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This week in CanKidLit: February 15, 2018

Elise Gravel, www.elisegravel.com

  • Montreal author and illustrator Elise Gravel is posting free printable posters for parents and teachers on her website, telling the CBC, “Everything I do for children is to make information easily accessible, understandable and funny — and cute!” Gravel likes the idea of the posters – including ones about what girls can be, what boys can be, and an explanation of consent for kids – being hung in classrooms and acting as conversation starters.
  • The beloved children’s book The Hockey Sweater will get a special reading on Feb. 17 at Pembroke’s Festival Hall, when 80-year-old author Roch Carrier narrates his 1979 story (in English and French), accompanied by the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra – who will play Abigail Richardson-Schulte’s 2012 orchestral composition of “The Hockey Sweater.” Carrier has performed with acclaimed orchestras before, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, but told the organizers he’d be delighted to work with the musicians of hockey-loving Pembroke, Ontario.
  • Margaret Atwood’s all-ages graphic novel Angel Catbird (2016) is being turned into an Audible audio drama, with a roster of Canadian actors, including Kyra Harper (Orphan Black) and Allegra Fulton (The Shape of Water) – and a cameo from the author. A spokesperson told The Bookseller  that Audible’s The Handmaid’s Tale: Special Edition, which included new material provided by Atwood, was one of the company’s top-selling titles of 2017.
  • #NotYourPrincess, an anthology featuring art, writing, and photography by North American Indigenous women – edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale – was named Best Young Adult Book by the American Indian Library Association. The AILA also gave out Honor Book awards to Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves, Jen Storm and Scott B. Henderson’s Fire Starters, and the Hope Nicholson–edited Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time, which features writing by Dimaline, David Alexander Robertson, Richard Van Camp, and more. Julie Flett’s Black Bear Red Fox was named an Honor Book in the picture-book category.
  • This year’s longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals were announced Feb. 15. Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration are Canadians Sydney Smith for Town is By the Sea (written by Joanne Schwartz) and Jon Klassen for We Found a Hat, as well as Spain’s Júlia Sardà who illustrated for The Listzs, written by Canadian author Kyo Maclear. The winners will be announced June 18.