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October 03, 2018Understanding the Eternal Appeal of Anne Frank's Story With All About Anne Author Menno Metselaar
It's hard to name a cultural figure who has had the impact Anne Frank has. Her eponymous diary and the museum created in the house where she and her family lived in hiding are known around the world, ...
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June 27, 2018Why Do We Keep Picture Book Authors and Illustrators Apart? - or How to Play Well With Others
I completely underestimated how emotional the whole process of creating a picture book would be. When my first picture book was being published, I became a horrible self-involved troll-person. I couldn’t ...
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December 28, 2020How to Make Your Longest, Darkest Nights Shine
The Winter Solstice is happening as I write this column. It’s the shortest day of the year and the longest, darkest night of the year. But during this time, every night often feels like the longest, ...
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June 07, 2023When Readers Write
Whenever I do a book event, people tell me things. Sometimes they tell me a bit about themselves or their families. At other times, they disclose traumatic experiences. I respond by holding the moment, ...
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October 10, 2016
Poetic Inspiration I
Rather than simply providing a list of books that have inspired me, I want to go into a bit of detail on specific poems or series of poems or poetic innovations that have made my synapses crackle, broadened ...
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April 26, 2021Contest! Enter to Win Fun-Filled Indigenous Adventure Series for Young Readers, The Mighty Muskrats, From Second Story Press
Michael Hutchinson's Might Muskrats series from Second Story Press is the kind of kid's book that takes you back to reading under the covers with a flashlight. Filled with friendship, adventure, and humour, ...
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February 18, 2020What Do You Wish You Had Known Before Becoming a Children's Book Creator?
I’ve worked in children’s publishing for nearly fifteen years and I’ve been writing children’s books for about five years. All this to say, I learned a lot about the realities of publishing children’s ...
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May 02, 2025Locking In, Letting Go
I’ve thought of myself as a writer who loves revision. I rewrote large chunks of my two poetry collections between the ‘final’ version submitted to my publisher, and the version that ended up being ...
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June 15, 2022For Father's Day, Read an Excerpt from Dad Bod: Portraits of Pop Culture Papas by Cian Cruise
From Mommy Dearest and Psycho to Sally Field's saintly mother in Forrest Gump and Terminator's Sarah Connor, moms and their impact hold a lot of storytelling significance in our culture. But what ...
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June 26, 2018Read an Excerpt from David Goudreault's Raw, Powerful, Darkly Funny Mama's Boy
Content warning: suicide, self-harmIn its original French edition, Mama's Boy (Book*hug) by David Goudreault (translated by JC Sutcliffe) was a smash hit - a bestseller, winner of the 2016 Grand Prix ...