I’m just back from Vancouver, where I toured local schools and libraries, giving writing workshops and readings. TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is a national celebration of books and reading, organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. For one week, touring authors and illustrators bring the magic of books and reading to over 25,000 children and teens. I was thrilled to be able to connect with readers during Book Week – and to go looking for trolls in the forests of western Canada (in honour of my latest novel Bog).
“What else would you have become, if not a writer?” asked a teenager sitting at the back of one of my readings.
“Well,” I responded, “my career aptitude test in high school said my ideal job would be a long-distance truck driver.”
Laughter.
“It’s a true story,” I said. “I think it’s because I like solitary work.”
Looking for trolls in BC forests
But TD Book Week is about connections, not solitude, and I was happy to leave my writer’s den to meet hundreds of teens, kids, and adults in Vancouver, Surrey, and Richmond.
One memorable moment happened during a workshop with a grade 6 class of keen writers. We were writing based on personal experiences, and the topic was scars – both the visible and the invisible kind. One girl read her piece about her father, who had undergone open-heart surgery a year earlier. Her touching description of his physical scars and her inner scars from the scare of losing him brought tears to more than one person in the room. It was an honour to listen to the kids’ writing.
In another memorable moment, I shared a comic book I made as a kid with grade 4-6 kids, mostly because it shows that I had ordinary talent and that the craft of writing can be learned through practice. One boy came up to me after my presentation and asked to read the comic book. The teachers told me later that he was autistic and usually non-verbal. But that day, he chatted with me about the comics and laughed over each page.
“How does it feel to be nominated for an award for your book?” one girl asked. Although an award is validation that I’ve written a good book, my best reward is connecting with readers. Thanks to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for the opportunity to do just that.
A reading at West Point Grey Academy, Vancouver, BC
March 5, 2014, is World Read Aloud Day – LitWorld’s annual advocacy campaign for the human right of literacy. The goal is to call attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories. Imagine a world where everyone can read!
Let’s face it – words have power. They can unite us to a cause and move us to cry, laugh, or smile. Sharing words has always held an important place in my life.
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 preferred 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.
To celebrate World Read Aloud Day, I’ve created this video below, reading a scene from my upcoming middle-grade fantasy novel titled Bog. Please listen, enjoy, and share it. What will you read aloud today?
Toronto teens can also submit their writing and visual art to the TPL’s annual Young Voices Magazine. Deadline is April 5. For more info and to submit, click here.
Last week, I retired as President of CANSCAIP – the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers. I’ve spent the last four years volunteering, first as Vice-President in charge of the annual Packaging Your Imagination Conference in Toronto, and then as President, overseeing all CANSCAIP programming.
I’m a born organizer, so I knew I could do some good for an organization that I value. But I also chose to volunteer for personal reasons: to get to know more people in my industry and to practise my public speaking, since I’m an introvert at heart.
I certainly achieved both my personal goals, and I hope that I left CANSCAIP better off. Here’s what I learned from my volunteering experiences:
The more often I speak in front of a crowd, the easier it gets.
Listen to people. Fresh ideas can be found through conversation.
Filter ideas and opinions to figure out what’s next.
Attend industry events – even ones that don’t seem immediately relevant. New connections and insights lurk there, waiting to be discovered.
Efficiency is the key to getting it all done.
Creativity can be stifled by too much efficiency.
Ponder knotty problems for a few days to allow solutions to emerge.
Trust that I’ll be able to find a solution, no matter how challenging the problem.
Nurture the growth of others. Celebrate success everywhere.
Acknowledge how high we’ve climbed, even if the journey is still in progress.
Community feeds creativity and personal growth.
I’ll still be Past-President for two more years, mostly mentoring new volunteers. And I’ll try to approach it the same way I started – with a willingness to stretch and grow in new, exciting ways.
Hosting my final monthly meeting. (Photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi.)
The Dear Teen Me website is known for it’s letters by authors to their teen selves – a terrific endeavour put together by E. Kristin Anderson, Priya Chand, and Miranda Kenneally. Some letters are humorous and others more serious, yet they all honour “teens who have good days and bad days and sometimes really really really bad days.” In fact, the Dear Teen Me anthology, based on the website, was published by Zest Books in 2012 and named Best Teen Nonfiction by the YABC Choice Awards.
I’m glad to be a part of the Dear Teen Me website, and as of today, you can read my letter here. Although I’m not going to get into specifics about my letter, I will say that it was a challenge to write. One of the reasons why I write for teens is that it’s a time of flux and personal growth – rich with possibilities and ripe with dangers that some teens experience first-hand. I hope that teens as well as people of all ages will find their way to the Dear Teen Me website to check it out. It’s a fascinating showcase of authentic teen experiences.
It’s coming! Young Voices 2013 – the Toronto Public Library‘s annual magazine of teen writing and art – will soon available at your local Toronto library branch. As an editor of this magazine, I’m proud of the talents of the Toronto’s teens showcased each year. You can also download a copy of the magazine here.
Art, photos, stories, poems, rants, and more – you’ll find it all within these pages. Young Voices gives the writers and artists of tomorrow an opportunity to publish their creations today.
Thanks to my group of enthusiastic editors from the Editorial Youth Advisory Group for an evening of friendly arguments, loud disagreements, and finally mutual understanding as we determined which pieces to select for the magazine. Thanks to the staff at the Toronto Public Library who give Toronto teens this fantastic opportunity.
This year, the Young Voices launch party will be held at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00 p.m. I hope the event will inspire these teen creators to continue to pursue their writing and art.
Don’t forget – it’s never too early to think about next year’s magazine! Check out the submission guidelines and deadline here.
