Columnists
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July 20, 2022To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
By Vikki VanSickleNothing 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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June 30, 2022Remembering Steven Heighton and the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference
By Shazia Hafiz RamjiOne of the jokes I have with myself is that my first exposure to the public world of poetry was so traumatizing that I had no choice but to accommodate what I saw, however subconsciously. Ten years ago, ...
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June 21, 20226 Reasons Why Your Kids’ Book Was Rejected
By Vikki VanSickleAfter working in children’s publishing, sitting on various book selection committees, and judging writing for kids contests for 15+ years, I’ve read a lot of manuscripts. Here are the six most common ...
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June 15, 2022Book Therapy: Mad Honey
By Stacey May Fowles“No, no. I’m telling you, it feels like I was bees. A whole bee colony. Like all I did this summer was drink nectar, collect pollen, nurse the larvae, fan the hive, take care of my queen—I was bees.”— Katie ...
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June 10, 2022Writing with kids: Impossible or sometimes maybe possible?
By Lindsay Zier-VogelSummer is nigh, which means picnics and sunlight until 10 p.m. and swimming pools and watermelon. And it also means my kids are going to be around a lot more, and finding windows to write is going to ...
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June 03, 2022On Becoming an Acquiring Editor
By Russell SmithFor thirty years I was on the other side of the desk: submitting books to editors who didn’t reply or who took six months to reply, who replied with no-thank-you formulae, or who replied with suggestions ...
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May 27, 2022Reminders on the Path - Sheniz Janmohamed in Conversation with Natasha Ramoutar
By Natasha Ramoutar & Sheniz JanmohamedWhen my first poetry collection Bittersweet was released in 2020, my mentor Sheniz Janmohamed published our conversation about full circles and first books with Open Book.Sheniz has been so instrumental ...
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May 10, 2022Genres You Didn’t Learn About in Kidlit 101
By Vikki VanSickleOne of the most formative experiences in my development as a writer was working in a bookstore. For four glorious years I was the manager of the award-winning, much beloved Flying Dragon Bookshop in Toronto. ...
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April 29, 2022Book Therapy: Good Mom on Paper
By Stacey May Fowles & Jen Sookfong Lee“Children require their parents to search for small moments of peace or grace or dignity. Maybe we can treat creativity the same way: creating the one true thing within a project that is otherwise just ...
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April 21, 2022How to Start a Writers’ Group
By Lindsay Zier-VogelI spent years working on a novel about a lifeguard who was terrified of drowning. Years, of sitting in the same corner of the same coffee shop bashing out draft after unreadable draft. And the only feedback ...
