My dear friend and long-time colleague, Norma Charles, and her daughter, Andrea Charles, have a lovely new picture book: The One and Only Question, illustrated by Ken Daley and published by Groundwood Books.
It tells the story of Zeke’s first day at his new school and how his head is filled with one big question: What will he do when they call him the N-word like they did at his old school?
As little frustrations mount during the day—a boring class, a mustard stain on his favourite shirt— Zeke is prepared for the worst when a classmate approaches him in the schoolyard. But it’s not to bully him—it’s to spread kindness. Told with compassion and sensitivity, this story of a child finding safety and friendship in the classroom will help educators address racism-based bullying.
Ken Daley’s vibrant illustrations bring warmth and humour to the story, while showing hints of what makes this new school a safer space.
The One and Only Question will prompt young readers to ask questions of their own about how to handle bullying — while also encouraging conversations about everyone’s right to a safe learning environment.
The book includes an author’s note explaining the authors’ personal connection to this story, as well as a list of suggestions about what to do about racism-based bullying to help educators, caregivers and victims.
Congratulations, Norma and Andrea! It is a wonderful and important book!
My daughter was visiting early childcare centres in Powell River last week and was happy and surprised to see my book, 
January can be a long month, with weather that is cold and dreary, so what’s a writer to do? Read more and write more! Bundled up inside the house and finding inviting words on the page is a lovely pastime. Wishing you a happy January and many good books to read!
We made it through another lovely (hectic!) holiday season, and I am grateful for the good times with family and friends. As 2025 begins, I am looking both forward and back. I am excited about three upcoming books that I’ve been working hard on – and include two books in a new series and a little board book. (More about those later.)
In a happy circumstance, I was delighted to be invited to include my story, 
As the year draws to an end, I am feeling grateful for many things: family, friends, a warm home and a stack of books to read and write.
We are approaching the shortest day of the year, when darkness stays late in the morning and comes early in the evening. I love to watch the changing season and ruminate about the time when the days get longer again. There is always hope just around the corner.
I recently attended a lovely weekend afternoon tea hosted by the 
The rains continue on the west coast! We don our rain gear and put up our umbrellas and venture out into a sodden world. But we don’t complain because we know that the rain feeds the plants and the forest and gives us a lush green world by the time spring comes.
Fall is well and truly here and so is the rain! We west coast folks spent the weekend under an atmospheric river, where an immense amount of rain poured down upon us. We got soaked!
