Spreading the Love (of Books and Reading)

I dearly wanted to do a post for Family Literacy Day, which was January 27, but I have a very full plate at the moment. I am pleased to report though, that, inspired by a comment by a fellow writer, I instigated a free bookshelf at our local elementary school. I know that many of our local kids have few, or even no, books of their own. So we got a lovely bookshelf built at the entrance to the school and it is now laden with gently-used, donated children's books that kids can take for their own. They can keep them if they want or share them or return them. No questions. I'll have a wander over later to see it in action.

In this spirit of sharing books and all things wordy, here are a few of my favourite book sharing ideas. You've probably heard of Book Crossing -- it's been around for awhile now, but I love the idea of "unleashing" books into the world to an unsuspecting public. Who can resist a "Catch and Release" map for books? Oh, and they have all sorts of goodies, including some of the most beautiful bookplates.

And then there's this brilliant collaborative experiment, 1000 Journals Project, where 1000 blank journals were unleashed on the world by "Some Guy." You can see some of the pages here and, of course, there is a book with some of the best entries of the past six years.

Clickety clack

Last year my eldest daughter became quite fascinated by typewriters. (Sigh...this reminds me of a friend telling me her daughter went out for Halloween as an aerobics instructor, leg warmers, headband, and all. Weren't we bouncing around to the Bay City Rollers just a few years ago?) Anyhow, we've kept our eyes open for a cheapee and, lucky us, found a little portable for $2 at an event we fondly call the Catholic Church Ladies' Bizarre Bazaar last December.

Then last evening I'm drooling as I troll through Barbara Hodgson's Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger's Favorite Places (man, I'd like to have a look in her house) when I came across the section of her trying to find a portable Arabic typewriter. (She had set herself a goal of learning to read Arabic and thought a typewriter might help. Kind of puts the "lose 10 pounds" goal to shame doesn't it?) Who knew? Of course I confess to never thinking about typewriters in other scripts, but, of course, it makes perfect sense. Tres, tres, cool.

If you're in Toronto and you're looking for something to do, check out the exhibit on Early Typewriters they're showing. It's been held-over until June 29th.

And, while we're on the subject of these beautiful machines, here's a bracelet I covet, from Keys and Memories.

Loving Stories and 100 (more) Books to Read

Here's an interesting article from UK's Telegraph on learning to love stories as being part of the path to becoming a reader. Sounds like sage (and also logical) advice. Included is a list of 100 books that children should read. A fine list, full of worthy books. I guess it's no surprise, considering the source, that there's only one Canadian author on the list. Sigh. Guess who?

Here's the list to save you a click:

Early Years

The Twits, by Roald Dahl
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
Burglar Bill, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter
Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Seuss
Fungus the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs
The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business, by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch
Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
The Cat in the Hat, by Dr Seuss
Charlotte's Web, by EB White
The Story of Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff
Winnie-the-Pooh, by AA Milne, illustrated by EH Shepard

Middle Years

Stig of the Dump, by Clive King
Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild
Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones
Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling
The Borrowers, by Mary Norton
Struwwelpeter, by Heinrich Hoffman
The Magic Faraway Tree, by Enid Blyton
Danny, the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl
George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl
Underwater Adventure, by Willard Price
Tintin in Tibet, by Hergé
The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
Erik the Viking, by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman
When the Wind Blows, by Raymond Briggs
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by TS Eliot
The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes
The Owl and the Pussycat, by Edward Lear
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
The Worst Witch Collection, by Jill Murphy
Peter Pan, by JM Barrie
Mr Majeika, by Humphrey Carpenter
The Water Babies, by Charles Kinglsey
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I'm The King of the Castle, by Susan Hill
The Wave, by Morton Rhue
Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
Bambert's Book of Missing Stories, by Reinhardt Jung
The Firework-maker's Daughter, by Philip Pullman
Tom's Midnight Garden, by Philippa Pearce
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
The Silver Sword, by Ian Serrallier
Cue for Treason, by Geoffrey Trease
The Sword in the Stone, by TH White
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K LeGuin
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set, by CS Lewis
His Dark Materials Box Set, by Philip Pullman
The BFG, by Roald Dahl
Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome
Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now, by Lauren Child
The Railway Children, by E Nesbit
The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde
Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
Just William, by Richmal Crompton
Jennings Goes to School, by Anthony Buckeridge
Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson
The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

Early Teens

Call of the Wild, by Jack London
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
The Outsiders, by SE Hinton
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
The Owl Service, by Alan Garner
The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred D Taylor
A Kestrel for a Knave, by Barry Hines
The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo
Beowulf, by Michael Morpurgo
King Solomon's Mines, by H Rider Haggard
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling
The Road of Bones, by Anne Fine
Frenchman's Creek, by Daphne Du Maurier
Treasure Island, by RL Stevenson
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables, by L M Montgomery
Junk, by Melvin Burgess
Cider With Rosie, by Laurie Lee
The Go-Between by LP Hartley
The Rattle Bag, ed by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes
The Song of Hiawatha, by H W Longfellow
Watership Down, by Richard Adams
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
True Grit, by Charles Portis
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden
The Story of Tracy Beaker, by Jacqueline Wilson
The Lantern Bearers, by Rosemary Sutcliffe

The Braid (in all its permutations)

I wrote one of my local history pieces not too long ago about a family forced off their land in Scotland who eventually made their was to the west coast. With that era of history on my mind, plus my love of Cape Breton and interest in verse novels, I was primed, ready and eager to read The Braid by Helen Frost.

It's 1850 and The Highland Clearances are forcing people off the land. The landlords have decided it's more profitable to raise sheep than to collect rents from tenants. Sisters Jeannie and Sarah, along with their family, are being forced off their land on the Isle of Barra. They are due to sail to Canada (destined for Cape Breton) in a few days. The night before they are to leave, the sisters weave their hair together in a braid and then curl up to sleep. When Jeannie awakes, she sees that Sarah has cut off the braid and left half for her sister. As we will learn, Sarah has gone to stay with her grandmother on a nearby island, rather than take the voyage to Canada. With this scene, we have the first braid.

But there are more. In The Braid, Frost alternates narrative poems by Sarah and Jeannie. In between each narrative poem, is a praise poem, which praises something in the narrative. We see the girls' lives unfold, the tragedies and sadness, but also moments of hope and joy. All of the family except Jeannie, brother William, and their mother, die on the journey to Canada and they arrive with nothing. Back in Scotland, Sarah goes to live with her grandmother, on the nearby island of Mingulay, where life is also hardscrabble but, for now at least, they can stay on the land.

For those intrigued, a bit of Googling will find more of the plot laid out for you, but I think it's better to let it unfold as you read. There was also a huge surprise for me at the end, which made it all the better. SPOILER -- if you plan to read this book, don't read on.

Frost has taken the metaphor of a braid, and Celtic knots, to make literal braids through the story with her poetry techniques. First, the praise poems are braided horizontally. so, the last line of one praise poem is braided into the first line of the next praise poem.

So, for example, the last line of Mussels is: white inside, shining like the sun. The first line of the next praise poem, Hair, is: white, shining in the sun, Grandma's/hair winds round her head, a braid,....

Then, the longer narrative poems are braided vertically. The last words of each line in one narrative poem are the first words of each line in the following narrative poem (sometimes slightly varied). Here's one line of The Braid: Willie fussed, and wouldn't go to sleep. It was late, we were/ and the corresponding line of After Three Days: Were they angry? Could they understand how this place holds me, so/....

And...at the end of the story, when Jeannie is weaving a braid, images and words from the first two narrative poems, as well as the subjects of all of the praise poems, are woven into the lines of the last two narrative poems.

But wait, there's even more! Each line of the narrative poems has the same number of syllables as the narrator's age. When Jeannie is fourteen, each line has fourteen syllables and so on. Finally, each praise poem is composed of eight lines, each with eight syllables.

So, having read all this you may be wondering, Is this a gimmic? I doubt it, and if so, what a HUGE amount of work to go to in order to pull it off. The story is a solid one -- it is solidly grounded in historical fact with enough tension and passion created for the characters to pull you along. I enjoy historical fiction and poetry, so it was a shoe-in for me. When I finished it and clued in (duh) to the intricate style I just wanted to read it over again.

I have one small quibble. In Sarah's narrative poem Such Immense Love, Sarah and Murdo are out on the cliffs of Mingulay where they are wont to wander. After I read this: Waves crashed onto the cliffs below us, and we -- kissed./In love, they say, as if love is a place you enter-- as if we/ slice open time and find a whole new island inside one moment./I'm shaken by the strength of this. Does what we did together mean/I'm going to have a child? Why did no one warn me?... Okay, so I read that and figured that Sarah, like so many other girls through history who have no knowledge of sex, assumed that kissing meant you could get pregnant. But, no, as we learn, "what we did together" was actually having sex. When I later learned she's pregnant, I went, Hey, wait a minute, and had to go back and re-read this passage. Did I miss something? Obviously. This "loss of virginity passage" was just a little too vague and cagey for moi. Overall, a small quibble, however, in a very enjoyable, and ambitious, verse novel.

You can read some more reviews here, from Fuse #8 and here's an interview with Frost from School Library Journal. The author also has some great links about the location, the history, the book (including review excerpts) on her website.

Calling All Vancouver Island Writers

The Victoria Public Library and Vancouver Island Regional Libraries will be having a writer-in-residence program, commencing September 2008. Check their website for details.

The Coolest Kind of Bookworm

Check out the 8-panel series "Bookworm" by artist UK Holly Ormrod, who, among other wonderful things, has an MA in Book Arts. Who knew there was such a thing? Check out her site to see some of the other lovely things she does with books. All images used with permission.

Stamp, stamp for Children's Illustrators!

I suspect this is old news for American readers, but I just received a package with some of these fabulous stamps on it. Hmmm, which characters would we put on Canadian equivalents? Franklin the Turtle, The Paperbag Princess, Zoom, Stella, Kurelek's "Prairie Boy"...? Who gets your vote?

Serendipity and Authorfest - Upcoming Events

If you're in Vancouver (or even anywhere within a few hundred kilometres) and you're free on February 8th or 23rd, you might want to check out two great events put on by the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable. Sadly, I won't be able to make either this year, but they're well worth attending if you're interested in writing, illustration, children's books, children's literature, the lives of writers and illustrators. Oh heck, if you once were a child, go!

Authorfest is February 6 from 4 - 6 pm at UBC's Wesbrook Building. The panel includes author Sarah Ellis, winner of the 2007 TD Canadian Children's Literature award; poet, Robert Heidbreder; writer and science educator, the Science Lady, Shar Levine; and writer, poet and dramatist, Kari-Lynn Winters.

Serendipity is on February 28 from 8 am - 4 pm. It will be held at the beautiful First Nations' Longhouse at UBC. This year's theme is "a celebration of First Nations writers and illustrators of children's books." Speakers include illustrator George Littlechild; author Richard van Camp; author and illustrator Leo Yerxa; illustrator Julie Flett; author Earl Einarson; and author Diane Silvey. Wish I could be there. Boo hoo for me.

Hey, Rocket Man!

I've got a new little friend, and his name is Martin Bridge. This spunky protagonist is the creation of author, Jessica Scott Kerrin. He's the hero of six books, including Martin Bridge: Sound the Alarm!, Martin Bridge: Ready for Takeoff! and, the most recent, Martin Bridge: In High Gear! The series is illustrated by Joseph Kelly.

Each book contains two or three stories, which are perfect for kids ready to move up a notch in their chapter book reading. Martin is an aspiring rocket scientist and fan of his super-hero, Zip Rideout star of the cartoon, Zip Rideout: Space Cadet. Martin's stories deal with the everyday stuff of life that kids just might have to grapple with -- the grumpy school bus driver, the dead pets (that you happen to be pet sitting), jealousy (who has the fancier rocket), being lost, peer pressure, and the like. Things don't always go Martin's way and we're with him as he tries to sort out his actions and reactions to what life throws him.

Here are a smattering of reviews (SLJ and BookList and Canadian Materials) for Ready for Takeoff!, the first book in the six book series. This title was on the Fanfare List from The Horn Book and was listed as one of the best books of 2005. A few reviews bemoan that Martin is just a bit too good-to-be-true and the stories tend toward being moralistic. Yes, of course, impish children who are up to no good are fun in stories, but, you know, it's also nice to read about good-at-heart kids making their way through the dilemmas they'll find in life.

The Martin Bridge books are published by Kids Can Press.


(A bit of an aside: I think it's important for reviewers to try to imagine themselves in the shoes of the readers these books are intended for. Yes, of course, an adult reader may find books for young readers a bit simplistic at times, but, surprise, surprise, they're not meant for you! Imagine a 7-year-old trying to read these books on their own. Frustration is a sure fire way for a kid to put a book down. (Can you tell I'm writing for young kids right now?) Rant over.)

Art of the Bookmark

I have many, many books I'm ready to blog on, but, I'm a tad busy with work, and school, and sorting out life after the holidays. So, for now, check out this on-line art exhibit, Art of the Bookmark. I was especially delighted to see the first bookmark that came up under the category of Bookstores, was from Munro Books in Victoria, BC, one of the country's best independent bookstores. (Fabulous attention to their bookmarks -- yet another reason to support an independent bookstore near you!) I think I may just have some of the older bookmarks from Munro's kicking around. It was fun to learn that Martin Springett illustrated this bookmark in the 1970s. (Remember Martin's poster here?) Thanks to the Dewey Divas and the Dudes for the bookmark link.

Pillows Only a Word Nerd Would Love

I want some. Go to the original Neatorama site for more info. Neatorama indeed.

More on Raincoast

The Internet is abuzz with the sad news from Raincoast. Artist and writer Cynthia Nugent, illustrator of one of my favourites, Mister Got To Go, and part of the Raincoast stable, was interviewed by CBC. And writer, John Burns, author of Runnerland among others, comments on this demise of his publisher on his blog. (Scroll down to Raincoast RIP.)

And here's an ironic story, from May 2007. Note the last line, from CEO Allan MacDougall: “We want to be one of the survivors.”

Finally, here's a prediction of how this will affect the Canadian publishing industry as a whole.

Cybils List Announced

Short-lists for the Cybils are being revealed this week and last. I'm on the panel that will be judging the finalists in the non-fiction picture book category. Here's a list of the final contenders. So, you know what I'll be reading in the near future. And here are the finalists for all of the other book categories.

Raincoast Pulls the Plug

Publishing news from the wet, west coast: Raincoast will cease to publish Canadian-written titles. Here's the scoop. I believe this is the second sweep they've had in the past few years. And didn't they just hire children's book editor, Tonya Martin, from the US not that long ago? She must be choked. What a shame. Harry Potter is "safe", not that he needs saving really, but I'm sorry for one less publisher creating books for Canadians by Canadians.

We Need a National Children's Lit Laureate, Too!

So the UK has one, and now the US has one -- I think it's high time Canada had a national laureate for children's literature, too. Jon Scieszka has just been named the national ambassador for children's literature in the US. Here's a letter from Michael Rosen, the UK's laureate, to Jon. And here's an interview with Jon from Bookslut.

So, if Canada had a laureate for children's literature, who might it be?

Decorating for the Book Nerd

Cicero was purported to have said, "A room without books is like a body without a soul." I don't know about you, but I feel slightly unnerved when I go into a home with nary a book in sight. I mean, what do they do with their time -- when they're eating breakfast?, or taking a bath?, or lying on the couch?, or lying in bed? No doubt, their house is cleaner and their bank book up-to-date, but I think I'm having more fun.

My guilty pleasure is flipping through home decorating mags. (There, it's out, but it's just because I'm always on the prowl for ways to turn crap into something respectable.) So, it's not suprising that this baby, Decorating with Books, caught my eye at the library. Lots of eye candy for the book lover.

I figure read those design mags. in my own special way though, and can justify it as research, not a frivilous time-waster, since whenever I see bookshelves in one of those stark, overly-styled, and impossibly pristine layouts, I always turn the mag sideways to see just what's on those shelves. Based on their selection, I make wildly opionated decisions on the lives of their owners and wonder whether any of those books ever get read...

More Factory Boys and Girls

After my post about Factory Girl, I had a nice email from author and historian, Joe Manning. Mr. Manning is heading up a research project in which he is trying to track down and interview descendants of the child labourers photographed by Lewis Hine. Check out his project website here. Thus far, he's tracked down 80 descendants. Make sure you check out some of the stories. Fascinating stuff and a site worth watching for sure.

Backyard Birds

As you may have gathered, birds are a big draw in our house. We're not fanatical "pishers and tweeters" (birders will understand those terms), but a bird in the yard or the neighbourhood gets us out for a look and we're always hauling our binocs around. (And, I'm proud to say, my eldest's first word was "Caw.") Just yesterday there was a Cooper's Hawk on the telephone pole out front of our house and last week my youngest spotted a Barred Owl just up the hill. We have a nice tangle of bush out front of our house -- great for birdwatching while we enjoy a morning coffee/cocoa.

So, given our enjoyment of all things avian, it isn't a surprise that Santa left P a new book under the tree: Backyard Birds: An Introduction by Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman with Ian Coutts. There are a few "first field guides" out there for kids -- the Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists are particular favourites -- but Backyard Birds is a wonderful book to give a young child who is just beginning to have an interest in birds. (And, really, I think all kids naturally have this. It's a question of whether this interest is nurtured or not.)

Bateman focusses on birds that you might logically have in your yard or neighborhood. (That's a tall order for Canada and US mind you, but he's done a good job.) He's included chickadees, mallards, great blue herons, American crows, rufous hummingbirds, barn swallows, etc. Many of these will be the first birds people learn to identify.

With each spread, Bateman focuses on one or two birds, gives a description in the running text and also field notes (i.e., size, range, voice, food, etc.) on a little "notebook page." Of course his paintings accompany the text, putting them in situ in beautifully rendered scenes. Interspersed with pages devoted to particular species are spreads that focus on general topics, such as bird senses, migration, life cycles, etc. To notch things up a bit, he includes a spread on how to tell the difference between 6 species of sparrows, infamously dubbed LBBs -- "little brown birds" -- (or worse, but unprintable) by beginning birders. This comes at the perfect time in the book and explains well how field marks are used to tell species apart.

Young readers will also enjoy an account of how Bateman became interested in birds at the age of 8. He also includes a small illustration showing some birds drawn when he was 14. There's no doubt he was talented and accomplished at a very young age. Birds are a great way to get children to focus in on things in their environment. They draw them in and, hopefully, are a way to encourage them to get outside and, ultimately, protect what is dear.

Here are reviews from Canadian Materials and BookList.

While we're on the topic of birds, Introducing Our Western Birds by Matthew F. Vessel and Herbert H. Wong, is a second-hand score I picked up. (The late Professors Vessel and Wong also wrote The Natural History of Vacant Lots -- obviously men after my own heart.) I was drawn in by the wonderful graphic art by Ron King -- very 1960s -- and so beautifully done. (I wish I had this darn scanner hooked up so I could show you.) This book, long out of print, is actually one of the better birds for young birders I've seen. Very colourful, with very good info. on identifying features, types of feathers, how to determine habitat and food from bills and feet, and more. Ron King gathers several birds in a single-page illustration with the descriptions on the facing page. I love these illustrations and am sorely tempted to rip them out and frame them (gasp!), but that verges on sacriligious. So, for now, they stay between the covers. I can't promise they always will though.

Factory Girl

There were many things that drew me to this book. The author, Barbara Greenwood, was one of course. She writes wonderful books -- primarily on history -- that I've always enjoyed. The cover drew me in too. I'm a sucker for old sepia photos and this cover image of young "factory girls" -- with one of the girls colour-tinted -- was riveting. I found myself staring into the faces of these girls -- close to the age of my own daughters -- and wondering about their lives. And the subject matter, of course, was also a great one. What a fabulous way to learn about and era of our history -- the lives of the working poor in the early 1900s, the reality of factories, unions, strikes, suffragettes,...it's all here in Factory Girl.

In Factory Girl, Greenwood alternates the fictional story of Emily Watson, a girl whose family circumstances have driven her to find work in a garment factory, with non-fiction sections. These non-fiction sections give readers the back-story and context to better understand the story. For example, after the first chapter where we meet Emily trying to find work, the non-fiction sections explain the circumstances of life in North American cities in 1912. This gives the much-needed context that young readers will need -- how was life different then? -- to better understand Emily's predicament.

Wonderful historical photos are used throughout the book. Greenwood even weaves the story of photographers, and how important they were to bringing awareness to the plight of the working poor, into the story. Many of the photos are by Lewis Hine, a school teacher who was asked by activists to record the plight of child workers. Since factory owners would never have let Hine in the factories if they knew what he was doing, he told them he was documenting equipment. Cleverly, Hine asked children to stand in the photos under the guise of showing the scale of the machinery. His photos are riveting.

Both the fictional story and the non-fiction narrative in Factory Girl can stand alone, but together they make a stellar book that brings an important era of our history to life. Greenwood masterfully makes the story relevant to young readers, and gives them fodder to imagine how different their lives might have been if they'd lived a century ago. Greenwood adds food-for-thought at the end of the book with a spread on today's young factory worker.

Here are a few other reviews, from Education Oasis, Quill and Quire, and Canadian Materials. And here's a short interview with Barbara from Scholastic's Arrow Book Clubs.

What the Heck am I Doing Here?

No, this isn't a "what is the meaning of my life?" post. None of that here. It's all about the blog and why/what I'm doing. Now that I've been blogging for over a year, I finally think I know. When I first began I though I'd post mainly about my writing and upcoming events, but that can get a tad dull. (Especially for me.) Although I'll still include these things, Tough City Writer has evolved into more of a blog about books, writing and reading. Okay, okay, so the the blogosphere is filled with blogs like that. What makes this one different? For starters, I've focussed in on children's books for now and try to hone in on Canadian books and writers. There are plenty of blogs about American writers and books -- and kid's lit in particular -- but not many about Canucks that I can find at least. (If you do know of such blogs, please let me know. Sheryl's Reading Kids Books does I know.) We have so many wonderful writers and artists here in our vast country, this is my small contribution to getting the word out.

I am not a librarian nor a bookseller or publicist so I can't get my mitts on the latest and greatest new books to hit the shelves. Tough City is also a small town with an equally small library so it often takes awhile for the latest books to make it here. We do have two bookstores though (yup, TWO! -- not bad for a town with a population of 1500 -- and they're both independents) -- but they've pretty small kids' sections. This is all to say I'm not even going to try to make it a focus to review the latest books, unless, of course, publishers decide to send them my way. I'll write about the books that catch my fancy, imagination, eye... They might be published in the last year or two, but maybe not. Maybe they'll inspire you to check out a book you've never read or perhaps a new author. I've got stacks and stacks of books I've been wanting to read and when and if I do, I'll try to blog about them. For all the books that get dozens of reviews, there are gazillions more that fall off the radar for one reason or another before the ink is drying on the next season's catalog. Perhaps they'll find a place -- and a new surge of energy? -- here.

Now my editors and publishers (real or potential) may look at this blog as one big collosol waste of time, and for a time I wondered that too. But I must say that I think blogging has made be a better reader (and, heck, I have to write these things, so at least that's something). When I read now with a mind to a possible blog entry I'm a bit more analytical in my reading and am thinking a lot about why this book "works", or doesn't. I figure this will help my own writing, too. And as far as habits or ways to procrastinate go, it could be far, far worse than blogging.

This is it for navel-gazing and introspection, but 'tis the season for such pursuits. I hope you'll keep visiting and also will take a moment to tell me what keeps you peeking at Tough City Writer.

Over and out.

Writer Montage

Okay, I know I'm a nerd, posting on Christmas Day before we've even broken out the champagne and orange juice, but it's mercifully quiet, the fire is "crackling" (well, whoosing; it's gas) and I have a few books at my side to choose from. It's going to be a lovely day and here's a little ditty to start it off. My Christmas gift to you dear readers; all three of you.

Alternative Twelve Days

We've been thinking a lot about New Zealand around here lately. P is working on a project for social studies and as her country of choice, she selected NZ. So we've been poring over the pictures of our fabulous trip there far too many years ago. (Only a third of those pictures are in albums of course!) And since we've got NZ and Christmas on our minds, we pulled out our copy of A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree, NZ's take on The Twelve Days of Christmas. Check out the blog from Mama Lisa, with the full text, a picture of a pukeko and a bit of NZ and Maori history in the comments section.

And lookee here, someone has made a fabulous quilt of the story!

And while we're in the southern hemisphere, here are three Australian versions. In our stack of Christmas books, we have a version of the Aussie Twelve Days written by June Williams and illustrated by John McIntosh. I can't find a cover image, but here are a few of the interior images.

No doubt there are a lot of other "alternative" Twelve Days. (A quick search yielded a few, which are unprintable/unlinkable here considering young eyes might be checking out my blog.) If you know of any others, please send a link or drop me a note.

An Education About Christmas and Canada All in One Book

A Northern Nativity by William Kurelek is both a second-hand score and a Christmas title, but I'd buy it new if I came across it. This book, now over 30 years old, is another great addition to a collection of Christmas books by Canadians. In our home we celebrate Christmas in a fairly secular way. While I try to explain to my kids the various celebrations during this, the dark season, my kids are not particularly well-versed in religion. That's a shame I think, not because I'll ever be much of a church-goer, but more that so much of our history, literature, customs, etc. are so thoroughly grounded in Christianity. I think my kids, in fact most kids today (and me too) are missing out on a lot of depth behind what we, and others, do and why we do it. But I digress, sort of. This is all a lead in to saying that there's a lot of think about in this book of Kurelek's.

In A Northern Nativity Kurelek writes and paints his way through dreams of the twelve-year-old William as he imagines the nativity scene in various parts of Canada. He wonders:

If it happened here as it happened there...
If it happened now as it happened then...

Who would have seen the miracle?
Who would have brought gifts?
Who would have taken Them in?

With this premise, the book begins. Each spread shows the nativity in a 20 different settings -- an igloo in northern Canada, a hay shed on a ranch in the foothills of the Rockies, a box car, at Niagara Falls, and even in a broken down car beside the slag heaps of a mining town. It's such an interesting idea and certainly you'll never come across another book like it. And it contains lots of food for thought. In a spread entitled, A Farm Family's Adoration, the Madonna with child sit in front of a Christmas tree, before a farm family. At the end of the spread he writes:

"As William woke he recalled that the Christmas tree had stood not before but behind the Holy Family. He remembered a poem he had heard:
Lead us aaway from the Christmas tree,
Lead us back to the Christmas cave.
If we have gifts to give
Teach us to give to the hungry, the poor, the sick, the lame."

In many of the spreads Kurelek has such sentiments and "teachings" getting at the heart of what Christmas is really meant to be about. This is not really a picture book for young children, but it would certainly be a wonderful book to read (and discuss) with older children.

It was hard to find reviews, but here's one from Book Loons, and here's what Judith Saltman has to say about this book in Modern Canadian Children's Books (Note: "Modern" is relative here as this book was published in 1987.):

"In A Northern Nativity (1976) Kurelek moves from memoir to dream and legend. He sets one of the most resonant of narratives, the nativity, against the kaleidoscope of Canadian scenes. Based on a series of childhood dreams, the paintings place the nativity in the time of Kurelek's own childhood memories and relocate it in a cinematic journey across Canada. The holy family, depicted as representing all Canadians from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to Ottawa, appears in many changing cultural identities, including Inuit, black, and Indian."

You can see some of the interior images here.

Book Lists are Popping Up Everywhere

'Tis the seasons, folks. For book lists, that is. I keep the Globe & Mail's Top 100 Books of the Year, dreaming that I might read them all (Ha, ha, double ha; obviously I live in eternal hope) and feverishly scribble on scraps of paper the names of great books I hear on various radio programs. In the spirit of all things bookish and listy, I give you a few links just in case you haven't fulfilled your book-buying quota for the holiday season and beyond.

For the wee ones, here's John Burns's 10 Picture Books for Tree-Bound Tots from the Georgia Straight. (And while I'm at it, here is another of John's great columns from earlier in the year: For the Little Darlings: Pages to Gobble in Glee.)

Sticking to the left, er west, coast, here's a new list as of today from The Tyee. (This list is worth the read just for the chuckle. Take this entry:

"For that hard-to-shop-for fan of graphic-novel memoirs about once-famous Chinese acrobat/magicians who taught Orson Welles about showbiz and were once the toast of vaudeville but today are unjustly forgotten, as told by the acrobat/magician's great-granddaughter, a Vancouver filmmaker who discovered a lot about herself and her family as she researched this fascinating story:

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam: An Illustrated Memoir by Ann Marie Fleming (Riverhead/Penguin)."

While we're at The Tyee, if you're feeling a bit out of it with all of the fuss about The Golden Compass (and are too afraid to ask anyone), you might check out Crawford Killian's review.

And then there's the good 'ol CBC. Sounds Like Canada gave us a list of cookbooks today and if you go to the "Interviews" you can find the most recent picks from the CBC Children's Book Panel.

All for now. Any lists to share? (Like what's on your wish list?)

Vancouver Envy

Most days I love living here in Tough City, especially at this time of year when it's quiet (few tourists) and everyone is oh so happy and social, despite the grey, rainy days. But, there are other days when I wish I lived in the city so I could take advantage of city events like the upcoming show at Atelier Galley of Julie Morstad's art from one of my favourite kids' books, When You Were Small, by Sara O'Leary, which I previously blogged about here. There are 13 images for sale and the show is only from 2 to 4 so if you're still looking for a Christmas gift for me, be quick!

Sara sent me a note saying that a sequel, Where You Came From, will be appearing soon. Here's a sneak peek at its cover.

While we're (sort of) on the subject of Christmas, check these lovely (and also quirky or downright macabre if you look closely) Christmas scenes in miniature from Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz.

Meet Tiffany Stone

Here's the first of what I hope will become many interviews with Canadian writers. This is the email "conversation" I had with the kids' poet, Ms. Tiffany Stone. This fab photo of the fun-loving Ms. Stone is courtesy Photography by Raegan.

Tiffany's books, Floyd the Flamingo and Baad Animals are favourites of mine. They're filled with fun, wacky poetry with ditties like this:

Rules

Do not tie knots
in unsuspecting snakes.
Do not hop on hippo's heads
to get across the lake.
Do not cheat when playing chess
with cheetahs late at night.
It may not be illegal
but that doesn't make it right.
Do not connect a leopard's spots
or toot a rhino's horn.
Laugh at a hyena
and you'll wish that you weren't born.
Do not subtract with adders.
Do not pinch a chimpanzee.
Do not, do not, do not, do NOT
times ninety-nine
times three!

from Baaaad Animals



Tough City Writer: What's the best thing about being a writer?

TS: When a kid comes up and recites one of my poems to me from memory and entirely of his or her own volition. Something created by little ol’ me is now an actual factual part of someone else. How cool is that?!? It’s especially sweet when that kid is the one I’d never expect to care about what I write. To make that kind of a connection is…well, indescribable!

You know, the feeling when I finally finish a poem and I just know it works is pretty good, too.

The worst thing? Rejection letters from publishers. And lines that won’t scan no matter what.

TCW: Do you remember any favourite books from your childhood?

TS: The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I copied Arrietty’s diary out of the book into a little journal so I would have my very own handwritten copy of her diary to keep. National Velvet. I really wanted to be Velvet Brown. The Secret World of Og because of course there were other worlds my parents didn’t know about! Rumer Godden’s The Doll House because at one point in elementary school, it was the thickest book I had ever read. Wind in the Willows—both my parents came from England. And the What Katy Did books. Oh yeah—Little Women. My friends and I set up our own book club based entirely around that one book. Alice in Wonderland because it abandons so many of the ‘rules’ of reality (whatever that is!). I could keep going. I read A LOT.

With three young kids, I don’t have time to read for myself as much as I used to but when I do, I still prefer kids’ books. I think it’s because there’s so much hope and possibility in them. Grownups need more of that! There are tonnes of Canadian children’s books I absolutely love but for fear of leaving out someone I know, I’m going to wimp out and not be specific here. What I will say is look for Canadian children’s authors at your local library and at bookstores worth their salt everywhere!

TCW: If you could live in one book, which one would it be? (And what character would you be?)

TS: I would be Pippi in Pippi Longstocking because in real life I live in my head too much and am not brave, adventurous or athletic—although I aspire to be! I also care way too much about what people think of me. Pippi couldn’t care less! Plus I love the funky way she dresses and who wouldn’t want bright red hair and sticky-out pigtails?!?

TCW: Is your fridge covered in magnetic poetry?

TS: Not officially. Besides magnetic Lego and gears, it does have some magnetic words from CBC’s Early Edition on it that my son Emory won at a book event I was part of. But thanks to my two year old, Kaslo, these words have been ‘edited’ quite a bit. (They’re under the fridge, I think.)

Here’s one of my fridge poems from awhile ago that I liked enough to write down:

crave dynamite anatomy always
get not good enough anxiety only
hooray to pain
love being vain
how else is there
I am a cartoon
and you?

TCW: Do you have a favourite time and place to read?

TS: All day long on a tropical island. But seriously. I read at nighttime. In bed. Once the kids are asleep. If I can stay awake.

TCW: Do you write in other genres than poetry? Can you share?

TS: My very first book, Tall Tale: The True Story of the World’s Largest Tin Soldier, is non-fiction and tells, you guessed it, the true story of the construction of the world’s largest tin soldier, which is located at the New Westminster Quay in New Westminster, BC. The book was a commissioned piece so it’s pretty hard to get hold of. It was a terrific learning experience, though, because the illustrator and designer, Elisa Gutierrez, and I were responsible for most of the book’s production. And Tall Tale turned out not half bad if I do say so myself—thanks mostly to Elisa! By the way, check out her fabulous wordless picture book, Picturescape, published by Simply Read Books.

That said, my genre is really poetry. It’s taken me a long time to figure out something I knew back in elementary school but obviously forgot somewhere along the way: I’m a poet. I love writing poems. I enjoy editing other people’s picture book stories for Tradewind Books and as a freelance editor but I have absolutely no talent when it comes to creating my own prose stories. And that’s okay. I just wish publishers weren’t so reluctant to publish collections of kids’ poems by poets who aren’t already dead. And that bookstores, etc. would put more effort into drawing people’s attention to good books of good poems. Poetry has a lot to offer. I believe that the more you play with words, the more they become your friends. Plus reading poems aloud—and lots of poems are meant to be read this way—exercises your tongue and trains your ears to hear the music in language. In fact, I double-dog-dare-you to go find a poem and read it out loud right now! Just remember to come back because there’s still a little more of this interview.

Yes, ma'am. I went and read The Secret Life of Slugs . See how obedient I am?

TCW: Your poems are wonderful and funny. Lovely word play, and well, just fun. Do you play around with other forms of poetry too?

TS: Thanks! There are many, many fantastic serious poems out there but I prefer to be silly. I figure the world is a serious enough place without me adding to it!

I first got really into writing poetry in grade six. My teacher, Mrs Pudek, wrote poetry. Mostly unrhymed descriptive poems to go with photographs she (or maybe her husband) had taken. She encouraged the class to write these kinds of poems, too. Man, I loved Language Arts that year! And, you know, I totally recommend that when kids start writing poems they don’t worry about rhyme. Although rhymed verse often seems quite simple when you read it, it can be amazingly difficult to write. Plus worrying about getting the rhyme and rhythm right can put a cramp in what you’re trying to say. In fact, I only started writing rhymed poems after submitting a collection of free verse to a publisher who read it, liked it but told me that I should try writing in rhyme if I wanted to write for kids because the only thing harder than getting a rhymed collection of poems for kids published if you’re an unknown poet is getting an unrhymed one published. So I switched and have enjoyed it so much I haven’t written any free verse in a long time. Just to prove I did actually write something other than “humorous nonsense verse” (as reviewers tend to call what I currently write), here’s one of those descriptive, unrhymed jobbies I wrote in university that actually got published in several poetry anthologies:

rush hour in the rain

wet streets
shiny black like licorice
twisting through the city

traffic tastes its way home

TCW: On that note, what's for dinner?

TS: Leftover homemade mixed vegetable and bean curd pulao (rice, tofu, cashews, mixed veg and spices). I had planned on cooking something tonight but my kids wanted to paint this afternoon and, well, there was a lot of cleanup. Kaslo thinks his body makes a fine canvas!

Before I finish off, I realize I’ve mentioned my two sons but not my daughter, Jewell. This could put my life at risk so I’m going to end by saying, “Hi, Jewell!” Oh, and go read another poem!

Roger! I'm happy to obey. Thanks for the chat, Tiffany. We look forward to your next work, "humorous nonsense verse" or otherwise!

Holiday Book Pairings

Thanks to inspiration from Mother Reader's Twenty-One Way to Give a Book I compiled a list of ideas from members of CWILL BC. You can read their ideas over at the CWILL Blog.

Second Hand Score: The Christmas Bower

Imagine my delight at coming across a book that has liberal doses of two of my favourite things: birds and Christmas. (Oh, and fantastic illustrations, too.)I can't recall where I picked up The Christmas Bower by Polly Redford - one of my usual used-book haunts, no doubt.

I can't find too much info. about the author of The Christmas Bower, Polly Redford, but she seems to have written a few other books about wildlife in the 1960s. It's obvious she knows something about wildlife from her telling of The Christmas Bower. Noah and his ornithologist Uncle Willie, who works as the curator of birds at the Museum of Natural History, are wild about birds, and Redford gets all of the birding references right -- their lingo, equipment, and fanaticism, even mentioning the birder's journal, The Condor. The rest of the family is preoccupied with the family business, Hartman & Company, "the biggest, best, department store this side of New York." Now that Christmas is upon them, the family must decorate the store in a way that outshines all other years. This year's theme? Birds. But not just fake ones, real ones too. You can probably see where we're going. The idea of lovely birds in cages, sweetly trilling and just quiety being beautiful is quickly put to rest. Birds escape and chaos ensues.


When I first flipped through the book, what drew me in immediately, was the fabulously distinctive illustrations by Edward Gorey. I knew his art looked familiar to me and then I realized it's because he illustrated one of my all time favourite kids' books, The Shrinking of Treehorn, the tale of poor Shrinking Treehorn and his wonderfully oblivious parents whose inattentiveness would cause great distress to today's parenting gurus.


Although The Christmas Bower was written in 1967, it didn't have a dated feel. (It seems to be actually set in the 1920s or so, based on the dress. The only things kids might find amusing is the fact Noah' parents sleep in single beds. Very 1960s TV if I recall!) Noah seemed mature beyond his years and all of the characters were distinctive and amusing in their own way. I especially adore the fabulous Mrs. Ogle, the stereotypical wacky bird lady with a lot of money and time on her hands. I've done a quick scan and you can pick up copies at on-line sellers of used books relatively inexpensively. It's worth adding to your collection of Christmas books, and if you don't have a collection, this would be a great one to start with!

Easy Reading is Damn Hard Writing

BC writer Ann Walsh is on the cover of the Winter 2007 issue of BC Bookworld. Below her pic is a quote from her interview: "Nearly everyone is going to write a children's book someday when they have a free weekend." Good one, Ann. Everyone thinks writing books for kids is a snap, but, as writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was purported to say, "Easy reading is damn hard writing." In other words, folks, it ain't as easy as it looks. Take, for instance, this little gem I recently came across: See Otto by the mighty talented David Milgrim. It is a "Ready-to-Read" book, Pre-level 1, published by Aladdin (Simon and Schuster). Pre-Level 1 is identified as "Recognizing Words" so the books have: word repetition, familiar words and phrases, and simple sentences. (And hilarious illustrations I might add.) With just 19 words Milgrim has created a charming, funny and witty first reader. No "See Dick Run" here. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the other in this series: Ride Otto Ride, See Pip Point, Swing Otto Swing! and See Santa Nap. As the reviewer from Kirkus says: "More, Otto, more!"

Stowaway

I am such a fan of Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust -- iIt's truly one of my favourite kids' books. So it was with great anticipation that I picked up Hesse's Stowaway. It seemed to have all the right ingredients for me -- Hesse as an author, historical fiction, sailing voyages of discovery. The stowaway in this story is young Nicholas Young, who was an actual crew member - and presumed to be a stowaway as his name doesn't appear on the ship's roster until well into the journey -- on Captain James Cook's first voyage of discovery, 1768-1770. Hesse uses a journal format to relay Nicholas's story. Through short entries we slowly gain a picture of our young protagonist, the life he has run from (with ominous references to The Butcher), his life hidden amongst the animals as a stowaway, and then his gradual acceptance as an important and valuable crewmember aboard the H. M. S. Endeavour.

Stowaway is a well-researched book and gives the reader a fabulous sense of how the journey unfolded and its trials and tribulations, but (could you hear the but coming?) I think the use of the journal format was a poor choice. Telling the story through Nicholas's journal doesn't allow Hesse the room she needs to make a gripping narrative. I kept "waiting for something to happen." Of course, there was a lot happening on the voyage, but the journal format never gives us a change to bring out and develop the adventure and the drama of the entire ordeal, and an ordeal it was for much of the time. The only time I sensed a peak in the narrative was as they leave Batavia when one man after another -- and sometimes several a day -- dies.

There is much to learn in this book, however. Young readers will get an excellent sense of shipboard life, of Cook's journeys of exploration, relationship between explorers and native people, natural history (Nicholas often assist's the onboard naturalist, Joseph Banks), sailing terminology, and more. It would make a great read for young readers interested in this era of exploration, sailing adventures, and for teachers as a way to support units on exploration and discovery. As always, these are just my impressions. Here are a few other reviews, from Kids Reads and Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

And here's an interesting article: Consider The Source: Feminism and Point of View in Karen Hesse's Stowaway and Witness. Food for thought there.

Next up for me from Hesse: The Music of Dolphins. I've always wanted to learn how to speak dolphin!

Philip Pulman on Writers and Company

Before you know it, bloggers across the blogosphere will be commenting on the release of The Golden Compass, a movie based on the first book in Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. I won't be among them because I've just started to re-read the book and won't see the move until I'm done. But, I did enjoy the interview on CBC's Writers and Company with Pulman. The first interview of two is posted on the Writers and Co. website. The second will take place this week. Interesting listening considering all the much-predicted brouhaha and threats of book banning that have (hopefully) peaked with the release of the movie. Where have all of these people been hiding over the years? Oh yes, fretting over Harry Potter. Well they ain't seen nothing yet. Bring on His Dark Materials.

If you're ever interested in following all things about banned books, Bookshelves of Doom is a great place to begin. They've got several links up to the Pulman fuss.

The Great Red Fox Calls Upon a Sausage and other kids' stories of questionable worth

If you're interested in the evolution of picture books from The Doings of the Alphabet to Where the Wild Things Are, you might want to mosey on over to Slate, and take a gander at the slide show that accompanies the article Where the Wild Things Came From: How Children's Books Evolved from Morals to Madcap Fun. My particular favourite ... the The Great Red Fox Calls Upon a Sausage (?).

Writing History - John Wilson, GG's Award Finalist

I've been holding off on posting about John Wilson and his books until the results of the Governor General's awards were announced. John was short-listed with his book The Alchemist's Dream, but lost out to Iain Lawrence's Gemini Summer. (At least we kept it in BC - John lives in Lantzville and Iain down the road, and across the water, on Gabriola.)

I'm a big fan of John's historical fiction and most recently I've read Where Soldiers Lie. This book was short-listed for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. Where Soldiers Lie tells the story of 16-year-old Jack O'Hara around the time of the 1857 seige of Cawnpore by mutineers from the Indian Army. Jack originated from Canada West, but was farmed out to his aunt and uncle in India after his parents die of smallpox. As the story opens, Jack finds five chapattis on the verandah. He thinks this was a careless act of the servants, but, in fact, as he learns from his friend Hari, the chapattis are a declaration of war. What follows is a whirlwind of action as Jack, Hari, Alice (daughter of a general) and Tommy, a friend from the British army, are thrown into the trauma of the mutiny.

In many ways, this is a coming-of-age story with the seige of Cawnpore being the transformative event in young Jack's life. This "adventure" is short, but traumatic. Jack will never be the same after it ends. The story is violent and gory at times, but such is war. I feel that John strikes a great balance -- no doubt he had to water-down the actual reality of the tragic and bloody events, yet he still provides us with a realistic account of the chaos. It is as time very graphic and I think that's a good thing -- teen readers should be able to "take it." We are there with Jack and his friends, rooting for them all and hoping for their safety and the well-being of their loved ones.

Of particular interest is the connection between this story and the history of John's family. I won't spoil it -- read the book and you'll find out. Check out John's blog, too, there's lots of information on his books and a great essay on boys and reading, Eviscerating Noddy.

Ode to the Fact Checker

This is just too funny. It's the end of the day, take a 10 minute break and watch it.

Chanda's Secrets

I saw Allan Stratton speak at at writer's event a few years ago, but it's taken me until recently to read Chanda's Secrets.

Chanda’s Secrets is set in a fictional country in sub-Saharan Africa. The book opens with our protagonist, 16-year-old Chanda, negotiating with the undertaker to prepare a burial and funeral for her 1 ½ -year old half-sister. Mama is despondent, leaving Chanda to make arrangements and care for her other half-siblings, a brother and a sister.

The family lives in the shantytown, but they haven’t always. They originally lived in the country, where life was pretty good. Then Chanda’s father and brothers were killed in a diamond mine accident and things got decidedly tougher. Chanda’s mother eventually re-marries three times. Chanda’s first step-father number one abused Chanda; #2 was kind, but died of a stroke; and #3, the current one, is an alcoholic philanderer. But…what the book is really about is HIV/AIDS in Africa and how, while the illness is startlingly common, it is unmentionable. Individuals and families are shunned if people in their family have the disease, yet everyone knows that almost every family is affected. HIV/AIDS is the big, white unmentionable elephant in the room that is Africa (or at least this fictional country in Africa, but we know this is the case in reality, too).

This story is narrated by Chanda, a bright, educated girl. She is fiercely devoted to and protective of her family and friends. We’re with her as she navigates through this misery, and ultimately — when HIV/AIDS hits close to home more than once — takes the prejudice surrounding the disease head on.

My 14-year-old daughter read this book as well. When asked, she said she didn't like it, but that was primarily because it was so sad. She did stay up all night to finish it though – she wanted to see how it ended and she did acknowledge she learned a lot and that the writing drew her in. She just wasn't ready for sad at that point in her reading life. Yes, it was sad, but, to Stratton’s credit, I didn’t walk away from it feeling despondent. I was angry at the injustice for many reasons, but I knew that our bright Chanda, and likely the family that remains in her care, is moving forward and that, one day, things are going to be better. To that end, we will soon find out as a sequel, Chanda's Wars, awaits.

This book has, most deservedly IMHO, won a whack of awards and honours. Stratton has prepared a teacher's guide for the book and you can listen to a podcast from NPR here.

Dealing with Rejection

I'm off to Campbell River today to be part of a panel with Melanie Jeffs of Orca Books on Editors and Editing. One of the most challenging things I've had to come to terms with in my role as an editor is writing rejection letters. I know, I know, it's much harder to read them, but it's hard to write them too. With this in mind, and in the spirit of our panel tomorrow, here's check out The 8 Rules of Rejection from Editorial Anonymous. My favourite rule: #6 Most rejection letters mean nothing. Nothing. (Except that you can cross the publisher/agent off your list.)

Stop What You're Doing...And Read a Book

As I mentioned the other day, there's been quite a discussion on The Writers' Union of Canada's listserv on the NEA report on falling literacy. Lots of interesting debate. Here's what one school is doing to keep kids reading books. This was posted by writer and teacher, Barbara Pelman, who is a teacher at Reynolds Secondary School in Victoria. (Quoted with permission):

My school, Reynolds, reads for 20 minutes every day, across the board, not just in English classes. The whole school shuts down to read. The vp's are "reading police" to herd kids on spares into the library. Our library take outs have increased over 200% since we began the program three years ago. When we tested the kids after two years, their grade point average went up a grade (yes it was a little test, with a little sampling, but it is something, and it is positive). We have authors in the schools 5 or 6 times a year, and poetry readings in the evenings. More of this is needed.

I've heard of similar programs -- everyone in the school, including the custodian, secretary, administration, support staff etc. stops to read. Other ideas?

Finally, a new book

In my experience, writers tend to be a curious mix of ego (or perhaps I should say self-confidence) and insecurity. This may explain why it's taken me months to post something about my latest book. Well, okay maybe it's not exactly MY book, but if you look between the large DAVID and SUZUKI on the cover of this book you'll see my name along with Amanda McConnell. Amanda worked on the first editions of this book with the good doctor and I assisted with this version, the third. I love the book -- a holistic look at our place on this planet -- there is lots of food for thought. It was a whirlwind experience, but a very good one.

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.