Earlier this week, Canadian authors and illustrators were celebrated at the Forest of Reading‘s Festival of Trees award ceremonies! The Festival of Trees is the biggest literary event for children in Canada.
Check out the photos below for some highlights from this fun event.
Editors Kim and Mandy hosted the Blue Spruce Awards!
Dave Whamond was chosen as a finalist for the 2015 Blue Spruce Awards for his book, Oddrey and the New Kid!
Author, Rona Arato signs her book, The Last Train, for a fan. The Last Train won the Red Maple Award!
Congratulations to all of the authors and illustrators that were nominated!
It’s time for “Get to Know An Author!” on the blog! This month, we’re getting to know Dave Whamond, the Blue Spruce award-winning creator of the books, Oddrey, Oddrey and the New Kid, and Oddrey Joins the Team. You may also know him from his other book called My Think-a-ma-jink. Oh, and you may ALSO know him from his funny illustrations every month in chickaDEE’s Did You Know pages.
Okay, so now you know some of the awesome work that he’s done… find out the answers to these 10 things below! We asked him to finish 10 sentences for us. Here are his answers:
1. The first thing I do when I wake up is hit the snooze button and promise myself I will definitely, definitely go to bed earlier that night.
2. My favourite way to eat eggs is scrambled but I have a weakness for Cadbury Mini-eggs.
3. I have a funny habit of checking my pockets for my wallet, phone and keys even though I just put them in, then somehow walking out of the house without them.
4. My pet’s name is Aiko (pronounced I-ko). Best dog in the world and provides me with a lot of cartoon material.
5. My nickname is Whammy.
6. I have visited 9 countries. My favorite is Italy.
7. My hero is Homer Simpson. Whenever I am faced with a crisis, I think WWHD… “What would Homer do?” Serious answer: My Dad. Whenever I am faced with a crisis, I think WWDD.
8. My hidden talent is doing impressions. I have a lot of hidden talents but I forgot where I hid them.
9. When I look outside my window, I see a squirrel staring back at me. (I have a squirrel character in my comic “Reality Check” named Ralph and I like to think it’s him.)
10. The last thing I do before I fall asleep is read a book until the late hours, trying to remember what I definitely, definitely promised myself I would do that night.
Great answers. Thanks for playing along… Whammy!
Readers, you can play along, too. Finish your own sentences below in the comment section.
chickaDEE Super Squad member, Graydon, 7, recently read Oddrey Joins the Team by Dave Whamond. Read on to see what he thought of this book!
Graydon, 7
I liked Oddrey Joins the Team because I like sports and because the story is unique. I also liked it because Oddrey’s soccer team, ‘The Bees’, worked together to play. Also, Oddrey made up a new game with her imagination and I liked that, too. The illustrations in the book were very interesting!
Great review, Graydon!
Click here if you’d like to learn more about Oddrey Joins the Team.
I just read a really cool book called Oddrey and the New Kid by Dave Whamond.
Oddrey and the New Kid
Oddrey’s always been different than the other kids at school. But her unique personality is what Oddrey’s friends love about her most!
When Oddrey learns that a new kid, named Maybelline, will be joining her class she gets super-excited and can’t wait for the two of them to become friends! But like Oddrey, Maybelline is very unique… in ways that Oddrey isn’t used to.
Pick up this book to see what silly shenanigans take place when these two classmates embark on an amazing adventure, and if it can bring the girls closer together.
By the way, you may recognize Dave’s illustrations. Can you think of where you’ve seen them before? If you guessed chickaDEE’s Did You Know section, you’re correct. He also illustrates some of the puzzles!
If you do give this book a read, I hope you enjoy it!
