News from Orca Book Publishers

March 2013

Spring just sprung. The grass is riz, Orca's where the good books is.

Book 'em, Danno...

Orca is pleased to announce the launch of one of our digital partners, Bookboard, an affordable children's ebook subscription service.
Bookboard provides guided exploration of a vast, curated library that includes numerous Orca titles.
Young readers can enjoy Orca new releases such as Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe and classics like Waiting for the Whales. To sign up for a free Bookboard trial visit bookboard.com

And check out their promo video which features lots of tasty Orca content.

The wheels on the bus...

The Matatu, a picturebook from Eric Walters and Eva Campbell, continues to pull in the awards and reviews.

The book, a retelling of a Kenyan folktale, has just won the Children's Africana Book Award. The award is to "encourage the publication of accurate, balanced children's materials on Africa, to recognize literary excellence and to acknowledge the research achievements of outstanding authors and illustrators."

The Matatu is also an Aesop Accolade title from the American Folklore Society and a nominee for the Silver Birch Award from the Ontario Library Association.

And to round it out, The Matatu has been chosen by the Cooperative Children's Book Center as a CCBC Choice 2013 honoring the best books of the year.

Roll on.

Starred Review...

Little You, the beautiful new board book from Richard Van Camp and Julie Flett has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Little star
with little wings.
Let's all dance
let's all sing.

The review notes: "a lyrical ode to a newborn child, matched in its loveliness by Flett's exquisite, collage-like images ... the book will have particular appeal for families looking for nonwhite representations of tender family moments."

Richard's first board book, Welcome Song for Baby has sold more than 75,000 copies and was a recent selection of the PJ Library.

Let's get digital...

Orca Digital Subscriptions are a unique and cost-effective way to provide ebooks to an entire school or library system. With the purchase of a subscription you get multiuser access to all of the titles in your collection.
There is no limit to how many users can read any book at the same time. The titles in your subscription can be accessed at school, in the library or at home. With our new premium subscription, users can even download ebooks
to their own devices, including smartphones.

For more info, email us or have a look at our informational flyer here.

Seven on a tear...

Seven (the series)--the linked set of seven middle-grade novels by seven bestselling authors continues to roll. Released in September last year, they have sold a combined 70,000 copies and are in demand everywhere.

Rachel, a teen reviewer for YA-Galley said this of Eric Walter's Between Heaven and Earth:
"An amazing book...Between Heaven and Earth will leave readers wanting to read the rest of the series!"

Tree-mendous...

Four Orca titles have been nominated for the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards.

In the Shining Willow category, for readers aged K to grade 3, the nominees are Something's Fishy, an Orca Echo chapterbook by Jeff Szpirglas and Danielle Saint-Onge, illustrations by Dave Whamond and Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe, a picturebook by Wallace Edwards.

And for readers in grades 7 to 9, Redwing by Holly Bennett and Guilty by Norah McClintock are vying for the hearts and minds of readers. Guilty was also an ALA YALSA Quick Pick.

Award winners will be announced in April.

Footprints...

We are proud to announce the launch of a new series of nonfiction titles for young readers. The Orca Footprints series aims to help kids answer their questions about the state of the natural world with well-researched, simply-expressed information and powerful images.

The first two entries are: Pedal It!: How Bicycles are Changing the World by Michelle Mulder and Down to Earth: How Kids Help Feed the World by Nikki Tate.

An advance review from Kirkus says of Pedal It! "A smart, tangy history of our two-wheeled friend."

Text-imonial...

"As a teacher librarian in a high school with a population of very diverse learners, I recommend Text2Reader in a variety of situations. The topics lend themselves to shorter activities on themes being treated in class so are good for introducing themes, assessment purposes, and lessons to leave for substitute teachers. Because of the low reading level of the passages, they can be used as alternate lessons for differentiating instruction"

(Chris A., Balfour Collegiate)

Common core anyone?

Text2Reader is a Language Arts program for grades 6 to 8. Using selections from bestselling books, Text2Reader is developed by teachers and is correlated to the English Language Arts curriculum and Common Core.

Email for a sample issue or to learn more.

School catalog...

The 2012-2013 school catalog is now available. Completely redesigned and with more content, you should be able to find something for everyone in your school. See the full catalog here. And the new title trade catalog here.

THANKS FOR READING!

Remember customer service? We do too. If you have a question about a title, want us to customize a collection for your school or library, are interested in what we can can do for your store, or just want to chat and exchange gossip, give us a call. Our toll-free customer service line is manned (personed?) from 8:30 to 4:30 PST.

Really - call us. We're waiting.

CONTACT US

p: 800-210-5277
f: 877-408-1551
e: orca@orcabook.com
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