Friday, December 30, 2011

Like I Need Another Project

But this is a short one! A project to celebrate (or perhaps, mark, is the better word) my half-century on this planet.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ampersand Love


Ah, I love a beautiful ampersand. I can't decide which one on this link I love more though, the tattoo, the eye chart or the book cover?

The Great Sci/Why Giveaway

Want a chance to win a children's science book? Head on over to the Sci/Why blog — a blog hosted by a group of Canadian writers of science books for children — and take the quiz.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Bat in Hat

Last year I received a very interesting gift and it spurred the start of a new Christmas tradition around here:



Yup, that's a bat in a "hat" on the top of our tree.



It's a very cool bat puppet that my sweet sister got me last Christmas. (By artist Susan Cain of Hornby Island.) The hat is actually a sock I knit for one of my girls when they were little. It makes a good stand-in for a Santa hat.

So what's on the top of your tree this year?

PS This is the beauty that the bat replaced.



What do you think? Did we make the right decision?

(Apologies for the poor quality of the photos. I have a new camera and am too impatient to read the instructions.)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Kids Need Books (and many don't have them)

This is a pretty startling report from the UK.

So I learn with despair of the latest findings from the National Literacy Trust which show that a third of all children – nearly four million – do not own a single book.


It's a simple thing we can all try to do something about. (One easy idea that we started at our local school -- where I suspect this issue is a reality for some children -- is to set up a bookshelf near the front door of the school. We ask people to drop off gently-used children's books. The children can take a book if they'd like. What they do with it then is up to them. They could keep it, return it, share it with someone else. It doesn't matter.)

Monday, December 12, 2011

A New Year, A New Cover



I'm excited to finally be able to share this, the cover of my forthcoming book: Long Beach Wild. You can find out more here. The release date is April 2012. Details on launches and parties coming soon!