By: tanita✿davis,
on 8/5/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Mostly I'm not that big a fan of YA historical fiction that are set in modern history. Finding a novel set in the 70's or 80's feels weird, mainly because I've been alive during part of those years, and... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 3/8/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Trapped.Every fingernail scrapesOn shut doors,Ripping off.At least the bloodcan escape. - from the ARCSynopsis: Fifteen-year-old Hope is her mother's last chance for vicariously getting out of the... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 11/13/2015
The second "episode" in the Nicki Haddon mysteries continues Chinese-born heroine Yu Fin's adventures with MI6, the FBI, and other super secret agencies that this sixteen-year-old manages to infiltrate and outthink. Summary: Since her involvement in... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 11/3/2015
Mid-autumn might seem like a weird time to start reading about baseball again, but since the World Series victories are still echoing in our ears, I think it's a fine time to start thinking about spring training again. One of the first books my... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 6/19/2015
I love fish-out-of-water novels so much. Junior high seems to be the perfect age to experience new things and retain the adventure of the newness, while exploring the difficulties of adjusting and taking it all in stride. Daphne Greer has written a... Read the rest of this post
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 4/16/2015
By: Perogies & Gyoza,
on 1/3/2015
By: Perogies & Gyoza,
on 1/1/2015
By: Perogies & Gyoza,
on 6/29/2014
By: tanita✿davis,
on 5/23/2014
Rarely do I get something as absolutely delightful in the mailbox as the unexpected package I received all the way from Halifax this week. It brought news -- big news: There are still PIRATES in the backwoods of Nova Scotia. Pirates -- and get this... Read the rest of this post
By: Perogies & Gyoza,
on 3/2/2014
By: Perogies & Gyoza,
on 9/13/2013
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 2/19/2013
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 3/5/2012
By: Melissa,
on 2/1/2012
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 12/3/2011
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By: Heidi Estrin,
on 6/11/2011
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By: wheelerwrite,
on 2/22/2011
We were snowed in as usual. The cabin fever began to grow. There was barely room for all of us and the animals. Nothing could be left out in this cold.
The wind shrieked and howled while the snow buried our houses with us in them.
The digging started right away, of course. Those of us who were nearest the door were given shovels and plows whether we wanted them or not.
Granny sat by the wood stove. She was blind but she was knitting. There would be a long scarf for the children by the time we tunnelled to daylight.
Children howled and shrieked with joy as they buzzed through the crowded residence. Families and extended families with their neighbours and their extended families sheltered in the humble abode.
Gramps saw it once. One time, so they say, before he passed away, Gramps emerged from the snow tunnel the day before the winter snows descended again. He looked upon the homestead that day, without snow on it and never spoke another word.
Caribou jerky hung from the ceiling. Wood stoves kept the stew stewing.
We took it in shifts. We hoped, in our modest way, to make it out before the snows came again. We aimed to see what Gramps saw.
Farmyard beasts mated in the back, among the hanging furs. Birds sat in the rafters and dropped droppings as we dug for many days.
Once, it became lighter and we thought we had reached the end in record time. We were wrong, of course. A cave-in deprived many of consciousness. Lively Irish fiddle music replaced lively Scottish fiddle music which replaced lively French fiddle music. Then they reversed.
Stew and beer awaited those who participated in the digging. It wasn’t an occupation which promoted good health, but as our neighbour, Mr Clark said,
“Up, up and away! ”
Children were born, old ones passed along, the population’s size expanded and shrunk. The digging went on, but it was slow work.
We were sure to reach the end by the return of the snowstorms, but what then? Did we always have to do this? Is this what life was about?
It was in this frame of mind that I’d become separated from the main group. I don’t know how it happened.
I wandered through a shiny crystal tunnel. I was lost.
The temperature was all right but I had no food or water. A mysterious tugging kept me walking on without fear.
Then it was over as soon as it had begun. I emerged into a warm field full of sunshine and trees and grass and birds.
A small man dressed in green sat with his back up against a towering oak tree. He was fingering a flute, trying out different notes by covering different holes.
I sat down in front of him and watched.
His bushy grey eyebrows flickered as he stared at his fingers in concentration.
He blew a few notes, wrinkled his nose and placed the flute in an inside jacket pocket. From this he withdrew a deerstalker pipe and tobacco.
When he had lit up and enjoyed the smoke, he smiled and looked at me.
”Well now, how are you and the Canadians you know?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I felt good right then, at that moment.
But how was I really? And the Canadians I knew?
This flashed through my mind in a nanosecond, but the little man’s eyes showed that he was waiting for me to catch up.
It seemed that he was reading my mind. I only had to think something and he would chuckle to himself. It made me examine every thought.
“Fine” I said.
“Fine? Fine?” he chuckled, drew a good draught on his pipe.
When I looked into his eyes I could only think of the digging. Stew, beer and digging.
It wasn’t a happy fate that awaited Canadians. The reality of it struck me in the face like a cold mackerel.
“Well, you seem to have caught me unawares, so I’ll grant you the wish you desire” said the little man dressed in green. He produced a wand and stood at the ready. H
By: Darcy Pattison,
on 2/18/2011
By: John,
on 1/27/2011
Clément Sauvé 1977-2011
I’m tired of beautiful, talented people dying too soon.
I met Clément but twice, and the first time I didn’t even remember until he and Yanick Paquette reminded me:
It was at a convention in Toronto. Clément approached me with a portfolio of work, of which I approved. I asked him about his pace, and he professed that he was quite slow. Authoritatively, I replied that no matter how good he was, the faster artist would always get the job.
It was meant to encourage good work habits, but he was crushed, knowing already, at that young age, his own parameters. He went on to mostly do things outside of the sometimes brutal deadlines of comics, and it’s just as well; he was too good to be wasted on the monthly grind.
Later, he was working in Yanick’s studio at a time when I was writing (and sometimes drawing) Adventures of Superman. Yanick filled in on pencilling for issue #577 and I drew the cover, with Superman literally bursting through a window to intercede between a Kansas State Trooper and a thin young man with close-cropped hair and a t-shirt… much like the man reading my little yellow book in the upper left above, much like Clément.
So much so that in the studio they thought I had drawn him from life, but of course that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t even know his name until seven years later, in an elementary school cafeteria on the other side of the world.
You meet a lot of people at the convention table, and you try to do right by them for a few minutes. It’s hard to remember that after you part, they might take that encounter back into their own lives, that it might make a difference for good or ill. I wish that Clément had had more opportunity to influence others in that way, to become a mentor befitting his talent. He had more to give than 33 years.
Stuart Immonen beautifully and eloquently remembers Clément Sauvé, who lost his fight with cancer last night. Our kind thoughts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 11/3/2010
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews winners of the 2010 Helen & Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards at the gala ceremony in Toronto. For the full list of 2010 winners, click here.
Anne spoke with:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by:
0 Comments on The 2010 Canadian Jewish Book Awards as of 11/3/2010 5:54:00 PM
By: Jessica Fortner,
on 11/2/2010
Interview with Canadian comic artist Jesse Jacobs on Squidface and The Meddler:
http://www.squidfaceandthemeddler.com/interviews/jesse-jacobs
"The natural world and the otherworldly converge in strange and beautiful ways in the comics of Canadian artist Jesse Jacobs. We caught up with Jesse to ask him about comics, the great outdoors, and his forthcoming book “Even The Giants”. "
As promised, I've gathered a sample of Canadian covers that have successfully avoided hockey & canoe stereotypes. Two old favorites include Red Is Best by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Robin Baird Lewis (Annick Press, 1988),
But not all great Canadian book covers come from decades past. Here are some from not so long ago that highlight the variety of styles you can find in Canadian children's books.
Canadian book cover featuring the Queen. I did find one to meet the request for a British Columbian style salmon run. It's by well respected Canadian scientist David Suzuki and talented author Sarah Ellis, with beautiful illustrations by Sheena Lott (Greystone Books, 2003).
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 6/29/2010
The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondant, Anne Dublin, interviews author Kathy Kacer. Kathy has written many, many Holocaust novels for young people, including The Diary of Laura's Twin, which won a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Book Award.
For the impressive list of Kathy's works, click here.
AUDIO:
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Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
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By: John,
on 3/31/2010
Montreal Animator Malcolm Sutherland shared his latest video with me. La Fete is like watching a sketchbook of observational life drawing come to life. It shows the power that sound can have on even the simplest of animations. Beautiful.
Also, his entries for Star Wars Uncut are brilliant, and I hereby demand that he now animate the entire film:
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog |
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3 comments
Tags: Animation, Canadian, Malcolm Sutherland, video
I've got the birthday one. This should be worth buying too. I usually find myself laughing more than my preschooler!
Totally! I love these books for that! My kids have some corny knock-knock jokes that only a preschooler could love but these entertain me!!