Pajama Press

“This picture book tells the true story of Toronto Zoo’s three elephants, Toka, Thika and Iringa, who were relocated to the PAWS sanctuary in California in 2013. The gorgeous oil paintings by Brian Deines show the beauty and intelligence of these wonderful animals, but also reflect the hardship they experienced living in captivity and in a climate so different from where they were born. Toronto readers may recognize local touches in the artwork, including landmarks at the Toronto Zoo and a Toronto police cruiser. This uplifting tale has a hopeful ending and is a great introduction to elephants and animal activism for younger kids.”

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Peach Girl, the lively picture book writtenby Raymond Nakamura and illustrated by Rebecca Bender, has been selected as a Toronto Public Library “First & Best” book for 2014. The First & Best list, which features ten new Canadian books for children from ages 0–5, is carefully selected to increase young children’s reading readiness. Because, as the Toronto Public Library website says, “the first books you share with your child should also be the best!”

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On November 15th, about fifty parents and children gathered at the North York Central Library to hear author Margriet Ruurs talk about the life and art of iconic Canadian painter Ted Harrison. After an engaging presentation, Margriet signed the library’s copies of the picture book biography she recently co-authored, A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison, and settled in to join the families in making art inspired by Harrison’s colourful style.

Click here to see our digital gallery of the beautiful Harrison-style drawings and colouring pages created at this event.

This event was made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Have you ever been totally puzzled by the peregrinations, bumps and grinds that children experience in their friendships? It was always endlessly fascinating for me to watch the way children bicker and argue with those children they declare to be their best friends. Both with my own children and those I taught, it was evident that there were constant readjustments being made in the relationships that children have with each other.

With that I would like to welcome a relatively new author who is able to capture that paradox. Rebecca Bender has just two picture books in print, and is a relatively new voice in Canadian literature, but what a voice it is. She has captured this unusual nature of friendship between children in both of the picture books available.

…Giraffe and Bird…resonated so well with children that it won the 2012 Blue Spruce award voted on by thousands of children across Ontario.

This title has been followed up by a hilarious sequel, Don’t Laugh at Giraffe.  In this book, Rebecca examines the delicate nature of embarrassment and friendship… How Bird handles this situation is a wonderful blueprint for friendship and problem solving.

Your children will go through many situations with their friends that they will have to grapple with and find solutions for. Having books on hand that show this as a normal process in friendships will support them in these journeys, and open the conversations with thinking about how to solve their own problems in a creative and positive way.
–Peggy Thomas, Toronto Public Library

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