Yesterday morning I was a ball of nerves getting ready for my first in-person book signing event. But when I got to read to these young explorers, the nervousness dissipated and we quickly connected about the story. They loved guessing which animal would be next, finding the animals that had already been introduced, watching what… Read more »
picture books
Waiting for spring: GOOSE
Who’s next in my series of wintering and preparing for the launch of This is the Boat that Ben Built? The Canada Goose! The Canada Goose is another bird that normally migrates during the winter. The migration begins when the water and soil freezes on their northern breeding grounds. The majority of Canada geese migrate… Read more »
Waiting for spring: FISH
It’s one month away from the spring launch of This is the Boat that Ben Built and I started thinking about what the animals in the book might be up to while I was wintering and preparing. I’ve got my warm coat, mitts, and hat… What are they up to as they await spring? What… Read more »
Waiting, waiting…
It seems to go like this, in publishing: everything needs to happen quickly, and then… you wait. I’ve been told this is completely normal, but it still feels so strange to have all this excitement that can’t go anywhere. So, it was great this week to have made two exciting, big steps somewhere. Firstly, I’m… Read more »
Staying true to character: the place of adult anger in stories for children
This past week I attended a craft webinar hosted by The Writing Barn called, “Using Your Anger to Write Multi-Layered Realistic Fiction with Ann Braden & Nancy Paulsen.” Ann Braden is the author of middle grade novels The Benefits of Being an Octopus and most recently, Flight of the Puffin and she spoke about how… Read more »
Picture books, protagonists, and the wonder that is Kevin Henkes – Part 3
In parts 1 and 2, I shared the beginning of an essay about the apparent lapse Kevin Henkes had in keeping to the cardinal rule of letting the protagonist solve his or her own problem. I was perplexed by the emotional resonance of his stories, and wondered how this was achieved. Here’s the last part… Read more »
Picture books, protagonists, and the wonder that is Kevin Henkes – Part 1
I’ve been looking at picture books again lately, and I dug up this essay I wrote while at VCFA. As it’s somewhat long, I thought it best to split it up into instalments posted throughout the week (I’ll provide references at the end). Part 1 looks at the way in which Henkes appears to break… Read more »