Early Canadian kidlit of note
1. The Secret World of Og, Pierre Berton; Patsy Berton, illus. (McClelland & Stewart, 1961)
2. Raven’s Cry, Christie Harris; Bill Reid, illus. (M&S, 1966)
3. Owls in the Family, Farley Mowat (Little, Brown & Co., 1962)
4. Double Spell by Janet Lunn; A.M. Calder, illus. (Peter Martin Associates, 1968)
5. Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, Mordecai Richler; Fritz Wegner, illus. (M&S, 1975)
More Canadian kidlit of note
In 1986, Kids Can Press published author Paulette Bourgeois and illustrator Brenda Clark’s Franklin in the Dark, the first book in the Franklin the Turtle series.
In 1952, sports writer (and dad to Neil) Scott Young and his publisher, McClelland & Stewart, helped define a genre with Scrubs on Skates, the first title in a trilogy of YA hockey novels. During his career, Young churned out 40 books, while M&S scored a reputation as the country’s go-to hockey publisher.
Deborah Ellis’s charity breadwinner
Since publishing The Breadwinner in 2000 with Groundwood Books, author Deborah Ellis has donated more than $1 million in royalties from the book and its sequels – Parvana’s Journey (2002), Mud City (2003), and My Name is Parvana (2012) – to charities benefiting women and children. Combined, more than two million copies of the books have sold worldwide.
These stories appeared in Q&Q’s 80th anniversary feature in the April 2015 print issue.