Tundra Books is the oldest children's book publisher in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Tundra Books was founded in 1967 by May Cutler, a

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

-based writer and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. Cutler established the publishing company in the basement of her home, becoming the first woman to publish

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

in Canada. The U.S. division of the company, Tundra Books of Northern New York, was founded in 1971. One of Tundra Books' best-selling titles has been the 1980 short story, ''

The Hockey Sweater ''The Hockey Sweater'' (''Le chandail de hockey'' in the original French) is a short story by Canadian author Roch Carrier and translated to English by Sheila Fischman. It was originally published in 1979 under the title "'" ("An abominable map ...

'', which was written by

Roch Carrier Roch Carrier (born 13 May 1937) is a French Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada. Life He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and studied a ...

, published by May Cutler, and illustrated by filmmaker

Sheldon Cohen Sheldon Cohen (born October 11, 1947) is the Robert E. Doherty University Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity and Disease. He is a member of the Departm ...

. After 28 years, Tundra Books was sold to

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. ...

.
McClelland & Stewart: About In 1996, Tundra Books' headquarters moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

from its former home in

Westmount, Quebec Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

, a suburb of

, and a new publisher, Kathy Lowinger, took over. In the late 2000s, Tundra reissued many children's titles, including

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

's ''

Jacob Two-Two ''Jacob Two-Two'' is a series of children's books written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler: ''Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang'' (1975), ''Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur'' (1987) and ''Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case'' (1995) written by Mor ...

'' books, ''The Olden Days Coat'' by

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

, Monica Hughes' Isis trilogy, and Veronica Tennant's ''On Stage, Please''. On May 15, 2007, Tundra Books celebrated its 40th anniversary. On June 24, 2009, Kathy Lowinger announced her retirement as publisher of Tundra Books. No new publisher was named; instead, Kathryn Cole was promoted to editorial director and Alison Morgan was promoted to managing director. Company founder May Cutler died in March 2011. On January 19, 2017, for their 50th anniversary, Tundra revealed their new logo designed by Frank Viva at Viva and Co. as well as the May Cutler Emerging Artist of the Year.

References

External links

Tundra Books website
* Archives of Tundra Book
(Tundra Books fonds, R11822)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

{{Authority control Book publishing companies of Canada Companies based in Toronto Children's book publishers