Kit Pearson in Victoria January 21st

09 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in For Educators, For Parents, News

thewholetruthAuthor Kit Pearson

Monday Jan. 21st, 7:30 pm

at the Victoria Children’s Literature Roundtable

Kit Pearson, beloved award-winning children’s author, will discuss her new books, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth, and talk about her life as an author. The Whole Truth won the CLA Book of the Year Award for Children and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award in 2012. The Whole Truth was shortlisted for the Bolen Book Prize 2012.

nothingbutthetruth

The VCLR is open to the public. Members free, drop-ins $5, students $4. Meetings are held at the Nellie McClung Branch Library, 3950 Cedar Hill Road. Doors open at 7 pm.

For more information about the Roundtable, call 250-598-3694, find us on Facebook, or visit:

http://www.victoriachildrensliteratureroundtable.blogspot.com.

New beginnings

08 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in Writing Life

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It’s hard to believe that 2012 has come and gone.  Having all my girls home over the holidays was a wonderful treat, but I’m going to learn to tweak the whole baking thing given the tins of cookies and tarts I was left with!  Like everyone else, I have a few new years resolutions that I firmly plan to keep:

*spend more time writing

*rework my website

*write more poetry (it feeds the soul, even it it doesn’t sell)

*get out to more local literary events

*renovate my mini-library so that it’s more storm-proof

*exercise regularly

*be more patient and tolerant in my relationships.

*I’m also hoping to do a little garden renovation since my front yard has become a bit of a tangle.

*and since this year will be a milestone in my life as I’m about to become a grandma; something I’m super excited about, start a book collection for my coming grand baby.

But for now, I have 66 books to finish reading for  literary jury duty, so I won’t be digging into my resolution list in a serious way until March…

Still, I want to wish all of you well in tackling your own 2013 resolutions and of course, wish you a year of  wonderful reading.

Write For A Better World

28 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents Tags: , , ,

World Literacy Canada has a new writing contest that you won’t want to miss. It’s a totally cool concept, and there are super prizes for the winners that include $500 and an e-reader, and of course, books.

The  idea is that you finish the story that Eric has started.  Yep, it’s that simple….

Ok ok…there is one little catch.  You have to write about a place that’s new to you; the things that are different , AND the things that are the same.

Here’s Eric’s part of the story:

I felt like I had been shot out of a cannon.  Who were these people? Where in the world was I? Before I could even get my bearings I was almost run over by. . .

You have 400 words to finish the story.

Interested?  Here’s the link to find out more.

Merry Xmas to all and to all a good night and a good 2013

24 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in News

Merry Xmas to those of you who celebrate, and to all of my friends and readers in cyberspace, I’m wishing you a peaceful 2013 filled with a year of wonderful reading and writing experiences.

Lucky me

20 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in News

IMG_2295I probably won’t be posting too often in the next while as I’m on an award jury and have piles and piles of books to read. Lucky me!

Another piece of good news is that my local paper finally noticed Island Santa and did a nice little piece on the front page of the “Living Section.”

Here’s the link.   http://www.timescolonist.com/life/the-island-s-own-father-christmas-1.31522

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season.

CBC’s Canada Writes…don’t miss the Dec. 18, 2012 challenge!

17 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in Events, News

If you’re a Dr Seuss fan, use twitter, and like a challenge, you could win an i-Pad from CBC’s Canada Writes program.
For the past week Canada Writes has been celebrating Seusstivus – their homage to the wonderful ways that children’s book authors capture a child’s imagination.

Now it’s your turn to play!

Their next Twitter writing challenge will be taking place tomorrow (Tuesday, December 18) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. And they want you to participate!

They won’t be revealing the exact theme of the challenge until tomorrow morning, but  it has something to do with the holidays, so get out the eggnog and put on your thinking caps.

The grand prize is an iPod Touch!

They’’ve partnered with the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers (CANSCAIP) for the challenge. CANSCAIP members will be reading your Tweets and interacting with you throughout the day.

They’ll also be giving away amazing books by Canadian Children’s authors every hour.

The judge for the challenge is the CBC’s Jonathan Goldstein (of Wiretap fame). Jonathan will be playing the role of the Grinch in the upcoming CBC/McGill production of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” broadcast on CBC Radio One on Christmas Day.

So, be sure to visit www.cbc.ca/canadawrites tomorrow morning to find out the details of the challenge.

CREATIVE NONFICTION

Also, don’t forget that the CBC’s Creative Nonfiction Competition is now on. One lucky winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, publication in enRoute magazine, and a two-week residency at The Banff Centre.

The deadline for the competition is February 1st 2013. So think about using your upcoming holidays to tell your story.

More info: http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/literaryprizes/nonfiction/

CANADA WRITES
cbc.ca/canadawrites

CBC Radio
P.O. Box 6000
Montreal, QC, H3C 3A8

1-877-888-6788

Xmas just came early

16 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in Picture Book Reviews

 I received an early Xmas present in the form of a lovely review of Island Santa in Canadian Materials.  Here’s the link

http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/vol19/no16/islandsanta.html

The Victoria Children’s Literature Roundtable Presents Beryl Young

15 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in For Educators, For Parents Tags: ,

Beryl Young will present on the topic One Writer’s Life, and talk about her most recent novel for young adults, Follow the Elephant (Ronsdale, 2010), about a thirteen-year-old boy who travels to India with his grandmother in search of her childhood pen pal. “India is still my passion, and I’ve travelled to that vast country three times to visit my foster family there.”

Young has also written Wishing Star Summer (Raincoast, 2001) and Charlie: A Home Child’s Life in Canada (Key Porter, 2009).

Also on the program: Leslie Bootle and Melanie Jeffs from Orca Books will introduce Orca’s Fall 2012 titles.
The VCLR is open to the public. Members free, drop-ins $5, students $4. Meetings are held at the Nellie McClung Branch Library, 3950 Cedar Hill Road. Come early and browse Tall Tales Books’ table, and bring a friend! Doors open at 7 pm.

For more information about the Roundtable, call 250-598-3694, find us on Facebook, or visit:
www.victoriachildrensliteratureroundtable.blogspot.com.

Canada Writes

14 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in Help for writers, Writing Life Tags: , , , ,

I love Canada Writes,  wonderful book program put out by CBC . They’re doing a whole series on kid’s book writers which they’re calling Seusstivus in honor of Dr. Seuss.  There are some bits with Helaine Becker, Marty Chan, and Bob Heidbreder among others.  Most recently, they spoke with Karen Crossing, the president of the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers that is right on.  Karen summed my feeling exactly when she said “Writing for children is not about teaching a lesson or sending a message.”

The reason we write and the reason kids read is for the story. If you’re trying to break into publishing, keep this in mind, and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache…and you’ll save publishers a lot of headaches.

Got to love kid’s book creators

11 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by sherylbooks in News

Children’s books are the best, and so are their creators…

Illustrator Sam Zuppardi came up with an inventive way to propose to his girlfriend…on the    acknowledgments page of his children’s book debut, The Misadventures of Edgar & Allan Poe.  How cool is that.

Of course it’s a good thing she said yes!

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