Pajama Press

Did you know that Monday, August 12th was Middle Child Day? If you missed the occasion you can still celebrate by listening to some great middle child-themed radio.

Stephanie McLellan, author of Hoogie in the Middle, appeared on CBC’s  Metro Morning to talk about her book and about being a middle child. She was also interviewed on CBC’s Ontario Morning.

At Q107, Dominik Diamond, Ryan Parker, and Johnny Garbutt had a hilarious time reading Hoogie in the Middle and talking about it on the air.

And since every day is a good day to appreciate each other, why not show some love to a middle child in your life today? I’m sure they, like Hoogie, will feel “like the jelly in the middle of a donut…sweet.”

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.

Hoogie in the Middle by Stephanie McLellan with illustrations by Dean Griffiths was released in Canada on May 1, 2013 (US publication forthcoming in August, 2013). Readers across the county are falling in love with the magenta middle monster who feels like the hole in the middle of a donut. But what is the real story behind Hoogie in the Middle? Click the link below to watch the trailer and find out.

Hoogie in the Middle Book Trailer

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.

“…While Stephanie McLellan’s text and Dean Griffith’s illustrations ensure that Mom and Dad are seen as engaged parents who really try to be there for all their children, it’s easy to understand how overwhelming it is to meet the needs of all of them, especially if their children may not be clear on what they need.  When Hoogie finally finds her voice and demands the attention of her parents, they immediately tell her and, best of all, show her that she is “the sun in the middle of the solar system” and the “pearl in the middle of the oyster.”  Hoogie and her parents may not know it but current research (Salmon and Schumann, 2011) suggests that, as a middle monster, Hoogie is learning the skills and strategies that will help her navigate adulthood successfully.  Stephanie McLellan and Dean Griffith probably didn’t even realize how successful they’d been in delivering that little message to little monsters and their parents everywhere.”—Helen K.

Click here to read the full review.

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.

“…I knew something was up when Harriet  suddenly couldn’t stop talking about it. (“You be Pumpkin, you be Tweezle, and I’ll be Hoogie,” she’d demand of whoever was in her company, or a variation on this.) I asked her why she liked the book so much: “Because Hoogie’s a monster and she’s nice,” Harriet answered, and I liked that answer…This is a good teaching book for any middle child, but also (I have a feeling!) useful for any little one suffering a bit of family displacement. Hoogie will help them to articulate their feelings and know they aren’t alone.”
—Kerry Clare

Click here to read the full review.

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: