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80 years of Q&Q: a look back at Canadian children’s publishing

Early Canadian kidlit of note

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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

80-10

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.

80-20

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

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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.