author of more than a dozen books for kids & teens
15 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Writing Life
Back from Saltspring Island, where I had a lovely time visiting my friend Cathy. Her dog Lucy and my dog Ruby are sisters & pretty hard to tell apart. They are amazingly similar in personality and temperament…like peas in a pod.
Then today turned out to be one of those unpredictable west coast sorts of days when you don’t have a clue what to wear…a funny day of rain and sun and hail and more rain. At one point it was raining out front but I had a rainbow in my back yard. Very cool!
12 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in For Kids Tags: 10th Anniversary, Coraline, Neil Gaiman
I can’t believe it’s already been 10 years! It’s a must read if you haven’t read it already. Check out what Neil Gaiman has to say about the book on facebook.
12 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Help for writers Tags: Fighting Words, Roddy Doyle, teaching kids writing
Thankfully, a few creators have stood up against the cuts to arts education in recent years. Roddy Doyle is one of them. He started Fighting Words in 2010, a group that offers free writing workshops for kids. Their website features student-created stories like “Popcorn Attack” and “The Cranky President” and a schedule of workshop opportunities that include: fiction writing, playwriting, film making, graphic novels, song writing and photography. Doyle aims to provide kids with opportunities to explore their creative side, experience the discipline of writing, and to fail. In an article in the Guardian, he explains the importance of “… the freedom to challenge your mind, to admit failure and then to start again. Schools don’t really allow failure and yet it’s a valid part of any endeavor, not just writing.”
While creativity doesn’t appear to be in short supply, funding support does. It is hoped that a new limited edition book project will come to the rescue of the financially strapped group. Fighting Words is a soon to be released book of short stories edited by Roddy Doyle. Fighting Words will contain short stories by Colm Tóibín, Anne Enright, John Banville, David Mitchell, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Proulx, Sam Shepard, Richard Bausch, Russell Banks & Salman Rushdie. Each of the ten stories has been specially written for this book.
Each book is signed and numbered by the contributing authors and also includes a signed etching by the artist Sean Scully. Only 150 copies will be available, but the steep price of 1,950 euros is clearly aimed at collectors and philanthropists. Still anyone can donate time, and if you have it, expertise.
08 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Award News, For Educators, For Parents, News Tags: 2012 short-list, BC Book Prizes, Christie Harris Prize, Sheila Egoff Prize
In a wild and lawless future, eighteen-year-old Saba lives with her father, twin brother Lugh, young sister Emmi and pet crow Nero. The family resides in a secluded shed and the lake, their only source of water and main provider of food, is gradually dying from the lack of rain. But Saba’s father refuses to leave the place where he buried his beloved wife, Allis, who died giving birth to Emmi. While Saba has never forgiven Emmi for their mother’s death, she adores her twin brother Lugh. So Saba’s small world is brutally torn apart, when a group of armed riders snatch Lugh away. Saba’s rage is so wild, that she manages to drive the men away, but not before they have captured Lugh and killed their father. And here begins Saba’s epic quest to rescue Lugh, during which she is tested by trials she could not have imagined. Moira Young was born in New Westminster, BC, where she attended the UBC before heading to the UK to study drama. Moira Young lives in Bath, England with her husband.
In a small prairie town like Argue, Saskatchewan, everyone knows everybody else’s business. Everyone knows that the Loney family has been barely hanging on—the father, George, reduced to drink and despair since the loss of his farm and the death of his wife, Margaret. That the four Loney children do not get along with George’s second wife, the pious, bitter Effie. Then George dies in a drunken stupor. Effie takes off with a traveling Bible salesman, and it looks as though the children are done for. Who’s to save them when everyone is coping with their own problems—the lingering depression and the loss of the town’s young men to the Second World War. Yet somehow the children find a way, under the watchful eye of their ghostly parents and through the small kindnesses of a few neighbors, but mostly by dint of their own determination and ingenuity. Pamela Porter is an award-winning author who lives in Sidney, British Columbia.
You don’t have to live in the Great Bear Rainforest to benefit from its existence, but after you read Nowhere Else on Earth you might want to visit this magnificent part of the planet. Environmental activist Caitlyn Vernon guides young readers through a forest of information, sharing her personal stories, her knowledge and her concern for this beautiful place. Full of breathtaking photographs and suggestions for ways to preserve this unique ecosystem, Nowhere Else on Earth is a timely and inspiring reminder that we need to stand up for our wild places before they are gone. Caitlyn Vernon grew up on BC’s Pacific Coast and now calls Victoria home. Caitlyn has a background in biology and environmental studies and is currently a campaigner with Sierra Club BC, working to protect the Great Bear Rainforest. Nowhere Else on Earth is her first book.
Leroy “Doodlebug” Barnstable likes to call himself the quickest draw in the west—with a crayon. It’s 1923 and Doodle is on the run from a couple of abusive cousins when he stumbles into a travelling Chautauqua show where it’s easy to get lost in a crowd—but also easy to lose your heart. Glen Huser has won a number of awards such as the Mr. Christie Award, the Governor General`s Award, and the R. Ross Annett Award. A teacher-librarian for most of his life, he continues to write, pursue his artwork and coach students working on their own books for young people.
Dex Pratt’s life has been turned upside down. His parents have divorced and his mother has remarried. When his father attempts suicide and fails, Dex returns to their small town to care for him. But he’s not prepared for how much everything has changed. Gone are the nice house, new cars, fancy bikes and other toys. Now he and his wheelchair-bound dad live in a rotting rented house at the back of a cornfield. And, worse, his father has given up defending marijuana growers in his law practice and has become one himself. Unable to cope, Dex begins smoking himself into a state of surrealism. He begins to lose touch with what is real and what he is imagining. And then there are the aliens…and the girl-of-his-dreams…and the crop circle… Karen Rivers’ books have been nominated for a number of awards, including the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Award and the Silver Birch Award. Karen lives, reads and writes in a yellow house near the beach in Victoria, BC.
Supported by Ampersand Inc.
Judges: Julie Flett, Dionne Risler, Judith Saltman
Dalen and Gole are refugees on Earth in a race against time to save their home planet from an evil plot. With seconds to the finish line, Dalen and Gole lead the distant world of Budap’s annual Junior-Jet Race. Suddenly they are overtaken. Left behind in a cloud of mysterious purple exhaust, they realize something doesn’t add up. Looking for clues, the two friends uncover a tunnel that leads them to Earth. They arrive in Port Angus, once a lively west coast fishing community. The fishing industry is dying, and Dalen and Gole find themselves embroiled in a sinister plot to steal fish and send them to Budap. Pursued by government agents and angry aliens, Dalen and Gole are in a race against time to save both their own distant world and the fishing community of Port Angus. Mike Deas is the illustrator of the bestselling Graphic Guide Adventure series. He and his wife, Nancy, live in sunny Victoria, BC.
A young girl delights in a visit to her grandpa’s farm. She and her cousins run through the fields, explore the root cellar where the salmon and jars of fruit are stored, swing on a rope out the barn loft window, visit the Appaloosa in the corral and tease the neighbor’s pig. The visit is also an opportunity for this child to ask Grandpa what her grandmother, Yayah, was like, and explore the “secret room,” with its old wooden trunk of ribbons, medals and photos of Grandpa in uniform. There is a wonderful blend of fun and family history in this visit to a grandparent, but also the realization that there can be some things about the people we know and love that will always remain a mystery. Nicola I. Campbell is is an award-winning author of children’s books who lives in Vancouver, BC. Kim LaFave has illustrated many award-winning books for children. He lives in Roberts Creek, BC.
In the classic nursery rhyme “Pussycat, Pussycat,” Pussycat travels to London to visit the Queen. But where else does Pussycat go? These vivid, dreamy poems and illustrations reveal the rest of Pussycat’s adventures. The trips take readers to far-flung, magical places of the world and also deeper into Pussycat’s heart, as they learn what he wishes for, what soothes his sorrow, where he hides when he is scared, and what happens when he gets lost. Dan Bar-el’s book Things Are Looking Grimm, Jill won the 2008 Silver Birch Express award, and his funny picture book Alphabetter was chosen for the BC government Ready, Set, Learn program. Rae Maté graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1986. She enjoys teaching 2- 3 year olds at Parent and Me art classes at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver and paints in her home studios in Vancouver and Hornby Island, BC.
Kids still not up? Still sound asleep? Snoozing rug-bugs in a heap. Time to do whatever it takes. Read aloud from… SHAKE AWAKES! Slimy, Stinky, stuffed with dread—these poems will scare kids out of bed! But, hey, kids, there are poems for you, to wake up sleepy grown-ups too! Elves, Green goo—oops! —stuff that breaks—you’ll find them all in… SHAKE AWAKES! Robert Heidbreder has been enchanting children with his joyful poems and rhymes and his brilliant performances for more than two decades. Robert is the author of nearly a dozen books for children, including the award-winning Drumheller Dinosaur Dance. He is recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, presented to him by Jean Chretien. Robert lives in Vancouver, BC. Marc Mongeau is the published author and illustrator of many children’s books. He currently lives in Quebec.
Curious little Henry from the award-winning books When You Were Small and Where You Came From has a new question for his mother in this charming new picture book. “What was it like when you were small?” he asks. His mother proceeds to describe her adventures to him, all about when she was little – very little! Sara O’Leary is a playwright, fiction writer, and literary journalist. She teaches Writing for Children and Screenwriting at Concordia University in Montreal. Julie Morstad is an award-winning illustrator and fine artist known for her surreal, whimsical work. Illustrator of numerous children’s books, including Singing Away the Dark and When You Were Small and its two sequels Where You Came From and When I Was Small, Julie has exhibited her work in galleries, animated two music videos with her brother, filled up stacks of sketchbooks, and made countless pots of soup and many loaves of bread. She lives in Vancouver with her family.
07 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Writing Life Tags: writers read
I’ve been reading non-stop for days…no, not a book…the grade four stories for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Book Week Writing Contest! Mind you, I still have 125 stories left to read!
06 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in News Tags: Fairy Tales, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth, The Guardian, The Turnip Princess
Wow!
Five hundred new fairy tales have been discovered in Germany. It’s a collection that was gathered by historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth and it’s been locked away in an archive in Regensburg for over 150 years!
You can read on of the fairy tales, entitled The Turnip Princess, here in the Guardian.
05 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Award News, News Tags: CLA short-list for Children's Book of the Year
Here’s the short-list for the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year.
When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew by Jan Andrews (Groundwood)
No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood)
That Boy Red by Rachna Gilmore (Harper Collins Canada)
Howl by Karen Hood‐Caddy (Dundurn)
Dragon Seer’s Gift by Janet McNaughton (Harper Collins Canada)
From Then to Now: A Short History of the World by Christopher Moore (Tundra Books)
The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan (Dancing Cat Books)
Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock (Tundra Books)
The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson (Harper Collins Canada)
Empire of Ruins by Arthur Slade (Harper Collins Canada)
Congratulations to everyone short-listed. Watch for the announcement of the winner of 2012 Book of the Year for Children Award in May.
Sheryl McFarlane 