Fall Wrap-Up

As we head deeper into fall, things are definitely getting busy. The good news is there are lots of great events going on in the book world. Even if you can't attend in person, browsing through the programs might uncover some great new authors!

• Last week (Oct. 14-18) was the Frankfurt Book Fair; stay tuned for a wrap-up with our very own Susan Shipton next week.


• Happy Teen Read Week (Oct. 18-24)! This year's theme was Read Beyond Reality; teens are invited to vote on next year's theme.


• The International Festival of Authors kicked off this week on Oct. 21 and runs until Oct. 31; visit their website for events listings or check out my list of children's lit readings and events.


• The National Reading Summit is coming up on Nov. 12 and 13; click here to view the full schedule.


• TD Canadian Children's Book Week takes place from Nov. 14 to 21. Check out this list of touring authors, illustrators, and storytellers to find out who will be visiting your province or territory! You can also order Book Kits, which include posters, bookmarks, suggested activities, and more.

Telling Tales Festival and Word on the Street

Last weekend was the Telling Tales festival in Rockton (just north of Hamilton, Ontario), and Annick set up a colourful booth to join in the fun!


There were 32 children's authors, illustrators, and performers attending, including our very own Loris Lesynski (Dirty Dog Boogie; I Did It Because...) and Ruth Ohi (Chicken, Pig, Cow; Chicken, Pig, Cow on the Move). Great weather, wonderful books: what a perfect family outing! For a great blog post (with pictures of Ruth doing her drawing demonstration!), check out the Papertrails Family Blog.

Loris Lesynski with her books:

If you missed Telling Tales this year, don't despair: you're not too late for The Word on the Street festival on Sunday, September 27! There are four venues: Vancouver, Kitchener, Toronto, and Halifax.

Join us at the Toronto location (Queen's Park) as we celebrate reading and literacy. There are tons of activities for adults and children, including performances, readings, signings, crafts, and more. There's a lot going on, but don't worry: the editors at Chirp, chickaDEE, and OWL have put together a great Kidstreet Activity Guide so you can plan your day. You can also follow the Toronto Word on the Street Twitter account for updates, contests, trivia, and photos.

Ruth Ohi will be at the Children's Reading Tent from 1-1:30 pm, and then she'll be signing books at the Annick booth, so come on by! Also, if you visit the Annick booth and mention that you've read our blog, we'll give you a FREE hardcover book while supplies last. (Which title? It's a surprise!) Hope to see you there!

Shari Graydon at Beauty (Mis)Represented event, Thursday March 5

Our own Shari Graydon, author of Made You Look and In Your Face, will be participating in an event on a hot topic: airbrushing photos in advertising. This event, Beauty (Mis)Represented, will debate the question: Is photo-manipulation in advertising benign and irrelevant, or damaging and indefensible?

This is a topic I'm particularly interested in... and yet I will confess that I sometimes untag photos of myself on Facebook if I don't like how I look in them! (I can't be the only one who does this, right? Right?)

Event details:

Date: Thursday, March 5 2009

Time: 7:30-9 p.m.

Location: Room 5-280, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (252 Bloor St W, map)

Cost: Free!

This event is put on by Media Action in partnership with The Centre for Women’s Studies in Education and Shameless Magazine.

More great stuff about Shari and her books:

Visit her website: www.sharigraydon.com/

Watch her video interview: www.annickpress.com/authors/graydon.asp?author=214

BANNED TOGETHER: Canada's finest read the censors' favourites

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Freedom to Read Week, acclaimed Canadian authors, editors, and publishers are gathering in Toronto and Edmonton to read outrageously entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking books for young readers.

Recognizing that today's young readers are their future readers and storytellers, our country's top creators of books for grownups are joining their kidlit counterparts to send censors a powerful message: no one should stand between a growing reader and a good book.

Toronto:

Tuesday, February 24

7pm onwards!
Revival Bar
783 College Street, Toronto

$15, Tickets available at the door

* Renowned author Michael Winter reads Hold Fast, by fellow Newfoundlander Kevin Major. Canada's first novel for young adults and a multiple award winner, Hold Fast was banned by Canadian schools for containing foul language, sexual content and -- yikes! -- bad grammar.

* 2009 Canada Reads nominee Brian Francis and writer-provocateur Derek McCormack read from dog-eared copies of Judy Blume's touching and uncompromisingly honest coming-of-age novels. Five of Blume's books are among the 100 most challenged of all time.

* Benjamin Santamaria and Andrea Hila, from PEN Canada's Writers in Exile program, read contemporary stories challenged abroad for their social and political messages.

Tickets are tax deductible. Proceeds to support PEN Canada, an association of writers and supporters formed in 1926 to defend freedom of expression and raise awareness of that right, and IBBY Canada, the Canadian national section of the International Board on Books for Young People, which promotes cultural understanding through access to and the exchange of children's literature.

Edmonton:
Thursday, February 26
7 pm - 9:30pm

Grant MacEwan Conference Theatre

5-142 10700 - 104 Avenue, Edmonton

Admission is free of charge.

*Greg Hollingshead, Myrna Kostash, Linda Goyette, Todd Babiak, Jocelyne Verret, Caterina Edwards, Kuot Alith and Theresa Saffa will read from children's and young adult books that have been challenged. You might hear excerpts from Kevin Major's Hold Fast, which was banned for containing foul language, mild sexual content and - egad! - bad grammar; Dennis Lee's Lizzy's Lion, which is apparently too violent and promotes cannibalism; Gwen Molnar's I Said to Sam, which according to one principal had words like "exotic" and "elaborate" which were far too difficult for grade two students.

Time To Laugh

RKD TIME TO LAUGH

Starring: RICHARDO KEENS-DOUGLAS

Guest Artist: Quincy Bullen

DATE: Saturday, February 28th, 2009
TIME: 7:30 pm
LOCATION: Wyndham Garden Hotel 185 Yorkland Blvd. Toronto (401 & Don Valley)

Adult: $30.00 Child: $20.00 up to age 15 yrs.

Ticket outlets:

A Different Book List.... 416 538 0889

Rome Travel............... 416 654 2434

Hair Dome.................. 416 754 0822

Time to Laugh

Written & Performed by Richardo Keens-Douglas

Time to Laugh is a wonderful storytelling /comedy one man show for the whole family. It is the kind of show that will take you back to the days when you used to sit outside with family and friends on a full moon night and reminisce or tell tales that will make you laugh or scared to fall asleep without the light on. Time to Laugh has a rhythm of it's own - Richardo Keens-Douglas will mesmerize you with his tales of Mama God & Papa God, Hurricane Ivan that almost devastated Grenada a few years ago, then he will spilt your sides with laughter when he tells the story of Flight 000, a guy who is scared of flying, and To Ski Or Not To Ski, a tale about an immigrant going skiing for the first time. Then he will move you to tears in Freedom Child of the Sea, then scare you up the stairs with La Diablesse, and in-between all of that, jokes for days. It is a "Time to Laugh".

"Richardo Keens-Douglas is an extraordinary storyteller, his tales overflowing with every required ingredient of the really good, spellbinding story: gossip, folklore, legend, superstition, suspense and quirky, insightful comedy."- Donna Marie Artuso, The Edmonton Sunday Sun

"Keens-Douglas weaves spell at Little Carib."- Gizelle Morris, Trinidad Guardian

"Keens-Douglas should be held responsible for all those sore ribs and aching throats, with his laugh a minute routine."- Sam Donkoh, Share Newspaper - Toronto