In a box…
Picture Book Review: When Emily Carr Met Woo
04 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, Picture Book Reviews Tags: Dean Griffiths, Emily Carr, Monica Kulling, Pajama Press
Monica Kulling’s When Emily Met Woo is a perfect introduction to one of Canada’s most famous artists, Emily Carr. Young readers will find an engaging story, a brief history, some of Ms. Carr’s most famous images and the charming illustrations of the very talented Dean Griffiths.
Monica Kulling paints a vivid picture of Emily Carr’s life in simple, direct language. Emily is thought to be a “strange bird” whose art no one wants. “To make a living, she [Emily] made and sold clay bowls and hooked rugs.” The painter was known as an eccentric who housed a menagerie of animals, including a monkey she called Woo. The depth of love Emily feels for her animal companions is clear when Woo becomes gravely ill. Fortunately, Woo makes a full recovery and accompanies Emily to the forest where “Cedars touched the sky. They touched the painter’s heart too.”
I especially like the design of the dust jacket. The front cover integrates a photograph of Carr and Woo within the illustration while the back cover features several of Carr’s paintings as well Griffiths illustration of Woo.
Picture book biographies are difficult to write well, but Pajama Press, Monica Kulling and Dean Griffiths all get top marks with When Emily Carr Met Woo.
Why I stock a free library
03 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in For Kids Tags: community, free little library
These neighborhood kids rode over after school yesterday to choose a book.
Summer fun
29 Jun 2014 Leave a comment
in For Kids, For Parents, News
I love summers and so do kids, but some days, but every now and then, a rainy…I’m bored day comes along. What to do? National Geographic Kids has some very cool coloring pages to download, but why stop there? Kids can use the pages as jumping off points for there own drawing projects, or accompany the art with their own stories.
Orca book Publishers spring book launch
15 May 2014 Leave a comment
in Events, For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens Tags: Orca Publishers spring book launch
Orca Book Publishers is celebrating some awesome authors in their spring book launch. If you’re in town, be sure to drop in. If you can’t make it, books will be available through your local bookstore, or online.
If you want to be a winner, you have to practice…that goes for basketball, or writing.
16 Mar 2014 Leave a comment
in For Kids, News Tags: Canadian Children's Book Centre, Kid's Writing Contest, NCAA Basketball
Forsythia & Magnolia about to flower
I love this time of year. The longer days. The gorgeous blooms in my garden. Watching excessive amounts of college basketball. And – most importantly – choosing a winner for The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Writing Contest. As in past years, I’ll be the judge for the grade four category.
Writing and March Madness basketball are two of my favorite passions. It’s true that writing is a solitary endeavor while basketball is very much a team sport. But, the two activities have a lot more in common than you might think. Both basketball and writing are based on practicing a set of skills, and both rely on participants mastering those skills.
Unlike college basketball coaches, I don’t expect perfection from the young writers from across Canada who submitted stories. However I do want to see some sense that they are starting to develop their writing skills. It’s easy to tell when a young writer has spent extra time at their writing. They’ve figured out the importance of story with a beginning, middle and end. They’re starting to understand how to develop their characters. And, they are better at using engaging and interesting language. All these are indicators of time spent honing their craft.
While the NCAA is in the process of choosing their best teams to compete, I’ve narrowed my choice down to the top five stories. Soon, I’ll have picked a winner, and two runners up. If you end up winning the contest, congratulations. If you didn’t, take the time to revise your story and make it stronger. Keep practicing. Keep writing more stories. Keep working to get better at something you love. You can bet that all those NCAA basketball players will be out on the court honing their b-ball skills and getting better at doing something they love too!
Advice from Neil Gaiman
02 Jan 2014 2 Comments
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, Help for writers Tags: advice to young writers, Arthur cartoon featuring Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman
I can’t believe it’s already 2014! I thought I’d start the new year with a sage bit of advice offered to a young writer by author, Neil Gaiman. Gaiman drops in on an episode of the Arthur cartoon to impart some writerly wisdom, but his advice is true for writers of any age…trust your story and don’t give up. You just might be lucky enough to live the author dream of hearing a reader ask, ‘What happens next?’
…and thanks to GalleyCat for the heads up.
Grades 5-8 Write for a Better World Contest
03 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents
2014 Write for a Better World Contest
World Literacy Canada
presents its annual
WRITE FOR A BETTER WORLD
contest
for Canadian students in Grades 5-8
This year, the writing theme was created by
Kelley Armstrong
author of numerous award-winning fantasy books
(here’s a sample below)
What to do:
• Using this story starter, tell what happens next in 400 words or less:
It’s been a long, sleepless night of strange dreams. Even once you wake up, you think you’re still dreaming, because you aren’t in your own bed. You aren’t even yourself! It’s no dream. You’ve woken in another part of the world, as someone from another culture.
How stories will be evaluated:
- Has the writer written about a place and culture that is different from their own? Is there indication that the author learned something about the culture?
- How unique is the writer’s approach to the topic?
- How is the story organized? Is there a clear beginning, middle and ending?
- Does the writer use proper spelling and grammar?
- Is the main character well-written? Does he/she represent the ideals of global citizenship?
Deadline:
• April 4, 2014
Full Details:
• Details of prizes and the entry form can be found athttp://www.worldlit.ca/canada-programs/write-for-a-better-world/write2014/
Short-lists and winners
17 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Award News, For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens
It’s award season, and yes, it’s hard to keep up. If you hail from north of the 49th parallel, you’ll be familiar with the Ontario Tree Awards…These are a big deal here, cuz they’re a reader’s choice award, and what author doesn’t want his/her readers to love their books! There are awards for fiction as well as non-fiction with 6 English categories and two French. Their site has a handy template that links each category to this year’s short list as well as short lists and winners for several previous years. I recommend printing the lists off for future reading.
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The short-list for the Governor General’s Literature Award For Children’s Text (see below)
The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna
Becoming Holmes by Shane Peacock
Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol
Counting Back from Nine by Valerie Sherrard
and short-list for the Governor General’s Literature Award for Illustration (see below) were also recently announced.
Miss Mousie’s Blind Date illustrated by Rachel Berman
Oy, Feh, So? illustrated by Gary Clement
Northwest Passage illustrated by Matt James
The Dark illustrated by Jon Klassen
How To illustrated by Julie Morstad
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Our friends south of the Canuck border are also celebrating short-lists of their own. The finalists for the 2013 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature has just been announced.
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt (S&S/Atheneum).
The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata (S&S/Atheneum).
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal (Knopf).
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff (Putnam).
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang (First Second).
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And finally, here in Victoria, BC we are celebrating Polly Horvath’s Bolen Books Prize win for Children’s Literature.
Sheryl McFarlane 