With the season of gift giving just around the corner, this segment's list is based on popular activities or hobbies kids might have that might not at first glance have anything to do with books. Whether the kids in your life like lego, hockey, drawing, or video games, here are some books that will be … Continue reading CTV Your Morning Holiday Picks
At this time of year, kids are settling into new routines, battling back to school anxiety, and juggling homework, activities, and so much more. Reading can provide a much-needed moment of zen, a time to wind down and escape. Check out the video here, or read on to find out more: Picture Books, Ages 3-7 … Continue reading CTV Your Morning Kids’ Book Picks: Sept 13, 2019
How much do you love that little guy? Now imagine YOUR pet with the fantastic beasts treatment! November is the month of fantastic beasts, and the good folks at Penguin Random House Canada are running a wonderful contest to celebrate all things magical.The prize? A signed copy of If I Had a Gryphon AND a … Continue reading Magical Contest Alert: Win a Custom Illustration of your Pet!
This has already been a staggeringly good year for middle grade (don't call it a comeback), with personal favourites such as Raymie Nightingale, The Wild Robot, Look Out for the Fitzgerald Trouts, and Pax garnering all sorts of buzz and attention. Here is a sampling of the new kids on the block this fall: Ghosts … Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Fall 2016 Preview
Middle grade horror is difficult to pull off. Some authors go for camp, with lots of gore and over-the-top scenarios that are almost humorous, therefore defusing any terror the reader might experience. Governor-General award-winning author Arthur Slade is the other kind of author-genuine thrills created by uncanny situations, eerie coincidences, and a slow-burning sense of … Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Flickers
Sophie Quire lives with her father, a bookmender, in Bustleburgh. Her mother died mysteriously years before. Bustleburgh is becoming a dangerous place for Sophie and her father. All nonsense, particularly that found in books, is outlawed. So when a blindfolded boy and a cat with hooves show up with one of four magical books promising … Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard
What's in the bag? Do you know any young pet detectives who could help me solve a magical mystery? I've been gathering props and breaking out the vocal exercises all in preparation for events and storytimes across Ontario for IF I HAD A GRYPHON. Come join me (and maybe a magical creature or two) on … Continue reading IF I HAD A GRYPHON: EVENTS!
We are a month away from the release of my first picture book, If I Had a Gryphon (Tundra Books, February 9/16). In this primer on magical pet care, Sam deliberates the pros and cons of raising a series of fantastic beasts, including unicorns, gryphons, krakens, hippogriffs and many more! Here are what people are saying … Continue reading Giveaway: If I Had a Gryphon
Every time I start a year in review list I am overwhelmed by the number of amazing books out there. I always intend to pick one or two books per category but it is much, much too difficult. What follows is a mere sliver of the fabulous books I read and loved this year, which … Continue reading My Favourite Books of 2015
If you don't already know Ursula Vernon, you will soon. This author-illustrator is on the verge of making it big. The creator of the very funny Dragonbreath series as well as a few equally hilarious middle grade novels, Vernon's new series Hamster Princess casts my new favourite rodent in a proposed series of fractured fairytales. … Continue reading Middle Grade Monday: Harriet the Invincible
