My First Published Work

Although I am trying to reform, I am a bit of a pack rat. But, in my defense, I think I come by that honestly. My father is an archivist and my mother, well, she keeps the best things. I was just home for a few days and I promised my soon-to-graduate daughter, A, that I would find my high school grad photos. Well, lo and behold, I also found two of my first attempts at writing, which were published in the Doncaster Gazette (or something like that; I can't find the original student publication although I'm sure it's stored away somewhere). So here, for your reading pleasure (or not), is my first story, The Story of a Elephant and a Canary.



As you can probably tell, we must have been studying Aesop's Fables in my grade one class (with my beloved Miss Little and her beautiful mini beehive). I think this must have been a riff on Androcles and the Lion (or maybe it was The Lion and the Mouse?)You can see how I sort of forget half way through and change the elephant to a lion? Where was the editor? Anyhow, this cracks me up every time I read it.

Here is Miss Little and her circa mid-1960s not-quite-as-much-as-a-beehive-as-I-thought:


And here is moi in the same era:

Atwood on Librarians

In this blog I often go on about librarians and how integral they are to schools and communities. Today, I'll let Margaret Atwood have her say.

Kwisitis Interpretive Centre

Over the past few years I've had the pleasure of doing some writing, research and editing work for the newly redesigned interpretive centre for Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre is being re-named and has re-opened as the Kwisitis Interpretive Centre. The overall design of the centre was done by Donald Gunn, along with park staff of course, and the panels were designed "in house" at Parks Canada by Shouresh Jalili and Guy Parsons. Here are a few of the panels I worked on. This was a great project to work on and the first one that was trilingual — English, French, and Nuu-chah-nulth.

I will post some more photos of the exhibits after the grand opening, which will happen in a few weeks. For now, here is a brief blurb about re-design.

Canadian Science Writers Unite!

A group of science writers who write for children have joined together to start a blog. You can find it here. I did my first post today. Hope you enjoy it and keep checking back. There is a slew of writers in the line up, getting ready to post.

Letter to the Tooth Fairy

Once upon a time, I wrote the tooth fairy and she answered.



It is very faded, so this is what it says (with spelling intact):

Dear fairy cod
you draw a Picture
of yourself and
your name.
From Adrienne

your name [The tooth fairy wrote "Twinkle" in this space.]

picture [with arrow pointing down]

The tooth fairy drew a self-portrait in red crayon.

Canadian Books For International Women's Day

A belated post, but every day can be International Women's Day can't it? I asked some of my writing colleagues for their recommendations of books written by Canadian authors that feature strong female characters. Here are some of their responses with links.

Sydell Waxman has two titles for young reachers: Changing the Pattern: The Story of Emily Stowe
(Illustrated by Linda Potts).
When Emily Stowe was born in 1831, every girl's future was limited to housework and child care. Women were not allowed into universities. They were not allowed to vote. Yet, Emily Stowe became Canada's first woman school principal, the first woman to practise medicine in Canada and a fighter for women's rights. How did she do it? Recommended for grades 4-8.

and

Believing in Books: The Story of Lillian Helena Smith
Every time you walk into the children's section of your local library, you should be thanking Lillian H. Smith. When Lillian was young, libraries had reading rooms with signs that often said, "No children or dogs allowed." Yet, Lillian H. Smith became Canada's first children's librarian and set up one the best collections of fine children's books in our country. How did she convince people that children's books matter? How did she choose "good" children's books? Recommended for grades 4-8.

The Trouble with Dilly by Rachna Gilmore (Grades 3 and up).
Dilly is strong, feisty, scatty and wildly imaginative, and plays hockey in a mixed team. Here's a review from CM.

And here's a picture book from Rachna: Catching Time.
When Sara's family can't find time to take her to the park, she sets about trying to catch some time for them all.

Marthe Jocelyn's Scribbling Women: True Tales from Astonishing Lives. Here is a blurb from Gillian O'Reilly, a fan of this title: "It's about women who were writers but not the ones we usually think about. It includes a woman transported to Australia in the early 1800s, a wonderful African explorer (you should see the photo of her in her bonnet), the 10th century Japanese courtier Sei Shonagon, a crusading American journalist who disguised herself as a mentally ill patient to expose New York treatments in the early 1900s, and Ada Blackjack, an Inuit woman who was part of a polar expedition. And more... It's a great read"

From Margriet Ruurs there is a novel, Me & Martha Black. Protagonist Melanie wanders through the history of the Yukon, with Martha Black - who became the second woman in Parliament - as her guide.

lian goodall's Singing Towards the Future: The Story of Portia White, tells the story of this Nova Scotian contralto.
(ages 11 and up)

From editors, Jocelyn Shipley and Deb Loughead, Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls, a book of stories about teens and their moms and body images issues. This title made the ALA's 2010 Amelia Bloomer Project List.

For an emotionally strong character that must overcome incredible personal challenges, look to Cheryl Rainfield's Scars. "Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself--before it's too late...." Scars was a finalist for the Governor General Literary Award.

And here are two titles from Frieda Wishinsky:

Make It Fair!, which is #15 in the Canadian Flyer Adventure Series. This title features a great Canadian female: Nellie McClung. "Can Emily and Matt help suffragette Nellie McClung in the fight for women's rights? In Make It Fair! Emily and Matt land in Premier Rodmond Roblin's office in Winnipeg in 1914 and discover Nellie McClung confronting the Manitoban politician on the issue of women's rights.

Manya's Dream: A Story Of Marie Curie introduces the life of this two-time Nobel Prize winner (for physics and chemistry, no less) to younger readers. Here's a review.

And, finally*, I'd like to mention Elizabeth MacLeod, who has written a number of biographies about inspiring women, including Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Marie Curie. And, of course, she also wrote, The Kids Book of Great Canadian Women!


*Finally for now. Please send along any other titles you'd like to suggest.

BC Book Prizes Announced

Congratulations to all those BC writers nominated for BC Book Prizes, but especially to Deborah Hodge, John Vaillant and Maggie deVries, who is nominated twice!

How to Yarn Bomb a House

Sadly, I had to miss the yarn bombing event at Joy Kogawa House, but writer Jacquie Pearce was there. Here's her recap of the day.

What's In Your Notebook?

So worth a watch. Just have tissues nearby. (This is a documentary from CBC's The Passionate Eye. Below is part one of five. All are available on YouTube.)

Resource Link's Best of 2010

If you're looking for some new Canadian resources for children for your library, classroom or home this list is a great place to begin your search.

You Never Know When (and How) Opportunity Will Come

I love this story. It's one of those serendipitous events where some nice things happened to a hard-working person (in this case, the artist Patricia Storms) and those good things happened in a circuitous way. Patricia says it best, so I'll leave it to her, but just in case you aren't tuned into the kid-litosphere, it involved Martin Amis, some snarky, tossed off words, a London paper, and a maelstrom (mael-Storm?) of drawing that included, amongst others, The Cat in the Hat, Madeline, and a few wild things.

A Room of My Own (2)

Okay, the second wall. My office is such a mess (an organized one, mind you) that I have been putting off posting this, but here I am; the truth of it all. This is my second desk, where I usually shift when I want to spread things out (ahem, once the surface is cleared as much as possible) or write by hand. It is also where I dump my junk when I come into the office.



When we had our house renovation done (which is when I got a real office and not just a corner in another room) we added these cubbies as an after-thought. I am so glad the carpenter suggested them. Some of them are specifically kept to file the papers and books I need for a specific project —



Others are kept for little vignettes because, well, I'm a bit of a pack-rat and like any self-respecting pack-rat, I like pretty and interesting things.



(The cubbies also are a great surface for sticky notes, something that breed in my office environment.)



The Golden Book of Biology is my gem. I love it, because I love Charlie Harper's art (plus, I'm a biologist) so I was delighted to find out it was worth a bit of cash. Only when I am absolutely desperate will I part with it. (Or maybe not.) Other things here are two hearts (one in stone, one in wood) carved by men (well, boys, actually) other than my husband (see note above about pack-rat-itis), rarely used lipstick, round stones I love, ear phones, iPod, etc. and a great little change purse that says, "old enough to know better...young enough to give a rat's ass." (Apologies to any young ears.)

Vancouver Legacy Books

To celebrate Vancouver's 125th birthday, ten classic books about Vancouver are being republished. You can find the details here.

A Room of My Own (1)

Besides, "How old are you?" or "How much money do you make?" (favourites of younger audiences), one of the most common questions I get asked is "Where do you work?" (Or, "What is your writing routine?")

Routine? I guess I have one, but since I do other things than just write books, it depends at bit on what is going on. Generally (read: on the best of days!) I try to rise fairly early, about 5 or 5:30. I am a morning person, so can easily get a cup of coffee and get right down to work. That's when I do my most creative work. By mid-morning I switch over to editing or research and by mid-afternoon I'm usually down to paying bills and sorting piles. I try to fit in some sort of exercise in between it all - yoga or some light weights, a walk, or a bit of time on my "tread desk." (More on that coming soon.) This schedule, such as it is, goes to hell when I have a looming deadline. Then, I work when I can, including evenings and weekends.

As to where I work, I am lucky to have a room of my own. It is frequently overflowing with piles of papers and books, but there is a semblance of organization and is possibly my favourite room in the house. (I do love my work, but it's good to shut the door at the end of the day.) I thought you might want to take a peek, so I'll be posting pictures of various angles. I did not clean up before pressing the shutter. (That is probably more than apparent.) First up:



This is my "filing system" for a very large project I've been working on for several years. I had huge amounts of research to organize and this is only a part of it. I originally had piles all over my office floor, then finally hauled this old bookshelf out of the shed and put it to good use. This photo was taken when I was finally finished (as finally as I can be for the moment; there are lots of edits to do) so I was sorting and cleaning. Each shelf once had three piles about the size of the one in the lower right corner. I've now squeezed them in to five bankers boxes. The two large flower paintings (one only partially visible) done by Daughters A and P. The smaller one is a thrift store find. I have another large flower painting from Daughter A to add to the wall.

(By the way, the little book you can see on the top shelf in the upper left, is The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin as a BOARD BOOK, which I find hilarious. Honestly, what baby would care less? And I would love to see parents trying to explain it all to their wee one. (And having written quite a bit about evolution, I can't imagine that someone would think condensing it in to five pictures was an easy thing to do.) The book is one of a series of four board books, "Children's Condensed Classics." I also have Shakepeare's All the World's a Stage and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in board book version!)



On the top shelf is my grandmother's old Underwood typewriter. It is just so beautiful and so heavy. I could build some serious biceps by bench pressing it! I love having it nearby and will have to track down from tape so I can actually use it.

New Resource for Reluctant Readers

Do you have a young reluctant reader in your house? If so, you might want to check out this new youth literacy website, developed by YA author, Pam Withers. The site includes interviews with middle grade and young adult authors and well as book reviews.

Yarn Bombing at Joy Kogawa House

Having just dusted off my knitting needles in a big way, with the resolution to finish up all of the half-completed projects I have around here, I would love be able to attend this event! I've also just learned to crochet and am looking for a second project so I can remember what I just learned. Perhaps a pink posie is in order?

Help writing blossom at Historic Joy Kogawa House! Join Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, co-authors of the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press), as we cover the Joy Kogawa cherry tree in hundreds of knitted blossoms.

You are invited to come and knit or crochet pink cherry blossoms to help cover this historic tree, whose story is told in Joy Kogawa's Naomi's Tree, a picture book about friendship. Knitters and crocheters of all levels are welcome to attend these FREE events.

Join our community knit-in at the Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on:

Saturday, February 5, 2 to 3:30pm

Or help to stitch all of the cherry blossoms into place at Historic Joy Kogawa House on:

Sunday, March 6, 2 to 3:30pm

Leanne and Mandy will entertain stitchers with daring tales of yarn bombing feats from around the world, books will be available for sale and signing, and refreshments will be served. Yarn and needles will be provided; however, donations of pink yarn are appreciated!

Can't make it to the event? Mail in your knitted or crocheted cherry blossoms to be added to the tree, as follows:

Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4

Or drop your blossoms in the covered bin you'll find just down the steps from the sidewalk in front of the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue. Submissions will be accepted up until March 1, 2011. All cherry blossoms should be made out of pink yarn. Patterns to use are available here.

For more information see our Facebook page or visit here.

Ann-Marie Metten
Executive Director

Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6P 2N4
Telephone 604-263-6586

Please send mail to:
8107 Cartier Street
Vancouver, BC V6P 4T6

www.kogawahouse.com
www.conservancy.bc.ca

Happy Literacy Day!

Did you know it is Family Literacy Day? Perfect. Just what I need - a very good excuse for dropping everything to read for a bit.

Is Your Blackberry Working?

This reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago with a duck holding a mallet above his computer. The caption read, "Hit any key."

Two Great Vancouver Events

If you live in or near Vancouver, there are two great events to check out in the next few months. The first is Authorfest, which takes place February 1 from 4 to 5:30. Come meet the writers Deborah Hodge, Ellen Schwartz, Robert Heidbreder and Shar Levine.
(The Event is at WOOD 2 (Woodward Instructional Resources Centre-IRC), 2194 Health Sciences Mall.)

The other is Serendipity, which is also at UBC on February 26 from 8 to 3:30. This year's theme is graphic novels and these are the presenters:

Gene Yang: author of American Born Chinese (winner of the Printz Award) and the forthcoming Level Up
Raina Telgemeier: author of Smile (an ALA Notable Book for 2011)
Matt Holm: co-creator of Babymouse (the most checked out kids title at NYPL)
Aaaron Renier: author of The Unsinkable Walker Bean (and Spiralbound)
Jason Shiga: author of Meanwhile (an ALA Notable Book for 2011)

Early bird registration closes on February 1. To register, go here.

For details, on both events, visit the blog of the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable.

What's On Your Bookshelves?

When I pick up a home design magazine and find a bookshelf in the picture, you can find me holding the magazine sideways as I scrutinize what is on the shelves. And I am mildly suspicious of homes without bookshelves. Personally, I can't imagine. We have one (at least) in every room in the house except the bathroom (and there is a basket there, of course). I know some people think I'm nuts, but we love reading around here and, well, I am a writer so if writers don't support other writers by buying their books, then there's not a lot of hope.

So you can imagine my delight when I came across this time waster.