My Secret Elephant

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has included Looking for Loons in their Best Books of 2008 list. Yay!

(mainly) Non-Fiction Fiona has written a whole *hexapod of reviews over on her blog of the books she picked up at the CWILL BC Spring Book Hatching this past weekend. And Looking for Loons was one of them. There are 4 more fantastic books from other talented BC authors and illustrators to read about in that post as well so I do recommend clicking over there for a visit. Actually, give the whole blog a good looking over - Fiona writes reviews of lots of other books as well posts about her writing life as a published author.

*actually there are five, not six, and none of the books are legged.

It’s almost time for the CWILL BC 2008 Spring Book Hatching.

It all goes down tomorrow (June 14th) between 1 and 3pm at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch on Georgia Street (Peter Kaye Room and lower level).

Everything from picture books to young adult/teen novels will be represented. There will also be activities for kids, prizes to be won, autographs to be collected and book presentations to hear. Hope to see you there!

So, I’m really behind in my blogging. It’s been a crazy busy spring. When I haven’t been working (or trying to get the garden planted before it’s too late) I’ve been designing all the advertising pieces for CWILL BC’s upcoming Spring Book Hatching. The first one last year was such a success that CWILL BC is making this an annual event.

There’s a press release over on the CWILL BC blog that you can check out to learn all the details.

I’ll be at the SBH with my most recently illustrated book Looking for Loons. Drop by and say hello!

There’s a really nice review of Looking for Loons on Pink Me, where there are lots of “children’s books reviewed for grownups”.

I spent a chunk of time last night reading through the other reviews. Some of them are pretty funny. This website is definitely worth a stop if you’re looking for a book that will appeal to you just as much as to your audience. If you’re going to be reading it out loud night after night at bedtime, it might as well be something you enjoy too, right?

There’s a series of video (and audio) interviews from WETA learning media on iTunes of interviews with (American) authors and illustrators. (view them here [launches iTunes]).

I’ve donated some artwork for Own A Piece of the Magic, a fundraiser for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) and the BC Coalition for School Libraries (BCCSL). I’m happy to lend a hand in supporting the cause of promoting Canadian children’s books.

$100 dollars gets you in the door of “one of Vancouver’s most spectacular waterfront venues” and guarantees you a piece of original artwork from a West Coast children’s book illustrator. The pieces are randomly matched to their new owners – but if you are particularly fond of a work, you can bid more to ensure you get it. More information about the event, including an order form for tickets is available on the BCCSL website (I apologise in advance for exposing you to the discordant colour palette on that page).

Pileated Woodpecker Study | ink on paper | 10 1/2″ x 13″

(for the book Looking for Loons)

If there are other children’s book illustrators out there who are interesting in donating a piece of artwork, please contact Kathryn Shoemaker asap at kshoe [at] telus [dot] net.

The BC Book Prizes are almost here - the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala is on April 26th (tickets are $70 and available through the BC Book Prizes website).

To start off BC Book and Magazine Week, there is the BC Book Prizes Soirée on April 19, 7-9. It’s a free event where you’ll have a chance to meet some of the nominees. More info about this event can be found on the website as well.

Quite a few of my fellow CWILL BC members are nominees in the children’s book categories. Here is the list of the nominees. Visit the BCBP website to read about the books.

Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize

Supported by the BC Library Association
Judges: Julie Burtinshaw, Shelley Hrdlitschka and David Ward

The Alchemist’s Dream
by John Wilson
Publisher: Key Porter Books

Baboon: A Novel
by David Jones
Publisher: Annick Press

The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane
by Polly Horvath
Publisher: Groundwood Books

For Now
by Gayle Friesen
Publisher: Kids Can Press

Porcupine
by Meg Tilly
Publisher: Tundra Books

Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize

Supported by Kate Walker and Company
Judges: Alison Acheson, Kathryn Shoemaker and John Wilson

The Day It All Blew Away
by Lisa Cinar
Publisher: Simply Read Books

Elf the Eagle
by Ron Smith
Illustrated by Ruth Campbell
Publisher: Oolichan Books

Jeffrey and Sloth
by Kari-Lynn Winters
Illustrated by Ben Hodson
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Pink
by Nan Gregory
Illustrated by Luc Melanson
Publisher: Groundwood Books

A Sea-Wishing Day
by Robert Heidbreder
Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Publisher: Kids Can Press

There is a lovely review of Looking for Loons on Menasha Kids, the kidslit blog of Menasha Public Library in Menasha WI. The blog covers reviews of picture books to graphic novels, to novels to movies - all for kids and teens. There are also interviews with authors as well as extensive lists of links to other great kidlit related blogs, children’s book publishers and resources for children’s book creators and readers.

There’s a really nice little write up about Looking for Loons on the Library Goddesses blog.

Library Goddesses blog is a fantastic resource with a whole pile of book write ups, reviews and recommendations. Do check it out!

Winnie-the-Pooh & Piglet at the New York Pubic Library’s Donnell Library Center Central Children’s Room.

I just read on 7-Imp, where there’s a much more in depth and eloquent summary than I can attempt here, that the New York Public Libaries Donnell Branch will be closing in May. This branch houses the Central Children’s Room, home to, among other things, the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys (sans Roo who, being small, must have been lost along the way), Mary Poppin’s umbrella and, during the time of my visit, original N.C Wyeth Robin Hood illustrations. With the closure of the branch the future of the Children’s Room seems uncertain and many are worried it will disappear all together.

The photographs here are from our visit to New York in January of 2006. We were told about the Children’s Room by a New York aquaintence who we had hit up for tips on New York must-sees - especially those that involved art, books or food. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend at the library - it was more of a quick pilgrimage to see the toys so it was an extra bonus to see the Wyeth illustrations. I would have loved to had more time to explore more of the library and to have gone through the collection of reference books. I can only imagine how wonderful it would have been to have access to a library like this when I was little, not only for the books but for the chance to see original, classic illustrations. Here’s to hoping that the Children’s Room reopens in a brand spanking new location (with better lighting) and that for many years to come, kids will have access to literature in this way.

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I love Winnie-the-Pooh - the proper A.A Milne original book versions with the lovely E. H. Shepard illustrations - not what’s become of it now, so it was kind of sad to see this – not a Milne in sight - completely obliterated (at least on Flickr) by the ‘D’ word: