Be Not Inhospitable to Strangers, Lest They be Angels in Disguise

Not much to do with children's book (although I'm sure Shakespeare & Co. has some), but, if, like me, you're a fan of Jeanette Winterson, bookstores and Paris, the here's a great read for you.

A Smattering of Book Reviews

The latest reviews from Susan Perrin at the Globe and Mail.

Here are links to the titles:

Have You Ever Seen a Duck in a Raincoat? by Etta Kaner and illustrated by Jeff Szuc.






The Orphan Boy by Tolowa Mollel and Paul Morin. Here's another review of this title.








A New Life by Rukhsana Khan and illustrated by Nasrin Khosravi.





Call Me Aram by Marsha Skrypuch and illustrated by Muriel Wood. Here's another review.











You Are Weird by Diane Swanson. Here's a review from Quill and Quire.

How Does Your Paper Get Pulped?

I'm all for alternative papers, but this is a new one.

For Aspiring Picture Book Creators

If you are a writer or illustrator who aspires to write a picture book, you should carefully study this post on the beast know as a "picture book dummy." Even though pictures books are 32 pages long, you do not have 32 pages to play with. Thanks to Kirsti Wakelin for the head's up on this one. (Canadian Illustrator extraordinaire.) Check out her fabulous blog to learn about projects in progress.

Could Kindle Kill the Comic?

There are not a lot of comics read around here (graphic novels are big though) and we can't get Kindles in Canada, but some food for thought re. electronic readers. Lots of discussion and confusion amongst writers and readers about whether these readers are a good thing. I love the idea of being able to travel with hundreds of books in one handy-dandy reader, but I do love my books. And then, is it just another gadget that is going to be continually upgraded and made obsolete but the next best thing to come along (and thus, putting more electronic junk into our landfills)? The debate continues. What do you think?

Getting Back on Track...

Surprisingly, I've had a few comments on my blog lately. This has me mightily excited and wondering why people are wading in now and choosing to comment. Regardless, it's been a good kick in the butt to get me going again. Suffice to say, I've been swamped with work and school and, ahem, trying to be the nice-parent-who-seems-to-be-in-control-but-is-just-on-the-verge-of-losing-it. (Oh, did I mention that we were having a door that wouldn't close probably fixed yesterday and it's not morphed into ripping apart one corner of our house?) School ends in a month or so, and then I hope to be back on track with some regular posting and reviews. For now, though, I give you this website. My goodness. Is that fabulous or what? (I have website envy. Me thinks my website might need an overhaul (and an artist*).) I have several Shaun Tan books in the bookshelf right above my desk. They stare at me daily, begging to be read and read and written about. In Canada, Tan is published by Simply Read books, who is doing so many innovative books I fear daily for their survival. I loaded up on their books at last year's Word on the Street. I regularly cull my children's book shelves for books to donate to the free shelf at the local elementary. I dare say that Simply Read books will ever go in that cull pile. The quality and innovation is so high.

* Speaking of artists... I've always had a couple in the house — my children are pretty talented (no bias there) — but imagine my delight when this painting arrived in my home. It the first painting my husband has ever done and is the product of a weekend painting workshop I gave him for Christmas. I was even more excited when he spent the day after arriving home painting another one. The boy needs to relax and (once said house is put back together) I hope he keeps this painting thang up.

PC Fairy Tales (or Not)

No surprise that fewer and fewer parents are seeking out the original versions of fairy tales because they are not PC enough. Better than the article though, is BookNinja's thoughts on this:

Guys, if my kid isn’t lying awake in bed each night, staring at the ceiling and thinking of what he’s just read or been read, then we’ve got the wrong books. Though perhaps the HP Lovecraft was a little early. I jest. Don’t call the cops. Seriously though, he’s scared shitless of Medusa. And who can blame him. So beautiful, so snakey. The cyclops too. And I think that’s a good thing. It’ll teach him to keep away from giant, deformed fellows. And around these parts, you never know.

(Have I already said this year that you should make Bookninja required daily reading?)

Yes, but can they name ONE Canadian children's author?

No doubt you've heard this startling news. If that's not distressing enough, I doubt the percentage for Canadians who writer for children would be much, much lower. If you feel the need to do some educating of your friends, family and colleagues in this regard, a great place to direct them would be to the Authors and Illustrators lists on the CWILL-BC and CANSCAIP websites. Second rant of the day now officially over.

Fairy Tale Generator

Needs some inspiration or just looking to waste a bit of time? Try this fairy tale generator from Brown University. I chose trickery, departure and wedding and this is what appeared:

The man smelled my skin and laughed. "You smell like fresh meat," he said. "You smell like you expect to be killed and eaten alive. What kind of boy would run around this fog like that?"

I had no choice but to leave. Out, away from home was the only place I could go. The wind rustled the walls of our wooden shack, but neither my father nor my mother stirred from their deep slumbers. I put only a small piece of bread and a snippet of dried meat in my satchel, fastened my shoes, and quietly walked out of my home, our small wooden home, into the wind and fog that enveloped me into the night.

As the soil on me continued to turn into gold, the ground of our garden sprouted trees, fruits, and vegetables. My family and I stared in a daze as we watched our land grow rich and the people of the soil draw away.

Yes, I'm Still Here

Happy New Year to you all. I realize there's been a bit of a drought here, but my one nod to a New Year's Resolution is to try to keep this site somewhat active. As always, my goal is to make this a place to bring you the news on Canadian kid's book and Canadian writers (and, yes, peppered with a bit of news now and then about my own writing), but with work, school and a few other writing projects brewing (not to mention trying to be a pleasant mother), this will be an on-going challenge. Still, I'll do my best with your help. If you ever come across kid's book news, then please pass it on.

For a start, of course, those keen on Canadian books for kids could always go to the Canadian Children's Book Centre and subscribe to their wonderful Children's Book News. Money very well spent IMHO. More and more I am feeling so strongly that we need to put our money where our collective mouths are if we want to nurture a culture of books, reading, writing and literacy in our children. Of course that sounds like a no-brainer, but I think we need to support local bookstores, suck-it-up and not always search for the bargain when it comes for quality books, and get libraries and librarians back in every school in this country. Okay, rant over.

Here's some food for thought on the topic of buying second hand here.

Quill & Quire's Books of the Year issue gave the nod to five books for children that the mag. felt were "books to remember from 2008." Congrats to:

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood Books)

Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson (Penguin Canada)

Thing-Thing by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Nicolas Debon (Tundra Books)

Bonechiller by Graham McNamee (Random House)

Ojingogo by Matthew Forsythe (Drawn & Quarterly)

Eye Candy

The NYT decrees the best ten illustrated children's books of 2008. I'm happy to see one Canadian book, Skim, on the list. I'm heading out of town next week with list in hand. Me thinks my bags might be heavier on my return.

And speaking of Skim, Chester Brown and Seth have something to say about only the author being listed on the nomination list for the GG award. Of course in a graphic novel, without the illustrator there is no novel.

Thanks to Bookninja for both of these links. Go to this blog and read it. (Every day.)

New Books!

This is actually old news, but I'm very slow in posting this fall. (Bear with me, my friends. I'm hoping all this "blog silence" is translating into great writing elsewhere. One day, one day, you might see it!) I have two new books out this fall. The first, Robots: From Everyday to Out of This World comes with the byline The Editors of YES Mag. This is another in the great series of books created by the fab. folks at YES and KNOW mags and it was fun to have a part in this one.

The book has been well received thus far and both Quill and Quire and Canadian Materials have had favourable things to say.




Next up is another title in the Lu & Clancy series. This one, Secret Spies, is also a leveled reader. Here's the blurb:

When Lu and Clancy find a map labeled “Top Secret” and a note written in code in Aunt Izzy’s trunk, the mystery begins. Is Aunt Izzy a spy? The canine sleuths dress up in disguises to follow her. This case proves so full of surprises that the detectives need all their skills and nifty spy stuff to solve it.

This Level 2 first reader contains longer stories, varied sentences, increased vocabulary, more difficult visual clues and some repetition.

These titles were so much fun to write, especially trying out magic tricks, science experiments, spy disguises and the like. Thank goodness my kids and their friends were so game to play around.

Don't Miss Hycroft This Wednesday!

If you live in the lower mainland get yourself over to Hycroft on Wednesday evening for CWILL BC's annual event. Here's your chance to meet over 20 children's book writers and illustrators to hear about their new books. Each presenter gives a quick presentation on their new book, which are sure to be captivating and fun. There is also an address by Kathy Stinson and a chance to purchase books you're keen on.

Surfing Squash

In honour the big night tonight and the fact that Tough City is also a surfing kind of place, I give ye this photo of the creation by Nathan Colgate. And I refer you back to this older post. I am proud to say that I know own my very own copy of ABC Spook Show. So fabulous and with some of the best end papers I've seen in a long while.

Congratulations to all those nominated for the various "tree awards" of the Ontario Library Association.

Books for Hard Financial Times

A slide show from Slate. I think I'm in the same age demographic as the author of this article -- Little House and Ramona Quimby were high on my list of childhood favourites.

Inspired Typewriters

These are just too cool not to share. From the blog, Uppercase, typewriter-inspired art warm and fuzzy and android-cool.

Head On Over to I.N.K.

Two recent posts on I.N.K. (Interesting Non-fiction for Kids) caught my eye. First, this one on graphic novels. I am such a fan of these books. Both for their (usually) stunning art and also for their ability to capture the attention of the somewhat reluctant 11-year-old reader I live with. She is currently into the second book in The Fog Mound series, Faradawn, which Anna Lewis mentions in her post. Bring 'em on, I say. Sure there will be some dreck, but I think (hope?) publishers will take their time with this genre and only produce the best.

And, following on the heels of the idea of nature-deficit disorder our children may be suffering, Jennifer Armstrong muses on Nature (Book) Deficit. I totally agree with Armstrong's wonder at why those current darlings--the "dangerous" books for boys and girls -- are so popular.

Both of these present outdoor activities, skills and games that used to be the common currency of childhood as nostalgia. A chapter on snowballs? On skipping stones? Is outside now so outlandish that children need instructions for even its most casual use? Does this presentation imply that although outside may have been the playground of long ago, it is too quaint to be taken very seriously now?

When I looked at them, I went "What?" What's new about these books? These sorts of activitites have been trotted out in book after book for decades. Where have these people been that they find these books innovative?

Proving Any Dolt Can Write a Kids' Book -- Duh

Oh, puleese stick to what you do best and don't think that just anyone can write a good children's book. Next up on the celebrity author role? David Beckam and Jools Oliver (as in Jamie). Why do I even bother?

But children's fiction - why, Jools, why? Well, as Mrs Jamie explained, she was inspired when she "couldn't find enough books that offered simple, good stories for children". The woman speaks wisely: generations have reluctantly had to make do with the drivellings of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Philip Pullman and JK Rowling, impatiently waiting for Jools Oliver's contribution to the canon.

I probably shouldn't even give them blog space. I have better things to do.

Read Book, Lose Weight!

Can reading books fight obesity? One new study says it might help.