Transatlantic is beyond elated to announce that Russ Willms’ QUIET PLEASE! has won the 2023 Joan Betty Stuchner Oy Vey! Funniest Children’s Book Award in the picture book category!

The Joan Betty Stuchner—Oy Vey! —Funniest Children’s Book Award was created in memory of this beloved children’s author and teacher.  Joan was many things—brave, gracious, warm, generous, kind and absolutely hilarious to boot.  (“Oy vey!” she’s probably saying now . . .) With this award we honour Joan’s life-affirming humour and encourage other children’s writers to laugh it up on the page the way she did.

Written and illustrated by award-winning author Russ Willms, QUIET, PLEASE! (Orca Books) is sure to become a favorite of any young bibliophile who enjoys a good book and a peaceful place to read it.

About the book:

Junior the giraffe is just looking for a nice quiet place to read his book.

But there is one problem (actually, five problems): Junior’s brothers and sisters are the noisiest giraffes in the jungle! Whether it’s band practice, family singalongs or just really loud burping, Junior can’t escape the noise of his sonorous siblings! In an act of desperation, he finally discovers the one thing that will keep them quiet: reading his book out loud.

Russ Willms has always had a passion for art and fun, and humour has been part of his own expression throughout his career. His work has been featured in hundreds of magazines, books and ad campaigns throughout the world.

Russ is represented by Elizabeth Bennett.

To learn more about the awards, click here: http://www.joanbettystuchneraward.org

Congratulations Russ!

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