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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About the Author Why did you want to be a writer? I’ve loved reading books for longer than I can remember. As an adult I started to wonder if I would like writing books too. I wondered if I could write something that people who didn’t know me would enjoy reading. (I…
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Writing Picture Books
Need help with your picture book manuscript? From the introduction to the updated e-book version of Writing Picture Books: What Works & What Doesn’t: Many books aim to help writers write better books, but not many with the specific purpose of helping writers write better picture books. Why is this? Because writing picture books is…
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So You Want to Write a Picture Book
This may be NaNoWriMo but two of my three current writing projects happen to be picture books and that’s where I’m focusing most of my attention this month. I’ll also, in the coming days, be offering practical guidance and (I hope) inspiration to others writing picture books. Tomorrow evening I’m offering a presentation on “Writing…
Read More All My Bags AREN'T Packed
But I am ready to go. To Newfoundland. On Saturday. Or I will be when… Never mind. Talking to a group of Keene teens a few years ago (Keene is near Peterborough, Ontario), I was mentioning how much I enjoy traveling roads I haven’t been on before, as I had that morning, and realized that…
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How to Write a Picture Book
On Today’s Parent’s recent list of the 100 best Canadian kids’ books of all time are two books by yours truly — my first and my most recent, both of them award-winning picture books. Next year will see the publication of my 12th picture book, being illustrated right now by the wonderful Qin Leng. A…
Read More Awards
Awards For Picture Books The Rock and the Butterfly Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist Levi’s Gift Starred selection in CCBC’s Best Books for Kids and Teens The Man with the Violin Winner of TD Children’s Literature Award Winner of Digital Book of the Year Award Winner of the Eric Hoffer Award Winner of the Gold…
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Celebrating Canadian Picture Books
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Last week saw the premier of a collaborative event between Picture Books, Eh! and CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors Illustrators and Performers). Participants in the Canadian Read & Review Party had the chance to hear ten authors read their new picture books and later, if they wished, review them on Indigo, Goodreads, Amazon, and/or on their own blogs…
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Help For Your Picture-Book-Writing Woes
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Sometimes you get a great idea for a story, you write it with a great sense of ‘This one is going to be great!’ But when you read it over (or get feedback from your trusted writing group), you discover it’s definitely not as good as you were sure it was going to be. (It…
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Writing Picture Books: What Works and What Doesn’t
Writing Picture Books: What Works and What Doesn’t Takes novice and seasoned writers through steps from concept to publication. Available here as a downloadable PDF. Reviews Learn More Read an excerpt about having your picture book illustrated. Read an excerpt about why your story might not be working. Add to Goodreads
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Books About Writing
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Our house in Nova Scotia still echoes with the voices of the six writers who were here last week, taking part in our Seaside Writing Workshop/Retreat – a stimulating and inspiring group. Among many books recommended as we discussed the writers’ works-in-progress were a number about writing. Writing Picture Books: What Works & What Doesn’t by…
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What do you like writing better? Picture books or novels?
I love the spareness of a picture book, paring down sentences to their bare essentials. It’s a bit like writing poetry. But I also like being involved with characters for long enough to get to know them really well, the way I do when writing a novel, and I like trying convey them through words…
Read More Picture Books
Picture Books A child insists that red is the best colour – for everything. A classic now available as a board book. A heartwarming tale about the healing power of music and the start of an intergenerational friendship. A child explores the natural environment around their home, imagining sharing it with an unspecified someone who…
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Five Wonderful Writing Conference Surprises
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What a treat it was to see so many people at CANSCAIP’s 40th Packaging Your Imagination conference recently — people I hadn’t seen since before the pandemic. Other writers, illustrators, old friends, and new faces too. PYI is always a wonderful mix of all of the above. But five people present were an especially wonderful…
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Picture Books about Remarkable Women
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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…
Read More Biography and High Res Photo
Please feel free to use any of these bios verbatim or to combine them, or to adapt them to best suit your purposes. A Short Bio (100 words) Kathy has loved reading all her life but was almost thirty before she discovered she loves writing too. She has become the author of many picture books…
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The First International IBBY Canada Meeting
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Last weekend, over a hundred people gathered from around the world to attend an IBBY Canada meeting. As a program presenter I logged in early and to see faces rapidly filling the screen as others joined the meeting was truly exciting. There were the faces of friends and colleagues from across the country, many whom…
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Writing Your Best Picture Book Ever
Writing Your Best Picture Book Ever Published by Pembroke Publishers Offers tips about ideas, characters, titles, beginnings and endings, and more Reviews Other Editions Also available in Polish Buy Local Buy Online Add to Goodreads
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More Books (and Almost Books) by Seaside Retreat/Workshop Alumni
Having described the development of Jan Coates’s A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk in a previous post, I want to give a plug to three other writers whose work has benefited from participation in the seaside workshop/retreat that Peter Carver and I offer each summer. Anna Kerz brought the manuscript for The Mealworm Diaries to Nova Scotia…
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How do you pick the illustrator for your picture books?
I don’t pick the illustrator for my books. The publisher does. They may ask for my opinion about the work of illustrators they’re considering, but the decision is ultimately up to them. What if you don’t like the pictures? I’ve been lucky to have illustrators who have brought wonderful visual ideas to the books, ideas that…
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Writing Communities
At this month’s CANSCAIP meeting, a former participant at the Seaside Writing Workshop/Retreat that my partner and I offer in Nova Scotia each summer announced that we are now accepting applications for this years workshop/retreat. Since it involves living and working with five other participants (plus Peter and me), a lovely sense of community tends to…
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Jan Coates, An Alumnus of the Seaside Writing Workshop
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Jan Coates first came to our Seaside Writing Workshop/Retreat in 2008 to work on several picture book manuscripts she needed help with. Second Story Press had published Rainbows in the Dark in 2005, but since then, Jan had collected only rejection letters in response to her submissions. During sessions focused on her work, she got feedback from…
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More on Kids, Books and Libraries
I don’t think anyone needs convincing that learning to read is a necessary life skill. Reading aloud to kids is a crucial part of motivating them to want to learn to read. It’s probably also the easiest and most fun way to motivate them. For many people happy memories of being read to as a…
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A Writing Group to Celebrate
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Writing is a solitary occupation, and some writers like to keep it that way until it’s time to submit a manuscript to a publisher. Others, like me, prefer to meet regularly with a group of fellow writers – to get feedback on works-in-progress, to share in the trials and tribulations of the writing life, and…
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My 23 Favourite Books in 2018
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Neil Gaiman says, “Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you’d most like not to lose.” I agree. I can’t even decide on my favourite five from the books I’ve read just this year. I can pick one favourite non-fiction book, in part because I read less non-fiction than fiction, and…
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The Lady with the Books: A Story Inspired by the Remarkable Work of Jella Lepman
The Lady with the Books: A Story Inspired by the Remarkable Work of Jella Lepman Illustrated by Marie Lafrance Published by Kids Can Press Something changes for Anneliese when she...
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Another Peek at Where I Write
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Last month I told you about my desk and the wall beside it. The wall behind my desk tells more stories about my life as a writer. The Painting For my first young adult novel, set in Nova Scotia, Thistledown Press hired Iris Hauser, a Saskatchewan artist to create a cover. They knew the setting was…
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Comfort, Hope, and Connection through Children’s Books
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“Kathy Stinson’s stories have always found ways to offer hope and comfort, easily getting into the heads of her characters and recognizing what is important to them,” says Helen Kubiw in her CanLit for Little Canadians review of my latest book. Writing a story often begins for me with wondering, What would it be like…? To…
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A Peek at 3 Pages of My 2026 Calendar
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JANUARY Many things that make my life enjoyable start up again this month, after the ‘quiet’ month of December: Just Sing choir practices, a new fitness class, and various duties as president of CANSCAIP. I plan to attend CANSCAIP’s Online Writing Retreat on the 10th and a Packaging Your Imagination conference planning meeting on the…
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What do these books have in common?
Sylvia Schwartz was a photographer who specialized in children’s portraiture. Her sister Ruth was a bookseller. Sylvia established the Ruth Schwartz Award in 1976 to recognize “artistic excellence in Canadian children’s literature.” In 2004 the family renamed the award the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards, ten years after establishing separate awards for picture…
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Feeling Stressed?
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Anyone who has spent more than a few minutes with me in the past month or so has probably heard me raving about two books that I’ve found illuminating and inspiring. The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity by Melanie Greenberg, PhD A Love Affair with the Unknown: Leaning into…
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“Who should I get to illustrate my manuscript?”
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That’s just one of the questions posed in the chapter “Illustration” in my e-book Writing Picture Books: What Works and What Doesn’t. The answer? No one. Not your brother or friend who likes to draw or your talented aunt who painted the picture over the sofa at your cottage and would love to illustrate your book. Only…
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Home
Pre-order now! A rollicking tale that speaks to urgent issues, inspired by Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Learn more The Books The Author Most Recent Blog Post Featured Posts Visit the blog to see more, in the order they were posted. The Red Rule of Photography Sep 25, 2019 | 8 Comments Hard…
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Pandemic Connections
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What do these books have in common? 1. Both were signed to me personally and mailed to me from the US by their authors. 2. I value both books highly, and even moreso the connections I’ve made with their authors, whom I have never met. This would not be the case, were it not for…
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Books About Women
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When I delivered the 33rd Helen Stubbs Memorial Lecture in the fall of 2021, one of my themes was women. I started it with a reading from Saturday Walk, a book I’d read as a child, back in the 1950s. It’s about a young boy walking with his dad observing all the men at work…
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Writing Workshops
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This winter I’ve been rediscovering the fun of working with people who are just beginning to explore their interest in writing for children. The night of the first class (which I’m teaching through the Con Ed department of the Upper Grand District School Board), I wondered how I’d do with the fact that it runs…
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What kind of books did you like to read when you were growing up?
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Stories about families, about real people, or at least people that felt real to me reading about them. I loved: the books about Beezus and Henry and Ramona by Beverly Cleary (those that had been written when I was young. I caught up with more Ramona books when my kids were young) the Little House…
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A Busy Fall Ahead
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Writer Sarah Ellis once gave a talk in which she distinguished between “writing” and “being a writer.” I may be busier “being a writer” in the coming months than I’ll be busy “writing.” Fortunately, I have a new picture book that’s finished which Annick has scheduled for publication in the spring of 2017. (More on…
Read More Kathy Stinson as Editor and Mentor
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I’ve done plenty of ‘shameless self-promotion’ here and would like to devote today’s post to the books of other authors I have had the pleasure to work with. Rough Magic by Caryl Cude Mullin is not the kind of young adult novel I would ordinarily pick up and read, but when the managing editor at…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 2
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As promised during the first week of December – the second installment of my Packaging Your Imagination keynote . . . Matilda Martin and Edna Bauman, Mam and Lucinda and me – my first time quilting with the women. Noisy greetings as we settle in around the quilt frame, then silence as each begins. Only…
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Writers’ Blogs I Like Reading
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Sometimes after a lengthy interruption to one’s writing life, it’s hard to get back in the groove. Whether time away from a project is for holiday celebrations, vacation, tending to the needs of family or friends, or for work that’s sure to put bread on the table next month, there’s an inevitable break in any…
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Meeting a Reader and Writer
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Joanna Perkin first wrote me in 2003 to tell me she’d enjoyed reading the first two Marie-Claire books. I wrote her back, she wrote me back, and so on. We kept up a correspondence – about books we’d read and about writing stories, because like me Joanna is both a reader and a writer –…
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I Want To Go Back to Liberia!
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We did so much during the workshop hours, and yet there’s so much more that we didn’t do. I read a few responses to writing exercises while there, and more on the plane coming home – “neighbourhood” and “personal hero” pieces, and moving accounts of experiences participants had when they were five, ten, and fifteen years…
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Congratulations, You’re #10,995!
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This month Amazon added a “new feature” to “make it easy for readers to discover the best-selling authors”. Excuse me, but is there a literate person on Earth who needs Amazon to tell them that the Twilight series sells more books than the Our Canadian Girl series, or that R.L. Stine sells more books than…
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Beyond Orange Shirt Day
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Like many Canadians, I’m horrified and saddened by stories that continue to come out about the mistreatment, past and present day, of Indigenous people in this country. So I’m pleased to know that starting tomorrow, we will be honouring the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities with a National Day…
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A Passion as Strong as Writing? Really?
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I’ve found a passion that rivals writing. For me, that’s saying a lot. I’m not new to photography. I think I took my first pictures, black and white, with a Brownie camera during a visit to Niagara Falls when I was ten or eleven, and have continued shooting with various cameras throughout my adult life.…
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“Writing With the Old Ones”
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Having read several novels by Richard Wagamese, (Ragged Company, Indian Horse, and Dream Wheels), I knew as soon as I found out he offers workshops, that I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from him. In the spring I registered for a workshop that was to take place in August, and was sent a copy of his handbook,…
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Reading & Writing at Fool’s Paradise
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Writing for more hours of my days at Fool’s Paradise than I imagined possible left little time for reading and for those intense four weeks I had little interest in any fiction beyond my own. I did, however read three books: Doris McCarthy: Ninety Years Wise by Doris McCarthy Celebrating Life: The Art of Doris…
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How 7 nudges led me to my new project for the new year
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A number of things late this year have been nudging me in a new direction for my writing. It started in November when I decided to go through a file called “Scribblings” to see just what I’d stuffed in there over the years. “Scribblings” contained notebooks and loose pages; writing exercises I’d done with various…
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New Year, New Books!
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Did you know that readers can anticipate not just one but TWO new Kathy Stinson books this year? (If You Were Here in the Spring and Levi’s Violin in the Fall.) More on those later. For now I’d like to tell you about three early-in-2025 releases by authors I’ve read before that I’m eager…
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Where can I buy your books?
Depending on where you live and/or your shopping experience preferences, there are a number of options for buying my books and those of other authors. I personally love to browse the shelves, reading jackets and getting a feel for the book in my hands. I like the diversity of selection in an independent bookstore, and I…
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Best Books of the Year
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One of things I like about December is perusing various lists of the “best books of the year” to see how many I’ve read and which ones I’d like to read. Here are my “best books” of the year. Unlike most lists, these are books I read this year, not necessarily published this year. (And…
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The First "Reading Liberia" Books
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The first books for Liberian children by Liberian authors will soon be out. Imagine how exciting that will be for both the children who will hold those books that reflect their lives and for the writers and illustrators who created them! I first became involved in “Reading Liberia” two years ago, and I’m proud to…
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Soaring Into Fall
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I hope you have had a wonderful summer of reading, writing, swimming, boating, or whatever excites you most about our all-too-short summer season. And I hope you have much to look forward to as we launch into fall — as I do. Orca Books releases The Rock and the Butterfly by me and Brooke Kerrigan, a picture…
Read More Writing Tip – How to Not Engage a Reader
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An ongoing problem with the novel I’m working on has been a tone that feels detached, almost reporter-like, which makes it hard for a reader to engage with what one of the point-of-view characters especially is feeling. Much as I enjoy the revision process, I sometimes shy away from dealing with global problems like tone and voice.…
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How I Spend My Time, Apparently
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My daughter was once babysitting her nephew, my youngest grandson. For his bedtime stories that night, he chose what he called “the violin books” (The Man with the Violin and The Dance of the Violin). K: Do you know who wrote these? D: Who? K: Grandma! D: Yeah, she’s always writing books. Not precisely true…
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Summer Reading, Reading Aloud
I love to read aloud. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been a volunteer at the CNIB for 15 years now. I’ve recently completed narrating my 50th book there (Beholden by Lesley Crewe). It’s called narrating because it’s not always a matter of simply reading the words on the page, clearly and accurately with no extraneous…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 14
The last excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… I rather like it that the last installment of this ‘spectacular’ and ‘inspiring’ Packaging Your Imagination’ keynote is landing at the start of the new year. I hope it will inspire you in whatever your undertakings may be this year……
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Does Your Writing Life Need A Boost?
Peter Carver and I are now accepting applications to our week-long, seaside writing workshop/retreat, taking place in August this year, on the south shore of Nova Scotia. If giving a writing project of yours the time it deserves is one of your resolutions for the new year, why not consider submitting an application. You can find more…
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More Books About Women
This International Women’s Day post picks up from last month’s post left off, and offers my reaction to a few books by women—fiction and non-fiction—that I’ve rated highly on goodreads so far this year. Pluck: A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist by Donna Morrissey As a longtime…
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Word from Liberia
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Exciting news! The first page in the history of Liberian children’s literature has now been written! Yes, the first books written and illustrated by Liberian authors and illustrators as part of the Reading Liberia program have now arrived in Monrovia! Yvonne, one of the founders of the program, wrote: Hello Kathy, Guess what! We have…
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Who is The Lady with the Books?
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Hint: She said, “If the war is really over, if one is to believe in peaceful coexistence, the first message of peace will be these children’s books.” She is also the subject of an upcoming book (by me) that members of IBBY-Canada got a peek into at the AGM in June. Readers of the book…
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3 Books, 3 Illustrators, 3 Publishers
Exciting news about upcoming books — François Thisdale is currently working on illustrations for The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and became the world’s first giraffologist (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)! “The Girl…” is Anne Innis Dagg. We recently had fun celebrating a year since our first meeting. Marie Lafrance has completed illustration of The Lady with the Books: A Story…
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Best Books of 2023
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Book lists abound at this time of year. One of my favourites is Goodreads’ “Your 2023 Year in Books.” The list comes as a display of covers that reminds you visually of some of the titles you rated highest. This photo shows me one summer day early in my reading life. These are some of…
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Red is Still Best
There have been 37 printings of Red is Best in Canada since it was first published back in 1982. That doesn’t count the many foreign editions and reprints this “classic” has enjoyed. A month rarely goes by that I don’t hear from someone who loved the book as a child. But that’s not the end…
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“Are you working on a book right now?”
After “Where do you get your ideas?” and “How long does it take you to write a book?” readers often ask, “Are you working on a book right now?” My answer is always, “Yes.” At a launch of The Dog Who Wanted to Fly this spring, I was asked, “Do you ever work on more…
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A Tulip in Winter
A Tulip in Winter: A Story About Folk Artist Maud Lewis Illustrated by Lauren Soloy Published by Greystone Books A picture book biography that celebrates Maud Lewis and her artistic expression of joy and beauty. Learn More Find out about this book’s first steps into the world. Hear Kathy read a few pages from the…
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Good Grief!
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A strange topic for a blog post leading up to the joyous holidays? For many this is a tough time, with the merriness of the season overshadowed by the recent or long ago death of a loved one. Because The Rock and the Butterfly (my latest book) is about friendship and loss, I was asked…
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Are You “Addicted to Distraction”?
My sister once wrote a blog post that inspired me to sum up my New Years goals or resolutions in one word. My word for 2016: FOCUS. I don’t think I’ve ever found it as difficult to focus as I have in the last months of this year. So many pleasurable activities have been calling…
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Finding Book Info at KathyStinson.com
One of the things I’ve liked about my website for some time is the visual gateway into information about my books that my tech-savvy and creative website manager set up on the Books page. Depending on the book, a reader can find Reviews, Excerpts, Ordering info, Interviews, Discussion questions or Activities, and always an answer to…
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“We Cheer Each Other On”
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The current President of CANSCAIP shares some favourite books of five of the CANSCAIP presidents who
preceded her.
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What 1 Movie & 2 Short Stories Taught Me About Writing
After I saw the Australian movie Jindabyne recently, I decided to read the Raymond Carver short story on which the movie is based. It was fascinating to see how Beatrix Christian adapted the short, spare text of “So Much Water So Close to Home” to create a compelling 2-hour movie. So often when we see…
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5 Steps to Writing a Novel
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For some months now I’ve been mentoring a writer working on her first novel, through CSARN (pronounced see-sarn, short for the Canadian Senior Artists’ Resource Network). As mentor, I am getting paid and my mentee can be reimbursed for expenses. My mentee has encountered the usual stumbling blocks that come with writing a novel. She…
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Summer Writing Workshop/Retreat by the Sea
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How does this sound? Five days in August in a spectacular Nova Scotia setting – indulging in private writing time, walking the beach, getting feedback on your work from me, my partner Peter Carver (children’s book editor for Red Deer Press and teacher of writing for George Brown College), and a small group of fellow…
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Writing by the Sea Again
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It won’t be long now before I’m writing by the sea again, in the fish house that inspired me last year to set up my “fish house” in the furnace room back home in Ontario. I wonder which of the writers attending our Seaside Workshop/Retreat this year will find the magic that can happen when…
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Do you offer writing workshops?
I offer a number of workshop options – for children, teens, and adults; single sessions or a series of sessions; and in a variety of settings including libraries, bookstores, schools, and private homes. I’ve even conducted workshops in Liberia. (If you want me to travel that far to do a workshop, somebody (besides me) has to…
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Kids, Get Writing!
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When I was in grade school, I wrote a story that went like this: One day Carol asked her mommy if she could go and sit on a rock. Her mommy said she could. After a while she saw a thing come out from behind a rock. She said, “Hey Mr. Turtle, where did…
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Seaside Writing Retreat & Workshop
Sometimes, whether you’re a writer who appreciates a regular writing group or one who prefers going it alone, there are often points when working on a project, when you long for uninterrupted time to focus on it, or feel the need for fresh eyes to assess how it’s going. The workshop/retreat that Peter Carver and…
Read More Is my ship sinking?
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Sometimes I wonder if there’s a comparison between writers writing in the early 21st century and the passengers in The Poseidon Adventure. Some passengers on the sinking Poseidon insisted on staying put, believing that someone would come and save them. Others insisted on taking matters into their own hands on what they knew was a…
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More Books for Liberian Children
I knew the first time Gii-Hne Russell read his story “A Time to Bathe” during one of the workshops I conducted in Liberia that it would one day become a book Liberian children would love to learn to read for themselves. (That’s the point of the Reading Liberia program I became involved with in 2008.…
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Books and Violins and Music in General
Don’t you love this display at Vancouver Kids Books? Clever thinking on the part of its designer. Good news for The Man with the Violin continues to roll in. It has already being reprinted. Starred reviews and others it’s attracted are lovely. It’s fabulous that the book is being made available at Joshua Bell’s North…
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Reading 2019 GG Books
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Of this year’s 35 nominations for Governor General’s Literary Awards, I have so far read three – all of them, coincidentally, connected to my work at CNIB. Late Breaking by K.D. Miller – Fiction K.D. Miller was on staff in the CNIB Recording Studio during most of my almost sixteen years there. Alex Colville paintings served…
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“I Read Canadian” 2022
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For this year’s “I Read Canadian” Day (that’s today), I decided to list books by Canadian authors I’ve read in the past year. And — to adopt a phrase used by the cheesiest of stories online — you won’t believe what I discovered! More than half of the 100 books I read were Canadian! Here are some favourites: Canadian Fiction Butter…
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Six Tips for Staying the Course After Rejection
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You slogged through several drafts of your project, probably many drafts. You worked with feedback from trusted colleagues in exchange for feedback on their work, or from a hired editor, to help you get your project to a publishable state. Not only publishable; this book is going to be great! you told yourself. You experienced highs and lows…
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Looking Ahead… And Looking Back
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Even as I anticipate heading off with Peter, imminently, on the first winter holiday either of has taken to a warm place, and returning to a basement much transformed during our time away, I feel the need to return once more to moments from my time in Liberia – for my own pleasure in reliving…
Read More Editing Tips
1. Having trouble with a novel you’re working on? Or a picture book or short story? Try remembering what drew you to writing it in the first place. We often get so enchanted by our characters and new possibilities a story presents to us that we lose sight of why we wanted to write it.…
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Stepping Away, Letting Go
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Sometimes the best way to renew waning enthusiasm for a project is to step away from it for a while. But what if you step away for a short time, then a longer time, and your enthusiasm simply doesn’t come back? Should you just let it go? Chalk that one up to ‘good practice’ despite…
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Going to the Fish House
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During our Seaside Workshop/Retreat this year, I spent the quiet-time hours of the morning writing in three different places: my upstairs bedroom with the door closed and the light off on a daybed in an secluded corner of the upstairs hall of the house in the fish house, pictured here, about a 5 minute walk…
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Reading Liberia – June 2011
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June 2011 presented me with the opportunity to work for a third time with Liberian writers through workshops and one-on-one meetings – thanks to CODE (Canada) and to We Care (Liberia). The president of the country, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, expressed an interest in participating in the launch of the first Liberian-authored, Liberian-illustrated children’s books. She…
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One Book, Two Books
Torontonians have been reading and discussing The Cellist of Sarajevo this month as part of TPL’s “One Book” program. The novel is set during the siege of Sarajevo when a cellist chose to play his cello in the street to mourn the deaths of 22 citizens shot while lining up to buy bread. It is,…
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Books about Kids & Divorce
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As timely as ever… One Year Commencing — published in 1997, but would having to decide which parent you want to live with be any easier now than it was then? Thistledown Press doesn’t think so. This book and 4 more YA titles are on sale for 30% off this week, through their website only.…
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Gotta Love Your Library!
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The Teen Advisory Group at the Guelph Public Library launched a campaign recently to encourage residents to discover new books and authors, to use their library more often, and to become more active in their community. They asked all kinds of people to submit a response to their campaign. Here’s what I sent: I still…
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Storywalk with The Man with the Violin
Storywalk® is an innovative way to get people of all ages to take a stroll while reading children’s picture books. Pages of a book are transformed into wind-and-rain-proof signs that are then placed on a playground, at a fair or music festival. The project originated in Vermont and Storywalks have now taken place in every…
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Photo of the Month #11
I wasn’t crazy about writing when I was a kid, but I did like it when the teacher gave us a picture as a starting point, especially if the picture inspired questions. Who? What? Where? And the best one: Why? What would I have written if she’d given us this photo (which she couldn’t have…
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Facts and Four Unanswered Questions About Maud Lewis
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A Tulip In Winter sits alongside several other wonderful books on the CCBC’s Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award shortlist and I’m delighted. I’m told it deserves to win. Of course, all the other titles do too! I learned some fascinating things while conducting my research for the book, but sometimes what we learn leads to…
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A Star for Starfall
I’m doing as much editing as writing these days. One of the projects I’ve been working on as editor is a picture book collaboration between two newcomers to the world of children’s books, Diana Kolpak and Kathleen Finlay. Pretty satisfying to see a starred review (from galleys) for Starfall in the September issue of Q&Q!…
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Why did you want to be a writer?
I’ve loved reading books for longer than I can remember. (That’s me in the picture, reading in my gramma’s backyard.) As an adult, I started to wonder if I would like writing them, too. I wondered if I could write something that people who didn’t know me would like reading. I was almost 30 when…
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Do you get along well with your publishers?
Here I am with Margie Wolfe at a party in spring 2006. Her company, Second Story Press, published King of the Castle (for readers of all ages) and 101 Ways to Dance. Margie and I don’t always agree about everything, but we get along famously just the same. (Thanks to Naseem Hrab for permission to use…
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Where you'll find me in Autumn 2017
The Eden Mills Writers Festival last weekend marked the beginning of a busy season of “being an author” (as opposed to actually writing, which I hope to be doing a fair bit of too). This photo is the audience for some other authors. My group was a tad younger. Coming up… September 14 – Reading…
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5 Reasons You Want to Be Invited to the Knowlton Literary Festival
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Danny McAuley — Owner of Brome Lake Books. I knew just from our emails beforehand that I was going to love Danny. He and his wife Lucy made sure they had a good supply of a range of my titles at the Festival. They told me a great story about a woman coming into the…
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Your Chance to Write by the Sea
Every morning that I’m free to work on my current project – to write a new section, revise an existing one, or bash out some notes to help me work through a logistical problem – I approach my writing desk with eagerness for what might happen there this time. This may be because I love…
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“Green 15”
Sometimes when it was my husband’s turn to drive this summer, I read aloud from William Trevor’s Selected Stories to help pass the miles. We often marveled at how compelling a story was for how much Trevor left out of its telling. I was reminded of one of my (many) favourite quotes about writing, which…
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Gardening and Editing
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When I’m not juggling writing, editing, and time with my family, one of my favourite pastimes at this time of year is gardening. Gardening is a lot like writing. How? When you make a change to solve one problem, it often creates a new problem to solve. You often have to yank out and discard…
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Endings & Beginnings
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Last night, my husband, Peter Carver, marked the end of his 25-year career in teaching ‘Writing for Children’ by launching – at his retirement party – his first book, So You Want to Write a Children’s Book. Joining the students from across the years who gathered to honour him were: Peggy Needham, Peter’s much loved…
Read More Three Things About Reading
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I was thinking about blogging about good books I’ve read lately when two things happened. I got a letter from a girl in New Brunswick who first wrote me almost seven years ago, and I was asked if I would go back to Liberia to do some more work with writers there. The NB girl…
Read More Children’s Book Week 2008 – A Breakfast Surprise
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On Monday morning I walked into the dining room at the Sylvia Hotel. A woman at a table at the far end of the room waved. At me? I didn’t expect to see anyone I knew there; there must be someone behind me, I thought. But the woman seemed to be looking at me and…
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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day
Saturday, April 30 is your chance to celebrate heroes of the Canadian book business, Canada’s independent sellers. Read my take on why they deserve celebrating, and I’ll then tell you what they’re doing to celebrate you, their customers. My friend says, “Books are cheaper somewhere else.” But when people buy cheaper, author royalties are correspondingly…
Read More Book Lovers Day
What better excuse than Book Lovers Day – the first Saturday in November – to plug a few of the great books I’ve read since August 9, also Book Lovers Day according to some calendars. (If you’re like me, pretty much any date is a good one for setting aside to curl up and do…
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“Do you illustrate your books too?”
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This is a question I was often asked, back when I was meeting with kids in schools and libraries across the country. I told them, “I like to draw but don’t draw well enough to illustrate a book, so publishers hire artists they believe will do a good job.” Sometimes I added, “It took me…
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School Visits
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On Monday I visited three schools in Monrovia, along with Wendy Saul, a professor from Missouri who has been working with teachers here, and Florence (I don’t know her last name), one of the teacher-leaders. Our purpose was to assess how well the classroom teachers we visited were applying what they’d learned about teaching reading,…
Read More A Title “of Exceptional Calibre”
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When my gardening plans got rained out this afternoon, I opened up my copy of “Best Books for Kids & Teens” which had just arrived in my mailbox. As I always do, I turned to the index in a hopeful (and egocentric) search for my name. (“Best Books…” is the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s annual…
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5 Highlights of the 2018 IBBY Congress
Kathy Goes to Greece – A Slideshow What made me decide to attend the 2018 IBBY Congress? It was in Greece. Canadian Deborah Ellis was delivering a keynote. Having been recently researching the life and work of Jella Lepman, I wanted to experience firsthand how such a conference would express the ideals that underpinned…
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The Dog Who Wanted To Fly
The Dog Who Wanted to Fly Illustrated by Brandon James Scott Published by Annick Press A dog is determined to fly – to catch a pesky squirrel and to prove to a skeptical friend that she can. Age Level Pre-school to grade 2 Curriculum Connections Dogs, cats, optimism, determination, imagination Activities Imagine you are one kind of…
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Why Colour? Why B&W?
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Ever wonder why only some of the people in The Man with the Violin (now available in paperback) are in colour? Nan Forler, a writer-friend who happens to also be a Kindergarten teacher, wrote me recently and passed along some of her students’ thoughts on the subject. She didn’t pose the question herself, but once…
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The Man with the Violin
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić Published by Annick Press What happened when a world class violinist performed and almost no one listened. Age Level Kindergarten to grade 3 Curriculum Connections Music, mindfulness, current events, biography Activities Write about a time you noticed something and wanted to pay closer attention to it but someone older didn’t think it was important.…
Read More Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction A picture book biography about Anne Innis Dagg, the world’s leading expert on giraffes. Back matter provides a brief biography of Joshua Bell and details of what happened the day he played in a Washington metro station and almost no one listened. Back matter describes what happened to violin virtuoso Joshua Bell during his…
Read More And speaking of lists…
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Every year, Resource Links publishes a list of the best books in the categories of Picture Books, Fiction Grades 3-6, Non-Fiction K – Grade 6, Fiction Grades 7-12, Non-Fiction Grades 7-12, Professional Resources, Audio Visual Resources, and French Resources. And which Kathy Stinson book made the list for 2009? The 25th anniversary edition of Big…
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Happy Birthday to Me
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Between now and my next post, I will turn 60. Turn can mean ‘curdle’ but it can also mean ‘twirl’. I’m choosing to believe I’ll be twirling into my next decade. I can’t pretend I’m 100% enthusiastic about my upcoming birthday, but – please pardon the cliché – it’s better than the alternative. And so…
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Falling Into Autumn
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Like this photo, this fall seems to have a lot going on. So thankful I am that I am able to engage in all this… I’m taking a fitness class that has me working on cardio, strength, and balance, to supplement what walking the dog does for me. I’m singing with a women’s choir, Just Sing,…
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Getting Along
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Last spring I wrote about becoming CANSCAIP’s 22nd president. One of the many aspects of the role I’m enjoying is that of sharing thoughts in a “From the President’s Desk” column in our quarterly newsletter. Here — because not only authors and illustrators of children’s books are faced with the need and desire to “get…
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The People in my "Neighbourhood"
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Home again from Liberia, I was contemplating what aspect of my week there I would blog about – what illustrators were learning and doing with Gord Pronk while I worked with writers? how a group decides which “personal heroes” qualify for inclusion in a Liberian anthology? the fun we had with an oral “dialogue” exercise?…
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More “Cheering On” Fellow CANSCAIPers
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Soon after I became President of the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers, I wrote a post entitled “We Cheer Each Other On.” This post again features excellent books I’ve read recently by a handful of my CANSCAIP associates. Whether you have or work with youngsters or not, I urge you to check…
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Becoming A Poet
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Today I’m on my way to Saskatchewan to participate in a Sage Hill Poetry Colloquium. Anticipating my departure, I recalled several poetry landmark moments in my life, leading up to this one. As a child I loved Lewis Carroll’s “You Are Old Father William” so much I memorized it with no one telling me to…
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First Aid for the Dreaded Synopsis
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Last fall a reader suggested I blog about something she struggles with – the dreaded summary / synopsis that publishers and agents often ask for. How do you go about compressing 40,000-80,000 words into 500-1000? I could tell you I just read through a manuscript and try to come up with a few sentences that…
Read More How's the Novel Going?
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Let’s just ignore the fact that I’ve been working on it since 2004 – granted with a few other projects sprinkled in there – and say that today I think draft #34 is going well! This winter I undertook a complete restructuring and delved deeper into what makes its main characters tick. I’ve eliminated an…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 9
The next excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… I would never write another poem if only I could show you in a few perfect lines what the touch of your fingers on my aging cheek means That’s “Poem for Sonia” from Hold the Rain in Your Hands: Poems…
Read More Do you write full-time now, or do you have another job, too?
I do my best to write full-time, but I don’t earn enough money from book sales to make a full income, so I do other things – related to writing – to make up what I need. I work as an editor. I lead writing workshops for adults and for children. I speak at conferences.…
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Schools & Libraries
Schools & Libraries Kathy’s aim when talking with students from elementary through high school is always to inspire their interest in reading and in writing. Reading aloud from something she wrote as a child, a published book, and/or a work-in-progress is part of any visit. So is discussing the writing and editing process. Students get…
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Kathy Stinson & Cornelia Oberlander Visit Crofton House
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Imagine having the chance to meet the author of a biography you were reading, and the person the biography was about, too? That’s what happened for a group of Grade Six students in Vancouver on the last morning of my Book Week tour. When I asked Cornelia Oberlander (about whom I wrote in Love Every Leaf) if…
Read More Revisiting PIRDY a Year Later
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During the last week of 2009, I devised a plan to help me give more time to activities I enjoy, but never seem to find enough time for. I called it The PIRDY Plan (P for Photography, I for Internet, R for Reading, D for Drawing, Y for Yoga. And I was in the plan…
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A Plug for CANSCAIP
If you enjoyed any of the instalments of “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” posted over the past 14 months and would like to read it in its entirety, you can find all the pieces of it by selecting Speeches in the Blog Categories or by entering Sock Fluff (or even just ‘fluff’) in the…
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25 Random Things About Me
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A friend recently sent me a “Memory” of hers that popped up on Facebook. It was something I’d tagged her with ten years ago. What’s still the same? she asked me. What has changed? Here’s my answer. THEN: I am going to Liberia in February. NOW: One of the writers I worked with there has…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 5
The next excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… That was “After English Class” from Hey World, Here I Am! by Jean Little. In 1987, I had the welcome opportunity to travel with Jean in England, when the Canadian Children’s Book Centre organized an exchange of Canadian and British…
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Three Trees for Highway of Heroes
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All across Canada, each school year, thousands of students read books that appear on “tree award” lists and, come spring, vote on their favourites. I’ve been lucky enough to have had several of my books nominated over the years: King of the Castle (Silver Birch) One Year Commencing (Red Cedar) Marie-Claire: Dark Spring (Diamond Willow)…
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Pleasant Memories of Book Week
A few people caught me out with my “Home Sweet Home” post last week. I wasn’t really home yet; I followed up my Book Week tour with a visit with friends in B.C. But I really am home now, and I’m busy with Book Week follow up, writing reports and so on. Here’s the “mini report” that may also…
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Off to Liberia!
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Hard to believe that a week from now I will be meeting with writers in Monrovia! Sponsored by CODE, “Reading Liberia” is a program through which books written by Liberian authors for Liberian children will be produced, and teachers trained how to use them in their classrooms. Thanks to IBBY-Canada who put my name forward to…
Read More As Poet
As Photographer Kathy, a member of the League of Canadian Poets, has enjoyed reading poetry throughout her life. Among many favourites that come immediately to mind: “Mud” by Polly Boynton as a young child, “Honey and Salt” by Carl Sandburg as a teenager, “Aurora Borealis” by Sheree Fitch as an adult, most recently “Riveted” by…
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A Volunteer-Reader’s Anniversary
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Seven years ago this week, I began volunteering at the CNIB Recording Studio in Toronto – reading books and teching for others who are reading. In addition to magazine articles and chunks of various textbooks, (and the foreword to a book being read by a male narrator), I have read a wide range of books – for kids,…
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Photo of the Month #4
There’s a bit of a disconnect between the mood in this photo and the mood I’m anticipating at the Hackmatack celebrations in Moncton this week, when hundreds of kids from all over New Brunswick will gather to honour the authors of books they have been reading this year. But there is a connection. Both came…
Read More The Bare Naked Talk
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Who knew that talking about book censorship with university students (and assorted others) would be so much fun? The room at St. Jerome’s in Waterloo was packed last night – a great start – and people responded with great laughter and affection to readings from a few of my books that have been deemed by…
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A House with No Windows, No Mirrors
Imagine living in a house that had no windows and no mirrors. That’s what a house without books would be like. Books open windows onto worlds unlike our own and thereby create empathy for those living lives different from what we know. And by reflecting back to us our own experience of the world, books validate…
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When A Pet Dies
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Soon after learning my dog was seriously ill and unlikely to recover, I had a dream. Georgia and I were walking. She was on a leash that kept getting longer as the weave of its nylon fabric unravelled, until it was hanging between us by only a thread. I woke up before the last remaining…
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Another Thing About Reading
So, what do I have in common with two football players, a policeman, and a woman in pyjamas? We were all part of Family Literacy Day at Dr. J. Seaton School in Sheffield this week. Linda Fleming (in pyjamas like most of staff and students that day) organized the event at which two Hamilton Tiger…
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Reading at the CNIB
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For close to seven years now, following a successful audition, I have been a volunteer reader at the CNIB. Pictured with me in the booth at the Recording Studio in Toronto is Alex MacDonald, who has been reading for roughly twice as long. Ordinarily during a recording session, there is one narrator, seated, reading a book aloud inside…
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Reading Aloud
I love reading aloud to any willing audience. This week is giving me lots of chances to do so. Reading Christmas-y excerpts from Brian Doyle’s Angel Square to my Book Group. Reading Draft #5 of a story-in-progress for feedback from one of my writing groups (I’m lucky to have two). I’ll be reading that draft…
Read More The Up Side of Email
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Sometimes I lament the time it takes to keep up with emails, as many people do these days. But I received a few recently that made me very glad for this way of connecting with people I might otherwise not hear from at all. Like this one: Hi Kathy!! I just bought and read your…
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Photo Walking
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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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Winter Photography
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My Instagram profile identifies me as “A writer of kids’ books with a passion for photography.” This blog post offers you a sampling of pics taken so far this winter (all with my iPhone 11 Plus) that I haven’t posted there. One of my favourite subjects in every season is my dog Georgia, who inspired The…
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A Successful Retreat and One Happy Writer
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I hereby declare my writing retreat a success. On the morning of my last full day there, I hit Send! I could go home happy. Not only did I accomplish what I’d hoped to with my novel manuscript (my first for adults), I also managed to do some work on a picture book text and…
Read More A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It
It’s now available! My first brand new picture book in sixteen years! Dave Jenkinson at CM (Canadian Materials) – a friend since I did my first Book Week tour in his province (Manitoba) in 1983 and who was sent a review copy – said, “Loved the imagination of it & the wonderful twist at the…
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Why Zora? Why Walter? Why Ivy? and Other Name Decisions
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Naming characters is sometimes easy. It’s usually not, for me, but it’s always fun perusing baby name websites for possibilities. Kelly in Red Is Best is Kelly because Kelly is the name of my daughter who inspired the story almost 40 years ago. I named the boy in Big or Little? Matthew after my son who inspired that book.…
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Thank You, Terry Fallis!
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While waiting for editorial feedback on What Happened to Ivy last winter, I started work on some short stories, thinking they might be less overwhelming – more easily broken into smaller chunks of work – than another novel would be, even if I was aiming to have enough stories, eventually, for a collection. Of course…
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Kathy Goes To Korea – A Slideshow
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Big thanks to the Canadian Embassy in Korea for inviting me to participate in the Seoul International Book Fair! Great fun to meet some of my Korean readers and discover how thoroughly they have embraced Red Is Best, The Man with the Violin, King of the Castle, and What Happened to Ivy. Thanks especially to…
Read More A Pocket… Goes to Italy
A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It will be on display in a special exhibition of recent books for toddlers and babies, during the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) Congress in Rome in August. A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It has also been shortlisted for the 2009 CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, recognizing an illustrator…
Read More A Book for Every Youngster
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Picture this. I’m having breakfast (last week), listening, as usual, to CBC Radio. Andy Barrie is interviewing a bookseller and children’s author because it’s Canadian Children’s Book Week. After a few minutes, after several American titles have been mentioned, I grumble to my husband, “You’d think one of them could name a Canadian title.” (I…
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RED Hair & RED Trimmed Pajamas in a RED Room IS BEST!
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Red Is Best is now older than I was when it was first published. It has appeared in hard cover, soft, and in board book formats, as an Annikin, a Gage big book, and as an e-book. And it’s been translated in many languages so kids in other countries can enjoy reading it too. Wow.…
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Big or Little?
Big or Little? Illustrated by Toni Goffe Published by Annick Press A child explores what makes him feel big – and little. Adapted for toddlers and available as a board book. Age Level Pre-school to grade 1 Curriculum Connections Growing up, feelings, family, self-esteem, early reading Activities For teachers — Have students create life-size paintings…
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Across this Country
September in Nova Scotia. October in British Columbia. November in Alberta. What wonderful opportunities to meet readers across this wonderful country of ours. I’m often in Nova Scotia in the early fall. Knowing this, organizers of Word on the Street in Halifax invited me to take part. My audience at the CBC tent included (much…
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A Pocket Can Have a Treasure in It
A Pocket Can Have a Treasure in It Illustrated by Deirdre Betteridge Published by Annick Press A day on the farm, exploring some unexpected ‘what’s in what’ ideas. Age Level Pre-school to grade 1 Curriculum Connections Farm, animals, new baby, language, predictable text Activities Make your own book or mural about things that can go into…
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Harry and Walter
Illustrated by Qin Leng Published by Annick Press A young boy and his elderly neighbour are best friends – until someone has to move. Age Level Pre-school to grade 2 Curriculum Connections Intergenerational, friendship, seasons, moving, perseverance Activities Make a picture of something you and your best friend like to do together. Or make four pictures…
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The Dance of the Violin
The Dance of the Violin Illustrated by Dušan Petričić Published by Annick Press What happens when a big mistake matters – are second chances possible? Age Level Kindergarten to grade...
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A Proud Month
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This has been quite a month for me and my family. My son graduated in the top 10 percent of his class, having completed his MBA while working full time. My daughter danced up a storm at a recent performance put on by the school where she’s been having a great time mastering the art…
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Writers by the Sea
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They came and wrote – in the fish house, the old barn, the farmhouse, and on the beach. They wrote about kids who are lonely, who don’t fit in, kids curious, funny, or angry. They wrote all morning, and sometimes again in the afternoon or evening. When they weren’t writing, they were talking about writing,…
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The Poetry Project
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I’ve been writing poems lately. Some days I’m surprised and pleased by what I write and think I might someday have something worth submitting somewhere. Other days a voice in my head says: You can’t write poetry. Whatever made you think you could? Why are you torturing yourself trying to write something no one will…
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A Place for Group Creativity and Solitude
Groupthink: the brainstorming myth, an article in the New Yorker, got me thinking recently about my writing group and how we’ve benefited from occasionally inviting guest fellow writers to participate in discussions of our projects and to share their work for feedback. It also helped me understand better why the Seaside Writing Workshop/Retreat works so…
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September Weekends
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Labour Day weekend on the south shore of Nova Scotia included happy hours with family and then with beloved writer-friend, Budge Wilson. My first weekend home after a long summer away, I made seeing family here a priority: son, daughter, sister, dad, and attachments where applicable (including this lovely boy I hadn’t seen since July). …
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Talented Young Writers
A bug has been spreading through the community of Guelph’s teens this year. I’m not referring to H1N1 but to the Writing Bug. There were three times as many submissions to GPL’s 2009 teen writing contest as there were in 2008. This year was the second year I had the pleasure of judging stories for…
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"So You Want to Write a Children’s Book"
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To me, he’s my sweetie Petey, my life partner of 26 years. He’s the dad of my stepdaughters, the stepdad of my own kids, and Grampa to our grandkids. To the community of writers of books for young people in Canada, Peter Carver is a writing teacher extraordinaire, an astute and caring editor, a trusted…
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Claire Mackay, 1930-2013
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Across the country, news of Claire’s death on August 11 was met with much sadness. Friend, writer, mentor, a founding member of CANSCAIP, wife, mother, grandmother – it goes without saying she will be missed. Among words used to describe her on CANSCAIP’s Facebook page (and elsewhere) are: kind, funny, smart, wise, witty, wonderful, a…
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A Peek at Where I Write
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All around me in the room where I write are things that act as symbols for much that keeps me going when the writing gets tough: who owned my desk before me; writer-friends; illustrators whose art has perfectly extended the stories I’ve written; the determined minds and open hearts of writers and artists who’ve participated…
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A Summer for “Goodbye…Hello…”
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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.…
Read More Summer Reading
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Today’s the day I decide which books to take to the cottage. Despite having a growing stack that includes Scotch River by Linda Little and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffan Foer, I’ve taken a couple of books by Chris Bohjalian out of the library, having very much enjoyed his Midwives a few years…
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“The Reader I Was, The Writer I Am”
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How could I say no? It was an honour to be asked, back in February 2019, if I would “consider speaking at the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books in Toronto” as the 33rd annual Helen E. Stubbs memorial lecturer in the fall of 2020. “This lecture series,” Martha Scott wrote, “is held in the…
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A “Desert Island” Author
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That’s how I was introduced last week before speaking to the Children’s Literature Roundtable in Vancouver. “The great thing about Kathy is that she is the ultimate desert island writer,” said Shannon Ozirny, a dynamic young grad student, soon to be fantastic librarian. “Now, I know you’re all wondering, ‘What the heck is a desert island…
Read More The Osborne Collection
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Last week I said I’d say more on the subject of scrapbooks. I started keeping one in 1982 after my first book, Red is Best, was published. I put my rejection letters in it, the letter Annick sent saying they’d like to meet with me, the earliest Robin Baird Lewis sketches I saw that convinced…
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Summer Reading, Fall Reading…
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Wiggling slowly back into a regular work routine, as temperatures fall (especially over the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival weekend!) and as leaves begin showing their fall colours in my part of the country, I’m pausing here to recommend two very different books I gave 5-star reviews to this summer. A way of trying to hold…
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I Read Canadian
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I Read Canadian Day is a national celebration of the breadth and diversity of Canadian books for young people. Join the party on February 17 by encouraging any kids or teens in your life to read a Canadian book for 15 minutes or by reading one to them. You’ll be helping foster a love of…
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Summer Reading
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Whether you’re spending your summer close to home or venturing farther afield, I hope you’re enjoying the luxury of some summer reading time. Whether on a beach or an apartment balcony, in a hammock or a tent, there’s something special about the longer, warmer days that says “Relax. Let yourself sink into one of those…
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How does it feel to have won the TD Children’s Literature Award?
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When TD and CBC interviewers asked me this question the night of the gala celebration of this year’s TD and CCBC Book Awards, I believe I responded with something like, “Uh, ba, da, duh, ba, uh, um, daba dah…” How often do we find ourselves thinking, after it’s too late, ‘Oh I wish I’d said…’?…
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Children’s Book Resources During Covid19 and Beyond
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Imagine a youtube channel devoted to video resources all about Canadian books for children and youth? Bibliovideo has been launched! The program will bring readings, interviews, activities, trailers, and reviews to teachers, parents, and kids of all ages. The closing of schools and libraries motivated the Canadian Children’s Book Centre to work hard to…
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Another Harry and Walter
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A writer/illustrator/publisher sends a book out into the world. When sales are no longer high enough to justify their taking up storage space in the warehouse, the publisher will declare the book out of print. (Rare is the book, like Red Is Best, that stays in print for decades — 43 years now and counting!)…
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Kids Lit Quiz
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My granddaughter will soon be celebrating her twelfth birthday. She’ll receive as a gift a copy of Alice in Wonderland printed in 1866 that has been passed down through her family for generations. Can a 12-year-old appreciate what an amazing gift this is? This one will. Claire comes from a long line of book lovers…
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King of the Castle
King of the Castle Published by Second Story Press Mr. Elliot likes being a caretaker and a grandfather, but he has a problem: he can’t read. Age Level Grades 2 to 5 Curriculum Connections Literacy, reading, self-esteem, family, school Teacher Resource Guide available Activities Near the end of the school year, organize a party for…
Read More May is Vision Health Month
Because I’m so grateful for my own vision health, and because I love to read aloud (and do it well), I’ve been working as a volunteer reader and technician at the CNIB Recording Studio for the past 6 years. In that time I’ve narrated parts of various magazines and text books and 19 entire books.…
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A Happy Way to End (Almost) 2017
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It was a traveling sort of December, most recently to Ottawa for the Canadian premiére of the musical adaptation of The Man with the Violin. Very exciting to celebrate this book once again with Dusan Petricic (its illustrator who came all the way from Belgrade for the event), Rick Wilks of Annick Press, Joshua Bell…
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My Latest Book – Highway of Heroes
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Each time a fallen soldier returns to Canada, thousands of ordinary Canadians from all walks of life line the bridges over the Highway of Heroes to pay their respects to the soldier and the soldier’s family. Highway of Heroes is a photographic picture book that tells the fictional story of one boy’s journey down the Highway…
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Photo of the Month #1
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I love taking pictures. Last summer someone complimented me on my eye and even said she’d like to hang some of my work in her gallery. I haven’t done anything about that yet, but her encouragement gave me the idea of sharing some of my photos on my blog. I hope that what I pull…
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Announcing . . . The Dance of the Violin!
A new picture book about Joshua Bell by the same team that brought you The Man with the Violin. This interview with Open Book will tell you all about it. Read on!
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Editing and Editing
Sometimes a sentence flows to paper or screen on a writer’s first approach. Other times it takes editing to get the tone and intended impact just right. During online photography classes with Joy Sussman, I’ve been learning that this can also be true of photographs. Here is an early version and the final version of…
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Plans for Another Kathy Stinson Board Book
I was delighted when Annick Press decided to make Red is Best available as a board book, and even moreso when I discovered this photo on flickr. This year Annick decided to make Big or Little? available as a board book, too. I’ve changed some of its words so the book’s very young readers will…
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The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and became the world’s first giraffologist
The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and became the world’s first giraffologist Illustrated by François Thisdale Published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside A picture book biography about Anne Innis Dagg, a pioneer in the study of animal behaviour in the wild and the world’s leading expert on giraffes for decades. Age Level 6 and up Curriculum Connections…
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Did You Miss the Launch of The Girl Who Loved Giraffes?
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Hearty thanks to the over 100 people who tuned in to hear multiple perspectives on this picture book biography last week. Editor Bev Brenna interviewed me, illustrator François Thisdale, the book’s subject Anne Innis Dagg, and Anne’s daughter Mary. We got brief perspectives from cohosts Fitzhenry & Whiteside and The Bookshelf too. Watch the recording…
Read More Hurray! Another contract!
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As if I’m not already delighted enough to have a new picture book coming out next year (the first brand new one in sixteen years!) as well as a biography for adolescent readers (my first ever biography!) — I have just signed a contract for a totally new take on the theme I explored in…
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My Web Site
My sister has been running lots of ideas past me recently, as she works on redesigning my web site. Hard to believe, but it’s been almost 10 years since she designed my first web site for me. It has been through a number of changes since then – quite apart from regular updates – but…
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Announcing Levi’s Gift
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This month sees the release of my 20th picture book, Levi’s Gift, which captures the beginning of a cross-generational, cross-cultural friendship between an old man and a young girl. It’s also about the healing power of music. I’ve always had a soft spot for stories about friendships between children and old people, and although I’ve…
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Kathy Stinson “As Photographer”
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One subject predominates in the photos I’ve taken since last April. A few months before this affectionate ball of fluff’s arrival in our home, I got into the habit of, once a month, going through the previous month’s photos, deleting those undeserving of storage space, and putting 5 of the ‘keepers’ into a “Best of…
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How old are your children now?
I’m going to let you figure that out. Matthew (inspiration for Big Or Little?) was born in 1975 and Kelly (inspiration for Red Is Best and “Babysitting Helen“) was born in 1978. This picture of my kids was taken at Matt’s wedding in 2001. I also have two stepdaughters born in 1967 and 1968 and…
Read More More On Africa
I’ve just finished reading The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (winner of the Best Book In Africa Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007). I bought it while in South Africa, thinking it might offer me useful insight into the complex world of that beautiful country, and it did, to some extent, though of course there is a…
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Another Award Nomination for A Tulip in Winter
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The “Early Buzz for A Tulip in Winter“ has continued to grow in the months since its release last spring. The latest exciting news is that the book’s illustrator, Lauren Soloy, has been nominated for the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award for the art she created for our picture book biography of folk artist Maud Lewis. As you can tell from the spread…
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Poetry News & Quotes
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April is National Poetry Month and I have two exciting (at least to me!) bits of news related my poetry to pass along. This month a mentorship I’ve had the good luck to be involved in since the fall is wrapping up. During the program funded by the Writers Union of Canada, the poet Barbara…
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The Bare Naked Book
Illustrated by Melissa Cho Published by Annick Press The classic celebration of human bodies, with updated text and illustrations that capture better than ever their wonderful diversity. Age Level Pre-school to kindergarten Curriculum Connections Human body, body image, family Activities Talk about the ways people are different, and about how people are the same. Reviews…
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Introducing: The Man With the Violin
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It started with a forwarded email late in 2011, containing a link. By February 2012, I had sent to Annick Press a manuscript for a picture book version of the story that had so captivated me . By August, Dušan Petricic was on board to illustrate a much crisper version of the story than what I’d originally…
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Fool’s Paradise, Here I Come!
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Following the death of landscape painter Doris McCarthy in 2010, the Ontario Heritage Trust established the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Centre, at her request, on the property where she had lived for over 60 years. Her mother did not approve of her purchase of the land in 1939 and referred to the property as “that fool’s…
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CANSCAIP’s 28th & 35th
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Last weekend I attended the 28th Packaging Your Imagination conference organized by CANSCAIP – the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers. It was a great example of what the organization, as I see it, is all about: creative people sharing information, knowledge, and wisdom with others. Every person who attended will have picked…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff”
“Spectacular!” “Inspiring!” Two words people used to describe my keynote speech at CANSCAIP’s Packaging Your Imagination conference last month. Pretty gratifying feedback! You missed it? Fear not! I’m going to post the whole speech here at “Turning the Pages.” “Sock Fluff” was my introduction to Loris Lesynski, back in the early 90s, before it was…
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“One Word” for the New Year
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Almost a year ago I was inspired by my sister’s blog post to think of just one word to sum up my goals or resolutions for the new year. I’m sure one that came to mind was “patience” because even as I get older and supposedly mellower, I still struggle with being impatient for things…
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Bringing Robert Frost Home From Newfoundland
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A man carried stacks of National Geographic magazines from his truck to a table in the Deer Lake Library. They dated back to the 1950s. One issue caught my eye. The face on the cover was not one I expected to see on a NG cover. It was the April 1976 issue. Inside, unrelated to…
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How To Write
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I keep a file I call “Random Thoughts” alongside any writing project I’m working on, especially if it’s a long one. In “Random Thoughts” is where I write about issues I’m sorting out: whose point of view is best for this story or scene? what might this character do next? is this action in keeping…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 7
The next excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… I feel like the ground in winter, Hard, cold, dark, dead, unyielding. Then hope pokes through me Like a crocus. This poem by Jean Little called simply “Surprise” expresses how I feel when a story isn’t working. “I feel like…
Read More Back in Liberia
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I’m sitting on the fourth floor balcony of the Cape Hotel in Monrovia in shorts and t-shirt listening to a mixture of surf and hotel generators, and the occasional honking of a motorcycle horn. It’s just after nine o’clock at night. African music has been added to the surf/generator mix as I type this. Who…
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World Food Day
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There are serious approaches a person could take to World Food Day, but one of my ongoing aims in life is to be less earnest in my writing. (Hard when my best ideas for books lately seem to be about serious stuff.) So on this WFD, instead of blogging about world hunger, genetically modified foods, or…
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Multiple Viewpoint Novels
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A writer-friend of mine has been thinking lately about the possibility of having multiple viewpoint characters in a novel she is working on. Since she’s been wondering what that might look like, I sent her a copy of Fish House Secrets which is told from two points of view, as a trade for her book…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 3
If you’ve missed Parts 1 & 2 of the keynote I delivered at Packaging Your Imagination last fall, you might want to go back to my earlier posts and start reading it from the beginning. If you’re ready for Part 3, read on! That’s an as yet untitled poem by Watchen Johnson Babalola, a Liberian…
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FOCUS 2016
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Two books I’ve read since my blog post referring to an article “Addicted to Distraction” have helped cement my resolve to sharpen my focus and reduce the stress that comes with living distracted: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr and The Distraction Trap by Frances Booth. Recommended reading…
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Why “Genitals”?
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I love to hear from readers of my books, whether they’re expressing delight in what they’ve read, or questioning some aspect of what they’ve read. In 2019, a reader who liked The Bare Naked Book (the 1986 version) expressed disappointment with the inaccuracy of the “penis” and “vagina” spread. — “Our identity does not always…
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Solitude – Not Just for Writers
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Margaret Buffie is a writer-friend I’ve seen far too little of in recent years. Facebook has kept us connected to a limited degree, enough for us to appreciate that we’re both passionate about photography and nature and family and our summer places in northwestern Ontario. (Or is hers in southeastern Manitoba? I’ve been to hers…
Read More Boogy & Tee and Twinkle & Hew
The Man with the Violin Illustrated by Mark Hoffmann Published by Groundwood Books Two boats at sea, caught in a storm, impacted very differently – a light-hearted tale about economic inequality and climate change, patterned on a classic poem. Age Level Ages 3-8 Curriculum Connections Environment, Human rights, Empathy, Emotions, Poetry, Literary Adaptations, Story Structure…
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The Red Rule of Photography
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Hard to believe perhaps but the author of Red Is Best — who thinks she knows a few things about taking pictures — learned only just last spring that there is a “Red Rule” of photography, which is quite simply: Looking at my Instagram posts, I was surprised how few contained red before I started a “Capture…
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Did you create your own website?
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I wanted a website that would help promote me and my books, but I had no idea about how to set one up, and wasn’t willing to take time away from my writing to learn. Luckily for me, my sister knew how to do it. Creating websites is part of her business. Since setting up…
Read More Where do you get your ideas?
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Ideas are everywhere and anyone can catch them if they practice watching and listening to what’s going on around them. Sometimes ideas come to me from my own experiences, sometimes from other people’s. Sometimes they come to me when I’m reading a book someone else has written, sometimes when I’m in the middle of writing…
Read More Summer Reading
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Well, it’s off to a great start! This morning I had a million reasons to get up and get going on my day, but I had to stay in bed to finish reading Dooley Takes the Fall by Norah McClintock first. You don’t often see “literary” and “page-turner” together in a review, but both words apply to…
Read More Children's Book Week 2008 – A Few Highlights
Between November 17 and November 21 I met with roughly 900 kids and the many adults (teachers, librarians, and parents) who accompanied them to a total of 17 readings. Here are just a few moments from that week that I carry with me still, now that I’m home again. 1. When the bell rang to end…
Read More Settling In
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We moved house a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve had lots of people ask how we’re “settling in” and how we’re enjoying the new place. I’m really enjoying getting set up here, but I’m also very much looking forward to just “being” here – writing, reading, doing puzzles, and of course taking Keisha for…
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Why did Joshua Bell do it again?
According to a Washington Post article last week: 1. He hoped it would get people to stop asking him about his first Metro station concert that he did as part of a social experiment. I wonder if he’s been asked more often since the publication of The Man with the Violin which has attracted awards all over…
Read More Cormac McCarthy’s Typewriter
A recent article in the New York Times informs readers that Cormac McCarthy’s typewriter is about to be auctioned off. It’s expected to go for between $15,000 and $20,000. That’s a lot of money for a typewriter that has, according to McCarthy, “never been serviced or cleaned other than blowing out the dust with a…
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The PIRDY Plan
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Walking my dog one morning in the last week of 2009, lamenting the fact that another year had gone by and I had yet to figure out how to fit time for all my interests into my life, I came up with a plan I think will help me do it. (Notice I don’t call…
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Whose Point of View?
Like many writers, I’m drawn to stories told from multiple points of view. I think this is because, as writers, we’re fascinated with the different ways people perceive and experience the world, and how that influences their behaviour. We may also be keen to see events from all sides. But which of many possible viewpoints are needed to…
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Holiday Book Shopping Made Easy
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Many readers are enjoying the pleasures of browsing their local bookstores for holiday gifts these days, others the pleasures of shopping online. New buttons on the book pages of my website will make it easier for you to quickly find what you’re looking for, whichever your shopping style preference. You are looking for books by Kathy Stinson for all…
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Good News from Africa
Laptops for Liberia have begun to trickle in. More are needed. Please help spread the word anywhere that a laptop of use to a writer in Liberia might be found. And don’t forget to email me if you have a laptop you’re finished using and would like to donate. Liberian illustrators are now bringing to…
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“When I’m Sixty Four”
Did you know that Paul McCartney was 16 years old when he and John Lennon wrote “When I’m Sixty Four”? Paul and Ringo are the only two Beatles who lived to see 64. John was murdered at 40 and George died from lung cancer at 58. When the song was released in 1967, I was…
Read More As Photographer
As Photographer The first photographs Kathy remembers taking were of Niagara Falls, during a trip there with her family in the early 1960s. She thinks she was using a Brownie. For a long time after that, she didn’t take many pictures, leaving it to her parents to capture most of the important family moments. She does…
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First Book Canada
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Many of the kids in this pic took home their first ever “mine for keeps” books yesterday thanks to First Book Canada. Owning a book is a new concept for some of them. When I handed one boy his copy of The Man with the Violin he asked me, “Do I bring it back tomorrow?”…
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The Man with the Violin at The Bookshelf
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Thanks to the great staff at The Bookshelf in Guelph for welcoming me, The Man with the Violin, and three musicians into the store on Saturday. Starting at 10:45 or so, three students from the Suzuki String School of Guelph played violin to help attract people to the area in the store where a reading of…
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My Pinterest ABC
If you haven’t joined Pinterest yet, you’re missing out on a good, fun way of finding and organizing all kinds of material relating to your interests – however many and however varied they may be – and of sharing your interests with a whole world of people who share those interests. I joined Pinterest last…
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The Bite of the Mango
I have just finished reading The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland. It’s Mariatu’s story of how her life in Sierra Leone was changed when the rebel army attacked her village and cut off her hands. The back cover says it’s a story of “immense courage, resilience, and hope.” Reading of…
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Book Exchanges
Books often pass through the hands of many readers. This year I read Push by Sapphire. I enjoyed it (in the way one can enjoy a terribly sad story), but not enough to keep it. I gave it to my sister. When she was finished with it, she left it on the “Give & Take” bookshelf…
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A National Poetry Month Guessing Game
April is National Poetry Month and as it happens, the book I’m reading at the CNIB right now is a novel written in poems, and so is the book I’ll be reading next. The stories in both are told from the points of view of different characters, so it’s been fun trying to match my…
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Authors Support Indies Day
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Saturday, May 2 is Authors Support Indies Day. It’s a great chance for readers to meet and chat with some of their favourite authors, who will be hanging out as “guest booksellers” in their local independent bookstores. Says one of Canada’s best known authors, Ann-Marie MacDonald, “Independent bookstores enrich our communities. They provide gathering places…
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Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Published by Tundra Books A biography of one of Canada’s earliest environmentally conscious landscape architects Age Level 12 and up Curriculum Connections Biography, environment, landscape architecture Activities For kids — Have you ever met someone you wished you could know more about? Write a…
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Golden Moments at the Golden Oaks Awards
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Hackmatack and Silver Birch events this spring were fun. It’s gratifying to see hundreds of kids excited about reading. But the event surrounding the awarding of this year’s Golden Oak was downright inspiring. What makes the Golden Oak different from other “tree” awards is that the readers who vote to determine the winning book are…
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Book Groups & Summer Reading
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The last Monday of the month for some years now I’ve been meeting with a group of women to discuss books. My idea for this post was to write about this group, as we’re soon to take a break and embark on the season of summer reading, perhaps mention a book or two we’ve read…
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Close But No Cigar
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Ever wonder where the expression “Close but no cigar” originated? I had two occasions last month to wonder. This is what I learned. Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, players who succeeded at fairground games of strength, accuracy, and skill were commonly awarded a cigar as a prize. The games were notoriously…
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Celebrating Excellence in Canadian Children’s Literature
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Facebook reminded me recently that one year ago The Man with the Violin won a TD Children’s Literature Award — as if I will ever forget such a fantastic season of celebrations! Tonight I’ll be attending the Awards ceremony again, eager to hear which books will be this year’s winners, and happy to celebrate all the books’ writers, illustrators,…
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What I Read on My Summer Vacation
The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy by Jill MacLean A great companion book to The Nine Lives of Travis Keating. And I hear there’s to be a third book about this community of kids living in a Newfoundland outport. Can’t wait. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley I don’t read…
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TD Children’s Book Week in Alberta
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Canadian authors and illustrators are meeting with readers all across the country. I’m about half way through meeting with 18 groups of kids from Kindergarten right up to Grade 12 in Calgary and in Lethbridge and area, hoping to inspire them to read more and to write, too. These enthusiastic audiences inspire me to keep…
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Tips for Writers
Vicki Grant gave an outstanding presentation at a recent CANSCAIP meeting. Unfortunately, I missed it, but because I am a CANSCAIP member, I was able to enjoy a distillation of her “10 Tips for Writing” and “10 Tips for Mystery Writers” through the minutes of the meeting (one of the great benefits of membership, wherever…
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Happy Birthday to A Great Dog
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Today would have been Keisha’s tenth birthday but five weeks ago we learned she had cancer and four weeks ago she visited the vet for the last time. For a week Peter and I together mourned her loss, at home, received condolences from family, friends, and dog-walking acquaintances, and poured over hundreds of photos in…
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Do you speak to teachers on their professional development days?
Yes, and it’s always a pleasure. (I was an elementary school teacher myself, before I was a writer.) I can discuss how to motivate students to write, how to excite them about reading, or I can conduct a mini-writing workshop, as a model for how teachers might like to work with their students, at any…
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Photo of the Month #2
This month’s photo, like last month’s, was taken in Nova Scotia – this time on the beach at the Kejimkukik Seaside Adjunct. We’ve taken our Seaside Writing Workshop Retreat participants there each year, and hope to again this year, but in this photo it’s my lovely daughter enjoying the enormous sky and exploring one of…
Read More Conferences & Festivals
Conferences & Festivals Whether your conference is for librarians, booksellers, writers, or parents — or your festival is for adults, children or both — Kathy can offer your group a dynamic presentation about writing, reading, being a writer in Canada, or another theme or topic of your choice. In addition to the speaking fee, conference and…
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Getting to Know Maud Lewis
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In contrast to the often bleak landscape and harsh climate of rural Nova Scotia that formed the backdrop of her life, Maud’s paintings brim with vivid, joyous colour. Was she escaping the miseries of her life through her painting? Or was she simply adept at seeing the beauty in the world and expressing it through…
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First the Movie, Then the Book
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It’s not every time you see a documentary that you get to meet its subject right after. Or that you know — before the film is over and even more once you’ve heard the subject address the audience — that you want to write a book about her for kids. Or that the subject agrees to let…
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Losing Weight in the New Year
With the arrival of a new year often comes the tendency to reflect on what’s working well in our lives and where we’d like to make improvements. One of the most common resolutions made is “I’m going to lose weight!” A worthwhile goal for many, no doubt. But whatever your bathroom scale says, there may…
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From Idea to Book — 28 Years
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In 1997 I travelled with an aunt and other family to Scotland. Aunt Lois was in her nineties. Once, as we younger people headed off to a beach that was not accessible to her, she urged us, “Bring me back something interesting.” As we walked along the beach, occasionally picking up a stone or feather,…
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One Voice In A Grand Choir
Trying to recall the exact words on a poster I saw in a school library some years ago, I did an internet search and discovered this: Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best. — Henry Van Dyke The words on the poster may not…
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Making the Big Switch
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I bought my first computer in 1983. It was a Commodore 64 and it was great. I’ve had many computers since, all of them (despite urgings from Mac-user friends) IBM clones – PCs – until this summer. While at the cottage, a long-time Mac-user cousin said, “What you want is a MacBook Air.” “Oh yeah,…
Read More The Joy of Cutting Words
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The last thing that a poet learns is how to throw away, And how to make you thrill and creep with what he doesn’t say. — J.R. Lowell Every writer, including me, knows the thrill of seeing words accumulate on the page. But a morning cutting 1000 words from a project can be just as satisfying as…
Read More Stop the presses!
The result of a conversation with the expert I consulted to check my novel manuscript for any errors in legal procedure and language means a far more significant revision than I was anticipating before it will be ready to show a publisher. I could view it as a major setback, but I can’t help feeling…
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Will you come and speak at our conference?
If your audience is teachers, librarians, booksellers, writers, parents, students, or seniors, chances are I’d love to come talk about just about any aspect of writing, reading, or being a writer in Canada. I’m more than open to suggestions. In addition to the speaking fee, conference organizers should be prepared to cover the cost of…
Read More I've Got Mail
Once in a while something lands in your inbox that just makes your day. Such was the case for me recently, when a literacy consultant in Simcoe County wrote to tell me about the impact of my book King of the Castle on her and some people she knows. “I am writing a biography about…
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Every Month is Something Month
February is African History Month. June is Pride Month. April gives us two causes for celebration. In honour of Autism Awareness Month, I offer this guide to internet safety for people with autism. In honour of National Poetry Month, I suggest The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach edited by Behn…
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More Making Pictures with JoyfullyGreen.com
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So, I thought I’d taken a pretty cool photo of a clam shell on the beach this summer and posted it for the assignment on symmetry in the class I’d been taking the month before. (The “classroom” stays open even when the class is officially over.) The instructor, Joy Sussman, suggested: I think this would…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 6
The next excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… My son is in the bathroom shaving the water runs. I hear the scrape across his upper lip, the rinse, the tap three times on the side of the sink which makes me wonder if this is some primordial or…
Read More Last Posting from Monrovia
Well, it’s hard to believe that a week ago tonight I had not yet set foot in Africa, and already my bag is packed, ready for my trip back to Canada, my heart crowded with people I had not even laid eyes on a week ago. So intense has been my involvement with Liberian writers…
Read More A Treasure for My Pocket
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Two big surprises at the Literacy Conference in Burlington last weekend. The onsite bookseller, Different Drummer, had on hand a big stack of Love Every Leaf: The Life of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander – and it wasn’t scheduled for release till several days later! (It looks gorgeous, and after I spoke about it briefly during my…
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More Honours for Cornelia
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Last week I had the privilege of attending the graduation ceremony at Dalhousie University where Cornelia Oberlander was receiving yet another honorary degree. Giving the convocation address, she spoke the importance of taking risks. To paraphrase: “To make the world a better place, we cannot keep doing things the same old way they have always…
Read More Can you help me get published?
I have no ins with any of the publishers I’ve worked with as a writer or as an editor, so beyond encouraging you to continue honing your craft (by writing lots and perhaps attending classes or workshops), there’s nothing else I can do to help you get published. However, there are lots of websites that offer…
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Dedicated to My Grandson Daniel
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The new year for Daniel means a new home — in Boston — a new school, and new friends. He told me in November, “When I come to your house at Christmas, I’m going to give you an extra big hug so you won’t miss me so much when I move to Boston.” As we…
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Good News for Love Every Leaf
When Menelik-Llord Aidoo, one of the writers I worked with in Liberia, wrote a piece about a comic book he’d read as a child, about George Washington and his love of nature, I was glad I’d brought Love Every Leaf with me, to plant the idea with Liberian writers that they might like to consider writing biographies, too.…
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On Coming Home from the Banff Winter Writers Retreat
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“We should celebrate what we’ve achieved here. Just getting ourselves here was an achievement,” said a fellow writer on our last evening together. In the plane on my way home, I reviewed the reams of rambling ‘thinking’ notes I’d made while away — to get a sense of how far my project had come during…
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Kathy Stinson, As Photographer
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Photography – it’s becoming almost as big a part of who I am as writing is. So I’ve added a new page to my website. And I recently joined Instagram which will be only about photography. I hope you’ll check out both!
Read More Notes on a Work in Progress
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When I’m working on a novel, I keep track of ideas and sort through my thoughts about them in a file I call Ideas & Thoughts. In case anyone thinks it gets easier when you’ve written several, here’s a note copied from my March 3 entry, two days after I’d started thinking about getting back…
Read More Touring Newfoundland's West Coast
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My travels as a Canadian author have taken me to every province and territory in the country. Last week returned me to the west coast our easternmost province. Readings and writing workshops took me to its northern tip (only one road goes there), south to Port aux Basques and to many gorgeous spots in between.…
Read More Inspirational Role Models
It seems fitting, it being Inspirational Role Models Month in the US, that I should meet this week with a professor from Smith College to discuss her work on a book about Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. “Like you,” she said in her initial email contact, “I was asked by Cornelia to write a book, and like…
Read More Coffee Shop Author
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Could I write a book in a coffee shop? I’ve always thought of myself as a writer who needs a quiet room, free of distraction. I have trouble resisting the sound of human voices. So how could I possibly write anything more challenging than a shopping list in a coffee shop? Why would I even…
Read More A GG for Greener Grass
Last night Caroline Pignat received a Governor General’s award for her young adult novel, Greener Grass. Not surprising when you look at the reviews. And needless to say, she’s delighted. The book is set in Ireland, and she’s going to take her parents there with some of her prize money. What makes Caroline’s win sweet…
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Stabbing the Pumpkin
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When I told members of my writing groups that a story of mine placed second in this year’s “Ten Stories High” contest, they wanted to know which one. I told them: “Restraint”. They looked at me blankly. “You know,” I said. “The one that starts with Larry stabbing the pumpkin.” Immediate recognition. Amazing how a…
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National Volunteer Week
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Next week is National Volunteer Week — originally designated in 1943 to recognize “the vital contribution women made to the war effort on the home front”. Studies indicate that volunteers generally like to be thanked but I suspect that what matters most to many volunteers (like me) is the satisfaction of knowing one is making…
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Write for a Better World – Choosing a Winner
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World Literacy Canada does some fine work “to promote literacy and foster a culture of global citizenship among Canadians”. I had the opportunity recently to judge stories by students in grades 5 to 8 who entered WLC’s “Write for a Better World” contest. Reading 20 of the hundreds of entries and narrowing them down to…
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"Lead with your heart"
It’s still just once a week that I login at Yoga Today for an hour of yoga practice – usually on Monday morning, before I get back into my work and think I’m too busy to fit it in. But there’s one instruction that the women leading the online classes offer that stays with me…
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A Writer’s Professional Development
The past month has involved me in three events that fall into the category of professional development. The Writers’ Union of Canada offered a Symposium called “Secure Footing in a Shifting Literary Landscape”. Betsy Warland and Ross Laird were two of the speakers. They explored the question of whether this is the best time in…
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Our 7th Seaside Workshop/Retreat
Word is spreading across the country that the place to be in September is at the Seaside Workshop/Retreat that Peter Carver and I have been offering for several years now. Thanks to all participants who have shared their enthusiasm for the experience. We offer time to write free of interruptions, feedback on your current writing…
Read More Wow, look how long my story is!
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Regular visitors to my blog may find this advice from me familiar, but I hope they’ll forgive me recycling it so I can participate in a blogfest. (I am supposed to be on holiday this week, after all!) Watch for places in your manuscript where “less is more” – where fewer words would create a…
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Author Interview
An interview for The Winnipeg Review – ‘Profound Disability, Ably Explored‘ – offers insights into the writing of What Happened to Ivy. Thanks, Marsha, for posing such thought-provoking questions!
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I Am A Writer, I Am A Photographer
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Every writer I know has had trouble making the statement “I am a writer.” I can say it now — after 30+ years spent writing — on most days. I’ve been making photographs for a shorter time. Taking them for a long time, yes. Making them, no. So I am not yet comfortable saying “I…
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“Music Tells A Story”
Today’s offering is a guest post from Paule Barsalou, Artistic Director of the Suzuki String School of Guelph. Thank you, Paule, for agreeing to being my first guest blogger! The Man With The Violin is going to the Suzuki String School of Guelph Spring Concert! On Sunday, April 27 at 3 pm at the River…
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Why Write for Children?
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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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“Let’s Read!”
My thanks to the Family Literacy Committee of Brant for choosing The Man with the Violin as the book they would plan events around to encourage family reading this year — and for purchasing 700 copies to support their efforts! Everyone’s enjoyment of the “Let’s Read” events in Paris and Brantford this weekend was greatly…
Read More Highway of Heroes – The First Review is In
Appropriate, I think, that the first review for Highway of Heroes appears in Fredericton’s “Daily Gleaner” on the day I’m preparing to go there to launch the book. If you’re in the Fredericton area, I hope I’ll see you – at the bookstore in Oromocto on Friday, Westminster Books in Fredericton on Saturday, or at…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 10
This excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011 will make most sense to you if you’ve read Part 9 of “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff”… Bring me back something interesting, Gran whispers as I head off to the beach. If I could, I would bring you the plick…
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A Well Earned Honour for an Outstanding Canadian
Patsy Aldana has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, recognizing “her contributions to children’s publishing in Canada and around the world.” Perhaps best known as publisher of Groundwood Books (which she founded in 1978), Patsy Aldana has also served as president of IBBY International, played leadership roles in publishing associations and school library coalitions,…
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Summer Time
Whether summer for you means lazing about or working hard I hope it brings with it time for some good books! Yes, that’s me — circa 1961, in my gramma’s backyard. Happy reading!
Read More Remembrance Day
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I’ll be in Ottawa on Remembrance Day presenting Highway of Heroes at the Canadian War Museum, after a brief appearance on “A” Morning Ottawa. Meanwhile, in Springhill, Nova Scotia, a student will be reading Highway of Heroes to a school assembly. Around the gymnasium will be “Bridge Ceremony” banners made by the students. O Canada…
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Did you like to write when you were a kid?
Not especially. I wrote stories in school, but not after school or on weekends, like some kids do. And I certainly didn’t think about being a writer when I grew up. But I did love to read, and I think that all the books I was reading over many years were turning me into a writer,…
Read More TPL’s First and Best!
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Hurray! Toronto Public Library has chosen A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It for their 2008 “First and Best” list. That’s a list of the best Canadian children’s books for building reading readiness in children birth to five. To see the 2007 list, click here.
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Early Buzz for A Tulip in Winter
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Sometimes a book, no matter how well written and illustrated, edited and designed, fails to find its intended readers. The reason is sometimes a mystery, but how much effort a publisher puts into promoting a book definitely has an impact. Lucky is a book whose publisher’s publicity department is hard at work even before its…
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Last “Photo of the Month”
When I posted Photo of the Month #1 almost two years ago, I had every intention of showcasing one of my photos each month. It hasn’t turned out quite that way. Although this will be my last official “photo of the month”, I’ll still be putting up a photograph from time to time, but I’ll…
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Ontario Library Week
Can you remember the first book you borrowed from a public library? Mine was Saturday Walk by Ethel Wright. I borrowed it on a library card that was green and bigger than my current library card. Why would I remember that!? The book or the size and colour of my card?! Because it was a…
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“An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff” Part 4
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The next excerpt from my PYI keynote in a series that started in December 2011… Up on Ipswich Road a girl my age, not a servant, boards with Doctor Griggs. Uncle Ingersoll says the girl’s so quiet you can hear snowflakes falling ‘pon her cheek. “Elizabeth,” I call when I pass her on the road…
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Cornelia Hahn Oberlander & the Art of the Possible
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander refers to her profession, landscape architecture, as ‘the art of the possible’. I believe this phrase also describes the way this remarkable woman has lived her life. Cornelia decided at the age of eleven that she wanted to create parks when she grew up. She escaped Nazi Germany with her family when…
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Read by the Sea
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What a great way to kick off summer — with a Nova Scotia literary festival! Quite apart from the fun of reading The Man with the Violin accompanied by The Wild City Roses on fiddle, guitar, and accordion was the fun of seeing old friends like Sheree Fitch, Norene Smiley, and Trudy Carey. It was also great getting to know…
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Have you met any other authors?
I sure have! Most of the people in the photo here are authors. A few are illustrators. How many can you identify? Can you find me in there? All but one of the authors lives in Canada. Can you find her? She’s really famous! Meeting and hanging out with other authors is one of the great…
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If You Were Here
The Man with the Violin Illustrated by Maya McKibbin Published by Greystone Books A child explores the natural environment around their home, imagining sharing it with an unspecified someone who is not there. Age Level Pre-school to Grade Two Curriculum Connections Nature, Emotions, the Environment Activities Who do you imagine the child in the story…
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New Editions
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The promised bean-spiller about recent projects is coming soon but it’s been pre-empted by the same-day arrival of exciting new editions. . . Harry and Walter in Korean and The Dance of the Violin in Turkish. English-language versions of both books are now available in paperback too. Happy reading!
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March Break Fun
So, with the kids home for March Break, what are you going to do to help keep them entertained? (Besides reading lots of Kathy Stinson books, of course!) Why not take inspiration from the open-face sandwiches pictured here? (Get it open face sandwiches?) These faces were created by various members of my extended family at the…
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When Our Book Club Meets in December
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When my book group gathers in December, we break from our usual practice of discussing a book we’ve all read. One year I read aloud to the group a story from Rick Book’s Christmas in Canada. Another year we all brought a short Christmas story or poem that we liked. Last year we laughed along…
Read More A Busy June
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Did you think I’d given up blogging after just two entries? No way! But it has been a busy six weeks, quite apart from all that’s happened in my garden. The novel has now been submitted (and I can soon go to the cottage and forget I’m waiting for a response to it). I’ve also…
Read More A Not-Typical Day in the Life – December 5
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6:00 Worked on my novel. Wrote a scene that makes better use of material barely touched on in a previous draft. 7:15 Ate breakfast – yogurt with bananas and almonds and cereal – and did a crossword puzzle. 7:45 Took Keisha for a walk up the line. 8:45 Had a shower and answered emails. 9:30…
Read More A Day Can Have A Surprise In It
My granddaughter was tickled to see that the book she got from me and her grampa for her 6th birthday – A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It – had her name in the thanks and dedication. She also received, from both us and a great aunt, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a wonderful new…
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Summer is here!
Whatever your plans for the summer season now upon us, I wish you days — or at least moments — filled with all you find beautiful in your life. And lots of time for reading some great books too!
Read More What's your favourite book that you've written?
Hm. With that question I feel a little as if you’re asking me to say which of my children or grandchildren is my favourite, and of course there are different things that I like about each of them. Books I haven’t yet begun to write are somehow always more perfect than all the others. Of course,…
Read More Come See Me at "Word on the Street"
Yes, I’m back from summer holidays, have now moved house, and on Sunday I’ll be reading at Word on the Street in Toronto. Come find me there and you might even meet some of the inspiration for some of my books.
Read More A Word on the Street Surprise
It’s always nice when a fan of one’s books comes up to you at the end of a reading, and yesterday at Word on the Street was especially so. At the end of a long afternoon of reading and signing, on a gorgeous fall afternoon, a woman sat down beside me in the Little Reader’s…
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7 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me
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My sister Janet tagged me earlier this week. I’ve decided to use her challenge to “play along” with her as an opportunity to write about some of the things I’ve only thought about blogging about this month. 1. Perhaps a children’s writer should not admit to this, but for years I’ve felt rather “bah humbug” about…
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A Celebration of Poetry
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Poetry is not a big part of my reading life, but that’s not to say it hasn’t been important – as evidenced in “An Intimate Examination of Sock Fluff”, a keynote I delivered at a conference a few years ago. In 2015 Brick Books celebrates 40 years of publishing poetry in Canada with what promises…
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The Rock and the Butterfly
The Man with the Violin Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan Published by Orca Book Publishers What is a butterfly to do when the rock they’ve always counted on being there isn’t?...
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Students All in a Buzz
Nancy Evans is a teacher-librarian in London, Ontario. She sent me a thank you note recently that made my day and she’s given me permission to post it here, along with the accompanying photos. I wanted to sincerely thank you for sharing time with us. Our students are all in a buzz this week as…
Read More Children's Book Suggestions
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Did you know that the “Blogged” sections on the book pages of my web site sometimes contain good suggestions for books by other authors besides me, that you or the young readers in your life might enjoy? Take, for example, a post this week by blogger, Sue Fisher, who is Curator of the Eileen Wallace…
Read More Last Word from Liberia
Once again it’s late at night. And what can I say except that once again it’s going to be tough to leave this amazing country and the remarkable group of people I’ve had the privilege of working with here. We’ve had some animated discussions about all manner of things. We’ve heard some great stories too,…
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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
The most recent “pin” on my “C is for Causes” Pinterest board links to the website for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. I chose as its cover image a photo from the site that I hope will entice Pinterest browsers to look into it, look around the site, and decide to spread word about the…
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My Dad, Doug Powell
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My dad’s birthday is this week. I wrote this post about him in response to a challenge to “blog about great parents”. My dad didn’t tell me how to live a life of courage and integrity. He showed me, in how he lived his. When I was nine, and my siblings four and fourteen, he…
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Happy B-Earth Day to me!
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Can’t believe I let this opportunity to mention a great book about one of Canada’s first environmentalists go by yesterday! I’m referring of course to Love Every Leaf: the life of landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. I’ll blame it on being too focused on my birthday. 🙂 I’m grateful to Linda Granfield for sending me…
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Summer Reading Excerpt #1
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In the coming weeks, my blog will feature periodic postings of “summery” excerpts from some of my books – starting today with a short snippet from – hot off the press! – Marie-Claire. All four of the original Marie-Claire stories appear in this handsome treasury edition. “Lucille, do you mind if we find somewhere to…
Read More Levi’s Gift
The Man with the Violin Illustrated by Ellie Arscott Published by Nimbus Publishing A heartwarming tale about the healing power of music and the start of an intergenerational friendship. Age Level Kindergarten to grade 3 Curriculum Connections Music, History, Empathy Activities Talk with a group of friends or classmates what gift – or gifts –…
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101 Ways to Dance
101 Ways to Dance Published by Second Story Press Fourteen stories about the joys and anxieties of sexual anticipation Age Level Grades 9 to 12 Curriculum Connections Sexuality, diversity, LGBTQ Teachers Guide available Discussion Questions Kathy Stinson believes that there are many ways for human beings to be different from each other – through gender, age,…
Read More A Potent Argument for Reading Aloud
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Do you read out loud to your kids? Do you read out loud to your friends? Here’s a very short excerpt of a book I’m reading – Frankie & Stankie by Barbara Trapido. Not one of the books quite throws at Dinah, as Pride and Prejudice does, how dialogue can lift and dance on points, how sentences…
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