January 2010: That Clever Fox!

Fox Walked Alone has been named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Younger Readers. The Sydney Taylor Awards are administered by the Association of Jewish Libraries and "honour new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience". Click here for more information. Fox Walked Alone is
published in the U.S.A. by Albert Whitman & Company.

Something MOO! The New Baby Calf, the classic story by Edith Newlin Chase about the love between a mother and her new baby is now available in a sturdy board book edition. Also available in French: Quel beau petit!

November 2009: Snowing Indeed!!

Family Day at the National Gallery - Over 450 children and parents participated in a day of plasticine workshops given by Barbara in the Great Hall of the National Gallery in Ottawa. Much fun was had by all!

Panel Discussion of the art of the Picture Book - Panelists Diane Kerner, Director of Publishing, Scholastic Canada, Wallace Edwards, illustrator, Michele Lemieux, illustrator, and Barbara Reid, author/illustrator, held a lively discussion on both the creative and publishing processes of producing a great picture book. The well attended discussion was moderated by Josianne Polidori, Head, Children's Literature, Library and Archives Canada.

The workshops and panel events took place as part of an exhibition of picture book illustration at the National Gallery, and the "Take Home an Original: the Art of the Picture Book" auction to benefit the Canadian Children's Book Centre

Perfect Snow named as one of Quill and Quire's "15 Books That Mattered"
- Quill and Quire lists 15 books that have the biggest impact in 2009. Perfect Snow is one of five children's books included, along with The Uninvited, by Tim Wynne Jones; Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas by Cary Fagan; City Alphabet by Joanne Schwartz and Matt Beam; Scaredy Squirrel at Night, by Melanie Watt.

Perfect Snow has also been named to the Toronto Public Library First and Best List  2009.  Books on the list are top picks for children from birth to age 5.

September 2009 Forecast Snow!!

Barbara's newest book Perfect Snow is now available, published by Scholastic Canada.. Also available in French, La neige parfaite, by Editions Scholastic.

Accompanying the book are new videos: you can view the Perfect Snow book trailer, author interview with Barbara Reid, or see the how-to plasticine demonstration video on Barb's new You Tube Channel

Barbara will be presenting her new book Perfect Snow at Word on the Street on Sunday, September 27. For more information visit the Word on the Street website.

November 2008: Classic Canadian Poster for Book Week

In honour of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables, the theme for this year's TD Canadian Children's Book Week is "Classic Canadian Reading". Barbara's poster for the event features two children and a beaver reading together in a canoe. Both kids are wearing classic Canadian Tire rubber boots, the girl wears a Cowichan sweater and the canoe is patriotic red, as are the maple leaves in the water. Pretty Canadian, eh?

There are also references to several Canadian children's literature icons: the boy wears Rocket Richard's hockey sweater, the girl's pigtails are red like Anne's, and a baby mouse is wrapped in a bit of blue blanket from Phoebe Gillman's "Something From Nothing". Can you spot any others? (click on the image to enlarge)

TD Canadian Children's Book Week is November 15-22, 2008. For more information go to www.bookcentre.ca

September 2008: Wonderful Copenhagen!

In September the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) held their 31st World Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. With assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, Barbara was able to travel to Denmark to receive an Honour List Diploma for her book "Fox Walked Alone". Queen Margrethe of Denmark attended the opening ceremonies of the congress and presented Hans Christian Anderson Awards to Jurg Schulbiger (author, Switzerland) and Roberto Innocenti (illustrator, Italy).

IBBY's mission is to promote international understanding through children's literature, and to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards. The goal is: "Every child a reader". "It was most inspiring to hear from many of the passionate people who are creating programs and working on projects in support of IBBY's goals. Attending the Congress also gave me an excellent opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world. The presentations by top international illustrators, authors, publishers and academics sparked my imagination and absolutely filled my head with inspiration and ideas for future projects.

The visit to Copenhagen also coincided with the publication of "Metromusen", the Danish edition of The Subway Mouse. I was able to meet with the publisher, and enjoy a studio visit and interview with Lillian Broegger, illustrator extraordinaire and Denmark's Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee. Of course, there was photo opportunity with Denmark's most famous storyteller, H. C. Anderson himself!

To learn more about IBBY, visit www.ibby.org

May 2008: BIG book opens at Toronto Public Library

The TPL opened the first of several planned KidStops, indoor literacy playgrounds, at the S. Walter Stewart library in East York. Features include a rocket ship to climb in, puppet theatre, toddler computers and a wall of blocks that spin to display letters of the alphabet and Mother Goose artwork by Toronto illustrators Heather Collins and Barbara Reid.

A giant version of Barbara's book "Read Me a Book" is mounted at kid-height on the wall. KidStops support the TPL's Ready for Reading program that promotes literacy development in children up to age five. Happy reading!

April 2008
Barbara's artwork featuring two children flying on a blue heron is the image for the 2008 Vancouver International Children's Festival.

November 2007
The Queen of Plasticine and the First Lady of Mother Goose! Barb Reid & storyteller Sally Jaeger will celebrate the release of Sing a Song of Mother Goose this December at Mabel's Fables Bookstore with pictures, stories, rhymes, and songs. Visit the events page for more information.

Sing a Song of Mother Goose has been named to the Toronto Public Library's "First and Best Book List". Listed books are the top picks for building reading readiness in children from birth to age five. "First and Best" is part of the new "Ready for Reading" program that offers a comprehensive set of free, high quality programs, services and resources at the Toronto Public Library. The clown logo for the program was created by Barbara Reid.

Fox in the Forest! - Fox Walked Alone has been nominated for the 2008
Ontario Library Association Blue Spruce Award, part of the Forest of
Readings Program. In spring, readers ages 4 to 7 in kindergarten to
grade two will vote for their favorite books to determine the winners. For more information visit the OLA website.

September 2007
The Canadian National Section of IBBY (The International Board on Books for Young People) has selected Fox Walked Alone for the IBBY Honour List, in the illustration category. The IBBY Honour List is a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books for children, honouring writers, illustrators and translators from IBBY member countries around the world. Honour List selections are representative of the best in children's literature published in the past two years (in each country) and suitable for publication throughout the world.

The Honour List titles selected by each country will be displayed at the 31st IBBY World Congress to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 7-10, 2008; diplomas will be presented to the recipients. The Honour List is one of the most widespread and effective ways of furthering IBBY's objective of encouraging international understanding through children's literature. For more information visit the IBBY website.

Sing a Song of Mother Goose is published! A new board book edition
featuring 14 favourite Nursery Rhymes takes flight! Also available in French as Un, Deux, Trois, Voilà la Mère l'Oie! Visit the books section for more.

Fox Walked Alone shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. The winner of the award is: When You Were Small, by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstead. Visit the Canadian Book Centre website for more information about the award.

June 2007
Libris Awards - Barbara Reid has been named both Children's Author of the Year and Children's Illustrator of the Year. The Libris Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Canadian book selling community and were presented at the Book Expo Convention in Toronto.

Fox Walked Alone has been named an Honour Book for the 2007 Amelia Frances Howard Gibbon Award for Illustration.

May 2007
Fox Walked Alone shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award in the Picture Book category. Winner of the award is Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt.

March 2007
Read Me a Book is now a board book! (Scholastic Canada Ltd.) The board book format is also available in French: "Lis-moi une histoire" (Éditions Scholastic).