Artist Julie Flett was unsure about doing the cover illustration for Q&Q’s October 2017 issue, as she was too busy working on other projects, like a cover and spot illustrations for The Journey Forward, A Novella on Reconciliation: Lucy & Lola (McKellar & Martin), a forthcoming middle-grade book by Monique Gray Smith. But after reading a draft of a Q&Q essay Smith had written, which mentions Lucy & Lola, the idea of doing a simple illustration inspired by the twin sister protagonists took root. Flett had already read the book’s manuscript but decided to base her Q&Q cover solely on what Smith had revealed in her essay. Smith knew Flett was doing the Q&Q cover but was still floored when she saw the image. Smith loved the image so much, in fact, that both she and publisher Tonya Martin agreed a version of it should grace the cover of the book that inspired it.
What Canadian publishers and agents are bringing to Bologna 2018
Thirty-nine Canadian English- and French-language publishers and two literary agencies will be in attendance at this year’s fair, including first-timers Firefly Books and Coteau Books.
Revisiting The Landing with John Ibbitson, 10 years later
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 great cause: the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
Kidlit Spotlight: Nancy Vo stakes her claim with an Old West picture-book trilogy
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 book just do that to me?’ It sealed the deal – I was on a path to making kids’ books.”
New Heritage Minute features Lucy Maud Montgomery’s struggles with depression and rejection
A latest Canadian Heritage Minute marks International Women’s Day, by focusing on the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Toronto’s Little Island Comics reopens
Just over a year after closing its former Mirvish Village location, Toronto children’s comic bookstore Little Island Comics has a new home.
Seraphina author Rachel Hartman on how her quasi-evangelical upbringing led to her new heroine
In 2012, readers went wild for Rachel Hartman’s YA fantasy Seraphina – which was a Quill & Quire book of the year – shooting the debut author up the New York Times bestseller list.
Owlkids Books named finalist for Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year
Toronto’s Owlkids Books has been shortlisted for this year’s Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year.
Annick Press named finalist for Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year
Toronto’s Annick Press has been shortlisted for this year’s Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year.
Kidlit Spotlight: Looking to children’s authors to change the schoolyard status quo
In many children’s books, bullying encapsulates a central dilemma of growing up: how to find your voice when others (often bigger, older, or more powerful) seem determined to keep you silent. The quirky kid dodging daily harassment from schoolyard antagonists has become almost a cliché of middle-grade and YA fiction, while books for younger children aim to address bullying before it moves out of grown-ups’ sight and onto social media.
Contact us via email
