Totsapalooza Festival 2019 (Toronto, ON)

Small Print Toronto

 

is presenting its

annual kids' festival of books, bands and DIY crafts

It's

 TOTSAPALOOZA

A Day with Qin Leng & Friends

on 

Saturday, February 2, 2019

 1:00 -3:00 p.m.

at 

Revival

783 College St.  (at Shaw)

Toronto, ON

Advance tickets 

(always a good idea as they sell out quickly)

are available here:

 

$15 for adults

$10 for kids

Free for non-walkers ages 0-2 (who will not be participating in crafts)

Activities include:

● author-illustrator Qin Leng unveiling her debut picture book as an author, I Am Small, and conducting a drawing demonstration;

● a sneak preview of Mine.Yours. by Marsha Diane Arnold, illustrated by Qin Leng, which will be published in April, 2019 by Kids Can Press, which is making early copies available for sale;

● drag performers JP (Fay Schlift) and Kaleb (Fluffy Soufflé) running their wildly popular, interactive reading program, Drag Queen Storytime;

● author Emil Sher sharing his picture book Away, illustrated by Qin Leng;

● drummer Dave Clark (Rheostatics, Dinner Is Ruined, Gord Downie) piloting The Woodshed Orchestra’s five-piece horn section, four-piece rhythm section and full-ensemble vocals, in a soulful mash up of classic dance styles from around the world;

● choreographer Ann-Marie Williams conducting her popular family dance sessions;

● dressing up and creating souvenirs of the day at PhaseOne Entertainment's Photo Booth.

● Wanda’s Pie-in-the-Sky pop-up bakery selling healthy, handmade snacks.

● the sale of books for signing by authors and illustrator.

Be sure to get your tickets before they are sold out 

(and sold out they will be!) 

 

Totsapalooza 10 Festival (Toronto, ON)

presents 

Totsapalooza

the tenth anniversary of

its annual festival 

of

 picture books, indie rock bands and DIY crafts

 for kids aged 2-8  

on

Saturday, February 3, 2018

1 - 4pm 

at 

Revival Nightclub 

783 College St.

Tickets:

Limited number of Early Bird tickets:

 $12 Adults / $8 Kids 

After they are sold out:

 $18 Adults / $12 Kids

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/totsapalooza-turns-ten-tickets-41030174356

Authors in attendance include:

Dennis Lee

who will launch his new collection of poems for children, 

Good Night Good Night

and

lead a sing-a-long of his Alligator Pie 

Barbara Reid

who will read her latest book Picture The Sky 

and 

present Sing a Song of Mother Goose 

with musical support from indie-rockers

Nadia L. Hohn

who will launch Malaika's Winter Carnival,

the sequel to Malaika's Costume

Other in attendance will include:

Drag Performers JP (Fay Slift) and Kaleb (Fluffy Soufflé) who will read and lead an activity with children as part of Drag Queen Storytime;

Rock trio Communism;

The Woodshed Orchestra, a horn, rhythm and vocal ensemble, who will perform a mash up of classic dance styles from around the world;

Choreographer Ann-Marie Williams of Movement Lab who will get the kids dancing;

DJ Castlefrank (a.k.a. Matt Blackett of Spacing Magazine) who will keep the party going with kid-friendly beats;

and

Wanda’s Pie-in-the-Sky who will sell healthy, handmade snacks from their pop-up bakery.

Get your tickets online now 

and 

have something special to share at Christmas and then in February!

9th Annual TOTSAPALOOZA: Toronto

Time to get ready for 

Small Print Toronto's

9th Annual Totsapalooza

a festival of indie music, picture book authors and DIY crafts

with singer-songwriter Fred Penner

and 

picture book authors

Tyler Clark Burke

launching her debut picture book Bill Bowerbird & The Unbearable Beak Ache! (OwlKids Books)

Elise Gravel

sharing her new books I Want A Monster! and The Cranky Ballerina (HarperCollins Canada)

and

Andrew Larsen

inspiring storytellers with his latest picture book, A Squiggly Story (Kids Can Press).

on

  Saturday, February 4, 2017

1 - 4 p.m.

at

Revival

783 College Street

Toronto, ON

The Movement Lab children’s dance studio will be back to keep the crowd on their toes and Kensington Market bakery Wanda’s Pie-in-the-Sky will have healthy, handmade snacks on hand.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Tickets are available for purchase at 

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/small-print-tos-totsapalooza-9-with-fred-penner-tickets-29581577294

(n.b. early bird ticket sales ends today!)

Friend or Foe?

by John Sobol

Illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-407-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2016

The beginning of Ottawa author John Sobol’s debut picture book Friend or Foe? is only missing the “Once upon a time…” because the sentiment is definitely that of a traditional tale, here based on a lonely, dark mouse who lives in a small house beside a great palace in which a white cat lives.

The two creatures have their evening routine, with the mouse creeping out onto the roof of the house, and the cat peering down from the palace’s tower window, each staring at the other. When the mouse notices a tiny hole in the palace’s exterior wall, he decides to slip into the palace, hopeful that he might find a friend in that cat with whom he feels a connection.  As he makes his way through the palace, he continues to wonder whether the cat really is a friend or perhaps a foe.

As the mouse climbed the stairs to the palace tower, he began to grow afraid.
What if he was wrong? If he was, the cat would tear him to pieces.  Still he kept climbing.
Was the cat friend or foe?
He had to know. (pg. 11)

But as he approaches the feline from behind, asking her aloud whether she is a friend or foe, the feline is startled and tumbles off the palace tower.  John Sobol ends Friend or Foe? with a twist, both in the animals’ reversal of fortunes and in the answer to the titular question that is probably reflective of many relationships though nebulous in its honesty.

From Friend or Foe? 

by John Sobol, illus. by Dasha Tolstikova

John Sobol's story is aptly illustrated by American Dasha Tolstikova’s austere artwork which emphasizes the disparity in the characters’ sizes and situations, powerfully using hues and tints of greys with only dashes of brightness in a red brick wall or orange light bulb.  Though there is little colour in Friend or Foe?, supporting the idea that there really is a subtle differentiation between the two situations of the title, Dasha Tolstikova uses colour cleverly both to reflect that contrast and suggest their similarity. Friend or Foe? is a very artful examination of connection in which only differences and likenesses are normally perceived.

From Friend or Foe? 

by John Sobol, illus. by Dasha Tolstikova

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A very special launch event is in the works for John Sobol’s Friend or Foe? 

Be part of Small Print Toronto’s Cat & Mouse City 

with author John Sobol 

for young readers 

(ages 2-8, who must be accompanied by an adult) 

on Saturday, October 22, 2016 

from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 

at 

Lillian H. Smith Library 

(Toronto Public Library) 

239 College Street 

Toronto, ON 

The event is free but participants must sign up early as space is limited so register at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cat-mouse-city-with-john-sobol-tickets-27655152305

Small Print Toronto’s invitation describes the event as follows: 

Our popular model city-building workshop, Mouse City, is about to face its its biggest urban planning challenge yet: the arrival of cats! Urban planners aged 2-8 can decide how Mouse City will accommodate its new, feline citizens. 

Ottawa author John Sobol will unveil his new book, Friend Or Foe?, and help young planners find the best place for their cardboard buildings on a large city grid.

TOTSAPALOOZA 8: Coming February 6, 2016 (Toronto)

TOTSAPALOOZA

Small Print Toronto's

festival of 

picture books, indie-bands and DIY crafts 

is coming!  

Saturday, February 6, 2016

1 - 4 p.m.

at

Revival Nightclub

783 College Street

Tickets 

(get your tickets early as this event is often sold out)

Children (0-2 years of age)      Free

Children (older than 2)           $15

Adults                                      $20

Here's what adults and young people can enjoy:

Authors presenting picture books:

Neil Pasricha

author of The Book of Awesome presents his new kids' book

Awesome is Everywhere
Puffin

Cybèle Young

Governor General's Award winner  presents her newest children's book

Some Things I’ve Lost

Groundwood Books

(Reviewed here)

Lindsay Mattick
shares part of her family history in her book
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Kevin Sylvester

author of the Neil Flambé series shares (including providing books for sale!) of April release 

Super Duper Monster Viewer 

Groundwood Books

Arts & Crafts presented by magician craftician Kalpna Patel (December 2015's Ms. Chatelaine!)

Music & Dance
• Indie roots-rock trio Bellwoods Trinity
• DJ Matt Blackett (publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine)
• Audience choreography led by Anne Marie Williams of Movement Lab

A Photo Booth fun for the whole family

Food
Handmade snacks for sale from Wanda's Pie in the Sky pop-up bakery

Junior Sleuth Academy & Book Launch: The Dead Kid Detective Agency, Loyalist to a Fault (Toronto)

Small Print Toronto 

in partnership with Toronto Public Library

presents 

Junior Sleuth Academy

a mystery-writing workshop for writers aged 8-12

with artist-author 

Evan Munday

creator of the widely lauded series
The Dead Kid Detective Agency

on

Sunday, October 18th, 2015

2:30 p.m.

at 

Lillian Smith Library 

239 College St. (at Spadina)

Toronto

Get your free tickets here.

The workshop involves some 

supernatural sleuthing and creating spooky stories 

followed by

the launch 

(with books available for purchase and signing)

of Book 3 in The Dead Kid Detective Agency series

Loyalist To A Fault

by Evan Munday

ECW Press

9781770410749

304 pp.

Ages 9-13

September 2015

If you've kept up with the series, you'll know that October Schwartz made a promise to help solve the mysteries of the deaths of her five dead accomplices: Morna MacIsaac, Cyril Cooper, Tabetha Scott, Kirby LaFlamme, and Derek Running Water.  In Loyalist to a Fault, October looks into the death of Cyril Cooper in 1783, back to the time of the United Empire Loyalists.

The Friday Society Gala: Book Launch

Readers of all ages are invited
by 

hosts Penguin Books, Small Print Toronto, and the Gladstone Hotel

to attend

a gala of modernity and lively entertainments 

(their words, not mine)
 

in honour of Adrienne Kress' new steampunk book,

THE FRIDAY SOCIETY
 

on Friday, December 7, 2012
Doors open at 7:00 p.m., with the reading at 7:30p.m.

at
The Gladstone Hotel 

1214 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON

The evening will include:

• A reading by Adrienne Kress
• A demonstration of Bartitsu, the latest technique is self defense, by the Riot A.C.T.
• Displays of the latest in modern technologies by Messrs Smith and Bodine
• A screening of the book trailer

For an interesting touch, guests are invited to feel free to wear Steampunk! For ideas on how to put together a steampunk outfit from your own closet, visit Adrienne Kress' website here.

 

Cybèle Young Presents . . . Block Letters

Join 

Cybèle Young

author and illustrator 

of

A Few Blocks

written and illustrated by Cybèle Young

Groundwood Books

978-0888999955

48 pp.

Ages 5-7

2011

and

her newest

A Few Bites

written and illustrated by Cybèle Young

Groundwood Books

978-1554982950

48 pp.

Ages 5-7

September 1, 2012

on 

Saturday, September 29, 2012

from 1 - 4 p.m.

at the

Lillian H. Smith Library

230 College St.

(east of Spadina Avenue)

Toronto

for

BLOCK LETTERS

A Social Mapping Project for Kids

Children from 2 - 8 years of age are invited to enjoy an afternoon with the winner of the 2011 Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration and Small Print Toronto on a guided exploration around the library with follow-up activities

as part of Culture Days 2012.