails to Canada with his father, where he joins the campaign to eradicate flies in cities and stop the spread of deadly diseases.”

Click here to read Quill & Quire’s full Spring preview 2014: fiction for young people.

49th Shelf’s list features Moon at Nine as well as the newest title from Monica Kulling and Dean Griffiths: “When Emily Carr Met Woo (April)…is the story of painter Carr’s relationship with her famous pet monkey.”

“Award-winner Deborah Ellis’s latest, Moon at Nine (April), is a novel about two teenage girls’ illegal romance in 1980s’ Iran.”

Click here to read 49th Shelf‘s post “Most Anticipated: Spring 2014 Kids’ Books Preview” and get excited about this new season in publishing!

“Alma Fullerton and Karen Patkau’s A Good Trade starts out simple. Kato, a young boy wakes on his mat in Uganda. He carries his gerry cans to the well for water, splashing his bare feet. Questions start to form in the reader’s mind. Why are the cattle-spotted fields guarded by soldiers? What is this “aid worker’s truck” Kato peeks into? He spies a single white poppy and makes a trade for what he’s seen: a pair of runners. The beautiful pictures and the one-sentence-per-page provide great starting points for discussing life in Uganda, world help organizations, and inequity in general.”

Click here to see the rest of the Books with Sole(s) list.