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A “Bare Naked” Reveal
The original publication of The Bare Naked Book in 1986 caused quite a stir. It was considered pretty daring at the time to show naked bodies and talk about them frankly in a children’s book! But we knew it was important for children to see different bodies being celebrated and to learn about their own. The book was…
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Season’s Greetings
Like many, my partner and I send out fewer cards than we used to. We may not have sent any last year. We are sending out a handful this year, but I wanted to share our card with all who read my blog as subscribers or as occasional visitors. The message inside reads: As…
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Photo Walking
It’s been a tough bunch of months. There are more tough months ahead. I know how privileged I am to be having, personally, a “not too bad” pandemic, as far as pandemic experiences go. I’ve been lucky to have writing projects on the go that are engaging my heart and mind. And I enjoy photography…
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A Book Recommendation for Kids AND Writers
When I told friend and fellow writer Jean Little I was thinking of auditioning to read for the CNIB, she said, “Well, they don’t take just anybody you know.” It’s true! But they took me. This month I read Book #45 on my list of those I’ve narrated since passing my audition in 2004. Narrating The Word…
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Exciting News for The Man with the Violin
New editions — Korean and Portuguese coming soon too. But that’s not all that’s been happening with this book lately. The National Arts Centre has big plans. The multi-talented composer Anne Dudley has been laying the groundwork for a musical treatment of the book — for orchestra, solo violin, and narrator. Normal –…
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A Summer for “Goodbye…Hello…”
When I was a teacher (eons ago), one of my favourite writing assignments to give students came with the change of seasons. The idea was to write a “Goodbye…Hello…” piece based on things they were leaving behind and things they were looking ahead to. Something like, depending on the season: Goodbye hockey. Hello baseball. Goodbye sandals.…
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Do you love tulips?
I do. I also love photography and playing with filters. Early this spring, impatient for tulip season, I found a photo from a year previous and played. Do you like these? Please follow me on Instagram!
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Why Write for Children?
A more eloquent answer to this question I have never heard, than in Deborah Ellis’s talk at the IBBY Congress in Athens last year. Thanks to Deb for permission to quote excerpts. On November 20, 1959, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It states that…
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In the words of the late Jean Little
I feel like the ground in winter, Hard, cold, dark, dead, unyielding. Then hope pokes through me Like a crocus. — Jean Little If you’re feeling at all these days like the frozen ground in winter, my wish is that hope will soon come to sit alongside your fears, your sadness, your despair, your numbness, your…
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Picture Books about Remarkable Women
My local librarian recently urged a new book upon me: It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Julie Morestad. Gyo’s name rang a bell. I couldn’t think why. Soon I recognized her as the creator of books my children and I enjoyed together, forty-some…
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