The Bite of the Mango European Tour

Authors Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland are in London, England today to start a five-country European tour to promote the launch of the British, German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish editions of The Bite of the Mango. Wow...!

Susan will return home after Germany and Mariatu's surrogate aunt in Toronto, Kadi, will join Mariatu for the remainder of the tour. In each of these countries, the publishers have arranged print, TV and radio interviews, school visits and public readings. It is really heart-warming to see how the world is embracing Mariatu and her remarkable story of overcoming the loss of her hands to rebel soldiers in her native Sierra Leone. The sad thing is, this is not just Mariatu's story, but the story of so many amputees in Sierra Leone who were the victims of unimaginable atrocities during the civil war in their country. We wish Mariatu, Susan, and Kadi a rewarding trip and look forward to hearing their stories and seeing their photo on their return at the end of this month.

Susan and Mariatu are grateful to have received a Travel Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to assist in this trip.

Stay tuned for images of the different covers from the foreign editions of The Bite of the Mango...

Fall Means Frankfurt!

Annick once again exhibited at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest international rights fair in the world. We meet with foreign publishers, agents, and scouts to introduce our fabulous list of upcoming spring '10 books and present new and recent releases. The aim is to sell rights so these books will be published in other countries and languages. Above is a photo of our very beautiful booth, featuring one of the highlights of the fair: a provocative new YA fiction series called Single Voice. Watch for this in stores in February '10!

We also hosted a lovely reception for the foreign publishers and agents of The Bite of the Mango, Mariatu Kamara's moving memoir about losing her hands in the civil war in Sierra Leone and her courageous accomplishments to date: UNICEF Special Representative, founder of The Mariatu Foundation, college student, and public speaker. Mariatu and co-author Susan McClelland embark on a five-country tour in Europe in November to launch some of these foreign editions. Stay tuned for more on that soon...!

Frankfurt is not only about trying to sell our books, however. We also attend the fair in the hopes of acquiring for publication in North America exceptional books from Australia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and other places. There's so much to choose from.

The excitement of Frankfurt or any international rights fair is found in a synergy, a connection with someone from across the globe who shares the same literary sensibilities. Books really do bridge cultures!

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.

International Festival of Authors: Oct. 21-31, 2009

(Image courtesy Authors at Harbourfront Centre from their Flickr stream)

Next week kicks off the 30th Anniversary of the International Festival of Authors. The festival runs from October 21 to 31 at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, and this year's theme is "Writing Scotland." Famous Scottish poet Robert Burns was born in 1759, so 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of his birth. Click here for a list of Scotland-related readings and events!

Here are some highlights for kidlit fans:

Saturday, October 24

• 11 a.m.: TD Canadian Children's Literature Award finalists Nicola Campbell (Shin-Chi's Canoe) and Cary Fagan (Thing-Thing) read from their books
• 1 p.m.: TD Canadian Children's Literature Award finalists Alma Fullerton (Libertad), Susin Nielsen (Word Nerd), and Shane Peacock (Death in the Air) read from their books
• 4 p.m.: Round Table with the five authors listed above (moderator: Ken Setterington of the Toronto Public Library), on the topic "All Play and No Work: The Art of Creating Books for Children and Young Adults"

Tuesday, October 27

• 10:30 a.m.: Lynn Johnston talks about her new picture book Farley Follows His Nose
• 12:30 p.m.: Nicola Campbell reads from her picture book Shin-Chi's Canoe; illustrator Kim LaFave will also be available to answer questions

Thursday, October 29

• 10:30 a.m.: Kean Soo talks about his Jellaby series
• 12:30 p.m.: Cary Fagan discusses his new contribution to the late Mordecai Richler's Jacob Two-Two series: Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas

Friday, October 30

• 10:30 a.m.: Jennifer Cowan leads a conversation about her book earthgirl (which has its own blog!)
• 12:30 p.m.: Gitty Daneshevari talks about her book School of Fear

You can see a PDF of the complete schedule here and purchase tickets here. If you're on Twitter, you can follow @IFOA for extra news, updates, and more.

TD National Reading Summit: Nov. 12 & 13, 2009

We're pretty excited about the upcoming TD National Reading Summit: Reading and Democracy (Nov. 12-13, 2009). The summit aims to develop a blueprint for a Canadian national reading strategy, and will bring together writers, educators, publishers, librarians, academics, researchers, business leaders, public officials, and youth.

Annick's director, Rick Wilks, has this to say about the importance of the summit:

Many of us read for information and to accumulate knowledge - more and more this describes reading habits in our culture. But I'm concerned that we're collectively losing track of a profoundly significant benefit: the pathways that reading opens to help us make sense of our lives within the world around us. Simply put, reading better equips us to navigate personal, political and societal challenges. Reading directly connects with our ability to develop the deep wisdom necessary to make appropriate choices and to more successfully decode the array of possibilities we have to sort through. So beyond the pure pleasures to be derived from a book, learning to think more clearly and critically enhances the quality of our lives and relationships. Ultimately we are a more engaged citizenry, coming to realize that reading in its most encompassing sense is of the essence in our civil society.

A number of great speakers from around the world will be presenting, including Ana Maria Machado (Brazil), Ingrid Bon (Netherlands), Tom King (Canada), Charles Pascal (Canada), Cory Doctorow (Canada/UK) and Elisa Bonilla (Mexico). For a full list of speakers, program information, and registration details, visit www.nationalreadingsummit.ca.

Cybils Awards Nominations Are Open

Do you have a favorite kid's book that you just have to tell the world about? Do you lurk in your local bookstore, waiting for an unsuspecting parent to muse, for example, "I wonder what would be good for an eight-year-old who likes dragons..." just so you can jump out and place the perfect book in their hands? If so, why not nominate your cherished book for a Cybils award?

The nomination form is here, and nominations close on October 15. Any book you nominate must have been published between last year's contest and this year's: i.e., between Oct. 16 2008 and Oct. 15 2009. For more information on the judging process, check out the Cybils website!

Here are the categories:

• Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books
• Fantasy and Science Fiction (middle/elementary)
• Fantasy and Science Fiction (teen)
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels (middle/elementary)
• Graphic Novels (teen)
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Non-Fiction (middle/teen)
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

I'm looking forward to seeing which books for kids and young adults emerge as the "must-reads!"

Word on the Street Wrap-up

Although a few dark clouds lingered over downtown Toronto on Sunday morning, the sun soon fought them off and provided a beautiful day worthy of the annual Word on the Street festival. (I even had to break out the sunscreen! Not that I'm complaining.)

Queen's Park was buzzing with people of all ages checking out the various booths, events, and food. From author readings (including one by Margaret Atwood) to live music to games, crafts, and cooking demos, there was something for everyone. I also loved seeing the whole spectrum of people involved in the book business: from authors and illustrators to writers' groups, magazines, publishers, wholesalers, booksellers, and, of course, readers!

The Annick booth was a busy place to be: we enjoyed both introducing our books to new readers and hearing from people who were already familiar with our titles (for example, our Robert Munsch display elicited many happy cries of, "Oh, I remember reading that as a kid!"). It was especially touching to see parents introducing the books they'd loved as kids to their own children.

Along with offering a 20% discount on our books, we also ran our popular String Pull game (photo below), in which kids pull one end of a string and then win books based on the color of the token on the other end. It costs just $1 to play and all proceeds go to this year's Reading Summit (Nov. 11-13).

Ruth Ohi (pictured below) dropped by in the afternoon to sign her books and chat with fans; she especially enjoyed signing her books with cartoon sketches of the child who the book was for!

I've uploaded our photos to our Flickr account, and you can also find more wrap-ups of Word on the Street in Toronto on the following blogs: BlogTO; Another Day, Another Thought... or Two; Talking with Tundra, and Debbie's Blatherings. I'm already looking forward to next year!