CARSTAIRS – The founder of Red Barn Books said she was stunned to learn that the second illustrated children’s book in the publisher’s Howdy series was recognized as Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year.
“That makes it a hat trick for Red Barn Books,” said Ayesha Clough, who in 2019 launched the Carstairs-area publishing company that was named Emerging Publisher of the Year during the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards.
Howdy, I’m John Ware, the first in the series that presents a child-friendly account not only of historical but also influential and diverse Alberta settlers and pioneers, had previously been recognized by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, as had a board book released last year called Alberta Blue.
More recently, Howdy, I’m Flores LaDue, which in 2022 was released in tandem with International Women’s Day, was named Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year on Thursday, Sept. 21 at an awards night in Edmonton hosted by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.
The 44-page illustrated story written for ages seven to 10 sheds light on the life of Canada’s little-known rodeo queen, Flores LaDue (1883-1951), who despite a fairly short physical stature measuring less than 1.5-metres (five-feet) tall nevertheless managed to forge a respectable reputation as a world champion trick roper and co-founder of the Calgary Stampede.
Asked what her reaction was upon hearing Flores was named Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year, Clough said, “Total shock.”
“I mean, we had won the children’s book for Alberta Blue last year and for John Ware the previous year,” she told the Albertan on Sept. 25.
“And I thought, ‘There’s no way we’re going to do three in a row,’” said Clough, adding she hadn’t even prepared an acceptance speech just in case.
“Plus, there were four really strong books in the category this time,” she added.
Howdy, I’m Flores LaDue had also been named as a contender in the Regional Book of the Year category, which ended up going to a photo book published by the University of Calgary Press called A Stunning Backdrop: Alberta in the Movies, 1917-1960, by Mary Graham.
“It’s all about a history of movies set in Alberta,” said Clough.
Print runs for the Howdy series have to date gone fairly well, she said, adding about 250 classrooms throughout the province had at one point dialled in to participate in a video call through the Calgary Public Library.
“We had some good uptake in schools and school teachers,” she said. “And the book just kind of keeps selling at every market and ticks along quite steadily.”
But she hopes to find a way to get the books into the hands of even more young students.
“I’m still trying to figure out how we get the folks at Alberta Education to make it almost like a bulk buy so that schools all across Alberta will get the John Ware book, the Flores book because there’s a real emphasis on having Alberta content more in schools,” she said.
“These books sit so nicely because they basically just tell the stories of our pioneers and they give our kids these really local role models,” she said, going onto add, “John Ware is already recommended as part of the curriculum.”
And the Howdy series isn’t about to go riding off into the sunset any time too soon either, with plans already well underway for the third instalment featuring Harnam Hari, the first Indo Canadian to set foot in Calgary and who went on to become a hog farmer and rancher. That book is expected to be released in the fall of 2024.
“The script is all locked down,” she said, adding the next part of the process involves working on the illustrations with a young Edmonton-based artist named Ravina Toor, who was born in Alberta’s capital but has Punjabi Sikh roots.
The author, Kelly Kaur, from Calgary, is an instructor at Mount Royal University who also has a Punjabi Sikh background, said Clough.
Although Hari had initially arrived in the country with nary a cent to his name, he built from scratch a legacy that endures to this day, she said.
“When he sold his farm land, which is kind of near Chinook Mall (in Calgary), he became one of the richest men in southern Alberta,” she said.
“And the fifth generation of that Hari family is still farming in the High River area and his descendants work in various parts of the province doing various occupations. So, they’re a very well-established, well-known family,” she said.
Clough makes a point of recruiting creative minds with a connection to cultures of those whose stories are being told.
In the story about Flores, Indigenous people were featured fairly prominently on a few pages because “they were such a big part of the very first Stampede back in 1912, and every year since then,” she said.
So illustrator Keegan Starlight was brought onboard to provide feedback and guidance on any parts of the story that featured elements of Indigenous culture.
And Hugh Rookwood, a Black artist who originally hails from Toronto but now calls Airdrie home, was brought back to illustrate Flores after bringing to the John Ware project his passion and “animated style that kids love.”
“Even kids who normally just don’t want to read books, they will sit there transfixed by his art,” she said.
Rookwood attended the awards ceremony alongside Clough.
“When Hugh was accepting the award, he talked about how wonderful it is to leave a legacy for children and give back to the community by sharing our local stories,” she said.
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