Chocolate Lily Award Nominees!

We're so excited to announce that three of our books have been shortlisted for the 2015-2016 Chocolate Lily Awards!

The Chocolate Lily is a young readers’ choice award that encourages grade school students to read and enjoy some of the best fiction by British Columbia’s authors and illustrators. Once the shortlisted books are selected, they're voted on by schools and reading communities to determine the award-winning book! That's why it's a fantastic award program that not only supports BC's authors and illustrators, but also a love of reading within our community.

Here's the rundown on our books that were shortlisted for this year's award. Our congratulations to all the nominees!

The Yoga Game by the Sea
Written by Kathy Beliveau, Illustrated by Denise Holmes

In this first book in The Yoga Game series, children can guess the fun rhyming riddles that each describe a yoga pose, from dolphin to boat, and enjoy an actual yoga practice, down by the sea!

Not Just Another Princess Story
Written by Sheri Radford, Illustrated by Qin Leng

This hilarious new take on the fairy tale genre stars the unconventional, math-loving Princess Candi. When the king declares it's time for her to get married, she decides to carry out the husband search on her own. She turns to fairly tales for inspiration and ends up using every method in the books, from kissing frogs to slaying monsters. But will she find her Prince Charming, or just a bunch of duds who cheat, cry, and make armpit noises?

Misty
Written by Christine Dencer, Illustrated by Jessica Meserve

This is the first book in the new Stanley & Me early reader series, which follows two best friends finding adventure in the every day. In Misty, Sophie has to make an important delivery to her best friend Stanley.
There is just one problem: Stanley has a dog. And Sophie is afraid of
dogs. Find out if the power of friendship will be enough to help Sophie
confront her fear.

Lindsey Yankey at Watermark Books

Check out this display of Lindsey Yankey's gorgeous picture books - Sun and Moon, and Bluebird - at Watermark Books in her home state of Kansas:

Matching toys and everything!

Lindsey will be visiting the bookstore as part of their Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, May 2. You can find out more about the reading here.

Upcoming Books from Simply Read!

This spring we’re so excited to be releasing children’s books by amazing authors and illustrators, some of whom we’ve worked with before, and some who are completely new to us.

illustration by Vanya Nastanlieva from Mo and Beau

From Vanya Nastanlieva, the author/illustrator behind the adorable book The New Arrival (Simply Read Books, 2013), comes a lovely, equally cute picture book about a small mouse doing his best to play with a big bear, Mo and Beau.

illustration by Doug Keith from The Storybook Prince

We’re producing a fun picture book this season called The Storybook Prince that uses die-cuts (cut-out holes in the pages) to let readers peek into each fairy tale the prince reads. It’s by Seattle’s Doug Keith.

Teatime is a lovely rhyming picture book by children’s poet Tiffany Stone and illustrated by Jori van der Linde, in which a nighttime adventure begins when two friends share a cup of tea…by jumping into the cup off a teaspoon, rowing a sugar cube, and sliding down a teaspout!

Taffy Time by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee (the duo behind the Murilla Gorilla series) tells a classic story of making maple syrup taffy at Sugar Hill Farm.

illustration by Lindsey Yankey from Sun and Moon

Lindsey Yankey, author/illustrator of the stupendously gorgeous book Bluebird (Simply Read Books, 2014) is releasing another striking picture book: Sun and Moon. Seriously beautiful.

Wendell the Narwhale by San Francisco-based illustrator Emily Dove is a very cute picture book about a narwhale looking for friends in the ocean—it seems no one can see past his big pointy nose.

Brandee Bublé and Eliska Liska, the team behind the popular picture book O’Shae the Octopus (Simply Read Books, 2014) are bringing out another charming rhyming picture book about Jayde the Jaybird, who has a tiny left wing and a big voice.

illustration by Beatriz Martin Vidal from Bird

Bird is a beautiful wordless picture book from Spanish illustrator Beatriz Martin Vidal, which artfully brings us up to the moment of a child’s flight into imagination.

We’re also releasing a new title in the popular Kendra Kandlestar chapterbook series by Lee Edward Födi. This will be the fifth book in the fantasy/adventure series: Kendra Kandlestar and the Search for Arazeen. Books one through four have now been made available as ebooks as well!

And last but not least we’ll be bringing out a new edition of the popular book The Woman Who Married a Bear with a very cool new textured cover. More on that soon.

Thanks for checking in on us! You can view our full Spring 2015 catalog of books here.

Daydreams for Night Book Trailer

We're so excited about this gorgeously creepy book trailer that artist David Ouimet made for his new book, Daydreams for Night. Check it out!



Daydreams for Night is a collection of very short, very strange stories written by acclaimed Canadian musician John Southworth, and illustrated by New York-based artist and musician David Ouimet. The stories introduce bizarre, imaginative characters: the boy with grey hair who spends his days on a cargo ship peeling potatoes, a strange man who keeps a Ferris wheel in his backyard, and a lonely whale that lives on the top of a faraway hill. The trailer shows Ouimet's black-and-white illustrations bringing these characters to intriguing life.

You can learn more about the book on our website here.

Book Launch for O'Shae the Octopus!

Totally Cute Art Exhibition!

If you are in Vancouver, check out an exhibition of new works by Sleepless Kao & Lisa Cinar!
May 22 through May 24, 2014
Visual Space (2075 Alberta Street)
More info here!

HOW TO winner of the 2014 Christie Harris BC Book Prize!

YIPPEE! Julie Morstad is the winner of the 2014 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize!

Find out more here. 

First Nation Communities Read Award!

Yay! Congratulations to Julie Flett and Wild Berries for being nominated for the First Nation Communities Read Award!

More here.

some of the world's most beautiful bookshops!

How beautiful!

Discover more here!

Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award!

Wahoo!! How To by Julie Morstad is the winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award for 2014!

And... Wild Berries by Julie Flett is an honor book! We are so so proud of our authors/illustrators!
As the jury says: "How To is intelligent. It is a book that is raucous and quiet, active and contemplative, child-focused and ageless. It presents a unique perspective on “seeing” things and opens up all sorts of possibilities."

For more about IBBY check here.

BC book prizes shortlist announced!

Yippee! Two of Simply Read's picture books are on the BC book prize shortlist--How To by Julie Morstad and Wild Berries by Julie Flett! Congratulations to them and to all the other nominees!

Cozy Classics Quiz!

Too cute! Here's a quiz done by The Lady Magazine, where you have to guess the Cozy Classic characters! Can you get them all right?

Horn Book review for The Wild Berries

A beautiful review from The Horn Book for Wild Berries by Julie Flett

“The muted earth tones of the watercolor and collage illustrations in browns, grays, and reds perfectly complement the quiet tone of the story, as they offer a sense of the natural world in which Clarence is at home." Thanks, Horn Book!

New Simply Read Catalog - Spring 2014

Check out our new Simply Read Spring Catalog!

It is full of some beautiful upcoming titles including...

If I Wrote a Book About You
by Stephany Aulenback and illustrated by Denise Holmes

The Goodnight Book
by Lori Joy Smith

And... Bluebird
by Lindsey Yankey

Yay! I Want to Go to the Moon by Tom Saunders and illustrated by Cynthia Nugent was chosen as a Canadian Toy Testing Council 2014 Award-Winner! 
Check out the list of the Recommended titles too--there are lots of Simply Read gems on there!

CCBC Best Books for Kids and Teens 2013

We are so proud to have four books picked by the CCBC for their 2013 'Best Books for Kids and Teens'.
Anna May's Cloak by Christiane Cicioli and illustrated by Susan Pearson
Dreamboats by Dan Bar-el and illustrated by Kirsti Anne Wakelin
And two of our titles even received stars!
How To by Julie Morstad
Murilla Gorilla by Jennifer Lloyd and illustrated by Jacqui Lee

Shaun Tan Fairy Tales

This is amazing: Grimms' tales retold by Pulman, and illustrated with sculptures by Shaun Tan. Thanks to Jules of 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast for the link.

YAY - HOW TO's GG nomination!!

Many congratulations to Julie Morstad for her GG nomination for HOW TO. We are so so excited!

Discover all the wonderful nominees here.

New York Times review of WILD BERRIES

A fantastic New York Times review came out today for WILD BERRIES by Julie Flett. We are always so honored when the New York Times reviews our books! Some stellar quotes include: "Observant knowledge of woods and wildlife, a sense of hard-earned bounty and a respect for traditional ways make Flett’s story both specific to her background and broadly appealing." And: "The illustrations have an extraordinary, austere beauty." See here for the full review!

WORD September 29th, Vancouver

There's been a long absence on this blog! Our apologies! But we will be back at it now, with lots of new titles and exciting things to post about. First of all... Check out all our fabulous authors at Vancouver's WORD, this Sunday 29th. They will all be reading in the Children's Library, Harvey Southam Room. 11:00 am Paola Opal - Pippy 11:20 am Holman Wang - Cozy Classics 12:00 pm Kallie George - Spark 12:20 pm Julie Morstad
 - How To Check out the lovely covers! We have a booth too, where we will be selling new books at discounted prices! And there are so many other fun things to check out as well and you can find out all about the events here.