Still more wishes...and more writers

There's been quite a bit of discussion on a few listservs about the new report I blogged about a few days ago. Some people feel we're focussing too much on books when we discuss reading -- there's a lot of other reading going on -- while others say that maybe we need to rejig the material we're presenting to kids, making things more relevant rather than relying on older "classics." (I have to say, I know that The Outsiders and The Giver are fine, fine books, but sheesh, how many fabulous books have been written since - and by Canadian writers, too? For novel study this year my daughter's grade 9 class read an Agatha Cristie novel. No excuse for that.

But, there are lots of ideas for action circulating too. Here's one that I love: Work with your local elementary school to have a small bookshelf full of books that kids can take home...forever if they want. So many kids have no, or very few, books of their own. Suggest that the books are donated by local people culling their children's bookshelves, or by cruising thrift shops where many the bargain can be snapped up. Of course, new books are welcome, too.

Here's another thing we do at home. We don't say grace as a matter of course in our family, but we did start to read a poem before dinner instead. Consequently, our shelf of poetry has grown to three shelves, and my kids hear the occasional (okay, we don't do it every night) poem outside of school (or my poorly realized attempts). And speaking of poems, check back here soon for an interview of the fabulous Tiffany Stone, "poetess extraordinaire" and author of two of our favourite silly poems books, Baaaad Animals and Floyd the Flamingo and his Flock of Friends.

In response to my list of wishes, I heard from Liam O'Donnell last week. Liam is the prolific author of many books including the Wild Ride graphic novels, the Max Finder series (OWL readers will recognize Max), and books in a very cool looking series of graphic non-fiction books by educational publisher Capstone Press. (I'll have to get my mitts on those titles for a peek. Knowing the world actually has a graphic "novel-style" book on photosynthesis warms my heart.) Liam is currently on a Book Week tour in Nunavut. Lucky duck. (And lucky kids, too.)

I also heard from Diane Haynes last week. Diane is the author of the Jane Ray Wildlife Rescue Series. Titles thus far include Flight or Flight and Crow Medicine. (A third is on it's way I believe -- watch for Gaia Wild sometime in the near future.) Diane is passionate about animals and her commitment comes through in these well-researched novels. I read Crow Medicine last year and remember clearly the passion of our heroine Jane Ray as she naviagates the tricky territory of crows (and their bad reputation; I love 'em though -- we even did an issue of KNOW on crows and ravens), West Nile virus, and fighting for the rights of animals and the survival of her beloved wildlife rehabilitation centre. Young readers looking for adventure stories with strong girls (who love animals) as central characters should give these books a read.

Even More Wishes and Endangered Books

Here's an idea from Cheryl: "The wish that I would add would be that people post a blurb, review, or interview about a Canadian children's author or illustrator or one of their books that they love. Help get the word out about good Canadian children's fiction. And it doesn't have to be this week. It can be any time throughout the year."

On that note, it's a happy day around here because I received the Fall issue of the Canadian Children's Book News and in it I found this little gem: "Friends and colleagues of the late Marion Seary have established a new award -- the Marion Seary Endangered Book Award. Marion Seary -- reader, bookseller, librarian and bestower of books on the young -- was a fierce advocate of excellent writing, beautiful illustrations and deep imagination in books for children. The Endangered Book Award will name wonderful books that are in danger of no longer receiving the readership they deserve."

Wouldn't you love to be remembered as a "bestower of books on the young?" Wonderful. The award "will recognize and honour five important children's books (for infants to age 12) that the committee feels should never go out of print, but which are not recognized as classics."

And speaking of The Canadian Children's Book News', its editor, Gillian O'Reilly, sent along kudos for my wish list. And kudos back to you m'dear for all you do. I have huge admiration for anyone who tackles a book on math like Gillian and Cora Lee just did with their The Great Number Rumble. (The book was reviewed in the most recent issue of YES Mag and received a score of 10 out of 10 from a young reviewer. The review also said: "This book is for two kinds of people: those who love math and those who don't.") And then there was her Slangalicious: Where We Got That Crazy Lingo, which I've yet to read, but I'll add it to the stack.

More Wishes

Thanks to the creative folk who responded to my "wishes" post the other day. Here are the words of wisdom from two Canadian creators. More tomorrow.

Author Nikki Tate suggested we "purchase a children's book by a Canadian author and donate it to a women's shelter in your community." Great idea, Nikki. If you live in BC or the Yukon, you might look for a transition house near you here. Nikki is currently on tour for Book Week in Saskatchewan. Check out Nikki's blog or website, with recent news and info. on her books, which include the Stablemates, Estorian Chronicles, and Tarragon Island series. Nikki has been in the news a little more than usual lately because of the controversy over one word in her book, Trouble on Tarragon Island. (And, no, the word wasn't scrotum, it was ... bazoongas!) Besides being a prolific writer and presenter, Nikki is also a bookseller at Bolen's Books, one of my favourite bookstores.



Illustrator Patricia Storms, with her characteristic wit and humour, suggests that in light of the dearth of good television at the moment (strike and all), we "post signs that read "Celebrate Canadian Children's Book Week!" on all the TV sets of all the people you know." Yes, I say, (although I think I might squeeze in Corner Gas) Or, you could check out Patricia's blog, Booklust, or one of her books, such as Good Granny/Bad Granny or 13 Ghosts of Halloween, all of which are also full of said characteristic wit and humour. Funny gal; great artist. Make sure you check out the description of the fabulous library that Patricia grew up with, or the one she has now. I covet both! And make sure you check out the hilarious promo by the author of Good Granny, Bad Granny, Mary McHugh.

Another Reason To Fill Your House With Books

No doubt by now you've heard the scuttlebutt about the lasted study correlating reading for pleasure and school performance to come out of the National Endowment for the Arts. The key findings are summarized at the blog The Monkey Speaks and at the NEA site, but this is the paragraph that really caught my eye, as reported by Motoko Rich at the New York Times:

In seeking to detail the consequences of a decline in reading, the study showed that reading appeared to correlate with other academic achievement. In examining the average 2005 math scores of 12th graders who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, an analysis of federal Education Department statistics found that those students scored much lower than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books. Although some of those results could be attributed to income gaps, Mr. Iyengar noted that students who lived in homes with more than 100 books but whose parents only completed high school scored higher on math tests than those students whose parents held college degrees (and were therefore likely to earn higher incomes) but who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books.

I've heard about a similar study, which I can't put my finger on, and it somehow correlated lots of books in the home to better performance in school even if the kids weren't reading the books. If you know of that study/report please remind me of the source.

When I told my husband about the study this morning he wondered aloud what the results would be for a house with over a thousand books... I'll let you know the results of our informal test of that study in about 5 years or so.

Canadian Children's Book Week

Huzzah, huzzah, it's almost Book Week! In celebration of all things Canadian and bookish, I have a wish list. Pretty, pretty please, choose one of these things (or five!) to do in celebration.

[This is this year's fabulous Book Week poster, illustrated by Martin Springett. Used with permission.]



Wish #1: Go to your bookshelf (or your kids') and dust off a Canadian classic you've been wanting to re-read. You know, Jacob Two-Two, Jelly Belly, even Anne of Green Gables would make me happy. (I know, I know, "classic" is subjective. Make your own criteria and go for it.)

Wish #2: Send book from Wish #1 to a child you love. Or even one you don't love, or even one you don't know. Tell them, "Hey, a Canadian wrote this book, ya know? And I think you might just like it."

Wish #3: Find a Canadian author or illustrator you have never heard of and check out their bio and their books. The Canadian Children's Book Centre, The Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP), and, in BC, the Children's Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL-BC), have wonderful links to Canadian authors and illustrators.

Wish #4: Git yer tootsies over to your nearest bookstore and buy a brand spanking new book (or five) by a Canadian author and/or illustrator.

Wish #5: If you have a bookstore in your community or neighborhood with a great selection of Canadian books, take the owner a coffee or a cookie, wish them a happy Canadian Children's Book Week and give them a big hug or smooch or just shake their hand and say thanks.

Wish #6: If your local school actually has a librarian, give them a cookie too. Then write a letter to the provincial government, cc'd to the local School District, principal and newspaper explaining why oh why it's so very important to have librarians in each and every school who love children's books and want to share them with children and teachers and parents.

Wish #7: If you are a publsihed writer or illustrator, sit yourself down with a friend or relative who loves you, but just really doesn't get it, and explain how royalties mean that you are only getting 10 or 7 or 5 percent (or maybe less?) of the list price of a book and that authors actually have to buy their own books and that it's really not a great idea to be demanding books for less and less because, ya know, it hurts the author, the illustrator and the publisher too. And then ask them, pretty please, to tell two friends and ask them to tell two friends and so on and so on and so on. (Oh, and while I'm at it, tell them that photocopying your book and sharing it with all of their friends is NOT a good idea — yup, it happened to me — do it with a smile and give them a cookie.)

Wish #8: If, like me, you fritter away a good part of your early morning writing on your blog or reading other peoples' blogs or surfing the Internet when you could be doing something more virtuous like Ashtanga yoga or going for a long jog, do something useful and post a blurb that celebrates Canadian Children's Book Week.

Wish #9: As a gift for your favourite young person, start your own version of a Book of the Month club where, each month, you send them a book or two off your shelf, or from a second-hand (or, ideally of course, first hand) bookstore!

Wish #10: Repeat any of the above at any time -- make this year Canadian Children's Book Year.

(Okay, just one more. Tell me what you wish for Canadian Children's Book Week and send it to me here. I'll post it and link to your website or blog, too.)

Sardines in Space

My lovely daughter, P, is somewhat of a reluctant reader. She's an enthusiastic listener, so I am not worried, but it warms my heart to see her sit on the couch and, on her own volition, become immersed in a book. My book antennae are on constant alert for new graphic novels to fire her way -- something other than BONE, please. So I was delighted to come across the Sardine in Outer Space series. There are four books in the series by French artists Emmanuel Guibert and Joann Sfar. I love these guys already for their quirky sense of humour and fun, fun books, and, um, they live in Paris and I wanna go. (Apparently they shared a studio space in Paris for many years and would alternate tasks in particular project -- one would write the other would illustrate on one project; on the next one, they'd switch. A talented duo for sure.)

Sardine is a little red-headed girl in a tall blue hat and matching blue gown. (Her black cat lives on the top of her hat, making it look as if the cat is the peak of a witchs'-type hat.) Sardine lives on the spaceship Huckleberry, which is piloted by her swashbuckling space pirate Uncle Yellow Shoulder. The trio is rounded out by Little Louie. In each book, there are 12 short stories, most of which involve battling the tyrant Supermuscleman and his evil sidekick, Doc Kroc. In the first story in volume 2 for instance, Uncle Yellow, Sardine and Louie are off to break into Supermuscleman's orphanage and free all of the kids the evil SMM is putting through his "obedience training," complete with a gigantic brainwashing machine. The kids who are dropped into the brainwashing machine don't go willingly of course, and shout out things such as "Supermusclman, you're a dirty bedpan" (to which SMM and Doc Kroc respond - DK: Ew....that one was particularly filthy. SMM: I'll press VERY DIRTY!) or "Kroc, you old schmuck!!" much to the hilarity of the reader. And so we go on.

The stories are short, funny and witty, with enough "in jokes" for adults and just the right amount of potty humour IMHO. In The Cha-Cha Fly, for instance, children bitten by the cha-cha fly "get stupid dance tunes stuck in [their] head and just can't get them out." One victim is now "skipping" and keeps repeating the same line over and over again. Too boot, "Cha-cha flies live in cocoa trees. They use their delicious chocolate turds to lure their victims to them." Yes, gross but somehow charming in a warped kind of way. So, my vote for a great graphic novel series for pre-teens definitely goes to Sardine and friends. The series is published by First Second Books (who also have some great-looking graphic novels for adults). You can read some other reviews here.

Remembrance Day Reading - 3

I saved my favourite for last - Sadako. There are a few versions of this story out there, but I like the version by Eleanor Coerr best. Rivetting cover, too. The story chokes me up every time and is well worth a read with children who are a bit older, I believe. Having just had my 10-year-old speechless with fear about global warming (she had to write me notes) I'm sensitive at the moment about how much angst and fear of the world we should put on the shoulders of our kids. Still, it is a lovely story about the strength of spirit and the humanity that can appear in the darkest times. For more on Sadako's story go here.

A very emotional Remembrance Day at our school. The vice-principal was in tears reading an essay written by the grade 7 girl and the principal who took over from her just barely held it together. The kids sang sweetly -- I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Lean on Me and others. And then there was the video with a song by Terry Kelly. We see it every year, but man it gets to me. Despite what you think of wars, past or present, it is worth stopping for a moment to consider how blessed we are to live in a peaceful, fabulous country.

Remembrance Day Reading - 2

In Canada, when you think of writers who write fabulous books on history, Linda Grandfield immediately leaps to mind. She's written a lot of my favourites and many which I read and say "Gee, I wish I'd written/thought of that!". Granfield has written several books about war and, for Remembrance Day, you'd be wise to get yourself to the local bookstore or library to check out In Flanders Field: The Story of a Poem by John McCrae (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1995) and Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2001).

In Flanders Field weaves John McCrae's famous poem of the same name with historical facts about World War I. Paintings by Janet Wilson interpret the poem line-by-line and sketches, photographs, and memorabilia are included throughout.




Where Poppies Grow uses a scrapbook style to illustrate the the tradgedy and reality of World War I. Vintage postcards (written by soldiers to their loved ones), black & white and colour photographs, and memorabilia such as posters, training manuals, propaganda support Granfield's text.

Check out Granfield's website. There are short blurbs about the books mentioned here, along with the kudos they've received and info. about her other titles, including these related to war: I Remember Korea: Veterans Tell Their Stories of the Korean War, 1950-53, High Flight: A Story of World War II, and Brass Buttons and Silver Horseshoes: Stories from Canada's British War Brides. She reports she's currently writing a biography of John McCrae and also a book on The Unknown Soldier. I look forward to those titles.

Remembrance Day Reading - 1

With Remembrance Day on the horizon, I thought a post on a few great Canadian titles to share with kids. For younger readers, ages 5 to 9 or so, there is Heather Patterson's A Poppy is to Remember (North Winds Press, 2004). This picture book, with lovely images by the fabulous Ron Lightburn, explains the symbolism of the poppy and how this flower became the symbol of remembrance. You can hear a podcast review on Just One More Book.

Sugar Highs (and Lows)

I was intrigued to search out The Candy Darlings after reading a column by author Christine Walde in Quill and Quire (September 2007). She described her book as being pretty edgy ("It had sex. Drug use. Drinking. Violence, both physical and psychological. Not to mention torture.") I was intrigued, particularly because we were discussing in class how dark YA fiction can get. And this is pretty dark. Edgy, gritty, rife with mean, sneaky girls and teenaged angst.

Our protagonist -- who remains nameless throughout -- moves to a new neighbourhood after the death of her mother. Her father is emotionally distant, but she is happy to have a clean slate and only wants to fit in. She can't stomach candy because one of the last images she has of her mother was with a slow intravenous drip, which she describes being like sugar water. (Her aversion to candy did change, rather abruptly I felt. It didn't ring quite true to me.) At first she does fit in, with the popular (but uber nasty) clique of three girls. Things turn when Megan Chalmers comes to town. Megan couldn't care less about fitting in and maximizes her shock value (both in behaviour and appearance). Her background is mysterious and she periodically disappears throughout the book. Megan and our no-name gal bond and it becomes, predictably, but true to reality I believe, a great set up for a teen girl turf war, with all its nastiness and sneakiness and back stabbing. Megan is continually popping candy and each chapter is named as such (Astro Pop, Fun Dip, etc.)

I enjoyed the book, but have to say that I found it bogged down near the end, particularly when the girls become candy stripers (which seemed a bit out of character, except that they did it partially to gain access to their beloved candy) and befriend an elderly woman who also loves candy. This woman begins a rambling tale, told to the girls in parts at each visit. I found myself drifting from time to time at this point, but it comes together for a satisfying conclusion, and even leaves us wanting a bit more. A few things unresolved, but that didn't bother me. I did crave red licorice when I was done though.

A few reviews here: Canadian Materials and Quill and Quire.

Here's a little bit from the Quill and Quire piece by Walde where she explains how the story began:

"In the beginning, my first book was supposed to be a collection of postcard stories about candy. It all started while I was living in Northern Ontario and saw a teenage girl kiss her boyfriend after feeding him a blue gumball. That sparked a story called "Tear Jerker Guts," which was then followed by "Astro Pop," "Fun Dip," and "Lotsa Fizz," among others."

Just For Fun

PEZ reinvented! A short time-waster. Gotta love those PEZ. Thanks for Fuse #8 via Bookshelves Of Doom for the link. (Two great blogs by the way.)

Blog for the Environment

It's Blog Action Day and today's focus is the environment. So in that spirit, today's entry Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth by Rochelle Strauss (Kids Can Press, 2004). This large format book uses the tree as a metaphor -- the family tree of life on earth if you will. Strauss opens by speaking directly to the reader and comparing a family tree to the "Tree of Life" for all living things. From there, she introduces the five kingdoms of life: Monera, Fungi, Protoctista, Plants and Animals. Each of the first four kingdoms gets its own spread before we get a more detailed break-down of the Animal Kingdom, with its approximately 1 318 000 species. (Or, as Strauss relates the information, animals give 1 318 000 leaves to the tree of life.) Given that animals are ultimately more interesting to young readers than, say, cyanobacteria (although cyanobacteria are pretty cool, and we probably wouldn't be living on this planet without them), this was probably a good move. Each of the larger categories of animals gets its own spread (reptiles, fish, mammals, etc.).

The book is visually very beautiful, with lovely illustrations by Margot Thompson. The images of the organisms are bright and engaging and she's chosen some great species to illustrate, such as the Jamaican leaf-nosed bat, the tardigrade, and the panther chameleon. On each spread, Strauss gives a general introduction to the topic at hand and then gives us the numbers. (On the page for vertebrates, for instance, we learn there are 25 100 fish, 9800 birds, 8000 reptiles, 4960 amphibians, and 4640 mammals, totalling 52 500 leaves on the Tree of Life.) After this introductory sections, Strauss narrows in on a few organisms in detail. (For example, on page 15 we learn: "High up in tropical rainforests, the bromeliad grows into a "bowl" of leaves attached to a tree. This bowl catches water and becomes a habitat for many species of frogs, insects, spiders and worms. The largest bromeliad is just a bit smaller than a backpack. It can hold nearly 7.5L (2 US gal.) of water.")

The last page in the overview of the Tree of Life, finds us with 1 species: humans. This is an important page as children will learn that we are just 1 of the 1 750 000 leaves on the Tree of Life. As Strauss says: "Yet, with a population of over six billion, humans have the greatest impact on the Tree of Life." From there, readers learn about habitat loss and endangered species as well as some ways to help preserve habitats and our earth's biodiversity.

Children hear enough about global warming and recycling and turning off the lights to help "save the world." I'm not a fan of telling kids they can save the world, frankly. They've got enough to worry about without that weight on their shoulders, yet, I think it is very important they know where they fit in the scheme of things on our planet. And, hopefully, if they become more aware of the incredible diversity of life and habitats and cultures and religions and music and food and books ... well, just the diversity of life on our planet, they will learn to respect and care for all life. To that end, The Tree of Life is a wonderful tool -- it's not preachy, but it fuels the wonderful childhood quality: curiosity. Share the book with a child (or 30) and then get out there and discover the incredible diversity in your neighbourhood (even a yard or a ditch or a vacant woodlot can usually yield some treasures if one's willing to slow down and look).

The final spread in the book is an excellent Note to Parents, Teachers and Guardians, with more detailed information on the classification of living things as well as some more suggestions are exploring biodiversity with young people.

Kayaking and Cemeteries

A few weeks ago I was asked to tag along on a kayak trip to talk about local history. My eldest daughter and joined the group and had a wonderful time on a beautifully sunny fall day paddling through the harbour islands. I write about local history in our local monthly and write columns like this on local place names. We ended our trip at an island locally called Cemetery Island, where many of the pioneers are buried. Lovely, lovely island. When I die, bury me there.

ABC Spook Show

This is the Halloween book I'd really like to get my mitts on: ABC Spook Show. Who can resist an ABC book with entries "from Apparitions to Zombies." This title is created by the wonderful Vancouver artist, Ryan Heshka.

Here's a peek inside at the "M is for Mad Scientist" page, which I plucked from his web site.










And this is what The Georgia Strait magazine had to say about his book:

"Vancouver artist Ryan Heshka's love for old horror movies, 10-cent magazines, and stuff you send away for from the back pages of comic books is obvious in this Halloween-themed ABC book. Every page is beautiful, and the expressions of the ghosts, ghouls, and monsters are priceless. See the Mad Scientist pull the lever on the red alien squid ("Boys, this is it!")! Quake at the terrible hunger of the Imp ("Red-Itchy-Scaly")! Tremble at the electric-voodoo beams from the eyes of the Bat ("High-Voltage Fun")! If only the pages were twice as big…"

The Georgia Strait has reviews of a slew of other kids' books here. I'll be saving my pennies for this keeper.

Second Hand Score: Georgie

Halloween's a comin' and what better way to celebrate than to dust off this score I picked up for 25 cents. I remember Georgie by Robert Bright from when I was a kid. It was published by Scholastic in 1944 (the cover price then was 45 cents), and it has that very nostalgic feel to it -- single colour line art (blue) and fairly child-like art. Who can resist a town where every house has its own ghost in the attic? Georgie was having a gay-ol' time "spooking" the Whittakers, in a gentle sort of way, where spooking means creaking a loose floor board and a squeaky door so the Whittakers would know it's time for bed. Oooooh, scary. Life changes though, when Georgie has to look for a new home because Mr. Whittaker has decided to get out his Mr. Fix-it Kit and repair the floor board and oil the door hinge. Poor Georgie needs to find a new house to spook. Of course I won't spoil the ending and you can find your own copy!

Here's a peek inside.

Author and illustrator Robert Bright went on to create 12 more Georgie books after this initial offering -- Georgie and the Robbers, Georgie and the Little Dog, Georgie and the Magician, etc.

WE: Evolution in a Picture Book

I've been stewing over WE by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Kenneth Addison, trying to sort out my thoughts on this interesting new picture book. This is how the publishers describe this book:"In WE ... Alice Schertle brings to young readers the fascinating story of the common origins of the human family. In spare, lyrical verse she traces the evolution of human development from its beginnings in Africa seven million years ago to modern times, highlighting the emergence of diversity among peoples and the spread of culture, technology, and our ability to form complex, and sometimes troubled, societies."

Phew, that is a tall and very ambitious order for a picture book with, on average, fewer than 50 words a spread. Schertle is, no doubt about it, a very accomplished and talented poet. I have no quibble with her poetry, my concern with WE is the subject matter and the target age group. Evolution, human origins, human history...however you want to describe it...is not an easy topic for the "average", not-too-science-literate adult, so I think this book, as presented, could prove confusing to young people.

Here's an example of what I mean. After an introductory spread showing the changing landscape in Africa, and reference to the formation of the Rift Valley, we see two apes illustrated and this text:

African sun warmed us
African winds blew through our thick hair
We cooled our feet and our throats in the river
and ate what we could catch or find
in Africa

On the next page:

And we changed slowly
as the river-washed stones grew smooth as moons

We were brainier now
and our hands fingers and thumbs so clever

Okay, so in one page we've blasted through hundreds of thousands of years of minute changes at the hands of natural selection. And so it goes. By the next page, we have upright Homo sapiens. From there, the book goes into the the technological advances ("So we built boats/ and made sails to catch the wind/ and were lost on the vastness of the sea"), settlements ("We built cities with strong walls/ and machines to knock down the strong walls of cities/ We made war."), and diversity of human existence as we learn through the text and pictures the diversity of religion, art, landscapes, etc. A huge, and very brave imho, amount to fit between the covers of a picture book.

My conclusion about this book is that it is only as successful as the person reading it is skilled at interpreting the information to children. How well can they expand on the ideas presented within to children? It could be a fabulous starting point for all sorts of discussions, but I just don't think that children will grasp the idea of human evolution as it is presented in the opening pages. For a child, "slowly" means the amount of time it takes for the school bell to ring at the end of a day. I can only imagine what they might be thinking when presented with the idea -- probably for the first time -- that humans evolved from apes. And, as a science educator who has written about evolution, I know how lacking most adults' understanding of this topic is. I would love to be a fly on the wall to see how this book is used by parents, teachers, and librarians and hear the questions children ask (and the discussions that result).

Having said all this, I do think that once you get past the first few pages and are into fully evolved Homo sapiens and the story of their dispersal across Earth, you're into a very different story. This one tells of how we spread across the planet and created societies, cultures with varying religions, music, art and technologies. This is more straightforward stuff with no end of starting points for wonderful discussions.

So, these are just my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours if you've read this book. A note on the art by the late Kenneth Addison. At first I thought the collages were too busy and confusing, but the more I looked over the book the more I liked the style. There is lots for children to pore over and the art would be a good jumping off point for activities on collage. Here's a good blurb on Alice Schertl on the occasion of her birthday from the blog, Poetry for Children. You can also read more about the book, including an interview with Schertl, here.

Here's Hoping All Your Endings are Happy

... and your bonfires aren't full of books.

Human Flipbook

Okay, this is too fun. For some reason, I can't seem to get YouTube movies to post to my blog, despite having done it before. So, go to this link for a bit of distraction.

Endpaper Eyecandy

Check out these wonderful endpapers. Older books certainly did this feature well. I wonder why so few new books use them? (On that note, I forgot to mention in my post on Adele and Simon on September 25 had great endpapers which show the route Adele and Simon take through Paris overlayed on the Paris may from the 1907 edition of Paris and Environs by Karl Baedeker.)

What My Mother Doesn't Know

In my constant search for verse novels, I have just finished What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones, published in 2001. Short, pithy poems of a young girl's first loves and trying to fit in make this story zip along. Nice to see that Sophie wades through the morass of trying to be one of the cool kids to find what really matters. This is the blurb from the jacket cover:

My name is Sophie.
This book is about me.
It tells
the heart-stoppingly riveting story
of my first love.
And also of my second.
And, okay, my third love, too.

It's not that I'm boy crazy.
It's just that even though
I'm almost fifteen
I've been having sort of a hard time
trying to figure out the difference
between love and lust.

It's like
my mind
and my body
and my heart
just don't seem to be able to agree
on anything.

Sonya Sones has a great web site, including a blurb on the cover design as well as the idea behind the little flip book (that ends with a kiss), which runs from pages 231 to 259.

Jon Scieszka Fan Club

I'm a big fan of Stinky Cheese Club, Time Warp Trio, etc. creator Jon Scieszka. (This pic is of him in Grade 5. Yup, it's from your web site Mr. Scieszka, but I'm not saying anything nasty, so I hope you don't sue me.) Honestly, I don't know that kids always get his wacky humour, but that's okay, I love his work (and, of course, Lane Smith's equally wacky illustrations alongside) and he keeps cranking them out. Check out the You Tube "trailer" for his upcoming Cowboy & Octopus posted above. But Jon's on my mind for other things. He's a great promoter of boys and reading and trying to figure out how the two can successfully come together. To this end, he's created the fab Guys Read. There's an interesting interview with him in the September/October issue of The Horn Book. (You can access to some of the content in this issue here.) Here's an bit of what he had to say:

Roger Sutton: Why do we need Guys Read? What's wrong? What are you trying to fix?

Jon Scieszka: I'm trying to fix that boys never give reading a change. They're so impulsive and so into instant gratificaion, or else they turn off reading because of an experience like having to read a particular book for school. Whihc is what happened to my son in third grade: Little House on the Praire was the one required summer reading book. To his credit, he read the whole thing, but he just kept syaing, "Nothing's happening!" Finally he decided, "All right, that's reading, then. That's not for me. I'll play hockey instead." It killed me to see him give up on before he had the chance to find something he really liked.

Of course, not everybody has to read really well, because I think we also tyrannize kids by saying everybody has to love reading; reading is magic. And it's not magic for those guy, it's really hard work.

RS: Or even if we do say reading is fun, we sometimes give them books that we think are fun but kids don't.

JS: Yeah. I think a lot of boys get the impression that reading equals school. And they see school as a bunch of adults telling them what to do. Reading gets tangled up with that. It's interesting: in a lot of studies, boys will say they're not readers, but when the studies actually tracked what boys did read, they read a ton of stuff! Nonfiction, magazines, newspapers, computer manuals. Those are the storytelling styles that boys prefer, humor or non-fiction or graphic novels.
Later...

...you're always speaking to that audience. [When I was a teacher] I was trying to reach those kids in the back of my classroom, who were back tehre dicking around and doing nothing. So now, if the guy in the back of the rooms hears his teacher reading Stinky Cheese Man, I hope it makes him sit up and say, "What? You can say that?" I want to shock him into realizing that reading, books, can belong to him, too.

Go, Jon, Go. So... But, I wonder, if boys aren't reading all that much how come we still manage to have a world where the majority of adult novelists are men? Are men reading their books? I would say, yes, but I would wager that women still read far more.

For the Birds

When I was studying biology at university our ornithology instructors always referred to the great horned owl as the "Hollywood Owl" -- it's the owl that always "hoots" on those dark, stormy and spooky nights in movies, regardless of whether the great horned owl lives within hooting range of the setting. This article, Movies Don't Give a Hoot, gives us a few more specifics. When I was having the illustrations for my book, Owls, checked over by an expert (who also happened to be an artist) he went on and on about "Harry Potter owls" and how they movie-made owls -- Hedwig and friends -- didn't fly quite right.

Here's another cool bird story -- a 15-year-old Malkolm Boothroyd and his parents head off for a birder's Big Year, which, traditionally, sees crazed birders flying around the world (several times often) to see who can get the largest number of species in one calendar year. (On that note, check out the book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, to get at the inner workings of some of these characters.) But this big year has a twist -- Malkolm and his parents are doing their Big Year on bikes, and are doing a truncated version, riding from Alaska to Calfornia. He's quite the artist, too. Check out their site, The Bird Year.

Audio and Visual Voyeurs

For your listening and viewing pleasure... First, a very interesting podcast, sponsored by PEN, with children's writers Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Robert Lipsyte, Vera B. Williams, and Susan Kuklin (moderator). Lots of interesting discussion -- "lies" in children's literature, full-frontal nudity, gay protagonists, and more. Particularly useful if you're a writer of children's fiction or non-fiction. Elizabeth Bird at Fuse #8 has a good overview on her blog post from September 25 (Mighty PEN).

And, for some viewing fun, check out these writer's rooms. My office is something like A. S. Byatt's, with the "tunnels and towers of books all over the floor," but her office is still about ten times neater than mine. A pile for every project I say.

Gorgeous fall day here -- check out the local webcam.

The Cybils are Coming

It's the time of year for The Cybils, best kid's lit books of the year (2006) awards as decided by bloggers and blog readers. I put my name forward (thanks to the nudge from Kirsti) and am on the final judging panel for non-fiction picture books.

Take This Book to Paris!

Here's a little gem that satisfies my love for sweet, impish children, I Spy books, cheeky/intelligent writers, and Paris: Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock (no, not the geneticist Barbara McClintock — although it would be cool to see what kind of kid's book she could have come up with! — but the illustrator Barbara McClintock).

Set in the early 20th century Paris, Adele meets her brother at the end of his school day and the pair head for home. But theirs is a circuitous route -- luckily for the reader. We visit a street market, the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, the patisserie Maison Cador and more Parisian sites. Along the way, Simon loses something at every turn (thus the I Spy or Where's Waldo part of the book). McClintock adds in lots of great touches for those who pore over the pictures. One example is Miss Clavell, Madeline and the gals traipsing through the Jardin des Plantes. Her end notes on each spread also reveal some surprising gems -- she's hidden several references to art and artists, such as the "groupings of people based on famous pictures by the nineteenth-century artists Honore Daumier and the early-twentieth-century photograph Eugene Atget" scattered in the street market image. Yikes! Daumier and Atget — nothing like a good kids book to send you on a Google search! In the Louvre we see the artists Edouard Vuillard, Odilion Redon, Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt helping Simon search for his lost crayons. (Well, okay, I didn't recognize them, but they're there.)

Adele and Simon is a lovely story on its own, but the addition of these details adds another dimension for a parent, teacher or librarian who's willing to take the time to search out more details on these artists. The text is simple, yet satisfying for a read-aloud:

Adele picked up her little brother, Simon, at school.
Simon was waiting by the door.
He had his hat and gloves and scarf and sweater,
his coat and knapsack and books and crayons,
and a drawing of a cat he'd made that morning.
"Simon, please try not to lose anything today," said Adele.
Simon said, "I'll try."

Now ... if I could just think of a writing project that requires a trip to Paris to complete.

Second Hand Score: Zin! Zin! Zin!

I'm a sucker for cruising the book section in second-hand stores. Walked away from one of my favourites the other day with a bag full 'o books, including some great kid's books I hadn't heard of or seen before. A little version of Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman caught my eye. This little gem was a Caldecott Honor Book from Simon & Schuster published in 1995. Teacher's must love this book, with it's cross-curricular links to music and math. Oh, look, there just happens to be Teacher's Guides on said subjects, music and math! Here's a taste of what's inside:



With mournful moan and silken tone,
Itself alone comes ONE TROMBONE
Gliding, sliding, high notes go low;
ONE TROMBONE is playing SOLO.

Next, a TRUMPET comes along,
And sings and stings its swinging song.
It joints TROMBONE, no more alone,
And ONE and TWO-O, they're a DUO.

Fine FRENCH HORN, its valves all oiled,
Bright and brassy, loops all coiled,
Golden yellow; joins its fellows.
TWO, now THREE-O, what a TRIO!

Yup, they get up to nine (a NONET) and ten (A Chamber Group of Ten)!

New Graphica

My 10-year-old daughter has still not quite latched onto reading like the rest of the family. I'm sure it will come -- she certainly loves to be read to -- but one thing she will sit down and devour is a graphic novel. In an attempt to broaden her interests beyond Bone, I'm on the prowl for new titles. Last week's Globe and Mail listed a new crop for the season, and some certainly piqued my interest.

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon is wordless, but the illustrations are charming. And I love the idea of Dog and Robot being best friends. (I've just finished a book on robots, so I'm particularly cued to anything robotic!) You can have a sneak-peek of 10 pages here. Here's a bit of what Nathalie Atkinson had to say in They Grow up so Quickly (Globe and Mail, September 8, 2007): "During a summer trip to the seaside, Dog's sidekick Robot rusts stiff after playing in the surf and is left behind. The immobile Robot and the Dog, while apart, cannot help thinking of one another, although Dog soon moves through successive replacement friendships with a family of migrating ducks, a penguin and a melting snowman. It's charming, delicate and heartbreaking." I'm on the prowl for this one.

Laika by Nick Abadzis also caught my interest since I'd read up on this space puppy while working on a space issue for KNOW. Not a happy story, but it will be interesting to see how they handle this tale in graphic form. Here's a peak from New York mag and from First Second's website.

Any graphic novels to recommend?

Adrienne the Furtive

Silly Saturday morning stuff. A browse through the BookLust blog led me to this hilarious website where you too can get your own eccentric British aristocratic title. Mine? "Viscountess Adrienne the Furtive of Chalmondley St. Peasoup."

Adverbiage Ad naseum

I recently finished Susan Cooper's Over Sea, Under Stone, which a friend had recommended to me years ago. She's a dear friend, and she taught children's literature and this was a classic, so I was ready to dive in. (It's a good thing, too, because a movie based on The Dark Is Rising sequence, is about to be released on October 5.) While I was not disappointed by the story -- although it did feel a bit dated (it's almost as old as me, afterall) and it was too long -- I was distracted by the crazy use of adverbs. I might not have twigged on it so much if I hadn't read this great essay by Carrie Mac not so long ago about the overuse of adverbs in the Harry Potter books (thus, adverbiage ad nauseaum). Here's my favourite from Over Sea, Under Stone:

"Boiled," said Barney sepulchrally. "In a great big pot." Uh, sepulchrally? What does that mean anyhow? [My COD says: suggestive of the tomb, funereal, gloomy, dismal]

Since it's Friday afternoon, I've finished work for the week, it's still a bit early for a cocktail, I thought I'd procrastinate by choosing a spread from Over Sea, Under Stone and one from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to see who wins the highly coveted Tough City Writer Overuse of Adverbs (TCWOA) prize.

Page 16-17, Over Sea, Under Stone
"Cannibals!" said Barney with scorn...
"Well, that's not very interesting," said Jane, disappointed.
"Now I know what this room reminds me of," Jane said suddenly.
"I mean," said Jane hastily,..."
"Oh all right." Simon put the case down reluctantly.
"Boiled," said Barney sepulchrally. (I couldn't resist.)

Okay, Cooper wins the prize hands down -- averaging 3-4/page. Rowling uses them, but she's showing considerable restraint in comparison to Cooper.

"Oh, poop," said JK sepulchrally, "I didn't win the prize." (She's got enough of them, I say!)

Tackling Tragedy - World's Afire

I'm continuously searching for children's/YA stories told in verse -- it's a form I love. I've been enjoying Paul Janeczko's poetry, most recently A Kick in the Head, so was delighted to find he'd written a verse novel -- World's Afire. The subject of the novel was an interesting choice though -- the 1944 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus disastrous fire in Hartford. I wonder if a lesser-known writer would have even been considered if they'd suggested writing about such a tragedy? I find that my younger daughter is particularly afraid of fire, so I wouldn't suggest she read this, but, perhaps, for kids who need something a little edge to draw them into a story -- and to poetry -- it would be a good choice.

Of course it was wonderfully crafted. Told in three parts, through the eyes of 29 characters (e.g., Willard Owens, Circus Buff; Dixie Levine, Circus Attendant; Eddie "Freak Man" Carlyle, Sideshow Fan, etc.), each of whom is given a poem. Here's an excerpt:

Ralph Nesbitt
Eighteen-Year-Old Animal Trainer

I was working with the elephants
near the main ten
when the fire started --
a lick of flame
in the top of the tent.
My first thought was,
How're those people going to get out of there?
Then somebody yelled,
"Get the elephants out!"
Nobody wanted 'em to charge the crowd.
I started shouting,
"Tails! Tails!"
and the herd lined up
tail-to-trunk
just like they'd been taught.
I was too scared to be proud of them.
We marched them out,
prodding them with bull hooks
when they dawdled.
I kept one eye on the herd
one on the tent,
black smoke pouring out
like from a hundred locomotives
and wondered again
about those poor people:
How're they ever going to get out of there?
When the herd was safe,
I cried.

- Paul Janeczko, World's Afire

Here's a summary:
Janeczko focuses on a twentieth-century tragedy that has been the subject of several prose works in his original 2004 work Worlds Afire. On July 6, 1944, a tragic fire erupted in the main tent of the Barnum & Bailey Circus as the greatest show on earth performed in Hartford, Connecticut. In its wake, the fire left 167 men, women, and children dead and over 500 others injured, in one of the greatest New England tragedies of the twentieth century. In twenty-nine poems that recount, first, the circus opening, then the fire and, finally, the tragic aftermath, Janeczko gives voice to the survivors, as well as those destined to die. Even the arsonist is allowed to express himself through the poet's free verse in a "verse novel" that a Kirkus Reviews writer described as a "rich, challenging poetry experience" that "creates an overview of a community in tragedy." Although his verses capture the human tragedy rather than the graphic horror of the event, as Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman noted, "the combination of a thrilling circus and true catastrophe will grab middle-schoolers" cautious about investing in reading poetry.

While I'm glad I read this, and enjoyed each of the "stories in miniature" that each poem provided, I just can't imagine the children I would recommend or read this to. I'm sure a skillful teacher or librarian could craft a way of introducing this book to children. Your thoughts?

A Laugh for Tuesday Morning

Good for a belly laugh I think. My kids watched it over and over with a group of friends on Sunday -- much hilarity.

Junie B. Jones, Move Over!

Worlds away from The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is the delightful Clementine. I loved this character -- a quirky, mischeivous young gal who just wants to be helpful and loved. We spend a week -- a bad week -- with Clementine, which she begins by cutting off her friend Margaret's hair. What I loved most about this book is the distinct voice that the author, Sara Pennypacker, created for Clementine. Here's the first page:

I have had not so good of a week.
Well, Monday was a pretty good day, if you don't count Hamburger Surprise at lunch and Margaret's mother coming to get her. Or the stuff that happened in the principal's office when I got sent there to explain that Margaret's hair was not my fault and besides she looks okay without it, but I couldn't because Principal Rice was gone, trying to calm down Margaret's mother.
Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal's office if that's a rule.
Okay, fine, Monday was not so good of a day.

Apparently a sequel was out this year. Shall have to track it down. This book gets my vote everyday over the irritating Junie B. Jones. Bring it on, Clementine!

Taking Mother Love to New Heights

I have to take this book back to the library, so a quick post while it's still in my hot little hands. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos is not for the feint-hearted and definitely for older readers in the YA range (I'd say grade 8 and up). No spoiler here, but think a book that is gothic, slighty (very, at times) creepy, disconcerting too. It'll make ya squirm, but it will be hard to put down too. If you read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Here's the opening paragraph:

"I expect you might think the story I am about to tell you is untrue or perversely gothic in some unhealthy way. You might even think I've exaggerated the facts in order to twist this book into a modern-day metaphor on the exploitation of human creation, as did Mary Shelley with Frankenstein. Maybe you'll think I'm trying to spook you with a psychological tale of a murderous double as Edgar Allan Poe wrote in 'William Wilson,' or to stir up family shame as Hawthorne did in The House of the Seven Gables. But my story is entirely different."

We Survived the West Coast Trail!

Earlier this week, we arrived home from hiking the famous (infamous to some? -- "ah, the mud, the mud, the mud (and the ladders!)) West Coast Trail. It was a family affair, with our family, my siblings, brother-in-law and nephew along for the slog. Patrice and I just did parts of it, but it was enough to keep her still eager to come back for more. Highlights for me were: the slow wander/hike with Patrice from Pachena Lighthouse to Pachena Bay. She was interested in a lot of the plants and mushrooms we saw, so our hike became a wander with lots of naturalizing along the way, and many snack stops. The massive blowdowns through this area from this winter's storms were impressive -- over 2000 trees came down!; exploring the sandstone shelves below Carmanah Light, with the sea urchin "condos," complete with bright pink paint on the walls (that would be encrusting coralline algae); watching my lovely, strong 14-year-old daughter waltz through the entire journey with a positive attitude, a smile for all, and not one complaint; spending time away from work with all of my family; and, of course, walking the labyrinth in front of Carmanah Lighthouse. Love it. Will try to post a photo soon. This photo is of Patrice walking through the green tunnel up from one of our favourites beaches. Our friend Janet, from Carmanah Light, snapped it.

From Idea to Finished Art

If you've ever wondered about the process an illustrator goes through once they receive a manuscript from their publisher, check out Kirsti Wakelin's great link on her website that goes step-by-step through the creation of a spread for When They Are Up. I had no idea there would be so many steps. Kirsti is the brainchild behind the wonderful blog created for BC writers, the CWILL-BC blog. It's a great place to keep up on children's lit. events in British Columbia.

Fever, 1793

I'm a fan of historical fiction, so was eager to read Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever, 1793, a YA novel set in Philadelphia in 1793 during an outbreak of yellow fever. I wasn't disappointed, and Anderson weaves the historical facts with a convincing, well-written and compelling story. This review from Kirkus gives a good overview:

In an intense, well-researched tale that will resonate particularly with readers in parts of the country where the West Nile virus and other insect-borne diseases are active, Anderson (Speak, 1999, etc.) takes a Philadelphia teenager through one of the most devastating outbreaks of yellow fever in our country's history. It's 1793, and though business has never been better at the coffeehouse run by Matilda's widowed, strong-minded mother in what is then the national capital, vague rumors of disease come home to roost when the serving girl dies without warning one August night. Soon church bells are ringing ceaselessly for the dead as panicked residents, amid unrelenting heat and clouds of insects, huddle in their houses, stream out of town, or desperately submit to the conflicting dictates of doctors. Matilda and her mother both collapse, and in the ensuing confusion, they lose track of each other. Witnessing people behaving well and badly, Matilda first recovers slowly in a makeshift hospital, then joins the coffeehouse's cook, Emma, a free African-American, in tending to the poor and nursing three small, stricken children. When at long last the October frosts signal the epidemic's end, Emma and Matilda reopen the coffeehouse as partners, and Matilda's mother turns up—alive, but a trembling shadow of her former self. Like Paul Fleischman's Path of the Pale Horse (1983), which has the same setting, or Anna Myers's Graveyard Girl (1995), about a similar epidemic nearly a century later, readers will find this a gripping picture of disease's devastating effect on people, and on the social fabric itself. (Fiction. 11-13)

If you're interested in knowing more, check out the website for Fever and also Laurie's site. The site includes a teacher's guide.(She's prolific on the Internet - on-line journal, MySpace, Facebook, etc. Phew.)

Loving a Book by Its Cover (and Design and Text...)

I have a shelf in my living room where I keep by Diana's annuals and other books (of questionable quality mind you) from my childhood. I also keep my current favourites (of excellent quality) I will keep forever and not cull when my children are older. I was looking through them today and came across a recent favourite: When You Were Small, by Sara O'Leary with illustrations by Julie Morstad. It's a charmingly simple tale of a boy who asks his father, "Tell me about when I was small." Each spread describes a situation from the fanciful life, with a literal twist, of a "very small boy." So, we see Henry walking his pet ant, standing in for a chess piece becuase "our chess board was missing one of the knights and you were the perfect size."

It was the lovely illustrations and the book design that first drew me to this book, but the text is charming, simple and fabulous too. The book recently won a design award from the Alcuin Society. You can find more on this keeper at the When You Were Small blog.

The Ink Drinker

This is the wonderful, quirky story by Eric Sanvoisin of a young boy whose father owns a bookstore. Our nameless protagonist hates books, but has to work in the bookstore, spying on customers and watching for shoplifters. This is torture until he sees a strange-looking man using a straw to suck the ink out of books. The adventure begins. The Ink Drinker is a slim book, with great illustrations. I loved it for its quirky, thoroughly unique (hallelujah) story. Those who want more can check out sequels: A Straw for Two, Little Red Ink Drinker, and The City of Ink Drinkers. Here's a review of two of these titles from CM Magazine.

As soon as I saw the illustrations, I wondered if this was a European book. Sure enough it was originally published in France. I'm not sure what it is about the illustrations that made me think that, but there are slighly offbeat and definitely not "cutesy." Reminds me somewhat of the wonderful illustrations Stephane Jorisch did for Jabberwocky, part of Kids Can Press's Visions in Poetry series. All of the art in this series is fabulous.

The Aleutian Sparrow

After the wonderful introduction to Karen Hesse's writing through Out of the Dust (see my post on July 24th), I've got a few more of her titles to read through. I finished another verse novel, Aleutian Sparrow, last evening. Although I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Out of the Dust, I did learn quite a bit about the history of the Aleuts during WW2. This story is told by an Aleut girl, Vera, as she and her friends and family are moved from the Aleutians to Ward Lake near Wrangell. Another sad tale of misunderstanding and mistreatment and I wasn't left with the same sense of hope I had after finished the very heart-wrenching Out of the Dust, but I appreciated learning more about this period and these people. Beautiful cover and interior linocuts by Evon Zerbetz.

Blogs to Flog #1

The house is empty, with the hubby and kids away for a few days. I get a lot of work done during these precious days, but I have also been spending far too much time on the computer, snooping around. There have been several sites and blogs I've been wanting to check out, so it's not a total waste of time. Came across a great blog that I think will be useful (okay, at the very least amusing) for children's writers. Editorial Anonymous is the blog of a children's book editor. She's irreverent, hilarious, straightforward and occasionally very snarky. I loved it. If you're a writer and want to get a better understanding of what goes on in the places where most manuscripts go to die (and want to find out why they die) check this blog out.

Summer Reading

The coffee table in my living room, desk (and floor!) in my office, and my bedside table are covered with stacks of books. Some for research for the several projects I have on the go, but most purely for pleasure. What to read, what to read. When in doubt...read a picture book! I had seen Nancy Hundal's Prairie Summer before, but had never read it. A classmate had looked it over closely when I was at school this summer as part of our discussion of picture books. Hundal is a wonderful writer. So lovely to see someone using descriptive, evocative language for kids and not trying to rhyme everything (or anything). Here's a taste:

Snack packed, we went field-roaming
treasure combing,
through burnt, scratchy grass, never smooth green,
wet-filled like at home.
Saw sloughs, cows lips suck greedily at the edge,
tear away chunks of muddy water.
And saw the sky skid off into forever.
Explored it, mapped it, named it -- the Plains of You,
the Rock of Me.

All the while the dung-tinged perfume of the prairie
tickled our nostrils
never stronger near a wild rose or haystack,
just always there.

Like the mosquitoes, whose tickle
left hard and red and hot imprints to scratch.
Scratch. Scratch.

- from Prairie Summer by Nancy Hundal (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1999)

In this book we explore the summer prairie through the eyes of country cousins who've come to visit their city cousins.

Another Hundal book, which I discovered on my childrens' bookcase when I was trying to cull it, is Twilight Fairies. Again, Hundal's strong, poetric prose comes through: "Mom made a cake, a circle of angel food frosted in pink, sugary bliss. She made dainty sandwiches of tomato and cucumber, pitchers of soursweet lemonade." or "Miranda coud hear the tinklehum of fairymerrymaking as she passed her cake, opened her gifts." Tinklehum and fairymerrymaking -- what great words.

My MFA Journey Has Begun

Home a week or so since I began my MFA at UBC. My summer began with a 10-day workshop, the first course en route to getting my MFA in creative writing. Was a wonderful and intensive week. I chose to stick with writing for children for this first course, except that I've started working on a novel, something I vowed I would never do. But...since part of this journey is to challenge myself and try new things, this pushed me along that road. And -- surprise, surprise -- I really enjoyed it! I'd like to keep working on the draft of this novel this fall, so will probably stick with children's writing for my first year. Then, onto new things -- poetry, playwriting, short fiction? Who knows.

Above is a photo of my classmates, with our wonderful instructor, Glen Huser. One of the best things I gained from this workshop is how to read and critique carefully. I learned a lot about my own writing as I did this, but also hope that I made comments useful to others.

Although I read a lot of children's fiction, I also came home with a long list of books, many "current classics", to read. The book that affected/impressed me most, was Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust. It is a verse novel, a form which has intrigued me since I read The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter (another book I enjoyed very much). Glen also had a copy of Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, another verse novel, which became a class favourite. Loved that book! Such a charming narrator, and if you haven't read it, do. It will take you 20 minutes or less and leave you with a smile.

Skunks on a Podcast
Thanks to the students at Woburn Jr's Boy and Girls Reading and Technology Clubs for their fabulous podcast. I've been so busy I've only just had time to sit down and listen. They did a wonderful job interviewing all of the writers nominated for the Silver Birch this year. It was fun to be part of it. Take a listen!

More Awards News!

Received a lovely surprise call last night when the publisher of KNOW called to let me know that KNOW had won an award at the Association of Educational Publishers annual awards banquet and gala. We won best One-Theme Issue for Issue 5, our issue on light and colour. And, the cover artist for this issue -- the wonderful and talented Howie Woo -- also won in the Visual Story category for his orienteering spread in Issue 54 of YES Mag.

The other day I also received a great email from Reid. It was the first time anyone had ever told me that one of my books (Skunks in this case) had "blown their mind." Surely you exaggerate a tad, Reid?

KNOW Nominated for Western Magazine Award

KNOW has been short-listed in the Best New Magazine category of the Western Magazine Awards. As well, the wonderful Howie Woo has been short-listed in the Best Illustration/Illustrated Feature category for his great spread, Leonardo's Workshop, which was in Issue 51 (March/April 2006) of YES Mag. The awards ceremony is June 22nd in Vancouver. Wish us luck!

Spring Book Hatching!
The Children's Writers and lllustrators of BC are hosting a "Spring Book Hatching" June 9th from 1-3 at the Alice McKay Room at the Vancouver Public Library. Thirty-three writers and illustrators, including moi, will be launching their latest books. We'll each have tables for signings and visitings, as well as displays, free give-aways, and, perhaps, activities. Kids can grab a free passport in which they can gather author signatures. There will be book draws, door prizes, and snacks (including chocolate). It sounds like it will be a lively event. Hope to see you there!