It’s here! The korean version of The Branch is now available. Doesn’t it look cool? Thank you to the team at Kids Can Press who keep finding new and wonderful ways to make my story travel and reach more readers!
Braille Inspires!
It is with great honour that I will be the judge of the 2017 edition of the Creative Braille Writing Contest. Organized by the CNIB, this one-of-a-kind competition is open to anglophone and francophone primary and secondary students who are blind or partially sighted and who live in Canada. The stories, essays and poems will be submitted in braille where a panel of experts will rate them on their accuracy. Afterwards, the texts will be translated into sighted text for me to enjoy. I can’t wait!
The goal of this contest is to encourage kids with vision challenges to write and express themselves in braille while sharing their work with others from across the country. There are many cash prizes to be won in dozens of categories and the winners will be announced this fall during a great awards ceremony with all the finalists.
Here is an interview (in French) with Amélie Boucher, the 7 year old winner of last year’s competition in the poetry category. Impressive, n’est-ce pas? 
I am thrilled to be part of this wonderful initiative and wish all the participants good luck!
The Branch is in the Running!
Good news! The Branch has been shortlisted for the 2017-2018 Chickadee Award (Maine’s Children’s Choice Picture Book Award)!
Fingers crossed! 🙂
Ma branche préférée, now available in stores!
Hooray! Hurrah! Hurray!
Whichever way you spell it (or say it!) the feeling remains the same. I’m thrilled to announce that Ma branche préférée, the French version of my picture book The Branch, is now available in good book stores everywhere. Book stores like this one, and this one, and this one!
Your resolution for 2017 was to read more books or to learn French? Look no further! Start the year off right by getting a copy of Ma branche préférée! 🙂
Bestiole finalist for OLA’s 2017 Forest of Reading Award
Q: Who will be reading my picture book “Une Bestiole à l’école” this winter and spring?
A: Hundreds of Ontario kids!
That’s because “Une bestiole à l’école” has been selected for the 2017 Prix Peuplier awards (French picture books category) of the prestigious Forest of Reading program!
The Forest of Reading awards are a “children’s-choice” type award program which means the young readers of hundreds of schools in Ontario will register, select the category they want (there are 12!), read the finalists’ book and finally vote for their favourite book in each prize category.
The list of finalists has just been announced and I am thrilled to be among this incredibly talented bunch! For a complete list of the finalists, click here!
The winning books will be revealed in May at the Festival of Trees, an amazing event at Harbourfront. Fingers crossed!
The Branch – Short-listed for the GG Young People’s Literature Illustrated Books award!
First came an email from a friend of mine who is a morning-show journalist: Congrats on your nomination!
It was 6:20 am. What nomination, I thought. Am I still dreaming?
Later came the phone calls, the messages, the texts… Congrats!
By 9:02 am the news was everywhere on my Facebook feed: my picture book The Branch had been short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Awards in the Young People’s Illustrated Book category!
Since then, I’ve been on cloud nine! This is a first for me. A first book in English. And first time being nominated for a GG. I am honoured that my book was selected and humbled to see my name amongst children’s literature giants such as Sydney Smith, Jo Ellen Bogart, Lucy Ruth Cummins, Esmé Shapiro and so many more!
To see the list of all the nominated books (and to get reading before the announcement of the winners on October 25th) click here!
2017 TD Canadian Children’s Book Week – I’m Going on Tour!
illustration Janice Nadeau
More good news! This year, I’ll be taking part in the 40th edition of the TD Canadian Children’s Book Week! It’s an incredible honour to have been selected for this splendid event!
Illustration Janice Nadeau
From May 6th to May 13th 2017, thirty top-notch Canadian children’s authors, illustrators and storytellers (including yours truly) will be simultaneously zigzagging the country to spread their love of reading and writing from coast to coast. Each of us will meet hundreds of students, teachers, and book-lovers of all kinds.
I don’t yet know which province I’ll be visiting (fingers crossed for somewhere near an ocean, I’ll keep you posted) but one thing is for sure – I will be there with bells on! And I’ll be posting tons of pictures and updates so you can live this wonderful tour vicariously through us. Share the wonder!
Until then I will be honing my presentation skills and dreaming of the road trip in new parts of Canada.
Want to know who else will be on tour this Spring? Click here!
The Branch
When a branch from her beloved tree snaps off during an icy storm, a plucky girl refuses to let it be hauled away. Her neighbour, Mr. Franck, says it’s full of potential. So with imagination and spirit (and Mr. Frank’s help), the girl creates something whole and new out of the broken branch, to be enjoyed again and again!
Endearing and richly illustrated, this hands-on tale will delight and inspire makers of all ages.
THE BRANCH
Kids Can Press
Story by Mireille Messier
Illustrations by Pierre Pratt
32 pages, hard cover
Ages 3+
ISBN 978-1-77138-564-0
$18.95
The Branch is also available in French, Dutch and Korean!
Click here to watch the book trailer!
Click here to invite the author for a school visit!
Click here to buy the book!
Click here to download the free teaching guide!
Prizes and distinctions for The Branch
Short-listed for the 2016 Governor General Award, Young People’s Literature Illustrated Book category.
Short-listed for the Maine’s Readers’ Choice Chickadee Award.
Nominee for the Surrey School’s Picture Book of the Year Award.
Finalist for the 2018 Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award.
Finalist for the 2018-19 Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Award, Shining Willow category
Enregistrer
New Release – The Branch is now in stores!
Drumroll please!…
My new picture book, The Branch, is now finally in stores! Tada!
As you can see, I couldn’t just take my publisher’s word for it. I had to go check for myself. So I wandered over to my local bookstore, went in (unannounced, I might add) and, sure enough, there it was, on the shelf at Ella Minnow Bookstore, in all its crispy-never-been-opened-new-book glory! How absolutely wonderful!
Already, the reviews for The Branch are coming in! Click on the links to read what the folks at Kirkus, Montreal Gazette, Publishers Weekly and Goodreads have to say about it!
Oh! And if you’d like a signed copy, they have a few on hand at Ella Minnow 😉
What’s in a Name? And How Do You Pronounce It?
Living in Toronto with a name like “Mireille” makes for some interesting takes on how it is said. I’ve heard them all: Merell, Muriel, Murray, Merielle… and that’s those who at least try! I often simply get a blank stare meaning “this-does-not-compute” and they then proceed to go out of there way not to say my name. C’est la vie!
I know my name is hard to pronounce! And TeachingBooks.net knows it too! That’s why they asked me to record a fun tutorial on “How To Pronounce My Name”! Have a listen and give it a try. All the Mireille’s in the world will thank you 😉
When you’re nicely warmed up from pronoucing Mireille, have a go at saying Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Jyotsna Sreenivasan and Tone Pavcek.
And you thought Mireille was tricky! Ha! 😉