Deborah Ellis the Promise Bookmark!
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$4.95 SUMMER 2019 VOL. 42 NO. 2 RECOMMENDED BOOKS + OPINIONS + PROFILES + NEWS + REVIEWS Deborah Ellis The Courage to Hope The Promise A Story of Sisterly Devotion Bookmark! Celebrating Pride Reviews of more than 40 titles by Jan Andrews, Lee Edward Födi, Thao Lam, Eric Walters and more PRINTING OF THIS ISSUE DONATED BY FRIESENS Ad 3.pdf 1 2019-03-22 9:55 AM Books Matter. FRIESENS.COM | 1.866.324.6401 CONTENTS THIS ISSUE booknews Summer 2019 Volume 42 No.2 Editor Sandra O’Brien On April 6 more than 2,000 people visited the Keswick Branch of Copy Editor and Proofreader Mary Roycroft Ranni Georgina Public Library to participate in Georgina FanFest, an annual free Design Perna Siegrist Design comic-con for families. Seen below, Fay & Fluffy’s Drag Storytime. Advertising Michael Wile This informative magazine published quarterly by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is available by yearly subscription. Single subscription – $24.95 plus sales tax (includes 2 issues of Best Books for Kids & Teens) Contact the CCBC for bulk subscriptions and for US or overseas subscription rates. Summer 2019 (June 2019) Canadian Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement 40010217 Published by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre ISSN 1705 – 7809 For change of address, subscriptions, or return of undeliverable copies, contact: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre 40 Orchard View Blvd., Suite 217 Toronto, ON M4R 1B9 Tel 416.975.0010 Fax 416.975.8970 Email [email protected] Website www.bookcentre.ca Review copies, catalogues and press releases should be sent to the Editor at: [email protected] or to Sandra O’Brien c/o the above address. For advertising information, contact: Michael Wile at [email protected] or 647.677.7948 4 10 The Promise of Sisterly Devotion Profile: Deborah Ellis Shatters Shackles of Horror Kathy Stinson chats with 2020 Hans Christian Cousins Margie Wolfe and Pnina Bat Zvi Andersen Award-nominee Deborah Ellis about discuss writing The Promise, a long-kept story her body of work, the importance of careful of childhood terror and unbreakable resilience research to ensure accuracy in fiction and how during the Holocaust, in a poignant interview she has chosen courage and compassion over with Marylynn Miller Oke. judgment and indifference. 7 16 COVER: Illustration from The Magic Boat/Le bateau News Roundup Writing with Four Hands in Two Languages magique written by Kit Pearson and Katherine Farris In Memoriam: Allan MacDougall, 1947-2019; Authors Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. ©2019 Gabrielle Grimard. Reproduced with permission Save the Date! Get Published: Illustrator’s share their story of how they co-wrote How to from Orca Book Publishers. For more information Edition Saturday, November 16 and The Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read/Comment visit www.orcabook.com. Business of Writing: Selling Your Books, Selling attraper un ours qui aime lire, creating two original Yourself Saturday, November 23; 2020 Hans versions of the same story, one in English and MEDIUM: Cover and interior artwork created using Christian Andersen Nominees; To See the Stars one in French. pencil, watercolours and photographic elements, combined in Photoshop. by Jan Andrews published posthumously by Running the Goat Books & Broadsides; 20 ABOUT THE ILLUstrator: Gabrielle Grimard has Lakefield Literary Festival, July 12 to 14, 2019; Bookmark! LGBTQ2+ Books been drawing since she was young. Her passion for The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) In this issue CCBC Library Coordinator, Meghan drawing and painting led her to pursue studies in fine arts and arts education at Concordia University. Children’s Literary Festival, September 27 Howe, has compiled a list of books that support After she had her first child, she began her career as to 29, 2019. LGBTQ2+ individuals for students from an illustrator. She moved from Montreal to Waterville, Kindergarten to Grade 12. Quebec, where she now lives with her two children, 8 several chickens and her husband, who builds Keep Your Eye On... S.K. Ali 22 wooden boats. They share an old barn as their We Recommend artists’ studio. More reviews of the latest Canadian books for kids. Titles given Red Leaf Literature status are indicated with a red maple leaf in this issue. 40 Printed in Canada. Index of Reviews C016245 SUMMER 2019 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 1 PLY592-TTF-CBBC-Ad-FNL-print-bleed.pdf 1 2019-04-04 9:56 AM FROM THE EDITOR SANDRA O’BRIEN Board of Directors Zain Velji, Interim President Sylvia Moretti, Interim Vice President Robin Taylor, Treasurer Jane Kilburn Boyle Nancy Hartry Dr. Dave Jenkinson Heather Kuipers Carol McDougall Lynne Missen Staff Rose Vespa Executive Director Shannon Howe Barnes Program Coordinator Meghan Howe Library Coordinator Emma Hunter Marketing and Website Coordinator Patrons Marilyn Baillie As I sit to write this letter from the editor, it’s hard to imagine our readers enjoying this Dave Jenkinson Ian and Deb Wallace issue out on their decks or balconies as it’s still rather chilly here in Ontario. But I hope that’s where you’ll find yourself as you sit down to read the articles and reviews we’ve Sponsors included here for you. Charles Baillie We have some interesting pieces in this issue for you to enjoy. Marylynn Miller Oke and Fleck Family Foundation Friesens I had the opportunity to chat with cousins Margie Wolfe, publisher of Second Story Press, Mary Macchiusi and Pnina Bat Zvi, the host of a top-rated current-affairs program in Israel, about the Perna Siegrist Design Rawlinson Moving & Storage writing and publishing of The Promise, a book about their mothers, Rachel and Toby, and John Spray their time spent in a concentration camp during World War II. While the process certainly Sylvan Learning TD Bank Group wasn’t easy, both Margie and Pnina think their mothers would be proud. They hope that by sharing the story with students at schools, synagogues and libraries they will teach them Funders about the consequences of hate. Canada Council for the Arts After hearing Deborah Ellis present at the 2018 IBBY Congress in Athens, Kathy Stinson Canadian Heritage (Canada Book Fund) Manitoba Department of Culture, posted a portion of Deb’s speech on her blog. Someone then suggested she contact me Heritage and Tourism and ask if I’d like to share it in Canadian Children’s Book News, which resulted in my asking Ontario Arts Council Ontario Arts Foundation Kathy if she’d like to expand that piece into a profile about Deb. Kathy was happy to do so, Toronto Public Library Deb agreed, and the end result is the beautiful piece you’ll read in this issue. Well-known for the number of works she’s had published and the accolades she’s received, Deb is even more of an inspiration for her stance around politics and social movements. I hope you’ll enjoy learning more about Deb as much as I did. Our Thanks Authors Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel also agreed to share their story of We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. how they co-wrote How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read/Comment attraper un ours qui aime lire, creating two original versions of the same story, one in English and one in French. Their process was quite interesting and I hope it will give others food for thought. We also chatted with S.K. Ali, author of Saints and Misfits and Love from A to Z, in our We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council “Keep Your Eye On…” column; in honour of PRIDE parades and events, we have a fabulous for the Arts. list of LGBTQ2+ themed books in our “Bookmark!” section; and we reviewed 42 titles Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada from picture books to YA literature that have been published recently. de son soutien. Here’s to a summer of great reading! Sandra O’Brien We acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario. In 2017-18, the OAC invested $58.7 million in 231 communities across Ontario through 2,294 grants to individual artists and 1,474 grants to organizations. Your feedback is important! Thank you to Friesens for generously sponsoring the EMAIL COMMENTS TO [email protected] printing of this magazine. Like us! facebook.com/kidsbookcentre Follow us! @kidsbookcentre WWW.BOOKCENTRE.CA SUMMER 2019 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK NEWS 3 FEATUREPROFILE Sisterly Devotion Two cousins reveal their mothers’ long-kept story of childhood terror and unbreakable resilience during the Holocaust BY MARYLYNN MILLER OKE to twins at age 50, she now hosts a top-rated current affairs program in Israel. Her cousin Margie, daughter to Toby, grew up in Toronto. She is an award-winning publisher, producing feminist- inspired social justice and human rights books for adults and young readers at Second Story Press, which she co-founded in 1980. It seems they were ultimately destined to tell unforgettable stories. Giving voice to whispers of memories In The Promise, young Rachel and Toby were sent to Aus- chwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp after their parents had been taken, then killed at Treblinka. The girls witnessed daily atrocities and became well aware of the unfathomable consequences if one misbehaved or became too sick to work. “I started to hear about this story from my mom at a very young age,” recalls Pnina. “But, I had it in bits and pieces. As I grew older, I learned the whole story. I wanted to tell it to young readers. Maybe they will feel what I felt when I wrote it, Pnina Bat Zvi Margie Wolfe or when I heard it first.” Although Pnina repeatedly asked Rachel and Toby about writing their story, the sisters were very reluctant.