Search
-
April 21, 2023Read an Excerpt from Gregory Koop's The Donkey Cutter, a Gritty, Moving Tale of Early 20th Century Canada
In Gregory Koop's The Donkey Cutter (Guernica Editions), Mareika Doerksen and her distant father are Mennonite in name only. Both mourning the loss of Mareika's mother, they bide their time until Mareika ...
-
November 20, 2017Talking to Picture Book Creators - Part One
Admit it: Don’t you just wish you were me sometimes?Because when I recently came across four super picture books—A Bedtime Yarn by Nicola Winstanley, The Walking Bathroom by Shauntay Grant, Federica ...
-
March 31, 2023April Writer in Residence Manahil Bandukwala Explores the Woman Behind the Taj Mahal in Her Masterful Debut Poetry Collection
One of the most iconic landmarks in world history, the spectacular Taj Mahal, was famously built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife. A romantic story; a favourite tourist ...
-
May 31, 2020Signing off.
Horrific day to be posting this last entry. The violence and harm inflicted on Black people is enraging. Seeing the failure of some to recognize this terror—or worse be complacent and perpetuate it—can ...
-
December 03, 2019"I’ve Been Determined to Open up the Adventure Narrative into Something Deeper" Ailsa Ross Shines a Light on History's Bravest Women in Her New Book
In her newest book, The Girl Who Rode a Shark: And Other Stories of Daring Women (Pajama Press), author Ailsa Ross shows kids and grown-ups alike that the great heroes of history are not always the men ...
-
March 22, 2021The Writing Moment with Natasha Ramoutar's Bittersweet
Welcome to “The Writing Moment with . . .”!In this series of craft-focused columns, I will explore a wide range of works, topics, and interests that inspire me with the hope of inspiring you. I will ...
-
April 12, 2014
Poet for Hire
I heard a few days ago that a colleague did a major job of editing that took the better part of a year to complete for a mere five-hundred dollars. I happen to mention this to a friend who works as a ...
-
February 02, 2017The Proust Questionnaire, with Paul Benedetti
To paraphrase Tolstoy, it seems fair to say that each funny family is funny in its own way. The Hamilton Spectator's Paul Benedetti runs with that idea in his hilarious portrait of modern family life, You ...
-
April 26, 2024Colleen Coco Collins Explores the Unique Pathway That Led to Their Debut Collection, Sorry About the Fire
The origin of a person's poetic nature can be elusive, but there are often moments that a poet might look back to that clearly signify this draw toward the spinning of words and ideas in carefully laid ...
-
November 05, 2024Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley's Wonderful Woodland Art Leaps Off the Page in Boozhoo!/Hello!
Teaching young people about wildlife and nature is a crucial part of storytelling, and a great picture book can achieve this with art and language. There are many examples of these titles, but the new ...
