Pajama Press

Posts Tagged ‘books’

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles “is in itself a miracle” says CanLit for LittleCanadians

Posted on September 6th, 2016 by pajamapress

RootBeerCandyAndOtherMiracles_WebsiteWith her parents’ marriage in need of repair, her friend and neighbour Daniel suffering with cystic fibrosis, a community divided and occasionally hostile, the compassionate Jasper being disgraced and driven out of town, and the church’s chalice missing, Bailey and Felicity Bay need a miracle or two.

…Good and bad may ebb and flow like the tides but that’s just the nature of things….Nonetheless it doesn’t stop her from making an all-out effort to help, whether it be her parents, Jasper, or a beached dolphin, and try to turn the tides of adversity.

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles is Shari Green’s debut novel but it is an accomplished story in form and content worthy of a seasoned writer….Balancing structure with plot is complicated. Yet Shari Green dives right in, creating characters and circumstances that effortlessly carry the reader from beginning to end on waves of sentiments, some fearful, most benevolent, all heartfelt. Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles is in itself a miracle…

Click here for the full review.

CBC’s 100 YA Books That Make You Proud To Be Canadian

Posted on June 29th, 2015 by pajamapress

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This Canada Day, celebrate your patriotism the literary way.

CBC Books has rounded up 100 Young Adult Books That Make You Proud To Be Canadian. How many have you read? Take the quiz on the CBC Books website.

Among the chosen 100 are Nix Minus One by Jill MacLean and Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass. We are indeed proud to have these books recognized as the great Canadian treasures we believe them to be.

Nix Minus One, a novel by Jill MacLean Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass, winner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award and the CLA Young Adult Book Award

Will this list inspire you to read more Canada? Are there any standouts you feel are missing? Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #CBCbooks100.

 

Three Pajama Press books shortlisted for CLA Awards

Posted on March 7th, 2014 by pajamapress

Pajama Press is proud to announce that three of our titles have been shortlisted for the 2014 Canadian Library Association Awards.

The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette, with illustrations by Dean Griffiths, has been shortlisted for the Book of the Year for Children Award. Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass and Nix Minus One by Jill MacLean have both been shortlisted for the Young Adult Book Award.

We congratulate our three nominated authors and look forward to hearing the award results the week of April 14th.

The Year’s Best with Resource Links

Posted on February 7th, 2014 by pajamapress

Resource Links magazine published its list of “The Year’s Best” books  for 2013 this week. Five Pajama Press books made the list:

Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass

Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass

Nix_C_PRINT_Nov13.indd

Nix Minus One by Jill MacLean

The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette

The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette

Cat Champions by Rob Laidlaw

Cat Champions by Rob Laidlaw

Hoogie in the Middle by Stephanie McLellan and Dean Griffiths

Hoogie in the Middle by Stephanie McLellan and Dean Griffiths

Congratulations to our authors and illustrator whose books were recognized.

Check out the full list here.

Snuggle Up and Read for Family Literacy Day

Posted on January 31st, 2014 by pajamapress

A small school in North Bay, Ontario hosted a remarkable event for Family Literacy Day this week.

Inspired by the Family Literacy Day booklist compiled by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, a teacher at J.W. Trusler Public School decided to organize a “Snuggle Up and Read” event, inviting parents to bring their pajama-clad children to school in the evening for cookies, milk, and story time. The evening’s feature family-themed book? Hoogie in the Middle.
Stephanie meeting her audience

Stephanie meeting her audience

Stephanie McLellan, author of Hoogie in the Middle, heard about the event. Undeterred by a long, snowy drive and the expectation of a small audience (J.W. Trusler only has about 150 students), she decided to attend herself. The school staff, eager to welcome an award-winning author, spread the word to families, baked cookies, and acquired enough milk and books for a crowd.

The next day The North Bay Nugget described the event, which ultimately included over thirty families—more than 100 people: “Children came in their pyjamas and brought pillows, blankets, and favourite books. Board superintendent Amanda Meighan also read the award-winning bedtime story, ‘Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That.'”
Debbie Woods introducing Stephanie

Debbie Woods introducing Stephanie

Debbie Woods, the teacher who organized the event, described families using blankets and pillows to create cozy campsites on the gym floor while they listened to the stories. Stephanie McLellan called it “a fantastic event” on social
media, adding that “Debbie had a goodie bag for every family which included a book…”

Pajama Press salutes Debbie, Stephanie, and the CCBC for doing so much to encourage literacy and a love of books among children and their families.

Resource Links reviews Community Soup

Posted on November 5th, 2013 by pajamapress

CommunitySoup_Med“This is a book about school age children in Kenya who have a garden outside their school and work together to harvest the vegetables to make a communal soup for all to share. Unfortunately one child, unable to tie up her goats brings them to school where the children have a lot of laughs trying to stop them from eating their vegetables. At one point someone has the idea to milk the goats and add the milk to the communal soup which makes it more delicious.

This is a fun read that helps children understand the way of life of Kenyan school children and how different their life is from our own. It also describes the various vegetables and what goes into making soup and in the end even gives a recipe for making a pumpkin vegetable soup to make at home with an adult.

Curricular applications include learning about Kenya: discovering a world outside their own, how children work alongside parents and teachers and that children have chores to do before attending school, how community gardens work and how everyone gets to share in the work and in the cultivation, and how to make a communal soup and what goes in.

Thematic links: Children Working Together; Community Gardening and Cooking; Goats.”

Carmen Poulin

Learn more about Resource Links.

Books in the Spotlight believes Namesake goes beyond trope

Posted on September 27th, 2013 by pajamapress

“While Namesake may be initially seen as a standard time-slip novel, with a contemporary character going back in time to learn something which she could apply to her own life, the book goes beyond trope by having both Janes interact and take active roles in each other’s lives, even to the point of altering history if that could save their friendship… I really think you get a sense of who Lady Jane was as as person, a girl who died for her beliefs and who couldn’t fight to change her fate. I’m really glad that the author chose a figure in the Tudor history who isn’t necessarily scandalous and who isn’t all that removed from the main character’s age, to share their lives and their stories, and developing their new friendship which both of them needed desperately. Though the ending of Lady Jane’s story is heartbreaking, it sparks a change in present day Jane…”

— Rummanah Aasi

Click here to read the full review.

Word on the Street Toronto 2013

Posted on September 23rd, 2013 by pajamapress

Yesterday was the 24th annual Word on the Street festival, a day on which industry professionals and bibliophiles congregate to celebrate authors, illustrators and loads of books.

Pajama Press was well represented by Stephanie McLellan and Sue MacLeod, both of whom braved the chilly weather to read, discuss and sign their books.

A snapshot of the exciting lineup at the TD Children's Literature Tent

 

Stephanie McLellan reading Tweezle into Everything

 

Tweezle is a big boy!

 

The audience couldn't get enough of the monster siblings, Hoogie and Tweezle

 

Sue MacLeod reading an excerpt of Namesake

 

The audience came up with some insightful questions for the panel

 

Sue MacLeod explains how she got into writing YA - because Lady Jane Grey was a teen herself

 

Sue signs a book for a grateful fan

 
After a chilly but beautiful day, we’re looking forward to next year’s 25th anniversary edition!

Publishers Weekly features books that help kids cope with war

Posted on September 16th, 2013 by pajamapress

Publishers Weekly recently published an article by Sally Lodge featuring books for children that “sort through the complexities of war.” One of these books is Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. Lodge writes, “This true story examines one girl’s life in a Saigon orphanage, her dramatic rescue and relocation to North America, and her adoption into a loving family.”

You can read the full article here.

 

School Library Journal features stories about children and war

Posted on September 16th, 2013 by pajamapress

In a recent article titled “Lost Childhood,” School Library Journal contributor Kathleen St. Isaacs highlighted books “about child refugee experiences and children who’ve found safe havens, but have haunting memories.” The selections are “emotionally rich narratives, often with a political subtext.” They include two books published by Pajama Press:

A Good Trade by Alma Fullerton, illustrated by Karen Patkau

“Gr. 1–3—On his daily trek to get water, a Ugandan boy sees a treasure in an aid truck—bright new sneakers—and finds just the right thing to exchange. Colorful illustrations full of details of daily life in a war-torn country will show well when the spare text is read aloud.”

 

 

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way

“Gr. 4–6—A seven-year-old Vietnamese refugee, newly arrived in Canada and unable to understand the language, faces a painful operation to straighten an ankle bent by polio. Tuyet’s poignant story was begun in Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War (2012) but readers don’t have to have read that to enjoy this story of healing.”

Learn more about School Library Journal here.