How to use this Page

Author: Yumi Heo (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Yumi Heo
Published: 2009 Schwartz & Wade (on JOMB)
ISBN: 9780375847189

Simple first person narrative, cheerful illustrations and charming child-like details make this task-by-task countdown to the arrival of a long awaited sibling sweet reading for any child.

More tales of family welcoming and adoption on JOMB:

• The Red Thread
• Thicker than Water on SILS
• Before You Were Here, Mi Amor
• Someday

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Author: Mem Fox (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Pamela Lofts (on JOMB)
Published: 2005 Harcourt (on JOMB)
ISBN: 9780152163181

Amidst mauve and pink Australian sunsets, this lyrically told and beautifully illustrated tale reminds us of the underrated pleasures of simply loving.

Other books mentioned:

• Elizabeti’s Doll

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Author: Abigail Yasgur & Joseph Lipner
Illustrator: Barbara Mendes (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Change The Universe Press
ISBN: 9780615211442

Exuberant, edge-to-edge illustrations and simple rhyme salute a generous dairy farmer who took a chance on four kids, their dream and the prospect of peace.

You can watch Max Yasgur addressing the crowd at Woodstock, 1969, here.

August 15-17 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. How will you celebrate?

Other books mentioned:

• Barn

More peace and tolerance on JOMB:

• And to Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends
• Enemy Pie
• Silent Music (A Story of Baghdad)
• The Araboolies of Liberty Street
• Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon
• Interview with Uma Krishnaswami about her Bibliography of Peace

Pop over to Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Author: Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen
Illustrator: Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
Published: 2009 Sleeping Bear Press
ISBN: 9781585364176

Doey eyes, gangly legs and silent, tangible devotion make this true tale of rescue, regret and release a thought provoking look at the value of life and freedom.

Other books mentioned:

• Saving Samantha: A True Story

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show.

Author: Idries Shah (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Natasha Delmar (on JOMB)
Published: 2006 Hoopoe Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1883536421

This delicately illustrated tale of travel and tragedy reminds us that today’s disaster just might be a necessary step towards the ultimate attainment of our heart’s desire.

Other books mentioned:

• The Farmer’s Wife
• The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

More middle eastern reading on JOMB:

• Silent Music (A Story of Baghdad)
• Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story
• 52 Days by Camel
• My Friend Jamal
• The Butter Man
• Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up In The War
• The Rich Man and the Parrot
• Sanji and the Baker
• Interview with Suzan Nadimi

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

Author: Jonah Winter (on JOMB)
Illustrator: André Carrilho (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Schwartz & Wade (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0375837388

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Gilded, stylized illustrations, scads of stats and lilting, laid back narration present an inspiring tale of persistence, power, poise and prevalent potential in this intimate look at the short but striking career of one of baseball’s greats.

More sports on JOMB:

• Baseball Hour
• Across the Alley
• Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer
• The Bat Boy and His Violin
• Baseball Saved Us
• Dino-Hockey
• The Magic Hockey Stick

HOTLINE VOICES: Radio Producer and Sound Artist Paolo Pietropaolo explains why he loves Fantastic Mr. Fox (by Roald Dahl).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

Author: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Margot Tomes (on JOMB)
Published: 1976 Marshall Cavendish (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0761455469

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

With its chatty narrative, droll dialogue and playfully illustrated play-by-play, this plucky retelling of the traditional Slavic tale is practically bound theatre.

Other books mentioned:

• Brave Irene
• The Three Sillies
• Cupid and Psyche

More shady step-families on JOMB:

• Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave
• Cinderella Skeleton
• Smoky Mountain Rose (An Appalachian Cinderella)
• Ella’s Big Chance

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

Author: Bob Graham (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Bob Graham
Published: 2008 Candlewick Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0763639036

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Airy illustrations and sparse poetic prose paint a poignant picture of hope, help and healing in this unspoken invitation to dare to care.

Other books mentioned:

• “Let’s Get a Pup!” said Kate
• Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

Dreams of flying on JOMB:

• Fly, Eagle, Fly
• I Can Hear the Sun
• Falling Angels
• Tudley Didn’t Know

Six weeks ago yesterday, in Woodstock, Ontario, eight year old Victoria Stafford  finished her school day … then disappeared.  As the days turned to weeks, Canadians coast to coast came to know Victoria and her family as we watched mother Tara McDonald’s daily efforts to keep the search for her daughter fresh in our minds.  This despite mounting public criticism and suspicion of Tara herself.

Yesterday, we learned of Tori’s tragic fate … and of her mother’s innocence.

This episode of Just One More Book! is dedicated to little Tori Stafford, with heartfelt hopes for the healing of those she left behind.

Author: Laura Langston (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Lindsey Gardiner (on JOMB)
Published: 2004 Random House (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0099443880

Chapters.ca bn.com

Happily sloppy artwork and perfectly picked words and pace present the first-person ponderings of a young girl as her once spunky grandmother slips into forgetfulness in this sweet, sad tale of coping and compassion.

More grandmothers on JOMB:

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Author: Maxine Trottier (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Paul Morin (on JOMB)
Published: 1999 Fitzhenry and Whiteside (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1550051520

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Dazzling light glows against darkening shadow as this warmly told memory of friendship and fortitude peeks into a dim chapter in Canadian history.

Other books mentioned:

• Gleam and Glow
• Naomi’s Tree
• Naomi’s Road
• Baseball Saved Us

For more information about the Japanese Internment of 1942-1945, visit Vanishing British Columbia, Canada: A People’s History, and Canadian Nikkei.

You can read about more of our favourite Canadian, Asian-themed children’s books in this essay by Andrea at Paper Tigers.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Author: Sheree Fitch (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Kim LaFave (on JOMB)
Published: 1994 Doubleday Canada (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0385254555

“My eyes belong only to me, they tell me I’m me and nobody else.
But if I were not inside my body, who would be me?”

Breezy, upbeat illustrations and beautifully worded wonderings give us a stirring glimpse of the fresh and often forgotten preschool perspective in this thought-provoking reminder that, when it comes right down to it, we’re all small.

Pop over to ayuddha.net for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

HOTLINE VOICES: Thelma Slater, Chair of the Mayor’s Literacy Commission in Canton, Ohio, checks in with her fifty-something son to recall some of his childhood favourites including Dr. Seuss.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487.

Right now, I hope, my agent is looking at a draft of my latest book. This may lead on to more exciting things, or then again, it may not. The Road to Publication can be a long and rocky one, as well I know from my single successful journey down it (and from many unsuccessful ones). When my book The Cat Kin was going through the arduous submissions process, I kept a log of its progress. Be warned: if I had read this post four years ago, I would probably have chosen a different career.

Part 1: Finding an agent

After more than a year of hard work, in November 2004 I decide my book ‘Cat Kin’ (initially it lacks a ‘The’) is ready for submission. Between November and December I send extracts to six separate agents, one of whom has already shown cautious interest. Come the New Year, already impatient for a reply, I target three more agents.

Part 1a: Result!

It turns out I don’t have to wait long at all. By February 2005 not one but two of the agents are interested in ‘Cat Kin’. For a couple of weeks I work through the manuscript diligently with one of them… and then sign a contract with the other one, Curtis Brown. I’m not especially proud of that, but given the second agency’s reputation it seemed like the right decision. It depends on whether or not you believe in karma.

Part 2: Looking for a publisher

So it’s February, only four months after I finished the book, and already I have an agent. This is going to be easy. My agent gets to work, submitting ‘Cat Kin’ to a long list of publishers. In June, twiddling my thumbs, I ask for an update. No, there are no offers yet (as if they would forget to mention it). August arrives, and I can’t resist another query by email. Any news?

No.

By October I’m getting really twitchy. I want to write another book – I have a barnstorming idea for a sequel to ‘Cat Kin’ – but I can’t bring myself to write it if the first one isn’t published. I contact my agent again. They’ve tried 16 children’s publishers, and not one has expressed any interest at all.

Part 3: Desperate measures

So I give up. I decide that ‘Cat Kin’ will never find a ‘real’ publisher. I search the web for self-publishing options and find the print-on-demand company Lulu. With nothing to lose now, I put together my own edition and publish it in January 2006.

I don’t hope for big sales. Neither do I get them. I sell about 50 copies of that edition, most to friends and family. But I do send one to the Times’s children’s book reviewer, Amanda Craig. And – wonder of wonders – she likes it. She reviews it in the Saturday paper.

Part 4: Finally…

I tell my agent about the review. Barely a month after it appears, Faber make me an offer. It is now March 2006 – more than a year since I signed with my agent, and 17 months since I first began submitting the book.

Another year is to pass before ‘The Cat Kin’ appears in the shops, and the whole sorry saga of the sequel is yet to unfold… but that’s another story. Just to get to this point has been a long, hard slog, consisting mostly of agonising waiting. Yet this experience is hardly unusual, and is by no means confined to first novels.

So, yeah – fingers crossed that the next book has an easier time of it.

I see my posts have taken on a festive theme. It’s quite accidental, though I must say I do enjoy Christmas. I even make my own cake. But I digress. Really, this post is about snow.

I keep a notebook. A green notebook. It’s where I record all my passing ideas: future books, work in progress, work in revision. I have to carry it everywhere because I literally have no free time. Sometimes I will scribble one line at desperate speed in between frantic bouts of housework, commuting, or childcare, or the very last thing at night. Often they are tiny things, barely there: a change of name for a minor character, a rewrite of one line that’s been bothering me. Once I wrote: ‘A martial art that gives you cat-like powers?’ on a page otherwise filled with junk, and a reminder to buy some perfume for my wife (and even that turned out to be the wrong brand).

Sometimes, making a jotting, I despair. There’s no way these bits and pieces could ever amount to anything. But it’s like snowfall. A snowflake hits the ground, melts, is gone. Watching snow, you feel it could never settle, never cover a whole country in white. But it does, because it keeps falling. My notebook, I see, supplies a steady fall of snow. A snowfall that may eventually become a crisp white inch of book.

Metaphor not quite wrung dry. Bear with me. I remember one snow day from early childhood. I was five-ish. My elder brother Simon headed to the front garden to have a snowball fight with a friend. I preferred the safety of the back garden. I started to roll a tiny lump of snow. It grew as I rolled it along, but not noticeably. Simon’s last words before he left me were, ‘Huh! What a silly little snowball.’

Those words stayed with me all that afternoon. Evidently, they have stayed with me all my life. Because when Simon finally returned from his snowball fight, I was pushing a snowball as big as myself.

Author: Susan Lendroth
Illustrator: Raúl Allén
Published: 2008 Tricycle Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1582462321

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Haunting illustrations and tranquil, heartfelt rhyme describe a young girl’s yearning, worry and unyielding love for her long-awaited father in this soothing story of family fortitude.

Other books mentioned:

• Red Butterfly
• The Silk Princess
• Dandelions

More seafaring on JOMB:

• Heroes of Isle aux Morts
• The Killick
• The Lamp, the Ice and the Boat Called Fish
• The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell
• Up
• Pirate Bob

Pop over to Charlotte’s Library for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

Author: Aaron Zenz (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Aaron Zenz
Published: 2005 Dogs in Hats Publishing
ISBN: 1594450331

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Frantic antics and logically nonsensical rhyme make this hiccup-halting tactic extravaganza an addictive pick for preschoolers and poets alike.

Be sure to enjoy all of the amazing artwork in our Love of Reading Gallery.

Pop over to A Year of Reading for today’s full menu of poetry offerings. Poetry Fridays are brought to us by Kelly Herold of Big A, Little A.

Author: Sarah Ackerley (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Sarah Ackerley
Published: 2008 Blooming Tree Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1933831073

Amazon.com

Quiet absurdity and understated text relay the hilarious tale of a unique young penguin who swaps stigma for stupendous in this inspiring invitation to embrace our traits.

Podcasts mentioned:

• LD Podcast
• Stuttering is Cool

Author: Johnathan Allen (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Johnathan Allen
Published: 2005 Hyperion (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0786837209

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Caustic scowls and harried helplessness take turns on the face of an overtired owlet in this hilariously endearing tale of naptime nastiness and unconditional love.

Other books mentioned:

• The Gruffalo
• Cuddly Dudley

Authors: Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan
Illustrator: Cyd Moore (on JOMB)
Published: 2008 Sleeping Bear Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 1585363421

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Seething stringency and constant condemnation prove no match for good-natured self worth in this uplifting story of creativity, individuality and respect. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Other books mentioned:

• I Love You Stinky Face
• Cassandra’s Angel
• Free Play

More creativity on JOMB:

• Scribble
• A Bird About to Sing
• Emma’s Rug
• Go to Bed, Monster!
• The Puddle Pail
• Iggy Peck, Architect

More independent thinkers on JOMB:

• Odd Velvet
• Suki’s Kimono
• Ruby’s Wish
• Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick
• more here.

Author: David Almond (on JOMB)
Illustrator: Polly Dunbar (on JOMB)
Published: 2007 Candlewick Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0763636673

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Airy illustrations, playful, British dialogue and sprightly dipping, gliding narrative give flight to a zany father-daughter adventure that dances delicately between tenderness, tomfoolery, hope and despair landing lightly in the comfort of allied abandon.

You can read the first three chapters of this book here.

More dreams of flying on JOMB:

• Fly, Eagle, Fly
• I Can Hear the Sun
• Tudley Didn’t Know
• Chopsticks
• Today I Will Fly!

Author: Peggy Rathmann
Illustrator: Peggy Rathmann
Published: 1991 Scholastic (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0590474235

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Spare, natural dialogue, carefully chosen details and keenly expressive illustrations keep us alternately giggling and cringing at the delicate shifts of sentiment from uncertainty and admiration through flattery, imitation, loss of self and then frustration in this celebration of selfhood found.

Other books mentioned:

• Suki’s Kimono

Author: Doreen Rappaport
Illustrator: Matt Tavares
Published: 2008 Candlewick Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0763625302

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Stunningly warm, intimate illustrations and eleven candid first person accounts capture the crescendo of Lady Liberty’s creation, from idea to unveiling, and give us an enduring appreciation for the landmark, her creators and the many lives she has touched.

Other books mentioned:

• Taj Mahal
• Pier 21: Gateway of Hope

You can learn more about the process of illustrating this book here.

Brainstorming About "Pencils" by Barbara Esbensen Originally uploaded by teachergal Since I came back today, my kids only had one day’s worth of formal poetry instruction. Hence, I wanted to spend some time doing some noticing of the tools one poet used in their poem (in [...]

Yep, even agents get bitten by the impatient bug (that nasty neon green insect that just won't stop buzzing).

I think the biggest difference for an agent (as opposed to a writer) is that we're so busy with a gazillion other things, although I'll freely admit the thoughts are in the back of my mind, in every follow up to the editor and e-mail from the client.

I'm also ready and willing to admit we're behind. Haven't touched a single chapter sub or manuscript (non-client) in almost a week. Today was set aside to play catch up, but things came up. Lots of mark ups and edits going on behind the scenes, and this will be yet another full working weekend in hopes of getting those done (then I'll worry about chapter subs).

On a patience note, as our clients know we made the switch from sending queries via post to 99 % e-mail/phone correspondence in mid-December (some editors still prefer the paper sub).

To give you an idea how slow doing it via post can go, we just received a reply to a query sent November 13 (that's almost 5 months) requesting the full. I am so happy we made the switch.

Stay literate;)

Parenting as a creative art:

But if the parents don’t model mature, loving ways of interacting, how is the child going to learn? I think some people see the word “love” and think “permissive, weak, mushy”. But honestly, it doesn’t break down that way, or shouldn’t. There is nothing permissive or weak or timid about allying with the child to help him to “become who he is”, who he is meant to be. There is nothing permissive or lax about letting go of the non-essentials and focusing on the essence. It is strength, not weakness, to focus on the good things and magnify those. Love is as Maritain said “wild and irrepressible”. It is deep and unique and springs out of who you are as a person, like any other creative art. It is generous and loves the truth, as he also says, but then you also have to remember that truth is not a sword to use to cut others down — it is a light that illumines and makes good things clear and transparent and sparkly. For some reason, it often involves laughter, at least in our household. Laughter (not the mocking kind) frees things up and dissolves barricades.

There’s much more, including a moving account of her husband’s tenderness toward their fragile infant in the NICU. The “my little werewolf” story reminded me so much of how Scott kept me laughing when Jane was in the hospital. As her golden curls started to fall out from the chemo, my brown-haired husband joked to his brown-haired wife that “we always knew she’d lose the blonde hair someday…just not this soon!” The nurses used to think we were crazy, but the laughter was what kept us sane and close.

Willa’s thoughts about laughter dissolving barricades and tension brought back another hospital memory. One of our favorite nurses, Theresa, was a young mother about our age (late 20s) with two little boys ages 3 and 5. She worked nights, and we often wound up chatting during the wee hours when all her patients, including my two-year-old, were asleep. Once she told me that she had almost administered her very first spanking the week before—almost. Her boys had done something (I don’t remember what) Very, Very Bad. Something Extremely Naughty and Highly Inappropriate. Surveying the scene of the crime, fury rose within their mother and she roared at them, “You deserve a—” She was going to say “spanking” but she saw the fear in two sets of big brown eyes and a pang of regret cut through the fury. Her sons had never been afraid of her before.

“—A—a SCHMANKING!” she finished the sentence.

Fear changed to bewilderment in the big brown eyes. “What’s a schmanking?” asked the five-year-old.

“It’s this,” said Theresa, and she scooped him up and tickled him all over. He shrieked with laughter and the three-year-old held up his arms, crying, “My turn! My turn for a schmanking!”

I loved that story then, and I love it more now, ten years and four children later. Don’t all our children deserve a schmanking now and then?

Author: Davide Cali
Translator: Marcel Danesi
Illustrator: Anna Laura Cantone
Published: 2008 Tundra Books (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0887768733 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

The cheeky mother-replacement schemings of a disgruntled son and a crackerjack combination of collage, paint and cleverly carefree scrawling make this hilarious showdown between the delights of imagined control and the irreplaceable affection of a loving mom a pore-over-each-page favourite.

Books and Resources mentioned:

• National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
• The Incredible Book Eating Boy