The Stacks
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Bread and representation
Back on October 15, we had a book launch up at the local indie bookstore where our Head Alien hangs one of his many hats on the regular. He arrived to have a fellow bookseller exclaim “Hey! Did you know you’re in the book?”
No, no he did not…
Canadian Born Chinese
Today we’re taking a bit of a deeper dive into one graphic novel in particular. And to the surprise of no one who’s been reading our recent posts about our Comic as Object Project or Drawn Together, this will be doing double duty as an assignment for our Head Alien’s LIS 518 course at the University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies.
As some of you might have already guessed from the title of this post, the graphic novel in question is American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang…
Drawn Together, Judged Together
Today’s assignment? To investigate “a graphic novel or comic that has been challenged recently in western society.”
Our choice? Well, it’s the 2019 winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book, among other accolades…
Small Press Saturday: Book*hug Press
Straight up, it has been a hell of a week. My avoidance techniques have included cooking, listening to audiobooks, working, and writing a couple of things for the Butterflies & Aliens Library. Talking about all things bookish is a welcome escape.
This Saturday, I am thrilled to introduce you to Book*hug Press.
Small Press Saturday: Between The Lines Press
It’s been a week, the mask mandate has been lifted in Alberta, the Calgary Stampede has begun, and Jason Kenney has shuffled the cabinet – needless to say I am in a mood about things. So today is the best day to introduce you to self-proclaimed “proudly left-wing” Between the Lines Press.
Small Press Saturday: Laksa Media
We here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library love a good anthology, and some of my absolute favourites in recent years have come from Laksa Media, based out of Calgary, Alberta. Not only have the stories been remarkable, and wrapped in gorgeous covers, but this young small press lives its mission of changing the world through its publishing program, not only by donating a portion of its revenue to social causes, but raising awareness through the themes and content of their anthologies.
Small Press Saturday: Annick Press
Happy Saturday! It’s Small Press Saturday, the Canadian Children’s Book Week edition!
We are wrapping up our celebration of Canadian Children’s Book Week and I figured it would be a great time to introduce you to Canadian Children’s Publisher Annick Press.
Canadian children’s books are a bit of everything!
Yay, it’s Friday! And even though it has been exciting to celebrate Canadian Children’s Book Week, it’s still Friday and we here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library are feeling it. So for our next-to-last post for the week, we present a bit of a random selection of children’s books by Canadians. But, really, isn’t that part of the beauty of Canadian children’s books? They do include a bit of everything!
Canada includes other realms too…
For our third instalment in celebration of Canadian Children’s Book Week 2021, I’ve pulled four children’s and YA novels by three different authors off my To Be Read pile. And I must confess, they’ve been on my TBR pile a fair while. But they continue to call to me because they all promise to transport me to other realms, passports to mental travels yet to come. Canada also includes fantasy worlds and alternate realities!
Canada includes the World
For our first post in celebration of Canadian Children’s Book Week 2021, I’ve picked three books (and an accompanying CD!) from my shelves, all by local authors with a global perspective. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from reading Canadian, it’s that reading Canadian is reading the world.
Africanfuturism goes to Space…
If you’re looking for reading recommendations, look no further than our Butterfly-in-Chief. She lives to put the right book in your hands. So it was that our Head Alien was introduced to Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, with a vehement “You HAVE to read this book!” We now count Binti among our favourite works of speculative fiction, our first introduction to a subgenre of science fiction that Okorafor calls Africanfuturism.
An “I Read Canadian Day” addendum
An amazing and accidental last minute addition to my “I Read Canadian” pile! The Barnabas Project by Terry, Eric, and Devin Fan — The Fan Brothers — edited by Tara Walker, designed by Kelly Hill, and published by Tundra Books.
