Just outside my living room window is a beautiful magnolia tree in full bloom. It is one of my favourite sights of spring. In fact, my whole neighbourhood is in blossom — shimmering pink and white trees on every street, bursting with colour and life. It is a magical time in the city!
Happy Spring to you all!
I was visiting a school last week and enjoyed speaking with the students so much. Hello Berkshire Park Elementary! Thank you for inviting me.
The students had many great questions about books and writing, and it was a real treat to talk with them. Some of the questions that stood out were:
When you write a manuscript and it doesn’t get published, are you devastated?
(Yes! — although this happens to every writer, and we know it is part of the job. We trust our editors and publishers to know when a manuscript is working or if it is right for them. And then we put that manuscript away in a drawer. We might go back to it later to see if we can improve it. But usually we start writing something new.)
Did you always know you wanted to become a writer?
(No, but I always knew I loved books. When my mother was expecting me to clean my bedroom or do other chores, she often found me reading instead. Later in life, I discovered that kids who love to read as much as I did, often become writers.)
(This is always a hard question to answer. Every book is a favourite for some reason. But my current favourite is a book that will be published next September. It’s called Bear’s Winter Party and is the story of a lonely bear who wants to make friends.)
Whaaat??? You should make $50,000 on every book!
(That would be nice but it doesn’t happen for most writers. Usually we have to work at other jobs to earn our living. We write because we love to do it, not for the money we might be paid.)
I just spent a lovely morning at Crofton House School and wanted to say a sincere thank you to the teachers and students!
It was wonderful to meet you all and to hear about the alphabet books that the Grade 6 students are creating. It was fun to talk about my own experience writing an alphabet book — and to say that they aren’t as easy to write as they look. (Some of the students are also finding this out.) 🙂
I wish you the best of luck with your books and hope to see some of them when they are done.
If you happened to visit a library today, you will know it is Family Literacy Day. Hooray for families and books everywhere!
I attended a kick-off event this morning to celebrate a wonderful new program, Reading Lights, that highlights the work of BC children’s authors and illustrators. Lamp posts around the city now feature plaques displaying the works of local creators. Beautifully designed images can be found in 20 locations near parks, playgrounds, schools and libraries throughout Vancouver.
Imagine my thrill to have a lamp post featuring one of my books! The plaque for Watch Me Grow! A Down to Earth Look at Growing Food in the City is at the northwest corner of Sunrise Park (near Rupert and 1st Ave.). It looks sensational! The talented Brian Harris is the co-creator of this book, which features local urban gardens. He shot amazing colourful photographs of children and adults engaged in growing food right where they live.
After the ceremony at the library, I zipped over to Sunrise Park to see the plaque and take a photo. It was a grey, rainy day in Vancouver so my friend and fellow author, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, took this photo on a sunnier day. Thank you, Tanya!
Thank you to the Vancouver Public Library and Cwill BC for such a lovely honour.
If you’d like to see the plaques, please check out the Reading Lights website to find the locations. Then take a tour!
The Mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, has a wonderful program for children called “The Mayor Reads.” Each month, he selects a book to read to an enthusiastic audience of kids. The reading is videotaped and posted on the city’s website. Imagine my surprise to find out that one of my books Emma’s Story had been selected for January. What a wonderful way to start the New Year! If you’d like to see the video, please go here.
Let’s give a big round of applause to the mayor and his inspiring literacy initiative!
Sending you my best west coast wishes for a happy and healthy 2016. May your year be full of family and friends — and many good books to read!
I love this image of children around the world holding hands. (It is from the Unicef calendar.) What a lovely sentiment — one full of promise and hope.
The holiday season is upon us and, in my part of the world, school closes tomorrow for the winter break. (I can hear the children cheering from here.)
As the festivities get underway, I wish you a very happy time with family and friends, and a promising, hopeful start to the New Year!
I was in Toronto last weekend taking part in a celebration of fall titles from Groundwood Books. And what an amazing weekend it was!
The event took place at the Koffler Centre of the Arts, a venue that had a lovely vintage-style theatre, with plush red seats and excellent lighting. Children and families, and booklovers from the Toronto area turned up to hear readings from the authors and watch the talented illustrators draw.
Following each reading, the children were invited to move to the centre’s café and common area to create a book-related craft. I saw wonderful masks to complement Danielle Daniel’s book Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox and charming farm scenes to accompany Grant and Tillie Go Walking by Monica Kulling and Sydney Smith. There were also pirate hats to go with the story Buddy and Earl by Maureen Fergus and Carey Sookocheff. For my book, West Coast Wild, the children made glittering jellyfish with long waving tendrils cut out of ribbon.
There were yummy snacks, mugs of coffee and tea, and a congenial feeling all around as parents chatted and children played. Authors, illustrators and booklovers from near and far got to know one another. It couldn’t have been a better afternoon. 🙂
Many thanks to Groundwood Books for hosting such a successful and enjoyable event!
My lovely and amazing publisher, Groundwood Books, has kindly invited me to Toronto in a few weeks (Nov. 21) to talk to children about my new book West Coast Wild. It’s bound to be a fun afternoon, with a lively group of Groundwood authors and illustrators showing their latest works, and leading delightful craft activities that are theme-related to the books. (Would you like to make a sparkling jellyfish?)
If you are in the area, please join us! Check out the poster above for all the details. Hope to see you there!
Last week, we Vancouverites celebrated books in a big way at the Vancouver Writers Fest. It was an amazing program with many talented authors.
An event I enjoyed so much was titled, Belonging, featuring memoir authors: Brian Brett, Charles Demers, Camilla Gibb and Micheal V. Smith. The theme as noted in the program was, “All sorrows can be born if you put them into a story or tell a story about them,” Isak Dinesen.
The authors each read a moving passage from their book and then spoke about events in their lives that had inspired their work. Their words, both print and spoken, were eloquent.
Much tragedy had been overcome or at least put into perspective through the penning of these books. Ultimately, there was a message of hope and love and moving forward.
It was an inspiring afternoon and one I won’t soon forget.