Pajama Press

During her TD Canadian Children’s Book Week tour of Manitoba, Sylvia Gunnery (Emily For Real, 2012) had the opportunity to talk with Jordan Wasilka of the Westman Journal. The interview made the front page.

Here’s a sneak peek:

“‘The publishing industry is in a lot of trouble’ asserts the author, ‘but people still have faith in it. I think of Gail Winskill of Pajama Press – this company is three years old and she’s got terrific books on her list… there are people with big hearts and huge commitment and they’re doing it. They’re working so hard.'”

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Alma Fullerton

Two Pajama Press authors begin their TD Canadian Children’s Book Week tours today: Alma Fullerton in Alberta and Sylvia Gunnery in Manitoba. The Canadian Children’s Book Centre interviewed both of these wonderful authors before they left.

Click here to find out why Alma struggled to read as a child

Click here to find out what famous writer’s hometown Sylvia is excited to visit.

And then click here to learn more about the TD Canadian Children’s Book Week!

Sylvia Gunnery

Alma Fullerton is the author of two Pajama Press books: A Good Trade (2012) and the upcoming Community Soup (June 1, 2013). Her novels Libertad, Burn, Walking on Glass and In the Garage have earned her many awards.

Sylvia Gunnery is the author of Emily For Real (Pajama Press, 2012) and more than fifteen other novels for young people. A recipient of the Prime Minister’s Minister’s Teaching Award, she regularly gives presentations and writing workshops young people, inspiring them to write just as they have inspired her.

Lately there has been a good deal of pessimism about the future of the publishing industry. Many of us involved with children’s books would like to refute that. Canada is home to a vibrant community of writers, publishers, librarians, booksellers, teachers, young people, and children’s book advocates of all kinds. Pajama Party would like to highlight those invaluable programs and people that are promoting reading among Canadian kids today. Today’s featured program is the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award.

The Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award, or MYRCA, was begun in 1990 by the Manitoba School Library Association to promote reading among an age group that too often loses interest in books. Each year 15–18 Canadian titles are chosen to appeal to children in grades 5–8. The program is promoted across the province, and in April any student who has read at least 3 of the titles may vote for his or her favourite. An award ceremony in the fall welcomes hundreds of students to celebrate the winner and two honour books.

Students across Manitoba are busily reading MYRCA-nominated titles right now. The 2013 shortlist includes:

Against all Odds (Natale Ghent),  The Bedmas Conspiracy (Deborah Sherman), Blood Red Road (Moira Young), Box of Shocks (Chris McMahen), The Case of the Missing Deed (Ellen Schwartz), Dragon Seer’s Gift (Janet McNaughton), The Dragon Turn (Shane Peacock), Encore Edie (Annabel Lyon), End of Days (Eric Walters), Fly Boy (Eric Walters), Ice Storm (Penny Draper), Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes (Jonathan Auxier), This Dark Endeavour (Kenneth Oppel), The Tiffin (Mahtab Narsimhan), Timber Wolf (Caroline Pignat), True Blue (Deborah Ellis), Undergrounders (David Skuy), Witchlanders (Lena Coakley).

To learn more about the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Awards, visit www.myrca.ca.

Rob Laidlaw has been reading, speaking, and signing his way across Western Canada this spring, promoting his book No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs.

“It’s always a highlight to find people who are so interested in dogs and other animals,” Rob said on his return to Toronto. “What’s really encouraging is not only that they’re interested, but they also want to do their part to help.”

The trip included a range of events from a keynote speech at the Critteraid I Heart Animals Banquet in Penticton, BC to elementary school and library talks in Surrey and Sidney BC to a book launch in Winnipeg’s McNally Robinson bookstore.

“I try to vary my talks to keep them fresh, interesting and current,” Rob said. Fortunately, this series of very diverse events allowed him plenty of variety. One stop that earned him a fair amount of media attention was Winnipeg, where the Winnipeg Humane Society borrowed a term from No Shelter Here and awarded the first Dog Champion of the Year award to eight-year-old Christina Sudoma at Rob’s McNally-Robinson launch. Later, Rob was one of five speakers at “An Evening of Compassion, Advocating for Animals” in Winnipeg’s Park Theatre.

“It was a great event and an ethusiastic crowd,” Rob said. “I think the evening entertained, stimulated and empowered a lot of people and, for me, that’s what it’s all about.”

Now that he is home again, Rob is back at work at Zoocheck, the animal protection agency he founded. He plans to go on tour again in the fall when the paperback edition of No Shelter Here is released.