Thanks so much to the SCBWI members who chose to vote for Bog, and the SCBWI staff for implementing the award back in 2011 and organizing the annual voting. Bog is a shy cave troll, and not fond of humans, but he’s eager to add the sparkling Crystal Kite trophy to his horde of gems and stones. (If you haven’t read Bog, just let me say that trolls are fond of collecting silver, amethysts and even polished bone.)
There were plenty of excellent titles in the running for the Crystal Kite Award this year, and I’d particularly like to mention the shortlisted books: If: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers, written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Steve Adams, and Mama and Little Gray, written by Aimee Reid and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Congrats on being finalists!
In Punch Like a Girl, a teen girl with a hero complex tries to rescue others, whether they want it or not, in order to avoid facing her own fears of assault. To watch the book trailer, click here.
It’s a way for authors to support independent bookstores and thank them for all that they do for us. We will be talking about books, recommending books and doing some readings and signings.
This week, I was interviewed by BC author Robin Stevenson on her blog! Robin has published eighteen novels for kids and teens, including her latest, The World Without Us. You can read my recent interview with Robin about her novel here.
To read Robin’s interview of me, click on the image below. You can read about why I wrote Punch Like a Girl, why there’s a butterfly on the cover, what I’m writing now, and more. Thanks, Robin, for the great questions.
Happy World Read Aloud Day 2015 – LitWorld’s annual advocacy campaign for the human right of literacy! Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of reading A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books aloud with my mother, each of us taking turns reading the characters’ voices. I always wanted to be Piglet and Tigger, and my mother can still do an excellent Eeyore.
As a parent of young kids, reading before bedtime was an opportunity to connect after a long day, and my kids and I can still recite books like Loris Lesynski’s Dirty Dog Boogie and Robert Munch’s A Promise is a Promise from memory. On family holidays, we always picked a novel to read aloud together. Today, all the books we read aloud together still hold treasured memories.
One special memory came when we were reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. My partner and our daughters had travelled to a cabin in Algonquin Park with my parents. I’d carefully selected a book to read aloud that I hoped would interest everyone. After I read a few chapters, I was delighted when my father picked up the book and read the next chapter. He couldn’t wait to find out what happened next, and he greatly enjoyed reading aloud. During that holiday, we passed the book around, taking turns reading. My parents even planned to begin reading aloud together at home.
Another fond memory I have is of my two daughters reading aloud together from books like Camp X by Eric Walters. My eldest would most often read, while the youngest listened, perhaps painting her nails or tidying her room. When my youngest had to leave the room for a moment, she would say, “Pause,” and push her imaginary pause button in the air. My eldest would stop reading, and wait impatiently for her return.
Today, I still enjoy reading aloud with family and with my writing group as we critique each others’ works-in-progress. Reading aloud creates a shared knowledge, a community, and strong relationships. It empowers and it strengthens. On World Read Aloud Day, we can advocate for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology. One book at at time, we can show our support for the right to read, write, and share words that can change the world.
I’m thrilled to announce that Bog has won the 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award in the Canada division! In case you’re not familiar with it, this is a peer-given award, voted on by members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. You can check out the past winners here, but let me just say that Bog is in stellar company!
