by Heather Camlot

Illustrators bring new spin to the legacy of Robert Munsch’s frequent collaborator Michael Martchenko

More than a dozen illustrators have worked on Robert Munsch picture books since the first, Mud Puddle, debuted in 1979. Despite this, when readers think Munsch, the name Martchenko often follows. Michael Martchenko, a former ... Read More »

February 25, 2019

When first-time illustrator Derek Desierto met fashion icon Eva Chen

By Heather Camlot

Coverage in O Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and InStyle. Call-outs from David Beckham, Anna Wintour, and Gigi Hadid. That’s the type of dream publicity any author or illustrator would be lucky to get. For first-time Canadian-Filipino ... Read More »

November 12, 2018

Second Story Press and Anne Frank House answer kids’ questions about the Holocaust

By Heather Camlot

In the pantheon of Holocaust literature, a few seminal titles dominate: Night by Elie Wiesel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, Maus by Art Spiegelman and The Diary of a Young Girl ... Read More »

September 26, 2018

Kidlit Spotlight Q&A: The collaboration between Kenneth Oppel and Sydney Smith was bound to be something special

By Heather Camlot

Author Kenneth Oppel and illustrator Sydney Smith first met at the Canadian Library Association awards ceremony in Toronto in 2016. Smith had won the illustration award for Sidewalk Flowers, and Oppel book of the year ... Read More »

September 10, 2018

Geneviève Godbout

By Heather Camlot

Montreal’s Geneviève Godbout illustrates two of kidlit’s most iconic characters, Anne Shirley and Mary Poppins

July 19, 2018

Crwth Press saves Sono Nis children’s books after the fire

By Heather Camlot

“Too Canadian.” That was what publishers would say to B.C. author Kristin Butcher when rejecting her historical middle-grade novel about a girl in 1893 who wants to play hockey. But that didn’t deter publisher Diane ... Read More »

July 16, 2018

Revisiting The Landing with John Ibbitson, 10 years later

By Heather Camlot

Ten years after winning the Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s literature, the historical YA novel The Landing by John Ibbitson is being reissued by Kids Can Press, with all the proceeds going to a ... Read More »

March 13, 2018

Kidlit Spotlight: Nancy Vo stakes her claim with an Old West picture-book trilogy

By Heather Camlot

While browsing her local independent bookstore in 2011, Nancy Vo had an “aha” moment. She had just discovered Jon Klassen’s bestseller I Want My Hat Back: “I was floored and thought, ‘How did a picture ... Read More »

March 12, 2018