Snakes in a Car

My kids thought it would be fun to drive around with their plastic snakes on the dashboard.

Actually, it was.

Driving down the highway, more than one car slowed down as they were passing us to take a second look. Hah!

So Cute and yet So Pesky

This past weekend I was visiting my parents. They have no snow left. Must be nice. Anyway, I saw this really cute raccoon hanging out in a tree at the end of their driveway. He just stayed there in the fork of the tree staring at us. I only had my phone camera, but still. Such a cute creature.

Your Story Doesn't Stink, Honest!

So I'm working on a student assignment (as part of my work for the Institue of Children's Literature) and I'm rereading the edits I made on the manuscript earlier that morning.

I read:

Wow! Good fart!

EXCUSE ME? What was I thinking???? Good gawd I am ashamed of myself.

But then I looked closer at my, um...er, less than stellar penmanship. I realized that what I had intended to be a 'c' is in reality coming across as an 'r' and hence causing the confusion.

I pull out the old pen and emphasize the curve of the 'c.' Fixed. It now reads:

Wow! Good fact!

Phew! Caught that one.

Shout Out to Shari

Many thanks to Shari Lyle-Soffe and her "Out of my Mind" About Books for Children blog for featuring my Let's Go! today.

You can see the entry here.

My showing there is part of a great series she's doing about books of particular interest to boys.

Thanks, Shari!!

(Now go visit her....go!)

Spring Thing 2009

Putting on my SCBWI regional advisor hat for a moment to announce our upcoming spring event.

The Canada East Chapter of the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
presents our Annual Spring Writing Conference:

It's a retreat, it's workshops, it's fun! It's

The Spring Thing 2009!

April 24-26, 2009
Kempenfelt Conference Centre
Barrie, Ontario

Featuring:

Lisa Graff, Associate Editor, Farrar Straus & Giroux
Kathy Lowinger, Publisher, Tundra Books
Karen Li, Editor, Kids Can Press

Limited all-inclusive weekend attendance but lots of Saturday day-only spots. Come take part in the writing and illustrating inspiration, networking, and fun!


For more information, see the Events page of our website for the conference brochure and registration form.

Pink Shirt Day

Today is Pink Shirt Day in Canada. I became aware of this because my kids’ principal is asking the students to wear pink to school, and my kids are all eager to participate. Much easier for the girls than for my son, but I assured him that I have some not-too-girly pink shirts kicking around he can try out.

The story of the day’s origins is quite inspiring. A male student from a high school in Nova Scotia was harassed for wearing a pink shirt. A few days later hundreds of students were wearing pink shirts to school in a show of support and solidarity.

Now isn't that an inspiring story! What's your favourite published story or book about overcoming bullying?

Freedom To Read Week

It’s Freedom to Read Week in Canada! The official website www.freedomtoread.ca has a ton of resources for how to celebrate. Fascinating to read the list of challenged books and magazines. Pick one up in support of our freedom to choose our own boundaries.

I can’t say I have a specific experience with book banning, but I can recall the buzz surrounding one of Judy Blume’s books. I think it was Forever. And if memory serves (hey, grade six was a loooong time ago) Deenie was also considered pretty shady. Can’t recall who exactly raised the fuss, whether it was just casual disapproval or more formalized as in a complaint from a parent. I do know that I read both. Particularly Deenie. I loved it. We girls passed it around at school, lending it to each other to read. I still remember Deenie’s hatred of her scoliosis brace. At a time when body image was becoming something I was starting to be aware of, and not in a good way, it was an important book to me.

Were you ever forbidden to read a book you really wanted to read?

May we always have access to books that are important to us, whatever our definition of important may be.