Three Annick Books Nominated for Willow Awards

Congratulations to Sharon McKay, Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and Keltie Thomas, whose titles have been nominated for the SYRCA (Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Award). Thunder over Kandahar was nominated for a Snow Willow Award (grades 7–9); Fatty Legs and Animals That Changed the World have both been nominated in the Diamond Willow category (grades 4–6).

Eleven thousand children and teens throughout Saskatchewan will vote for their favourite book, and award winners will be announced in April 2012. We look forward to the results!

Annick Goes to OLA

They came from all over the province of Ontario--public librarians, elementary school librarians, secondary school librarians and specialty librarians--to the annual convention of the OLA (Ontario Library Association) in Toronto. Despite the snow and cold outside, the mood was cheery and uplifting as hundreds of librarians checked out the publishers' exhibits.

Annick Press was delighted to have three of its authors signing books at the booth of its distributor, Firefly Books: Kevin Sylvester with Game Day, Judie Oron with Cry of the Giraffe and Sharon McKay with Thunder over Kandahar. The line-ups were long as people waited for the opportunity to meet the authors and get a personally signed copy of their books.

Kevin Sylvester signs GAME DAY

Judie Oron signs copies of CRY OF THE GIRAFFE

Sharon McKay with THUNDER OVER KANDAHAR

Kevin delighted people with his drawing of a cat or dog (their choice) in every copy. Judie answered many questions about how she came to write her book about her Ethiopian daughter, and Sharon was told over and over again how much all her books were loved by young people. It was wonderful to see and hear so many people who love books and want to instill their love of the written word in others. Thank you, librarians!

(Click here for more pictures of the event!)

Thunder over Kandahar Launch

On Tuesday, Annick Press and Canadians in Support of Afghan Women (CSAW) threw a book launch for Sharon McKay's novel Thunder over Kandahar. The event was held at the historic Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in Toronto, and included delicious Afghan food, an Afghan market, and, of course, Sharon McKay signing her books! (She also donated 40% of the proceeds from sales of her book to CSAW.)

The evening's events included presentations from CSAW, an introduction from Annick Press Director Rick Wilks, and some words from Sharon McKay.

There was also a moving speech from Mrs. Zuhra Bahman-Ludin, wife of Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada, His Excellency Jawed Ludin, who opened by saying, "I love events like this because they bring three of my favorite things together: books, education, and Afghanistan." She went on to relate how the Taliban took over her home town in Afghanistan when she was a student, and she was no longer able to go to school. Undaunted, she began to read through her father's extensive library and discovered that reading offered an escape from living in a conflict zone. Her passion for education has remained strong ever since: she is now working on her PhD.

Three sisters (left to right: Yasna, Nagesa, Weeda) then gave a wonderful reading from Thunder over Kandahar.

Congratulations, Sharon! To see the rest of the photos, visit our Flickr album!

Looking Forward to Fall

I know it's only June, but in the publishing world that means that we're finishing off our Fall 2010 list! We've got some exciting titles coming up, which I'll profile over the next few weeks.

Today, let's talk about Afghanistan. In 2009, Sharon McKay became the first children's author to participate in the Canadian War Artists program. She asked to be sent to Darfur, but was told it was too dangerous--so instead, she visited Afghanistan! Her latest novel, Thunder over Kandahar, is about two teenage girls in Afghanistan called Tamanna and Yasmine. Each girl is struggling with her own problems, but together, they come up with a very daring solution...

Here's an interview with Sharon as she talks about the book and about her experience as a Canadian War Artist:



And here's a trailer for Thunder over Kandahar:

Turning Authors into Movie Stars!

The office has been quiet these past few days, as many of the Annick staff are attending or volunteering at the National Reading Summit. So it was the perfect time to bring in the BookShorts film crew and chat with the authors and illustrators of some of our upcoming titles! The videos won't be ready for a little while, so here are some pictures to tide you over.

First up: author/illustrator Ruth Ohi talked about her third book in the Chicken, Pig, Cow picture book series: Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem (Spring 2010). She even did some quick sketches for us.


Former CBC Radio sportscaster Kevin Sylvester took the stage next to talk about Game Day (Fall 2010), a book about the people who work in behind-the-scenes jobs related to sports.


Next, author/illustrator Andrea Wayne von Königslöw talked about her book How Do You Read to a Rabbit? (Spring 2010) in which a child attempts to read a bedtime story to various animals, with hilarious results. Here's Andrea reading to a rather patient bunny:


Finally, Sharon McKay gave us some background about her book Stones Over Kandahar (Fall 2010), which is set in Afghanistan and grew out of her experiences as a Canadian War Artist. After the interview, she browsed our books and couldn't resist picking up The Apprentice's Masterpiece (Melanie Little).


We're looking forward to sharing the finished videos with you, and giving you more details about these great new books. Until then, you can find more pictures from the video shoot on the Annick Flickr account. Enjoy!

Sharon McKay on CBC Radio

Our author Sharon McKay was interviewed on CBC Radio's Sunday Edition last weekend about her recent trip to Afghanistan with the Canadian War Artists Program. She was conducting research for her next children's book with Annick (working title: Stones Over Kandahar), which is based in Afghanistan. She went on foot patrols, visited classrooms, and reported that "Stories fall out of the sky over there!" Her website has a great slideshow of pictures from the trip. Here's a bonus one of Sharon in her protective gear:

You can download the interview by clicking here. (Go to the August 2 edition; Sharon's interview starts around the 01:30:00 mark.) Watch this space for more updates about the book!