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Getting your hands on Canadian children's books
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From: Annette Y Goldsmith <ayg1>
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 23:19:35 -0400
When I read that Tana Elias had to interloan many of the Canadian short story collections she needed, I shuddered in recognition. When I moved to Miami from Toronto I knew that Canadian books would not be as readily available, but I didn't expect my national literature to be almost invisible. How could I be a good children's librarian here without being able to thrust my favourite books into the hands of unsuspecting patrons? For those ex-pats with the same problem, and for those of you who are getting hooked on Brian Doyle, Sarah Ellis et al., here is a brief guide to help you keep up with and locate Canadian books. (The excellent short story collections are not limited to children's and young adult titles, by the way -- think of Alice Munro!)
Online sources to bookmark:
The Canadian Children's Book Centre at http://www3.sympatico.ca/ccbc. Become a member and receive "Our Choice", an annual annotated buying guide. They produce lots of other publications as well, including a really nice calendar. (We have to talk about Canadian illustrators sometime...)
The Children's Literature Web Guide, http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown, which I'm sure you all know. Check the Canadian book award links.
The Looking Glass, http://erp.fis.utoronto.ca/~easun/looking_glass/. I know I keep mentioning TLG, but it really is on topic. Our online children's literature journal has an international focus with considerable Canadian content. For example, Jeffrey Canton's column,
"Looking Glass Lore", focuses on Canadian writers, and Sarah Ellis edits the humour column.
Your favourite online bookseller. If you can buy the third Harry Potter book from amazon.com in the UK, you can find that must-have Canadian title as well!
For the activists among you:
Ask your local library to buy (not just interloan) these books because they'll be a fine addition to the collection. Print off some of the glowing comments from this list to accompany your request.
When placing a special order at a bookstore, suggest the store stock the book (i.e. booktalk it to the bookseller.)
Yours from Miami,
Annette Goldsmith Editor, The Looking Glass ayg1 at juno.com
Received on Fri 17 Sep 1999 10:19:35 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 23:19:35 -0400
When I read that Tana Elias had to interloan many of the Canadian short story collections she needed, I shuddered in recognition. When I moved to Miami from Toronto I knew that Canadian books would not be as readily available, but I didn't expect my national literature to be almost invisible. How could I be a good children's librarian here without being able to thrust my favourite books into the hands of unsuspecting patrons? For those ex-pats with the same problem, and for those of you who are getting hooked on Brian Doyle, Sarah Ellis et al., here is a brief guide to help you keep up with and locate Canadian books. (The excellent short story collections are not limited to children's and young adult titles, by the way -- think of Alice Munro!)
Online sources to bookmark:
The Canadian Children's Book Centre at http://www3.sympatico.ca/ccbc. Become a member and receive "Our Choice", an annual annotated buying guide. They produce lots of other publications as well, including a really nice calendar. (We have to talk about Canadian illustrators sometime...)
The Children's Literature Web Guide, http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown, which I'm sure you all know. Check the Canadian book award links.
The Looking Glass, http://erp.fis.utoronto.ca/~easun/looking_glass/. I know I keep mentioning TLG, but it really is on topic. Our online children's literature journal has an international focus with considerable Canadian content. For example, Jeffrey Canton's column,
"Looking Glass Lore", focuses on Canadian writers, and Sarah Ellis edits the humour column.
Your favourite online bookseller. If you can buy the third Harry Potter book from amazon.com in the UK, you can find that must-have Canadian title as well!
For the activists among you:
Ask your local library to buy (not just interloan) these books because they'll be a fine addition to the collection. Print off some of the glowing comments from this list to accompany your request.
When placing a special order at a bookstore, suggest the store stock the book (i.e. booktalk it to the bookseller.)
Yours from Miami,
Annette Goldsmith Editor, The Looking Glass ayg1 at juno.com
Received on Fri 17 Sep 1999 10:19:35 PM CDT
