2 new awards from the Canadian Toy Testing Council

The Canadian Toy Testing Council has just released its list of Top 10 Great Books for Children 2011, and TWO of our titles are on it! Wow!
Perry by Paola Opal

And Ella's Umbrella's by Jennifer Lloyd with illustrations by Ashley Spires.

Thanks to all the kids who read and voted for our titles! And congrats to all the other winning books too!

Dot, the world's smallest stop-motion animation

This is one of the cutest animations -- and the world's smallest. What's extra cute and serendipitous is that Henry's mother, from Sara O'Leary's When You Were Small books, is actually called Dot, too!
Thanks to Betsy Bird over at Fuse#8 for the link!
Sara also has an awesome blog about books and book-related things too.

Simply Read Books Book Launch November 15

cute, impractical bookshelf!

Thanks to Betsy Bird for the link! She got it from Yay!Everyday, a cool site with tons of inspiring images!

Jolly news for Jack the Bear

The 2011 Blue Spruce Official Selections are out and hip-hip-hurray!
Jack the Bear by Christina Leist was one of the selected titles.



The Blue Spruce Award is part of the Forest of Reading Awards, a program headed by the Ontario Library Association. For each of the Forest of Reading Awards, readers are encouraged to read all or a selection of the books and vote on their favorite. Usually 250,000 readers across Canada (mainly Ontario) are involved.
It's a brilliant way of exciting readers!

fairy tale photos

These photos are fairy tale perfect. Flickr blogger Lissy Elle is so inspirational. Every photo suggests an enchanting story.

GG nomination, Owls See Clearly at Night

Here is the big Simply Read Books news!

Owls See Clearly at Night: a Michif alphabet / Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: l’alfabet di Michif by the talented Julie Flett was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Awards 2010 for the category Children's Literature - Illustration.

The awards are announced November 16 in Montreal, and presented on November 25 in Ottawa at Rideau Hall.

As Canada Council says, "In Owls See Clearly at Night, Julie Flett’s beautiful and elegant illustrations eloquently describe the Michif alphabet. Each letter’s vignette is thought-provoking, depicting elements of the natural world in an illumination of meaning. The letters appear deceptively simple at first glance, but in fact each contains its own mysterious, lyrical story."

Congrats to all the other books nominated too! The competition is steep!

Here are some images from Julie's book: