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August 10, 2020FOLD Kids Book Fest Announces Young Readers Book Club
Great news for book-loving kids (and their parents!)The 2020 FOLD (Festival of Literary Diversity) Kids Book Fest has announced the creation of the Young Readers Book Club. Focusing on books by acclaimed ...
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July 20, 2022To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
Nothing is as divisive as rhyme in children’s picture books. When it works, it sings, but when it doesn’t, it can turn readers (and editors) right off. Many people have fond memories of their favourite ...
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January 17, 2023Shake Up Your Writing Routine
January is full of messages about intention setting and challenges. Personally, I do not go in for unwieldy resolutions, but prefer to think of the new year as a good time to shift into something a little ...
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August 18, 2023Picture Book Trends
Picture books, like all art forms, are subject to trends and shifts in theme, style and format. I don’t necessarily recommend writing to trend, but it’s always good to be familiar with what’s working ...
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November 20, 2023Things I Learned from Working in Publishing (That I Wish I Knew Earlier)
I spent 12 years in children’s publishing and here is a selection of things I learned on the job that I wish I had known beforehand. You don’t need an illustrator to submit your picture book manuscriptIn ...
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November 28, 2022A Love Letter to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre
It’s November, month of #GivingTuesday, and I want to highlight the wonderful Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the only national, not-for-profit Canadian organization dedicated to “encouraging, ...
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September 22, 20229 Kidlit Page-To-Screen Adaptations that are just as Good as the Book
Earlier in the month, I had the opportunity to see Lena Dunham’s spirited and loving adaptation of Catherine Called Birdy, Karen Cushman’s novel of the same name, at the Toronto International Film ...
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March 11, 2019Writing and illustrating children’s books: All the surprises
The process of writing, illustrating and publishing a children’s book can be filled with surprises—good and bad! For example, I’m always surprised by how much my heart explodes when a friend sends ...
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April 22, 2020All of this listening
It was hard to write this column. Like everyone else, I’m all for trying to grasp at normalcy where I can, but I don’t have many writing tips to share right now. (Actually, I do have one writing tip: ...
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October 01, 2018Why Does It Take So Long to Make a Picture Book?: Or, How To Get Really Good at Waiting
I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t prepared for all the waiting I’d have to do in life. And when it comes to writing, you do a lot of waiting. Waiting for inspiration to strike. Realizing that ...
