We are thrilled to share that four Transatlantic authors have been Shortlisted for next year’s Hackmatack Awards!
The Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award is a literary program designed for young readers and based in Atlantic Canada.
Each year, thousands of children in grades four to six read from the selection of outstanding Canadian books and vote for their favourites.
The award is designed after similar successful programs in Ontario (The Silver Birch Award) and British Columbia (The Red Cedar Award).
Just as other provinces have chosen names of well-known trees in their regions for their reading programs, the name of the Hackmatack program comes from a tree commonly found in Atlantic Canada, also known as a tamarack or larch.
To learn more, click here: https://hackmatack.ca/news/
Here are the shortlisted authors and their terrific books:
AWOL by Marla Lesage
A moving graphic novel, AWOL explores the realities of PTSD from a kid’s perspective. The book includes an author’s note and kid-friendly mental health resources.
As a military child, eleven-year-old Leah moves…a lot. But this summer she will be the one left behind when her best friend’s family is reassigned. To make matters worse, her mother will be away for training, leaving Leah at home with her father, who has just returned from deployment. When a new girl moves into her neighborhood, Leah must navigate the ups and downs of making a new friend while avoiding her father’s unpredictable mood swings.
Marla is represented by Elizabeth Bennett.
HOW TO HAVE HIGH TEA WITH A HYENA (AND NOT GET EATEN) by Rachel Poliquin; illustrated by Kathryn Durst
The second book in a hilarious illustrated non-fiction chapter book series starring a savvy and stylish cockroach who guides the reader through an encounter with a charming — and dangerous — predator. Is this hyena drooling for tea and crumpets . . . or for you?!
Celeste is a cockroach, and everyone knows that cockroaches are survivors, so who better to give advice on surviving an encounter with a polite predator? High teas are dainty meals with pretty teacups: you nibble tiny cakes, sip milky tea and chit-chat about not-so-important things like why doughnuts have holes and if fish have eyebrows. But Ruby the hyena is loud, ferocious and tends to slober. High-speed gobbling makes good sense in the wild, but it is a definite no-no in the tearoom! And Ruby just happens to be Queen of a very large clan of hungry hyenas. Will high tea be ruined by uninvited guests? Is Ruby peckish for something other than Celeste’s famous cream buns? Using her vast knowledge of hyenas, Celeste comes up with lots of strategies to get through high tea in one piece. Many of her suggestions are dangerous, most are absurd, but all are based on true hyena biology and hunting behavior.
Rachel is represented by Amy Tompkins.
POOPY SCIENCE: GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF WHAT COMES OUT YOUR BOTTOM by Edward Kay; illustrated by Mike Shiell
Part of the Gross Science series, here’s a book flush with facts on the number-one topic of interest to kids: going number two!
Overflowing with the science and history of poop (and pee), Poopy Science covers everything kids ever wanted to know (and more!) about their favorite subject. Both expertly researched and hilarious, this book starts with human waste, including: what’s in our poop, how our digestive system works, what poop can tell us about our health, and the history of sanitation. It then moves on to other fascinating topics, like: why some animals eat poop, potential ways poop can be used for fuel and how astronauts poop in space. Packed with silly puns, this book takes the throne as the world’s best bathroom reader!
Outrageous, kid-friendly and easy to digest, award-winning author Edward Kay’s engrossing text is a solid source of information and entertainment. The hysterical comic-style art by Mike Shiell enhances the engagement factor. This is definitely a book kids will pore through on their own! The appealing blend of science and history content gives the book plenty of cross-curriculum links in life science, particularly the human body and human organ systems, technology, health and history. A table of contents, glossary, index and further reading make this a terrific resource. This is part of the enormously popular Gross Science series of thoroughly researched books presented with loads of humor and just the right amount of ewws.
Edward is represented by Amy Tompkins.
PROFESSOR GOOSE DEBUNKS GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS by Paulette Bourgeois; illustrated by Alex Griffiths
The first in a new series by the author of Franklin the Turtle! Join Professor Goose in this STEM-filled picture book as she fact-checks classic fairy tales and shares the science behind these flawed stories.
Mother Goose’s fairy tales are NOT based in science, and her great niece Professor Goose thinks it’s time to share the truth. Join Professor Goose as she — literally — travels through the pages of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, fact-checking, exposing the flaws and explaining the science. Bears don’t live in cottages — they prefer dens! The smallest bowl of porridge wouldn’t be “just right” — it would have been the coldest! Professor Goose is delighted to see Baby Bear use the scientific method and Goldilocks’s fight or flight response. And maybe Goldilocks should have used a GPS so she wouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place?
Jammed with jokes and wonderfully silly illustrations, this book entertains while it introduces basic scientific laws and rules to young readers. At the back of the book, readers will find Professor Goose’s instructions on how to engineer their own chair for a (teddy) bear!
Paulette is represented by Amy Tompkins.
Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors!