Pajama Press

Pajama Press is proud to announce that Hoogie in the Middle by Stephanie McLellan, illustrated by Dean Griffiths, is a finalist for the 2014 SCBWI Crystal Kite Member Choice Award.

The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from the 15 regions of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Congratulations to Stephanie McLellan, Dean Griffiths and the whole Monster family. And thanks to the members who voted!

“Not only will the message in this cute story win over the youngsters in your life, but the  illustrations are sure to capture their attention and imaginations. Bursting with colour and movement, the pictures of the monster family are a lot of fun. I love how bright they are!

…Tweezle into Everything is a wonderful family read, especially for young children who may be struggling with either being the youngest, or having a young sibling who always seems to be getting into everything.”

Click here to read the full review.

PreS-Gr 2–McLellan’s playful, heartwarming story about a cuddly monster family examines how birth order affects sibling relationships. As the youngest, Tweezle is coddled by Mom and Dad, who call him their “sweet baby.” Tweezle repeats the phrase, “I’m not baby…I big boy!” throughout the story, as he tries prove to his older siblings, Hoogie and Pumpkin, that he is just like them. Tweezle attempts to make pancakes, wash dishes, and help with the garden. Onomatopoeic words (“splash and a crash/blam and a slam”) mimic the chaos that follows poor Tweezle as he attempts to win his siblings’ acceptance. When he rescues a baby bird, the family celebrates Tweezle’s good deed, acknowledging that is was a “big” deal for such a “big” guy. Bright colored pencil and watercolor illustrations adorn each spread, while a soft-hued palette adds calmness. Expansive white space allows readers to appreciate details in the facial expressions. A great addition to both school and public libraries that help teach sibling acceptance and understanding.
—Krista Welz, North Bergen High School, NJ

Click here to learn more about School Library Journal

Stephanie McLellan presented both Hoogie in the Middle and Tweezle into Everything at Word on the Street 2013.

Watch her in action:

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!

Stephanie McLellan is the author of Hoogie in the Middle, published in May, 2013 by Pajama Press. In this interview she talks about writing, family, and being a middle child.

On Wednesday, May 1 Pajama Press and Stephanie McLellan and Dean Griffiths published a book about me. It’s called Hoogie in the Middle. Two weeks ago I shared a bunch of pictures about The Worst Parts of Being a Middle Child. Today I’m sharing:

By Hoogie.

Brothers and Sisters: Two picture books touchingly explore sibling relationships through illustrations as strong as the text, writes Sarah Ellis

“Scene: Two children stand in the late afternoon sunlight comparing shadows. The little brother says, “Look! I’m long!” His older sister replies, “I’m longer.”

Siblings give us our first experience of the tyranny of comparison. Birth order programs us for life, and, in childhood, where you fit in is as obvious as your shoe size or those marks on the doorframe. It’s no wonder our position in the family is such a rich source of material for picture books.

Hoogie in the Middle, by Stephanie McLellan and illustrated by Dean Griffiths, features a family of benevolently hairy monsters who look like a cross between a domestic long-haired cat and one of Sendak’s wild things (the horned one in the striped pullover), resplendent in My Little Pony colours. Pumpkin, the eldest child, is blue like mom. Baby Tweezle is green like Dad, but middle child Hoogie is magenta, like herself. Hoogie feels ignored and neglected, neither as cute as Tweezle, nor as competent as Pumpkin. Finally she has a meltdown, and Dad and Mom helicopter in to comfort her.

This picture book is a terrific example of words and images doing their own job. The text gives us movement (as Pumpkin skips and Tweezle toddles), melody (as Hoogie whispers, “Too big. Too small. No room for me at all”), and, most of all, metaphor (“Sometimes Hoogie feels like the hole in the middle of a donut.”

The pictures carry the emotional weight. The composition of family scenes says it all: close pairings of parent and child leave Hoogie floating alone against a white background; Hoogie looks sideways across a double-page spread but nobody is looking back; her sister and brother are enclosed in circles and triangles while she’s isolated on a facing page.

Griffiths captures the body language of children (well, of childlike, horned, fanged, cat-like things) perfectly. The final spread shows Hoogie swinging between her parents’ hands, her posture a subtle combination of joy and tension, triumph and just a tiny bit of anger…”
—Q&Q feature reviewer SARAH ELLIS is a Vancouver author and former librarian.

Pajama Press is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Hoogie in the Middle by Stephanie McLellan and Dean Griffiths on

This is Hoogie talking. My book is coming out on May 1st, so I decided I should write the blog post this time. And I’m going to write it in pictures. Pictures that are all about: