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New Video: Michael Martchenko, Children's Books Illustrator |
Fans of Robert Munsch books, such as The Paper Bag Princess, will appreciate this behind-the-scenes interview with illustrator extraordinaire, Michael Martchenko.
Martchenko is Munsch's longtime collaborator, but it's rare for the two men share the same room. During the filming of this video at Annick Press' Toronto offices, Robert Munsch tried his best to unsettle his doodling friend, to no avail. Tomorrow we will bring you Munsch's side of the story.
In this 2-minute clip, Martchenko talks about the early days with Annick, his training as an artist, and one particularly rewarding moment in his career as an illustrator. "I've got the best job in the world," he says, with a twinkle in his eye, and we believe him!
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New Video: Diane Swanson with "A Crash of Rhinos" and "Einstein's Brain" |
Diane Swanson has written more than 60 books for children of all ages, from toddlers through teenagers.
Most of them deal with science and nature, such as A Crash of Rhinos, A Party of Jays: The Wacky Ways We Name Animal Groups. In Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain: The Good, the Bad and the Bogus in Science, Swanson helps children evaluate the scientific claims they hear.
"I can’t make up anything more amazing," the author says, than the creatures that already exist in our world. In this 2-minute video, filmed in the Vancouver offices of publisher Annick Press, Swanson describes one of those amazing creatures.
She also talks about how one can rediscover the beauty in the world around us by looking through the eyes of a child.
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New Video: Shari Graydon & Made You Look / In Your Face |
Today we're featuring TWO books by Shari Graydon: Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know and In Your Face: The Culture of Beauty and Youth.
In Your Face is about "the pressure on teens to live up to unattainable ideals of beauty," according to Graydon. The book talks about where our ideas of beauty come from, all the way back to early childhood. It goes on to take its readers through an historical and cross-cultural look at physical ideals.
Made You Look is also aimed at young readers, examining how they're targeted by marketing and advertising. Like In Your Face, this book also delves into the ideals that are pressed upon teens by various societal influences.
In this 2-minute video, filmed at the Toronto offices of publisher Annick Press, Graydon explains how and why these ideals are unobtainable and describes her hopes for creating a more "media-literate" youth.
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New Video: Emily Pohl-Weary & Strange Times at Western High |
Author Emily Pohl-Weary grew up in a famous literary family and has made that tradition her own through a series of ambitious publishing projects.
As editor of the zine, Kiss Machine, Pohl Weary is herself a pioneer in do-it-yourself publishing. She's also written a critically-acclaimed biography of her grandmoter, sci-fi pioneer Judith Merril, along with a collection of poetry and an anthology on female super heroes.
It's no surprise, then, that the heroine of Pohl-Weary's young adult novel, Strange Times at Western High, is a fearless, independent zinester. In this 2-minute video, filmed in the Toronto offices of publisher Annick Press, the author introduces us to her lead character, 16-year old Natalie Fuentes, and speaks about girls, confidence, and indy culture.
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New Video: Dennis Foon & The Longlight Legacy trilogy |
Next in our Annick Press series of author videos comes Dennis Foon, father of the eerie Longlight Legacy trilogy of science fiction novels.
The trilogy comprises three books: The Dirt Eaters, Freewalker, and The Keeper's Shadow. The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and features two young heroes, Roan and his sister Stowe.
The Longlight Legacy continues to gain critical acclaim as one of the great science fiction trilogies of the new millennium. The cinematic scope of the work is no accident; author Dennis Foon is an accomplished playwright and filmmaker -- check out his credits in IMDb (the Internet Movie Database).
This 2-minute video was filmed at Annick Press' gorgeous offices overlooking the harbour in downtown Vancouver's historic Gastown district. In the video, Foon is bathed in luminous green light as he talks about the ecological underpinnings of his epic adventure.
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New Video: Ruth Ohi & Clara and the Bossy |
We are pleased to continue our series of children's authors from Annick Press in Toronto with what may be the most perfect author video we have ever shown.
Effervescent illustrator Ruth Ohi takes us inside the covers of Clara and the Bossy, her humorous look at the serious subject of bullying. Clara is a lovable Guinea Pig with a fondness for purple who tries too hard to please her glamorous friend.
Ruth Ohi (pronounced "Oh-Weee") has written and illustrated several children's books, including A Trip With Grandma and The Couch Was a Castle. Ruth Ohi fans get a rare treat in this 2-minute video: watching the author create an illustration right before your eyes! It's a magic moment and you shouldn't miss it.
With no further ado, let's join the author for a brief trip with Clara and the Bossy.
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New Video: Mike Tanner & Flat-Out Rock |
Kids today are rediscovering the 1960s and Mike Tanner is helping them program their iPods with the proper soundtrack.
Flat-Out Rock is a visually stunning guide to rock music from the '60s and early '70s. Gorgeous graphic design and rare, exquisite photographs place the musicians in the context of hippies, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and other '60s happenings.
Flat-Out Rock covers ten important bands or musicians and illustrates each artist's significance by describing a pivotal moment in their careers. Artists covered include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Neil Young with Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
In this 2-minute video, enjoy Tanner's luxurious voice and rock-star good looks as he describes how his background as a touring and recording musician contributed to Flat-Out Rock.
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New Video: Allan Stratton & Chanda's Secrets |
We are pleased to bring you the author of one of the most decorated books in recent memory: Allan Stratton and his breakout novel, Chanda's Secrets.
Chanda's Secrets tells the story of a teen girl in Africa whose mother is afflicted with HIV/AIDS and travels north to spare her family the shame of her illness. The book puts "a human face to the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa," says the author.
The list of awards Chanda's Secrets has won is too long to recount here -- you'll find an up-to-date tally at publisher Annick Press' web site. The accolades include Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Award, the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature, and "Editor's Choice" plus "Top 10 Black History Book" from Booklist.
In this 2-minute video, filmed at Annick Press's Toronto offices last fall, erudite author Allan Stratton describes how he created characters so real he has to remind people the book is fiction.
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New Video: Loris Lesynski and I Did It Because... |
We are delighted that the first author video in our Annick Press series is with the endearing Loris Lesynski.
If you have read any of Loris' books (Boy Soup, Dirty Dog Boogie, Cabbagehead, Nothing Beats A Pizza and Zigzag, among others), you will appreciate this glimpse into the source of that rich humor. Loris lights up for the camera, with mischief in her eyes and poetry on her lips.
In this video, Loris Lesynski talks mostly about her new book, I Did It Because.... Students always ask Loris where her stories and language come from. This is her response, an instructional book for young authors that teaches in a delightful way "how a poem happens."
Watch this 2-minute video, filmed at the offices of children's book publisher Annick Press in Toronto last November, to see the lovey Loris Lesynski bring some of her works to life!
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New Video: Rick Wilks, Co-Founder & Director, Annick Press |
We are very pleased to share with you today, not an author's video, but a publisher's video.
Rick Wilks is co-founder, with Anne Millyard, of Annick Press, a company whose name is synonymous with excellence and innovation in children's books. Since 1975, Annick has been publishing breakthrough books, such as Chanda's Secrets, and breakout authors, such as Robert Munsch.
In this 2-minute clip, Wilks speaks passionately about what Annick Press looks for in a book and where the company's publishing mission is headed. It's refreshing to see a publisher with such a strong commitment to content and packaging -- both hallmarks of Canadian publishing. Annick is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, where this video was filmed.
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New Today: Susan Larson, Book Editor, New Orleans Times-Picayune |
Last night, I attended a talk by Susan Larson, Book Editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune since 1988. Larson is a member of the National Books Critics Circle and was recently announced as the winner of the 2007 Award for Life Contributions from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
The platinum-blonde co-author of 10 romance novels, Larson is also the author of The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans, published on the tenth anniversary of her reign over the Times-Picayune's book department.
Larson rather breathlessly narrated the history of New Orleans in books -- including authors, publishers, booksellers and even wholesalers. She mentioned Sylvia Beach as a particular inspiration. Beach was founder of Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris and the original publisher of James Joyce's controversial novel, Ulysses. Larson has a fondness for booksellers and lamented the closing of independent bookstores she had worked at in her formative years.
Earlier in the day, The Wall Street Journal ran an article covering the demise of the Los Angeles Times' Sunday book review section and other disappearing newspaper book sections. Larson's book section was folded into the Living section -- and her budget slashed -- after Hurricane Katrina displaced half the newspaper's subscribers and advertisers.
Among the tidbits tossed by the Larson, who rides in the Krewe of Muses, is that she unpacks four crates of books every day that arrive for review consideration! While she considers fairness her top priority, she refuses to review self-published or print-on-demand books, which has made many authors unhappy with her.
Ms. Larson says she reads every book she reviews. She feels an obligation to consider for review every Katrina book that comes down the pike. Among her Katrina favorites: Jed Horne's Breach of Faith; Path of Destruction, by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein; Douglas Brinkley's much-maligned book, The Great Deluge; Tom Piazza's Why New Orleans Matters; the picture book, In Katrina's Wake; and the Times-Picayune book, Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans.
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New Video: Jocelyn Elder & The Cancer Wheel |
Jocelyn Elder's The Cancer Wheel focuses on the three dimensions of life: the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. Elder says that the audience for her book are both medical professionals as well as cancer patients themselves.
As both a cancer survivor and a Registered Nurse, she has unique perspectives to add to the book, which deals with prevention, assessment, and treatment of the disease.
Elder has been in the medical industry for over 25 years, in various fields. In this 2-minute video, filmed in Santa Fe, she describes how working in health service at the Zuni Pueblo inspired part of her book.
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New Video: Ningay Sing & Conversations With Gaia |
Ningay Sing believes that she was called upon to write Conversations with Gaia. In this 2-minute video, filmed in Santa Fe, she describes the moment that she heard a voice instructing her to write the book. She considers her book to be the feminine response to Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch.
Sing is passionate about rediscovering the forgotten feminine wisdom of the Earth. She ponders the possibilities of partnering that "deep, old feminine wisdom" with the power of modern technology.
Watch the video to hear Sing’s ideas for how we can all get away from our self-centeredness and become more global-centered instead.
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