We're back with a Poet's Point of View blog post for Poetry Month! In this series, we ask Anansi poets to recommend art, writing, music, and more to experience in tandem with their new collections.     Next up is poet Cassidy McFadzean. Cassidy studied poetry at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and fiction at Brooklyn College. She is the author of two books of poetry: Drolleries (McClelland & Stewart 2019), shortlisted for the Raymond Souster Award, and Hacker Packer (M&S 2015), which won two Saskatchewan Book Awards and was a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Memori ..read more

Post by Victoria Koops, author of Who We Are In Real Life.  A tiefling bard sits to pen a story. Behind her, a poorly tuned violin lays gathering dust. She’s always preferred performing stories over songs, but she can’t give up the instrument, despite her lack of skill and unwillingness to practice. Her name might mean “triumph”—maybe she’s named Glory, or Nicole or even Victoria.   Alright, so naming a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) character after yourself might be a bit obvious. Aside from the name, and the fact that she’s a magic-wielding tiefling, though, everything e ..read more

Post by Christina Cooke, author of Broughtupsy. Originally published on Powell's Blog. Music is one of my most primal and fiercely held languages. It’s how I navigate the world, echo-locating myself in place and culture through the boom-tap-booms of sound. It started when I was four. One afternoon, my father picked me up from kindergarten in his red pickup truck and drove me through the thick of Mandeville traffic. Buckled in the backseat, I was humming; I was happy; we wouldn’t leave Jamaica for another eight years. We turned right into Mid-Way Mall, a series of one-storey buildings arra ..read more

In honour of the release of their latest picture book collaboration, The Pet Store Window, we sat down (well — via email!) with creators Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng.  .     Groundwood: You have published eight books now with us. Which one has been your favourite to work on and why?   Jairo Buitrago: It is a difficult question for any author, but I will let myself be guided by my heart: Walk with Me because of what it represents in so many Latin American countries (it is my best-known book in Latin America) and On the Other Side of the Garden ..read more

As 2023 comes to a close, we want to thank you for supporting Anansi and Groundwood books this year!   Thank you for cheering on authors and illustrators. Thank you for sharing your favourite reads with family and friends. Thank you for shopping at indie bookstores. Thank you for attending events and standing in line to get your book signed. Thank you for sharing Anansi and Groundwood books with your book club. Thank you for staying up late to finish the last page.    Thank you to our staff for the endless hours spent making and promoting Anansi and Groundwood books. Thank you t ..read more

A Nanny’s Work Through Pictures and Words By Zach Frater   Self-taught artist and illustrator Laura James brings her own childhood memories to life in her latest children’s book, My Mother Was a Nanny. The story is inspired by the day-to-day life of her creative and entrepreneurial mother and is told as a series of vignettes illustrating a typical day for Mummy. It follows a nameless child tailing her busy mother as she performs the sacred work of cleaning, sewing, cooking and tending to other people’s children while also taking care of her own. While we might be quick to read the little ..read more

Boobies, written and illustrated by Nancy Vo, was named a finalist for the CCBC Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award as well as a nominee for the Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award. It has won hearts and minds the world over with its cheeky sense of humour, brilliant art, and poignant backstory. Scroll below to see a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of Boobies, courtesy of the author/illustrator herself.   The work in progress x x Creating the cover of Boobies  x x The final product x x Learn more about Nancy Vo   NANCY VO&nb ..read more

Last week was Banned Books Week in the United States. During that week, it came to our attention that Read Me a Story, Stella by Marie-Louise Gay was flagged for removal from the children’s section in one public library system. Below is our response, in full, as has been shared with journalists and news media outlets.   We are deeply disturbed by the autocratic and uninformed censorship of books in the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system.  Although it is obviously laughable that our picture book, Read Me a Story, Stella, shows up on their list of ..read more

Written by Leanne Lieberman, author of Cleaning Up This week marks a transition for me. I will turn my attention away from a summer of working on YA books, and start to prepare my grade five classroom for the school year. Despite the change of focus, teaching and writing are always intertwined for me: my students’ thinking and experiences influence my books, and sometimes my students read those books.  These two interests of my professional life — writing and teaching — also come together in my latest YA book Cleaning Up, which features an important teacher character. Cleaning Up is about ..read more

Written by Rachael Moorthy author of River Meets the Sea Author Rachael Moorthy in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland.  Basel Under the goldenrod glow of the waxing Flower Moon, trailing Wisteria takes over this city, turning it amethyst. Lilac plumes cascade over the multi-coloured pastel buildings in Basel, lining the ever-elusive jade Rhine. The flowering purple vine flourishes here, along with Wild Garlic, Elderflower, Strawberries, and the wide array of alienesque mushrooms: porous Morels, Truffles, and Chanterelle. But unlike those plants indigenous to the enigmatic Swiss forest fl ..read more