Hurt and angry that his grandfather is selling the family farm, Todd has come to help him prepare for the auction that will take place the following day. What starts out as a sad occasion becomes happy as the two share the stories of the old days when Grandfather created the farm out of the prairie. The Auction is a beautiful and moving story about coming to grips with loss and change.

Jan Andrews lives at the end of the road on a lake in Eastern Ontario. The plants and creatures in her Orca book The Twelve Days of Summer can all be found in her backyard. She has a love for the Canadian wilderness and, when not writing, can often be found canoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking or rock climbing, depending on the season. Jan has been part of the world of Canadian children's literature for thirty years and more. Her titles include such classic picture books as Very Last First Time and The Auction. She has contributed to the Dear Canada series through her book Winter of Peril.

An accomplished storyteller with a passionate concern for oral traditions, she has produced the folktale collection Out of the Everywhere. New Tales for Canada and set down the true story of Pa's Harvest as heard from another teller. She has a new book coming out in 2007 entitled The Stories at the Door—a work of rollicking fun and humour. Jan loves to do school visits and is prepared to travel widely to remote and urban locations. She gives teacher workshops and does conference presentations. Her specialty is letting her listeners know how much she cares about them.

She is the Artistic Director for two storytelling series and the Director of Storysave, a project for recording elders from the Canadian storytelling community for CDs and audio website. Somehow, with all of this, Jan has never quite managed to get her own website organized - although she keeps trying! She can, however, be reached at jandrews@magma.ca.

Jan Andrews' profile page

Karen Reczuch has illustrated many award-winning children’s books. Loon by Susan Vande Griek won the TD Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-fiction, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Picture Book Award and the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Information Book Award. Karen’s other publications include West Coast Wild, winner of the VCLR Information Book Award; The Auction by Jan Andrews, a Governor General’s Award finalist; Just Like New by Ainslie Manson, winner of the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award; and Salmon Creek, winner of the BC Book Prize. Karen’s work includes scientific, historical and archeological illustration, and has been exhibited internationally.

Karen Reczuch's profile page

• Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Awards: Text

...contains a gentle message...Readers will approach this book on different levels; the child may enjoy it simply for its pictures and for the feeling of warmth between the grandfather and his grandson. An adult will appreciate the deeper philosophy involved.

Winnipeg Free Press