Tara Walker, publisher of Penguin Random House Canada Children’s Publishing Group, began her career at the bottom—literally. One of her first responsibilities as an assistant at Kids Can Press in Toronto was to paint the toenails of the company’s Franklin the Turtle mascot costume. “Brown nail polish,” she recalls.

Walker rose through the ranks, eventually becoming executive editor of the press and the shepherd of the beloved series about an anthropomorphic box turtle and his friends. “I had a fantastic training ground in Kids Can,” she says. “Valerie Hussey and the late Sheila Barry, who went on to be publisher at Groundwood Books, were amazing mentors. I learned the ropes and discovered a passion for picture books in particular.”

In 2011, after 16 years at Kids Can, she was tapped to lead Tundra Books and to reinvigorate its publishing program. “When I joined, they were publishing for the school and library markets mostly, and I saw the potential to make us more trade facing,” she says.

Walker brought Ben Clanton from Kids Can to Tundra. Clanton, with Walker’s encouragement and vision, went on to create the bestselling Narwhal and Jelly series, whose 10th installment, A Waffle Lot of Love!, will land on shelves in December. “I knew that we needed a series like his to help us publish books that we could take more risks with,” Walker says. “Kids Can had done that with the Franklin series and the Scaredy Squirrel series, which I acquired. I knew the impact a big commercial series could have on a publishing program.”

Kyo Maclear, one of Walker’s authors, describes today’s Tundra as “the Greta Gerwig of children’s publishers.” “It’s an apt description,” Walker says. “We’re very art forward. We’re known for books that tend to be a little offbeat. We’ve had some really interesting successes with books that don’t fit into neat categories, like Narwhal and Jelly, which was passed over in the U.S. because early graphic novels were not a thing. We stuck to our vision and it worked, and we’ve been doing longer-form picture books since, like Little Witch Hazel by Phoebe Wahl and Bug in a Vacuum by Mélanie Watt. We’ve taken some chances. We’re guided by what we’re passionate about.”

Three years ago, David A. Robertson, two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and a member of Norway House Cree Nation, and author Cherie Dimaline, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, approached Walker, with whom they both had publishing relationships, with a proposal for an Indigenous imprint. “It took us about a second to say yes,” Walker says. “I had been thinking about it in terms of truth and reconciliation, and what we could do as publishers to rewrite the wrongs of the past and give more voice to Indigenous storytellers, ensure Indigenous kids felt represented, and create a pipeline for Indigenous publishing talent.” Robertson serves as editorial director of the new imprint, Swift Water Books, which will release its first list in spring 2026. “We saw the need and hunger for more stories by Indigenous creators. Our author became our colleague, and he’s been doing an amazing job at the helm. He’s already signed 25 projects.”

Tundra Books is the oldest children’s publisher in Canada, founded in 1967 by May Cutler, and, while Walker takes that responsibility seriously, “I don’t wear that mantle heavily, because I think you need a light spirit to create children’s books,” she says. “We are all perfectionists who strive to make the very best books, and create the best possible publishing experience for our authors and illustrators. We also have a lot of fun. I think of the work we do as kind of like Kermit the Frog rallying his Muppet colleagues to put on the Muppet Show. Every book is like an episode of the show. Some days I feel like Kermit, some days like Miss Piggy, and some days, a little like Gonzo. Even Animal on occasion!”

Pooja Makhijani is a writer and editor in New Jersey.

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