Dog Governess by Janet Hill and How to Make Friends with a Ghost
by Rebecca Green. “Green is a Nashville-based author/illus-trator,” Walker says. “I came across her work in Flow magazine.
We have sourced a lot of our illustrators that way. She has over
100,000 followers on Instagram, and, I think, the way the book
is done—as a how-to guide to friendship—and with its sophistication, there is a lot of crossover appeal.” Tundra has published
an initial print-run of 10,000 copies for Green’s book.
Forthcoming titles Walker is excited about include The Bad
Mood and the Stick by Lemony Snickett, The Barnabus Project by
the Fan Brothers, coming in 2019, and numerous board books
and picture books inspired by L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green
Gables.
“Anne has been really good to us in this anniversary year—she
has been a cornerstone of Canada 150 celebrations,” Walker
says. Under the Penguin Teen imprint, PRH Canada published
Maud, a fictionalized version of the teen years of L.M.
Montgomery, by Melanie Fishbane. “The book has been doing
really well in the U.S. as well,” Walker adds. “We really would
like to become the go-to publisher for Anne books.”
Anansi Memorializes Milestone with
Beer and Books
In 2016, House of Anansi moved its offices from downtown
Toronto to the hip Junction Triangle neighborhood, next door
to the Henderson Brewing Co. and the eventual new home of
the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. This year, the
publishing house is celebrating its 50th
year with an anniversary beer. “Our publishing house was born in 1967 over a
couple of bottles of beer,” says Sarah
MacLachlan, president and publisher of
House of Anansi. “It was a couple of
writers, Dennis Lee and David Godfrey,
who sat down over a beer to sketch out
an idea for a Canadian publishing company to publish contemporary Canadian
voices.” Since then, the company has
gone on to publish a wide range of top
writers, including Margaret Atwood,
Tundra and House of Anansi turn 50, Dundurn turns 45
Canadaversaries!
B; E; N;;;;;;
Tundra: Canada’s Oldest Children’s
Book Publisher
Founded in 1967 by May Cutler, Tundra Books is synonymous
with Canadian children’s book publishing. Random House
acquired the company in 2012 and continues to foster its tradition of producing top-quality children’s books.
To mark the 50th anniversary, Tundra revealed a new logo—a
pair of abstract antlers, designed by illustrator Frank Viva, who
is also the author of two
books from the publisher,
Sea Change and Outstanding
in the Rain. “I like that you
can see it both as antlers and
as, maybe, a whale’s fluke,”
says Tara Walker, publisher,
Penguin Random House
Canada Young Readers, and vice-president, Penguin Random
House Canada. “It’s playful, clever, and Canadian—all of which
represent us perfectly.”
To further mark the occasion, the company has also launched
a Tundra Books Emerging Artist of the Year prize. This year’s
winner is British Columbia artist Madeline Kloepper, for her
work on Little Blue Chair, a picture book written by Cary Fagan.
“At Tundra, we have a reputation for producing beautiful
books,” Walker says. “Above all, that is what we do, so it is
important to recognize the people who make that happen”
Tundra, along with Puffin and Penguin Teen, produce about
80 titles a year for Penguin Random House Canada, with an
editorial staff of six.
This past year has been very successful for the imprint. A
highlight has been The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris
Hadfield. Copublished with Little, Brown, it sold more than
60,000 copies in Canada. But the bestseller for the press has
been Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton, which has
90,000 copies in print. “Our sales are up 41% in the U.S. this
past year,” Walker says. “We attribute this to Narwhal.” The
sequel, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt was published this past
summer; the third volume, Peanut Butter and Jelly, will be published in April 2018.
Other recent books of note are Miss Moon: Wise Words from a
is l br 50th
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