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Changing Seasons

I love living in a place where we experience four distinct seasons of the year. Most recently, we have been in the throes of fall (or autumn, as many call it). I live in a neighbourhood full of beautiful old (and giant!) trees. It is wonderful to take an autumn walk every day and see the gorgeous changing colours of the foliage.

With one season moving to the next, it reminds me that, even though I live in a city, nature is still very present in my life. And, if you read my books, you will see that nature is of utmost importance to me.

Happy fall!

Wonderful News!

Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature! The Nobel committee called her “a master of the contemporary short story.” And so she is.

Congratulations to her! And to us! It is a memorable day for Canada.

Read more about Alice Munro’s accomplishments here.

Circumpolar Animals!

Look what came in the mail! A brand new copy of Polar Animals translated into Norwegian.

I also received a Swedish and Finnish edition. (I had to employ Google translate to figure out which book was which.) 🙂

It is thrilling to see these translations and to know that children in Scandinavia will be turning the pages and reading all about the animals that live in the far north (and a few in Antarctica).

A big thank you to Sandviks, in Norway, for publishing these lovely books.

Summer!

Now that school is out, summer has officially arrived! (Sadly, our west coast weather tells another story. The garden is soggy and the strawberries are moldy. But we don’t let that dampen our spirits!)

We can look forward to sunshine (one of these days) and a more relaxed summertime pace. I wish all of you a happy couple of months! Kids, teachers, families and everyone else — go beachcombing, get your summer reading material, host a barbecue or do whatever it is you like to do best when the days are long and the weather is warm.

FYI: This blog may also be on a slightly more relaxed schedule, but come fall, the posts will be (more or less) regular again.

Happy Summer!

Sneak Preview!

“Many of the Kinder believe that their parents gave them life twice: once when they were born and a second time when they were sent to safety on the Kindertransport.“

Who were the Kinder and why were they in danger? Find out more here.

I am delighted to show you the cover of my upcoming book, Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport. It will be published by Tundra Books and Random House on Oct. 9, 2012, in both hardcover and e-book forms.

It is a book I’ve been working on for the last couple of years and I am thrilled that it will soon be available. If you’d like to learn more about it, please check out the description on my website.

Cheers!

Thank you!

The school year is drawing to a close and I have finished the last of my school presentations until fall. A big thank you to the schools and teachers who invited me to visit this year. It was wonderful to meet you all!

I wish you a happy, relaxed and well-deserved summer vacation.

Cheers!

Thank you, Mission!


I’d like to post a big thank you to the students and staff of Albert McMahon and Ecole Mission Central Elementary Schools for hosting me this week. It was great to meet you all!
I’d especially like to thank the students for being such wonderful audiences. You had excellent questions and knew so much about nature and wildlife. I’m glad that some of you had been watching the Eagle cam website. Those eggs should hatch soon!
It was a surprise to wake up to snow in Mission yesterday. Spring flowers and snow showers. 🙂
Thank you for a lovely week! We’ll cross our fingers for warm spring temperatures soon.
Cheers,
Deborah

Back to Mission Schools

Hello Mission students and staff!

I look forward to being at Ecole Mission Central and Albert McMahon Schools and meeting you all this week.
While there, I will be talking about my EAGLES book and the timing is perfect. Did you know that there are live webcams of BC baby eagles hatching from their eggs this week? If you’d like to check it out, visit the website of Hancock Wildlife and watch the amazing nature scene unfold.
See you soon!

BC Book Prizes Soiree

If you’re in the Vancouver area on Tuesday, April 5, consider attending the BC Book Prizes Soiree at the Listel Hotel from 7-9 pm. It’s free! Nominated authors and book-lovers alike will mingle and raise a glass to a wonderfully versatile collection of books written in our province over the past year.

For more details, go here.
I’ll be there, and so will lots of other local folks. It will be fun! I promise. (We may even get a glimpse of the world-famous Mr. Generation X, Douglas Coupland.)
See you there!

Mr. Rogers and I

I have been writing books for about 15 years and had all kinds of reviews (good, bad and everything in between). But never before has anyone compared me to Mr. Rogers. I take this as a total compliment! (My sweaters are almost as stylish as his.) All those years I watched him speak to my children — and many other children, of course — I admired his quiet, gentle way.

A big thank you to Jennifer of 5 Minutes for Books for thinking I was even a tiny bit like him!

If you’d like to read her review, go here.