author of more than a dozen books for kids & teens
28 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens Tags: Canadian Children's Book Centre, Writing Contest for Kid & Teens
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre is running a Writing Contest for Kids & Teens in celebration of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2012 (May 5 – 12, 2012).
The contest is open to students in Grades 4 to 12. One winner from each grade will receive a $250 gift certificate to the bookstore of his or her choice!
Deadline for entries is February 1, 2012.
More information is available here.
27 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in Events, For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens, Help for writers, News Tags: Vancouver Public Library Free For All
Libraries are so cool. Look what the Vancouver Public Library is up to…
Free-for-all: it’s a vibrant mix of your perspectives and suggestions. It’s a new way to discover your Library, and to shape the Library of the Future.
From now through to the Fall of 2012, we’ll be focusing on four different themes that are critical to the future of public libraries.
Join us in person, on line, or take one of our Conversation Kits into the community and take part in the Free-for-all exchange of ideas.
On Tuesday, November 29 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. we invite you to Choose Your Own Adventure and explore the topic of public places and learning spaces. We provide you with a story to follow, set in the Central Library. You decide where the story leads, based on the choices you make along the way. You will meet fellow adventurers, engage with Library staff, and take part in fun activities. Your comments will be used to help the Library make important decisions about how we operate and what we offer.
You could win one of three prizes:
The City of Vancouver supports the Library so that everyone can use it – for free. It’s your library system. Come and join the free-for-all exchange of ideas and shape the library of the future.
Can’t make it down to the Central Library on November 29? Not a problem! Check out ourConversation Kit. Explore the material together with family members, friends, neighbours, colleagues – you too will be eligible for our prize draw on December 15.
We welcome your ideas and your participation in our Free-for-all series. We have developed a Conversation Kit, packed with fun activities to get your creativity flowing. The Kit also contains interesting facts about the future of public libraries.
Follow three easy steps:
*Note: Functionality is limited for Google Chrome users.
For those who would like to take part in a community adventure, join us on November 29. Discover the Central Library like you’ve never seen it before!
Did we mention the PRIZES…?
If you include your name and contact information in the Kit, online or in person at the event, you will be eligible to win a prize. In November, as part of our choose your own adventure theme, we’re featuring three choices for our lucky winners:
Choose Your Own Adventure(R) at home, at work, with friends or family…pickup additional copies of our Conversation Kit at any VPL location and get started. Return the Kits to any location of the Vancouver Public Library by December 14. (There are 22 convenient locations across Vancouver).
Good luck, and thank you for exploring the future with us.
24 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in For Educators, For Parents, for teens, Uncategorized
Today my American family and friends are giving thanks. Up here, on the wet and wild west coast, with gale force winds and trees looking like they’ll topple any minute, I’m giving thanks that I insulated my little cottage house last year.
But seriously, I think that every now and then, it’s a good idea to stop and thank whatever power you happen to believe in for all that is good in your life and in our world. I then think it’s really really important to look around at things that might be be different, things that might be better, and work to change them for the better. In our world today, there are too many homeless, too many children who don’t eat breakfast, too many addicts without anywhere to go for help. Gandhi said that a society’s success can be measured by how they take care of their vulnerable, and when I look around, I’m seeing too many not being taken care of.
Maybe today is the day all that can change. Maybe today is the day that the poor and disenfranchised, those who are standing in line at the food bank and those who sleep in doorways covered by bits of cardboard, can give thanks. The occupy movement looked like it was a beginning, but so much of it has been smashed. Maybe what we need is not to occupy a particular space, but an “occupy spirit” or an idea of occupy that lives inside of us. To paraphrase Medgar Evers, you can’t kill an idea. You can’t be kicked out of a park that you carry inside of you. There is an election coming up in the US. I can only hope that the occupy spirit shines through, and the people rise up and demand that every citizen deserves a little piece of that big American pie that a very few are getting fat on. Yes, it means voting. It’s a year away and a year is long time, but a world where everyone has something to give thanks for is the world I want to live in.
Happy Thanksgiving.
20 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens, Nature Tags: Adrienne Mason, kid's magazines, Know Magazine, Yes Magazine
Friend and former editor of Know Magazine, Adrienne Mason, just sent a heads up on some super pre-Xmas saving subscriptions to two fabulous magazines for kids. If you’re looking for something for your children, for a niece, nephew or grandchildren, these prices are a score! But hurray, the offer is only open for a few short days.
Here is your chance to save big on our award-winning science magazines for kids: KNOW (for ages 6 to 9) and YES Mag (for ages 10 to 15). These high-quality, full-colour magazines bring science to life through vibrant illustrations and photographs, fascinating articles, fun facts, and hands-on experiments.
For the first time in 15 years of publishing, we are having a sale: save 40% on a subscription! But act fast, it could well be another 15 years before we have our next sale!
YES Mag and KNOW are published six times per year. All prices in Canadian dollars. Applicable taxes added to Canadian subscriptions. US and International subscriptions include extra for postage.
Sale ends at 9:00 pm (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, November 23.
KNOW (ages 6 – 9)Learn about KNOWSubscribe to KNOW! |
YES Mag (ages 10 – 15)Learn about YES Mag |
02 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in For Educators, For Kids, For Parents, for teens, News, Worthy Causes Tags: Poetry at Play
Poetry at Play is a daily blog created by Poetry Advocates for Children and Young Adults (PACYA), launched in the fall of 2011, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting poetry for every age group . Its growing membership is a combination of poets, authors, teachers, students, scholars, editors, librarians, booksellers, and readers of every age from around the world.
PACYA is run by a team of 17 advisors who will serve from 2011-2013.
The organization is dedicated to:
*Speaking out for the need to engage with poetry at every age level—and addressing the challenges of doing so
*Creating a global online hub for news, reviews, essays, and interviews; learning/scholarly resources; communication and networking; audiovisual archives; collaborative projects; and more
*Organizing and promoting readings, awards, workshops, and conferences in North America and internationally
To learn more about PACYA, visit its blog at poetryadvocates.wordpress.com. You’ll find a poet of the week, on-line and book resources, and a community of like-minded people who believe in the power of poetry. Join today, and spread the word.
31 Oct 2011 Leave a comment
in for teens, News Tags: Cheryl Rainfield, free download, Paranormal teen fantasy, PinPoint
If you’re looking for a little something to get you into the Halloween mood, there’s nothing like a spine-chilling paranormal read, especially when it’s free and just happens to be written by the award-winning author of Scars. So, hustle on over to Smashwords to download your copy of PinPoint: A HUNTED Bonus Short Story by Cheryl Rainfield. You can also check out the first 6 pages of her e-book, Hunted for free too. Happy Halloween!
Sheryl McFarlane 