author of more than a dozen books for kids & teens
24 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Parents, News Tags: Claire Eamer, Victoria Children's Literature Roundtable
Claire Eamer, a professional writer, reporter and editor from Whitehorse, has written non-fiction books for children, including Lizards in the Sky: Animals Where You Least Expect Them, and Super Crocs & Monster Wings. She has also published short stories for young adults, and is a regular contributor to the children’s science magazine, YesMag. Claire will tell us how she turned her passion for science and history into writing for children.
Sneak Preview! Dayle Sutherland and Melanie Jeffs from Orca Books will present titles from Orca’s fall book list, too.
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 Cadboro Bay Books’ table, and bring a friend! Doors open at 7 pm.
For more information about the Roundtable, call 250-598-3694 or visit:
12 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in Events, For Educators, For Parents, Helping Hands, News Tags: Orca Book Publishers, Reaching More Readers-The Book and Beyond, School Library Journal
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/…
Reaching More Readers—The Book and Beyond SPONSORED BY: Orca Book Publishers with School Library Journal EVENT DATE: Thursday, October 20, 2011 – 3:00-4:00 PM EDT Reaching struggling readers has always been a challenge and that is truer now than ever before. Find out how new books, approaches and technologies can work for you in assisting and connecting with struggling readers.Panelists include:
Sigmund Brouwer is the best-selling author of many books for children and adults. As a tireless presenter with his Rock and Roll Literacy Show across North America, Sigmund knows first-hand what it takes to reach a reader.
Tori Jensen is a high school Library Media Specialist in St. Paul, Minnesota and past-president of the Minnesota Education Media Organization
Denise R. Lyons is Director of Library Development for the South Carolina State Library.
Andrew Wooldridge is Publisher at Orca Book Publishers and editor of the Orca Soundings series of teen novels for reluctant readers.
Moderator: Rocco Staino is the retired director of the Mary I. Keefe Library at the North Salem School District, North Salem, NY and is a past president of the New York Library Association. He is currently the chair of the Empire State Center for the Book and a contributing editor for School Library Journal.
***If you are not able to make the live webcast of Reaching More Readers—The Book and Beyond, register now and you will get an email notification from School Library Journal after the event when the webcast is archived and available for viewing at your convenience.
Follow us on Twitter! @SLJEvents
And be sure to follow the conversation for this event: #reachmorereaders
11 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in Award News, For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, News Tags: awards, children's literature, GGs, short-list
The GG short-lists have been announced. Here’s the lists I’m most excited about…
And for those of you who don’t know about the GG’s, They are Canada’s Top awards in the Arts. You can read more about the full list at Canada Council for the Arts.
Jan L. Coates, Wolfville (Nova Scotia), A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk
(Red Deer Press; distributed by Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
(ISBN 978-0-88995-451-9)
Deborah Ellis, Simcoe (Ontario), No Ordinary Day
(Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
(ISBN 978-1-55498-134-2)
Christopher Moore, Toronto, From Then to Now: A Short History of the World
(Tundra Books; distributed by Random House of Canada)
(ISBN 978-0-88776-540-7)
Kenneth Oppel, Toronto, This Dark Endeavour
(HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
(ISBN 978-1-55468-339-0)
Tim Wynne-Jones, Perth (Ontario), Blink & Caution
(Candlewick Press; distributed by Random House of Canada)
(ISBN 978-0-7636-3983-9)
Isabelle Arsenault, Montreal, Migrant, text by Maxine Trottier
(Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
(ISBN 978-0-88899-975-7)
Kim La Fave, Roberts Creek (British Columbia), Fishing with Gubby, text by Gary Kent
(Harbour Publishing; distributed by the publisher)
(ISBN 978-1-55017-497-7)
Renata Liwska, Calgary (Alberta), Red Wagon, text by Renata Liwska
(Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group; distributed by Penguin Group Canada)
(ISBN 978-0-399-25237-2)
Frank Viva, Toronto, Along a Long Road, text by Frank Viva
(HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
(ISBN 978-1-44340-620-8)
Cybèle Young, Toronto, Ten Birds, text by Cybèle Young
(Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
(ISBN 978-1-55453-568-2)
Congratulations to the creators of these wonderful books. Now that rainy days are upon us, I hope you’ll have plenty of time to read them all!
08 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Parents, Help for writers Tags: Guardian top ten reading for kids
A while back, I posted a link to Cornelia Funke’s top 10 Fairytales for children published in the Guardian. Well, I’m not sure how I missed the others, but the Guardian has a bunch of top ten lists for kids including: fantasy, space books, fictional families, and more. I think my favorite is the top 10 list of unwords and their origins. Don’t know what an unword is? Well, you’ll have to visit the Guardian’s site to find out. You’ll definitely want to check out all the lists though, and maybe even compare them with your own top 10 lists! Enjoy…
04 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, News Tags: Canadian Library Month, Your Library: A Place Unbound
You and I know how important libraries are to our communities, so don’t forget that October is Canadian Library Month. We’re already four days into October, but there’s plenty of time to drop into your local library to explore a world unbound.
Your Library: A Place Unbound
03 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents Tags: Boys Read, Boys Rock Boys Read, Boys Rule Boys Read, Jon Scieszka
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but a really helpful site on boys and reading is Guys Read which was started by the Jon Scieszka. Two more sites that I’ve just discovered through a list-serve I belong to are: http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com, a blog for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg library system called Boys Rule Boys Read and an independent blog called Boys Rock Boys Read thttp://boysrockbr.blogspot.com The second blog has a column of Most Popular Posts and the first one is Books Every Guy Should Read. Both have numerous recommendations and links to boy book sites.
02 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents Tags: a, Cornelia Funke, Gary Paulsen, Great books for 1 0-12 year old boys, Kenneth Oppel, Michael Morpurgo, Morris Gleitzman, Philip Pullman, Rhcard Scrimger
One of the kid’s lit groups I belong to was asking about books for 10-12 year old boys. There are so many wonderful books for this age group. If you know a young boy in this age group, here are a few new and old but good titles to consider.
Here are a few of my recommendations:
Morris Gleitzman
Toad Rage
Toad Away
Gary Paulsen
Hachet
Dog Song
Escape From Fire Mountain
Michael Morpurgo
An Elephant in the Garden
Dear Ollie
Philip Pullman
I was a Rat,
The Homework Machine,
The Golden Compass and The Amber Spyglass (for sophisticated readers, but the 3rd book is rather dark)
Richard Scrimger
The Nose From Jupiter
A Nose for Adventure
From Charlie’s Point of View
Cornelia Funke
Inkheart
Inkspell (the last in the series was quite dark)
she also has some books for younger readers but can’t recall names off hand
Kenneth Oppel
Silver Wing
Sun Wing (2 more in the series. all are good)
Airborn (the first in a series but also works as a stand alone)
Arthur Slade
The Hunchback Assignments
Monsterology: Fabulous Lives of the Creepy, the Revolting, and the Undead (quite tongue and cheek)
Invasion of the IQ Snatchers
Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events
(series plus the unauthorized autobiography which is very funny)
Do you have any must read titles to suggest? If so, please post them in the comments.
01 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in Events, For Educators, For Kids, For Parents Tags: book bloggers awards, children's lit, The Cybils
Yep. It’s that time of the year again. You have just two weeks to nominate your favorite kids’ books. TWO WEEKS folks! Nominations close October 15 @ midnight, so get on over to the Cybils site and get nominating! There are categories to cover all of your reading interests:
Just in case you haven’t heard of the Cybils, here’s the low down. A few years back, six I think, a group of kids’ book bloggers got together to give out awards for the books they thought were the cream of the crop; the Cybils awards. It started out small, but it’s grows exponentially. Bloggers from near and far wade through piles of books for no other reason than interest. Although there is zero monetary value associated with the awards for either authors or publishers, the winners garner huge prestige and of course bragging rights as well as a fountain pen in an engraved box.
Finalists will be posted January 1st, 2012. Winners will be announced February 14th, 2012.
Even if you aren’t interested in nominating, the Cybils site is the place to be as the judges will be randomly posting excepts from their reviews throughout the judging period. Personally, I can’t wait to find out what’s hot and what I’ve missed.
30 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in For Educators, For Parents, Worthy Causes, Writing Life Tags: Adams Memorial Library, General Electric, libraries under the gun, New York Times, rising requests for book donations, Toronto Public Library
The Toronto Public Library system isn’t the only library in trouble in North America. While their solution is to rally creators to inspire the public to lobby an unresponsive city council, The New York Times reports that other libraries like Adams Memorial Library in Central Falls, R.I. are trying to make do by relying on volunteer staff, donations, and fundraisers. Interestingly, public school libraries have been struggling under similar circumstances with cuts to staffing and funding for their collections. I can recall that one of the arguments made for the reduction of school libraries was that the service they provided could be provided by public libraries. Now, neither school nor public libraries are safe.
I can’t keep up with the constant requests for book donations from parent groups, educators, and libraries (public and school libraries both the US and Canada) who are beating the bushes for any means to keep their libraries functioning. Of course I applaud their efforts. But with fewer purchases of books from schools and libraries and fewer book purchases from individuals who have been hit hard by tough economic times, creators are not in a position to offer freebies. Most writers do not sign million dollar blockbuster deals. Instead, the majority work hard for little pay. For example, I make less today than I did 25 years ago as a full-time teacher. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I love what I do, and I’ve had a fair bit of success at it. I made a conscious decision to enter a less secure field. The decrease in financial rewards have been offset by a more flexible schedule, the ability to choose what I want to work on, and the rewards of creating a lasting body of work. But as writers, we are simply not in a position to meet today’s donation demands which requires us purchasing large quantities of our books from our publishers (no they aren’t free) then turning around and donating both our books and the shipping costs to needy schools and libraries.
What is more disturbing is that while libraries teeter on the edge of survival, large corporations like General Electric, paid no federal income tax last year despite large profits.
Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?
Sheryl McFarlane 