tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116626922024-03-13T11:03:03.524-04:00Pickle Me ThisThe online home of Kerry Clare, world-famous would-be pickler.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comBlogger1924125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-29282065942263921642010-02-15T15:50:00.003-05:002010-02-15T16:49:46.665-05:00Moving Day!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3m0xXnSUWI/AAAAAAAACh0/ASPOJnQNc1k/s1600-h/moving.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3m0xXnSUWI/AAAAAAAACh0/ASPOJnQNc1k/s320/moving.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438576785271968098" border="0" /></a>Hope you'll join us over at the new place:<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.picklemethis.com/">www.picklemethis.com</a>. Please change your links accordingly.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-48967884733679827872010-02-15T14:56:00.002-05:002010-02-15T16:49:13.957-05:00New linkFor Canada Reads Independently, check out the new link <a href="http://www.picklemethis.com/category/canada-reads-2010-independently/">here</a>.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-70653034379850993262010-02-12T15:03:00.002-05:002010-02-12T15:21:20.996-05:00Books I found in various boxes along the sidewalk on my walk home from Kensington Market<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3W0GtvfCnI/AAAAAAAACdw/aCwX-DplrMk/s1600-h/IMG_3143.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3W0GtvfCnI/AAAAAAAACdw/aCwX-DplrMk/s320/IMG_3143.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437450152570718834" border="0" /></a>1) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Bowl-Cherries-What-Doing/dp/0449208397/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266005943&sr=1-2"><span style="font-style: italic;">If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits</span></a> by Erma Bombeck. 2) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Break-Blow-Burn-Camille-Forty-three/dp/0375725393/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266005882&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Break, Blow, Burn</span></a> by Camille Paglia. 3) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Girls-Andrew-Pyper/dp/0440235464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266005858&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lost Girls</span></a> by Andrew Pyper (personally autographed to boot, with many thanks, but I won't say to who). 4) hardcover of <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Vintage-Dave-Eggers/dp/0307385906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266005817&sr=1-1">What is the What</a> </span>by Dave Eggers. 5) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gertrude-Bell-Desert-Nations-American/dp/0374161623"><span style="font-style: italic;">Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations</span></a> by Georgina HowellKerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-70719881248472342122010-02-12T09:56:00.001-05:002010-02-12T09:58:49.673-05:00Why I love people..."The idea grew as Morrison considered ways to make the cake pans fly better..."<br /><br />From <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/obituary/article/764373--the-father-of-the-frisbee-dies-at-90?bn=1">the obituary of Walter Morrison, who invented the frisbee</a>.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-33546416759756695062010-02-12T09:50:00.000-05:002010-02-12T09:51:14.241-05:00In three days...the new Pickle Me This will be unveiled!Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-79047707728698108112010-02-11T21:20:00.009-05:002010-02-12T09:22:18.806-05:00Why I have business in the bedroom of Adam Giambrone<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3S7EACWlvI/AAAAAAAACc4/HkjQ5HLfR0U/s1600-h/giambrones.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3S7EACWlvI/AAAAAAAACc4/HkjQ5HLfR0U/s320/giambrones.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437176327546771186" border="0" /></a>I don't know if there are two things I like more than passing judgement and reading stories, and so I've been wholly absorbed by the perils of Adam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Giambrone</span></span> this week. I've long had my eye on the guy, if only to use his surname as verb in various contexts, which is always funny when I'm overtired, and so I've been paying attention since Monday, however much that's less than high-minded to admit.<br /><br />I've been paying attention because I'm a follower of plot, of twists and turns, and wild leaps. Office couches, text messages, denials then tears at the press conference. The scintillating details, the text messages, and we're not supposed to care because it's his private life after all, but don't you care just for that reason? The kind of access to private lives that we usually have to read novels for, and perhaps it's why we read novels anyway. How can you turn away from it? I can't.<br /><br />Of course, there are real people involved, real lives at stake. To which I posit that there aren't. Case in point, the picture above from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Toronto Star</span>-- have you ever seen a more calculated chemistry? I could say I'm sorry for the wife, but I wouldn't really mean it. To pretend otherwise would be disingenuous. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Giambrone</span></span> himself has become a fiction, has probably long been one, but we know it now. If he were less lame, he'd be Jay Gatsby. And of course, there's a real <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Giambrone</span></span> still deep down inside him, but that's not the guy upon whom I'm passing judgement.<br /><br />The guy upon whom I'm passing judgement is an idiot. Not only does he think that women are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">disposable</span>, but he dates the kind of woman who wouldn't hesitate to destroy his whole career in a heartbeat. The kind of woman who'd date him even though she thinks he lives with his parents, and he's 32. And-- though this population is larger than I'd initially suspected -- he dates the kind of woman who'd tolerate that haircut. He gets caught, and he lies about it. He someone who knows himself better than anyone else knows him and yet he sets himself up for this exact situation by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">pursuing</span> public life (which, let's face it, most people don't do for really honorable reasons). Even the smartest guy would have trouble balancing his public face with a life that's a lie.<br /><br />I'm not condemning Adam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Giambrone</span> for immorality, for that kind of thing is always a little bit subjective, but I think I'm allowed to call it as I see it-- he's an idiot.<br /><br />I hate the word "peccadillo". Why do women never get to have those? A "peccadillo" trivializes all manner of sins, packs them up in a neat valise that rhymes with armadillo, and how convenient is that? And then someone will lecture me about casting first stones, but these guys get up to the kind of wrongdoing I'd never consider. I know I'm young, but I'm getting older every day, and I remain steadfast about this. And to suggest that I'm just naive then is an insult to men of integrity everywhere, and I've met an awful lot of these in my life. I just think we all deserve a lot better.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-71636667173280475602010-02-10T21:46:00.007-05:002010-02-11T18:57:32.047-05:00Can-Reads-Indies #3: Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3NveUXOtFI/AAAAAAAACcQ/WUmiObG8JuI/s1600-h/www.mcclelland.com.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 260px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3NveUXOtFI/AAAAAAAACcQ/WUmiObG8JuI/s320/www.mcclelland.com.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436811741819221074" border="0" /></a>I wasn't the only reader for whom the highlight of Canada Reads 2009 was Michel Tremblay's <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/2009/03/pickle-me-this-reads-canada-reads-fat.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant</span></a>, which was a book that we all should have read, that we were all better for having read, but I would never have picked it up otherwise. Sometimes the prospect of looking to the past for books we should have read is a bit like contemplating getting into Joyce Carol Oates-- where do we start, and how would we ever be able to stop?<br /><br />So it's nice to get a bit of guidance, and I feel the very same about Martha Ostenso's <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span>, which I'd never even heard of until I encountered <a href="http://www.roughingitinthebooks.com/">NCL obsessive Melanie Owen</a> online. In its day (1925), <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> was a bestseller, was even made into a film, and heralded a new direction in Canadian fiction (though I'm not sure who followed in that direction-- Sinclair Ross? Hugh MacLennan? See, with this early stuff, my knowledge is very sketchy. I read Ernest Buckler once. Anyway...)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> takes place in a rural community in northern Manitoba. Schoolteacher Lind Archer arrives to board with the Gare family, and quickly realizes that something is amiss-- somehow Caleb Gare has got his wife and children stuck under his thumb, and they're terrified of defying him. He works them like animals on the farm, keeps them isolated from the community, wields his power with brute force, and he takes care to bully and blackmail his neighbours on the side. Caleb has met his match in daughter Judith, however, powerful in spirit and body (she reminded me so much of Jo March), who is desperate to get away from her tyrannical father and is inspired by Lind to finally do so.<br /><br />"Powerful" is overused as an adjective to describe a book, and I wish I could coin a new way to describe exactly what <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> does to its readers. The book was engrossing in way I've not very often experienced-- closest comparison is my <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-i-should-have-known-better-file.html">Andrew Pyper nightmares</a>. Usually I read at a distance from novels, keeping the literary world and my own sensibly divided, but parts of <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> crept into my consciousness. I read the chapter where Lind comes home in the dark and keeps making out creepy shadows and shapes behind her and around her, and I read this in the middle of a sunny afternoon, but I was freaked out. Similar, the conclusion-- I absolutely couldn't take it anymore and had to skip to the final pages to prevent a heart attack.<br /><br />I also had such strong feelings about Caleb's wife, Amelia Gare. Caleb had married her aware that she'd previously had a child out of wedlock, and he uses this knowledge to control her throughout their marriage. The control, however, comes from Amelia's fear that Caleb would tell her son of his background (which he had been blissfully unaware of, told he was well-born, by the priests who'd raised him). Amelia's feelings for this son are so strong that she is willing to sacrifice her other children for him, the spirited Judith in particular, and this absolutely enraged me as I read. Perhaps more than Caleb did himself.<br /><br />Caleb Gare is a fascinating character, soft-spoken in the creepiest way possible. At first, I thought he was simplistic, his purposes far too blatent-- Ostenso has him rubbing his hands together whilst surveying his land, wondering, "what the occasion would be, if it came to that, which would finally force him to play his trump card, as he liked to call it... He firmly believed that knowledge of Amelia's shame would keep the children indefinitely to the land..."<br /><br />But when I saw him interacting with members of the community with similar schemes and tricks, manipulating and blackmailing, this behaviour with his family began to seem very consistent. Caleb Gare is a completely unsympathetic character, and I am not sure this equals a lack of complexity in his moral make-up. We are tuned these days to see such characters as poorly drawn, but I'm not sure now. Ostenso has Caleb Gare making sense: everything he did was for his own gain-- he worked his family hard so that he wouldn't have to work as hard himself or pay anyone else to do so, he worked his neighbours to get his hands on their land and therefore expand his own power. He delighted in this power too, perhaps his only source of joy, save for his land, and there is a vital relationship between the two.<br /><br />In addition to his sheer meanness, we are supposed to see Caleb Gare's connection to his land as part of the motivation for his behaviour, but this is a given, not wholly explored. Which I've found in a lot of books, actually. It's taken for granted that land can make a man do certain things, but I'm often left wondering exactly why. Ostenso does show that Gare (through using his family as slaves) is able to reap a bounty from the harsh northern lands in a way his neighbours are unable to do-- that his domination extends even to the crops he commands. But I would have liked to know more about why Caleb feels the way he does about his land. It could be, however, that we don't know how he feels the feels and thinks very little beyond his conniving. That Caleb is absolutely spiritually bankrupt, and this does seem to be the case.<br /><br />Ostenso's treatment of the landscape itself is vivid, of the inhabitants, and elements of Norse mythology informing their lives lends to the spooky treatment. The depiction of the land is also remarkable for the way in which the delicate, lovely and elegant Lind Archer's contrast with it. Her presence as a foreign object in this strange brutal place is the catalyst for all that transpires, and also gives us a perspective on the Gares from without, which is most illuminating. Her relationship with Mark Jordan, another recently transplant (who is Amelia Gare's illeg. son! This is not a spoiler, however, as we're told from the outset) provides also provides necessary relief from the brutality of all other human relations.<br /><br />In short, unlike much Canadian prairie fiction, <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> didn't make me want to kill myself.<br /><br />From about midway in, I was rapt by this book, but there is one big reason why it won't be top of my list of Canada Reads: Independently picks. Primarily, the way in which the prose of <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span> manages to sometimes reads like an undergraduate essay on <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span>. Such as when Lind Archer says, "That's what's wrong with the Gares. They all have a monstrously exaggerated conception of their duty to the land-- or rather to Caleb, who is nothing but a symbol of the land." There is something particularly ubsubtle about the book's structures, particularly when compared to the complexity of a book like <span style="font-style: italic;">Century</span>.<br /><br />Still though, it's a riveting read, pushes its language and imagery in challenging directions, is unafraid to shy away from uncomfortable or even horrifying situations, and tackles female sexuality in a beautiful way. (Yes-- Canadian fiction in which the woman gets to be the horse, for once.) If this book is underread, it should be no longer.<br /><br />Canada Reads Independently Rankings:<br />1) <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-reads-indies-2-hair-hat-by-carrie.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hair Hat</span> by Carrie Snyder</a><br />2) <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-reads-indies-1-century-by-ray-smith.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Century</span> by Ray Smith</a><br />3) <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese </span>by Martha OstensoKerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-73587427173946917522010-02-10T10:26:00.003-05:002010-02-10T11:14:16.043-05:00As long as it's not dangerous"The<span style="font-style: italic;"> Cambridge History of English Literature </span>was my constant companion, and it became infused with my cigarette smoke as I plodded through the pages. Almost all my women friends were smokers, some using cigarettes to affect a social ease and grace; others, more dependent upon them, becoming chain smokers. I myself was convinced that without a cigarette in my mouth I could neither study nor exercise any creativity. All unconscious of future revelations about nicotine, my mother would say to me, 'Why not-- as long as it's not dangerous.' And so I smoked my way through the <span style="font-style: italic;">Cambridge History of English Literature</span>." --from <span style="font-style: italic;">Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion</span> by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern (which is wonderful)Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-19188751427090098562010-02-09T20:16:00.005-05:002010-02-10T11:34:09.581-05:00Things India Knight likes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3IMTpj-YTI/AAAAAAAACa8/v85KvJ-dCIw/s1600-h/eseme.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3IMTpj-YTI/AAAAAAAACa8/v85KvJ-dCIw/s320/eseme.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436421231903400242" border="0" /></a>Writer India Knight has long been included on a list of things I like, but today she has managed to drive me mad with ecstasy via her blog <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/">Things I like. Now with Search Button</a>. In particular, her <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/tag/thingstoread">things to read</a> tag, from which I found myself directed to <a href="http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/">Curious Pages</a>, <a href="http://www.readingweekend.co.uk/">The Reading Weekend</a> and<a href="http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/"> Missed Connections</a>. <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/bruna-before-miffy">Pre-Miffy Bruna</a>-- amazing. I now want <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/beautiful-house-in-brussels">a beautiful house in Brussels</a>, <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/giant-owls">a giant owl</a>, and to be <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/tavi">Tavi</a>. Such a wonderful catalogue of marvelous things. Image from <a href="http://indiaknight.posterous.com/salinger-1">this post</a>-- turns out Salinger's covers weren't always so enigmatic.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-67565088190374045142010-02-08T09:28:00.006-05:002010-02-11T11:47:19.284-05:00Canada Reads 2010: Independently UPDATE 4<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3Q0j4CIxuI/AAAAAAAACcw/qBi7oodD1EQ/s1600-h/canadareads.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 198px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S3Q0j4CIxuI/AAAAAAAACcw/qBi7oodD1EQ/s320/canadareads.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437028441084446434" border="0" /></a>I'm almost through <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span>, and though I've enjoyed it, it probably won't knock the other two I've read out of the top two spots. A review will be posted in a day or two. Julie Forrest posts <a href="http://readplayblog.posterous.com/hair-hat-by-carrie-snyder">her review of </a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://readplayblog.posterous.com/hair-hat-by-carrie-snyder">Hair Hat</a>: "[W]hen it comes to Alice Munro-esque stories about ordinary people, I’m hard to impress. <span style="font-style: italic;">Hair Hat</span> impresses". Buried in Print republishes <a href="http://www.buriedinprint.com/?p=623">an old Hair Hat review</a>. Steven Beattie does too, though <a href="http://www.stevenwbeattie.com/?p=1110">his is less complimentary</a> (and I would suggest a reread and cessation of dirty tricks). WriterGuy <a href="http://theprocrastinationnation.blogspot.com/2010/02/ray-robertsons-moody-food-quickie.html"><span>on </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Moody Food</span></a>: he was put off by the prose at times, but found the narrative compelling. My friend Bronwyn has reported that <span style="font-style: italic;">Century </span>is her favourite book of the bunch. My husband Stuart liked <span style="font-style: italic;">Moody Food</span> so much that he emailed Ray Robertson to tell him. In a recent conversation, writer Amy Jones reported she'd just started Ray Smith's <span style="font-style: italic;">Century </span>and that she also was impressed. American Librarians' blog Librations <a href="http://www.librations.us/2010/02/07/true-book-love-in-all-thy-sons-command/">is jealous of Canada Reads</a> and the copies it has inspired (which is us and the <span style="font-style: italic;">National Post</span>'s). And I was fascinated by <a href="http://charlotteashley.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/the-new-canadian-library-experiment/">Charlotte Ashley's post</a> which used more of her "uncontrolled bookselling research" to assess the <span style="font-style: italic;">New Canadian Library</span>'s rebranding: in two years, outside the context of university course lists, her bookstore has only ever sold two NCL titles and one of those was to Charlotte Ashley for our project's <span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Geese</span>.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-87345544812542281542010-02-07T23:07:00.005-05:002010-02-07T23:27:09.795-05:00Furnishing a room<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2-OMSBb5uI/AAAAAAAACas/HyZgnaNyIEg/s1600-h/IMG_3059.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2-OMSBb5uI/AAAAAAAACas/HyZgnaNyIEg/s320/IMG_3059.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435719616906913506" border="0" /></a>Our house is currently in a state of upheaval as we begin the process of moving the baby into her own room. We've got a faint hope that it might help her sleep better, and after eight months of enjoying having her close, we want our room back. And no doubt she'll be joining us there most nights anyway (and yay for reluctant co-sleeping, which is much better than being awake).<br /><br />Baby will be moving into the spare-room/ office/ library, however, so the books have had to migrate living-room-ward. Which at first I was sad about, that the books would be losing a room of their own, but now having them out in the world again, I realize that I've missed them. How little I visited our library, unless I had a reason to, and how nice the spines are just to stare at, and the journeys they could take me on from my seat here in the gliding chair.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2-QAeY1gEI/AAAAAAAACa0/hzHLKNFVVsM/s1600-h/IMG_3063.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2-QAeY1gEI/AAAAAAAACa0/hzHLKNFVVsM/s320/IMG_3063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435721613091110978" border="0" /></a>And I realize that books have been missing from this room all along. It's so nice to be back among them. The aesthetic effect of their various colours and heights. How the walls were empty before, and the floor just too wide, and how the built-in shelf beside the fireplace was wasted before now. It's true, they do-- they furnish a room! And joyfully, because televisions don't, we're getting rid of ours, so just excuse the focal point in the photo in the meantime.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-30687253087555042642010-02-07T21:58:00.000-05:002010-02-07T21:59:02.272-05:00Reading in bed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2993G7JMkI/AAAAAAAACaM/5OxlgzBXyF0/s1600-h/IMG_3058.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2993G7JMkI/AAAAAAAACaM/5OxlgzBXyF0/s320/IMG_3058.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435701660964434498" border="0" /></a>Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-4886730848695245412010-02-04T21:52:00.003-05:002010-02-04T22:39:07.140-05:00News and news<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2uIIm75-gI/AAAAAAAACXU/rlo8K34fytE/s1600-h/IMG_3041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2uIIm75-gI/AAAAAAAACXU/rlo8K34fytE/s320/IMG_3041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434587056824777218" border="0" /></a>My goodness, haven't things around here been anticlimactic since Family Literacy Week ended. You want to know the best thing about Family Literacy Week though? That it was totally made up. True story. Family Literacy DAY was the real deal, but I thought one day wasn't enough, so I dragged it out for another six, and then people started walking around thinking it was legitimate. At least two people that I know of! This is certainly not the first rumour I ever started, but it's probably one of the more productive ones. It was a very good week, and I am so grateful for everyone who contributed. And I am sorry if I misled you...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2uIO3ynXhI/AAAAAAAACXc/plhHPenVg3g/s1600-h/IMG_3042.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2uIO3ynXhI/AAAAAAAACXc/plhHPenVg3g/s320/IMG_3042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434587164428426770" border="0" /></a>Since then, however, I've been busy with deadlines, and preparations, plus I've been exhausted thanks to this baby whose sleep habits are beyond appalling. Thanks to all of this (save the baby), however, we are on the cusp of some very exciting things. Amy Jones is coming over tomorrow afternoon for her interview (and I've baked scones for the occasion.) I'm starting Wild Geese tomorrow, and my Canada Reads Independently update will be posted this weekend. And sometime soon I'll be rolling out my gorgeous new website over at my own domain! I hope you'll all adjust your links accordingly, and follow me there. Stay tuned for the official announcement...<br /><br />Of course, lately I've also been reading. Barbara Pym's <span style="font-style: italic;">A Glass of Blessings</span>, and <a href="http://www.notesandqueries.ca/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Canadian Notes and Queries</span></a>. From the latter, I especially enjoyed Clark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Blaise's</span> story <a href="http://www.notesandqueries.ca/in-her-prime/">"In Her Prime</a>", Seth <a href="http://www.notesandqueries.ca/the-doug-wright-awards-inaugural-speech/">on Canadian Cartoonist Doug Wright</a>, Ray Robertson (of the Canada Reads Independently <span style="font-style: italic;">Moody Food</span>) <a href="http://www.notesandqueries.ca/in-anticipation/">"In Anticipation"</a>. I've been reading Sylvia Plath's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Bed Book</span> with illustrations by Quentin Blake, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tree of Life</span> by Peter Sis on the recommendation of Genevieve Cote. I've been reading <a href="http://maritadachsel.blogspot.com/2010/01/interview-annabel-lyon.html">Annabel Lyon on writing and motherhood</a>. Mark Sampson <a href="http://freerangereading.blogspot.com/2010/02/questioning-email-interview.html">on email interviews</a>. Steven <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Beattie's</span> <a href="http://www.stevenwbeattie.com/?p=1132">"The problem of sustained reading in a distracted society"</a>. <a href="http://www.meli-mello.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Meli</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Mello</span></a> celebrated Family Literacy Week also last week, and this week she's talking about toys.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-43648400591687412852010-02-02T15:06:00.002-05:002010-02-02T22:58:54.607-05:00Embracing the Ego? A reevaluationI changed my mind, sort of. After <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/2010/01/escape-ego.html">thinking a lot about why we should read</a>, and deciding (along with Fran Lebowitz and Diana Athill) that we should read in order to escape ourselves, I realize that reading is not so simple. That here I sit spouting nonsense about what reading is for from a position of enormous privilege (read: literacy, internet access, enough of my immediate needs met that I have time to sit here spouting nonsense) about what reading is for, but I'm missing most of the story.<br /><br />It is annoying, I think, when people who spend most of their time gazing into mirrors anyway choose to see literature also as a reflective surface. This, of course, is what Fran Lebowitz called "a philistine idea... beyond vulgar." But I'm starting to realize that we're only talking about a fraction of the population when we generalize in this way. There are people with real problems (and I'm sorry quarter-life-crisis-ers, but I'm not talking about you!) for whom literature would be a most productive therapy, and also for whom this kind of personal engagement might be their gateway into books (which is splendid!). For anyone to devalue this kind of reading is incredibly patronizing, and stupid. (And perhaps to devalue any kind of reading is patronizing and stupid too).<br /><br />I am learning more about the work done by <a href="http://www.literatureforlife.org/">Literature For Life</a>, about their Book Circles whose participants have often never read an entire book before . The first book their groups read is <span style="font-style: italic;">The Coldest Winter Ever</span> by Sister Souljah, selected for being plot-driven and for the way in which the story might relate to readers' lives. Confidence grows from just one book, and so does interest, so that someone who has only read one book before might go and pick up another. So that, yes, a reader is born, but also these readers can begin to address their own problems with the advantage of some distance, that they gain access to a new way of examining and understanding their own experience. Language becomes a tool for self-expression. Subsequent books read become more challenging, but all of them connect back to the readers' experience somehow, and I see now how much is <span style="font-style: italic;">right</span> with that.<br /><br />Perhaps what I find most fascinating about the Lit. for Life Book Circles (whose participants are pregnant and parenting teenage mothers) is that these communities of readers approach literature from a wholly different angle than what I'm used to. We all like to go on and on about the use-value of literature, which for most of us is theoretical, but these readers put those theories in motion. These girls whose lives are changed by the power of one book-- they are a testament to what literature can do. Those of us who take books for granted can certainly learn something from that.<br /><br />Anyway, there will be more learning to come. I'm going to be doing some work with Literature for Life over the coming months, and I look forward to sharing those experiences here.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-54271858795311273272010-02-02T10:40:00.002-05:002010-02-02T10:44:57.356-05:00Foolscap is awkward to read in bed"'Will she expect a comfortable bed?' Rodney asked. 'Oughtn't we to break her into the world gradually?'<br />'I don't see what difference it makes,' I said.<br />'Wilmet, have you thought what books to put by her bed?' asked Sybil. 'You must make a careful choice.'<br />'I suppose some anthologies of poetry and good novels by female authors,' I said. 'Not devotional books, obviously.'<br />'We have just completed an interesting report on the Linoleum Industry,' said Rodney. 'I could let her have a cyclostyled copy-- the pages are bound together.'<br />'Foolscap is awkward to read in bed,' said Sybil. 'Arnold has just published a paper in one of the archeological journals-- that's a handy size for night reading and there are some excellent drawings of pottery fragments done by an invalid lady who lives in Dawlish.'"-- from <span style="font-style: italic;">A Glass of Blessings</span> by Barbara Pym(!)Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-36763960237560905622010-01-31T22:10:00.006-05:002010-02-01T09:18:56.438-05:00Meet the Smiths<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2ZIhvFttmI/AAAAAAAACVk/PPNuo2EBZUA/s1600-h/IMG_3015-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2ZIhvFttmI/AAAAAAAACVk/PPNuo2EBZUA/s320/IMG_3015-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433109744882398818" border="0" /></a>I've got a family of Smiths on my bookshelf. Probably you do too. Mine are diverse but an excellently harmonious bunch. There's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Smith">Ali</a>, of course, of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Accidental </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Girl Meets Boy</span>. And then <a href="http://www.gaspereau.com/1894031563.shtml">Alison</a>, of the poetry collection <span style="font-style: italic;">Six Mats and One Year</span>. Next is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Smith">Betty</a>, who wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</span>. Beside her is <a href="http://www.biblioasis.com/product_info.php?products_id=87">Ray</a>, then <a href="http://www.russellsmith.ca/">Russell</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zadie_Smith">Zadie</a>, who have brought to the library <span style="font-style: italic;">Century</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Muriella Pent</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">White Teeth/On Beauty</span>, respectively.<br /><br />This is the largest clan in my library, save for the Mitfords who don't actually count because they're really sisters. And I'm not sure if this bunch is alike or unhappy in their own way, but I like how their jackets rub together anyway.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-49329777838816107912010-01-30T15:17:00.008-05:002010-01-31T21:09:09.323-05:00Raise high the roofbeam carpentersPhoebe Caulfield was Holden's nine-year old sister, plucky as a red-headed orphan, just lacking appropriate pigmentation and tragedy. Even Holden would affirm that, "if you don't think she's smart, you're mad."<br /><br />Pheobe was a writer, composing the stories of "Hazel Weatherfield" in her multiple notebooks. As an actor, she was ecstatic to have the largest part in her class play, even if it involved playing Benedict Arnold. "Elephants knock[ed] her out." Phoebe Caulfield was a force to be reckoned with, pouring ink down the windbreaker of anyone who dare cross her path and she could recite Robbie Burns on command.<br /><br />She was also a realist. While her brother Holden tried to deny his bleak reality, Phoebe made a point of thrusting the thing in his face. Not allowing him the luxury of his skewed perspective, sick of tirades about phoniness, she says bluntly, "You don't like <span style="font-style: italic;">anything</span>." In contrast, Pheobe herself was able to make the best of her difficulties. Holden's drunken shattering of record he'd bought for her failed to hinder her enthusiasm for the gift: "'Gimme the pieces,' she said. 'I'm saving them.'"<br /><br />A beacon in her brother's lonely existence, Phoebe's love makes clear Holden's real emotional capacity and the depth of his troubles. Upon learning that he'd been expelled from yet another school, hers is the first display of genuine, grounded concern anyone shows him. Her maturity outmatches Holden's, and his tender feelings towards her highlight his own vulnerability.<br /><br />In Phoebe, Holden also sees the innocence he has lost, but elsewhere in Salinger's oeuvre is evidence that Phoebe Caulfield was wise rather than naive, and that her wisdom beyond her years ("Old Phoebe") might never have disappeared. I like to think that if Salinger had continued the saga of the Caulfield family, Phoebe would have grown up to be someone much like Boo Boo Glass.<br /><br />Of course, the details of Salinger's salacious personal life widely reported him as something of a letch, and his stories contain their share of one-dimensional female characters. But he knew something about women, or perhaps something about sisters is more what I mean.<br /><br />Boo-Boo appears in the background of Salinger's <span style="font-style: italic;">Franny and Zooey</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters</span>. She also makes an appearance in "Down at the Dinghy" from <span style="font-style: italic;">Nine Stories</span>, in which "[h]er general unprettiness aside," writes Salinger, "she was a stunning and final girl." Ever capable, Boo-Boo flew with the Woman's Air Force in World War Two, bravely tackled anti-Semitism in her marriage to a Jewish man, and mothered her young son with the same insightful sensitivity Phoebe provides to her brother Holden.<br /><br />In a tortured world of Seymour and perfect days for bananafish, Boo-Boo stands on the side of justice, for all things bright and good, however much in vain. And I am insistent upon optimism, so for me, it is her spirit that pervades Salinger's best writing and makes me love it so. Her presence in <span style="font-style: italic;">Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters</span> consists solely of a note left on the bathroom mirror of her brothers' New York apartment. "'Raise high the roofbeam carpenters... Please be happy happy <span style="font-style: italic;">happy</span>. This is an order. I outrank everyone on the block."<br /><br />(an earlier version of this piece appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;">the independent weekly</span> on September 6 2001.)Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-60485943533120389992010-01-29T10:07:00.002-05:002010-01-29T10:07:00.322-05:00Celebrating literacy in general, and those who promote it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JRCx5KRZI/AAAAAAAACVM/h7BCEs0w5Jw/s1600-h/IMG_3008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 146px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JRCx5KRZI/AAAAAAAACVM/h7BCEs0w5Jw/s320/IMG_3008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431993208756913554" border="0" /></a>For obvious reasons, this is my favourite page in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Baby's Catalogue</span>. Oh, children's books. They're as good as any book, <span style="font-style: italic;">but they've got pictures</span>. And it has been a delight to celebrate them this week, to celebrate Family Literacy, and to find out that such a celebration is so contagious. That children's books are made to be shared.<br /><br />Of course, we're preaching to the choir here. Anyone who'd be reading this blog in the first place (except for whatever curious person arrived searching for "sex with pickles") is probably well aware of the importance of family literacy. I bet we were all read to as children, that we read to any children we have, and that we even read to children we don't have.<br /><br />And all of this, of course, is a luxury. Family Literacy Day is sponsored by <a href="http://www.abc-canada.org/">ABC Canada</a>, which promotes adult literacy through a wide variety of programs. We are fortunate that in Canada, illiteracy is rare, but less rare (and harder to acknowledge) are low literacy skills, which are experienced by <a href="http://www.abc-canada.org/en/adult_literacy/facts">4 out of 10 Canadians</a>. The implications of this are enormous, in particular at the family level, and at the workplace level, and through their programs, ABC Canada aims to provide adults access to the learning skills they require.<br /><br />Another organization doing wonderful work for literacy is the <a href="http://www.childrensbookbank.com/">Children's Book Bank</a> in Toronto, which provides children in the Regent Park neighbourhood with free books and a terrific atmosphere in which to enjoy them. The space is absolutely beautiful, like the best children's bookstore you can imagine, and the books (albeit secondhand) are in good shape, excellently organized. It's a place that respects itself, and the kids sense that, and feel better about themselves for just being there, and their pleasure at choosing books of their own is absolutely palpable. They also often come accompanied by their parents, many of whom end of learning English literacy skills from the books their kids bring home from the Book Bank. The Children's Book Bank is a fantastic innovation, and I'd recommend it for anyone who is looking to get rid of good quality used children's books, or as a good recipient for a book drive.<br /><br />A final organization in Toronto that I'm just starting to learn about is <a href="http://www.literatureforlife.org/">Literature for Life</a>, which promotes reading to groups of pregnant or parenting teenage mothers, and publishes a magazine by these women and for them. It's an amazing idea, whereby not only do these women learn how reading enriches their lives, but they gain the skills to pass a love of reading on to their children.<br /><br />***<br /><br />Finally, I want to share my favourite Family Literacy Resources. Australian writer <a href="http://www.memfox.com/welcome.html">Mem Fox has an excellent website</a>, including <a href="http://www.memfox.com/reading-magic-and-do-it-like-this">her instructions for reading aloud</a> and her <a href="http://www.memfox.com/ten-read-aloud-commandments.html">Ten read-aloud commandments</a> (1. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes <em>every single day</em> reading aloud.)<br /><br />And more recently, I've fallen in love with Canadian author <a href="http://www.shereefitch.com/about.php">Sheree Fitch's website</a>. Sheree Fitch is an inventor of words, and she's made up one called "thrival", which is as important as "survival", and is what literacy is necessary for. Read her excellent essay <a href="http://www.shereefitch.com/survival.php">here</a>. Her own list of literacy resources is <a href="http://www.shereefitch.com/matters.php">here</a>.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-14077374559331884262010-01-28T21:29:00.006-05:002010-01-29T10:11:13.135-05:00Family Literacy Recommendations from a Literary Mom: Carrie Snyder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2L6X803_gI/AAAAAAAACVU/iIyqYLaYEJQ/s1600-h/Dec09+517.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 156px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2L6X803_gI/AAAAAAAACVU/iIyqYLaYEJQ/s320/Dec09+517.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432179389934075394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">In between mothering her four children, writing fiction, <a href="http://carrieannesnyder.blogspot.com/">a blog</a> and a parenting column, and all the other things that people do, Carrie Snyder found a few spare moments to write this beautiful piece about reading with her children. Carrie Snyder is the author of </span><a href="http://www.carriesnyder.com/Books_menu.html">Hair Hat</a> <span style="font-style: italic;"> (which is currently competing in <a href="http://picklemethis.blogspot.com/search/label/Canada%20Reads%202010%3A%20Independently">Canada Reads: Independently</a>). Her most recent publication was three stories in </span><a href="http://www.tnq.ca/magazine/112">The New Quarterly</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> 112). </span><br /><br />My favourite picture book of all time is <span style="font-style: italic;">A Day with Nellie</span>, by Marthe Jocelyn (the original version, not the board book, which cuts some of my favourite sections.) This book has been with our family since my eldest was a toddler. He and I read it so often that we had it memorized. Both of my daughters loved it, too, and my youngest is now 22 months and "Nellie!" is far and away the first book he goes looking for on our shelves.<br /><br />The charm of this book is in its simplicity. A preschool-aged child goes about her day: from waking to getting dressed, greeting her friends (mostly stuffed animals), eating breakfast, and so on. She plays indoors in daddy's shoes. She plays teacher in the backyard--her students include the neighbours' cat. She makes mud, slips and falls, gets dirty, takes a bath. Each page subtly illustrates a new concept: textures on the breakfast page, emotions on the naptime page, numbers on the picnic lunch page, et cetera.<br /><br />But what elevates this book to greatness is Jocelyn's original fabric artwork. It looks touchable. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JLULNUJeI/AAAAAAAACVE/zA7_XHNkE1c/s1600-h/DaywithNellie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JLULNUJeI/AAAAAAAACVE/zA7_XHNkE1c/s320/DaywithNellie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431986910540342754" border="0" /></a>Each page is beautiful and colourful, and we could look at it for hours (and we have, and we do!). The pictures are full of narrative all on their own, which makes them perfect for the pre-reader. There is so much to point to and talk about in each picture. Nellie pouring water on her head. Nellie watching the big kids come home from school. (Particularly poignant for me, now, as I remember reading it with my eldest and watching out the window as the big kids walked home from school--and now he is one of those big kids walking home from school). I've never yet gotten bored of the book. And that's high praise indeed. <div><br /></div><div>I also read chapter books out loud before bedtime. The older ones are able to read to themselves, now, but they still love cuddling in on the couch and being read to. I would recommend heading into Laura Ingalls Wilder's <span style="font-style: italic;">Little House on the Prairie</span> series. The first book, with its terrifying panther stories, is not necessarily the best place to begin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Little House in the Big Woods</span>); that book also opens with very detailed descriptions of a pioneer family preparing and storing their food for winter, including how to build a smokehouse. (In fact, there's a great deal of lost knowledge contained in these books, from how to make a door with no nails, to how to rig up a lamp from a button and some axle grease. I'm keeping them for further reference, because you never know).<br /><br />The second book in the series is the best known and perhaps also the best place to start: <span style="font-style: italic;">Little House on the Prairie</span>. The television series based on the books bears little relationship to them: there is no superficiality. This is the real thing. The writing is quite astonishing. It is straightforward, classic, and true. It amazes me every time I read it (I was about seven when my mother first read the series to us, and I've re-read it many times since). There is little to no analysis in her writing, no self-consciousness, just pure storytelling. That leaves room for questions, for interpretation, and it means that the experience of reading the books as an adult changes them: my perspective as a parent added new flavours and nuances to the story. Best of all, all of my children were drawn into her writing, even my eldest who is a boy. And it lead to many imaginary games of Laura and Mary and baby Carrie.</div> <div><br /></div><div>Reading to my children: I looked forward to it before becoming a parent, and it's one of my favourite activities as a parent. I rarely get down and play on the floor with the kids, but they're pretty much guaranteed to get my attention with a book (I'm picky, though, and they know it: Mama doesn't read Dora ... actually, there's a pretty long list of books Mama won't read; that's what Daddy is for; and literacy). </div> <div><br /></div><div>There are so many wonderful books out there, with whole worlds waiting to be discovered. When I read to my children, I get to travel into those imaginary worlds, too. We get to go there together.</div>Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-38257099465435871592010-01-28T20:58:00.003-05:002010-01-28T21:27:45.180-05:00Family Literacy Field Trip: To Mabel's Fables<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA6vAKRUI/AAAAAAAACUU/twxmH126QQk/s1600-h/IMG_3000.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA6vAKRUI/AAAAAAAACUU/twxmH126QQk/s320/IMG_3000.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431975478355969346" border="0" /></a>So it turns out there is a Mabel, and she is a ginger cat. And the place she lives is pure magic, with a bright pink door, and two floors of BOOKS! Upstairs there is a gigantic teddy bear and a princess chair, and downstairs are the books for little kids and babies, upstairs for the bigger ones, and there are even books for adults on the landing.<br /><br />But perhaps the very best thing about <a href="http://www.mabelsfables.com/pages/mainpage.html">Mabel's Fables</a>, the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JBLQzzK-I/AAAAAAAACUs/5meev0rqsqU/s1600-h/IMG_3002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 187px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JBLQzzK-I/AAAAAAAACUs/5meev0rqsqU/s320/IMG_3002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431975762308836322" border="0" /></a>wonderful children's bookstore in Toronto, is that <a href="http://rebecca-rosenblum.blogspot.com/">Rebecca Rosenblum</a> lives around the corner. So that we got to go to her house for lunch first, and she accompanied us on our first Mabel's Fables visit. (I've never been before because the store is not on the subway, and I have this impression that anywhere not on the subway is really far away. Turns out that it isn't.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA6zFG8QI/AAAAAAAACUc/Vo7SxeTKmVs/s1600-h/IMG_3003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA6zFG8QI/AAAAAAAACUc/Vo7SxeTKmVs/s320/IMG_3003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431975479450464514" border="0" /></a>Harriet was pleased to be liberated from the snowsuit and seemed impressed by her surroundings. I was pleased to see so many of our favourite books and others I'd been coveting, and stuff I'd never heard of<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JBL06zczI/AAAAAAAACU0/rFoW4P1cXUM/s1600-h/IMG_3004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JBL06zczI/AAAAAAAACU0/rFoW4P1cXUM/s320/IMG_3004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431975772001891122" border="0" /></a> by the same authors, and a space that was such a celebration of childhood and children's books. We ended up getting our friend Geneviève Côté's new book <a href="http://www.kidscanpress.com/Canada/Me-and-You-P5897.aspx"><span style="font-style: italic;">Me and You</span></a>, which is a gorgeous celebration of friendship, individuality and art. We also got <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Babys-Catalogue-Janet-Ahlberg/dp/0141380772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264731497&sr=8-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Baby's Catalogue</span></a> board book by the Ahlbergs, because we love <span style="font-style: italic;">Peepo </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Each Peach Pear Plum, </span>and even though this isn't a story book, it's full of cool stuff for us to look at together and talk about, and there's a breastfeeding baby inside (and you really can't go wrong with breastfeeding in picture book art, oh no!).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA7KCUyrI/AAAAAAAACUk/9CPP95h_7LU/s1600-h/IMG_3005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2JA7KCUyrI/AAAAAAAACUk/9CPP95h_7LU/s320/IMG_3005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431975485612804786" border="0" /></a>Our final purchase was Sandra Boynton's <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Bath-Time-Sandra-Boynton/dp/076114708X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264731682&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Bath Time!</span></a>, because Harriet loves bath books and we like <span style="font-style: italic;">Barnyard Bath</span> very much already. All in all, it was a very successful shop, and you can see here that Harriet very much enjoyed herself. These photos were taken during a span of about thirty seconds, as I tried to get her to smile for the camera but she proceeded to just pluck books off the shelf and chew on them. I wrenched them away from her eventually-- I'm assuming Mabel's Fables operates on a "you chew it, you buy it" policy, understandably. "Come on," I said, pulling her away from the nummy bookish delights. "You've got plenty of books to chew on at home. " But I must admit to admiring her appetite!Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-76648965512003752302010-01-27T17:55:00.010-05:002010-01-27T21:57:32.103-05:00Family Literacy Recommendations from a Literary Dad: George Murray<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DtgYu5DAI/AAAAAAAACUE/3whmGbgfJS8/s1600-h/murray.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 183px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DtgYu5DAI/AAAAAAAACUE/3whmGbgfJS8/s320/murray.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431602291259542530" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://georgemurray.ca/">George Murray</a><span style="font-style: italic;">’s new book</span> Glimpse: Selected Aphorisms<span style="font-style: italic;"> will be published this fall by ECW Press. His other books of poetry include </span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Rush-Here-Murray-George/dp/0889712298?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175003046&sr=8-1">The Rush to Here</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> (Nightwood, 2007), and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Hunter-George-Murray/dp/0771066759/ref=sr_1_1/701-1721099-1249951?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178489711&sr=8-1">The Hunter</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">(McClelland & Stewart, 2003). He lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland is the editor of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://bookninja.com/">Bookninja.com</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">He shared his best bets for books to read together as a family:<br /><br /></span>My boys are five years apart, so it's hard to find books they'll enjoy <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2Dun1mmTcI/AAAAAAAACUM/q1sBiPr8fUE/s1600-h/ScaredySquirrel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 144px; height: 145px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2Dun1mmTcI/AAAAAAAACUM/q1sBiPr8fUE/s320/ScaredySquirrel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431603518780100034" border="0" /></a>together. The older one (seven) loves fantasy stories (like those by Kate DiCamillo) and is a precocious reader, while the younger (almost two) loves rhythmic rhyming books and bright pictures of animals (<span style="font-style: italic;">Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb</span>, etc). So in between those two, I'd recommend <span style="font-style: italic;">Scaredy Squirrel</span> books by Melanie Watt. The baby likes the pictures and pace and the boy likes the jokes and nuttiness (pun intended). Watt's a fabulous writer and a delightful illustrator and I often find myself chuckling as well... At least the first 100 times or so...Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-31540264976717470622010-01-27T17:44:00.005-05:002010-01-27T20:33:20.869-05:00Our Family Literacy Day Baby Literary Salon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DB_lOcI9I/AAAAAAAACT8/MOIxC81wu80/s1600-h/IMG_2979.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DB_lOcI9I/AAAAAAAACT8/MOIxC81wu80/s320/IMG_2979.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431554448677413842" border="0" /></a>It's <a href="http://www.abc-canada.org/en/family_literacy_day">Family Literacy Day</a>! To celebrate, we invited our favourite Mom and Baby friends to share some stories, and to sing some songs (as the theme of this year's Family Literacy Day is "Sing For Literacy"). The event was a resounding success, and not just because of the snacks provided. No, it was a success because the guests brought even more snacks, including delicious fudge, green tea shortbread and jello treats for the little ones. (Forgive me for fixating on edibles, but for breastfeeding women, this is very very important).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DB6jTP8uI/AAAAAAAACT0/LKe6Q7Q-NWo/s1600-h/IMG_2988.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S2DB6jTP8uI/AAAAAAAACT0/LKe6Q7Q-NWo/s320/IMG_2988.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431554362261369570" border="0" /></a>Margaret and her mom Carolyn brought family favourite <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Tumble-Bumble-Board-Book-Felicia/dp/0694013447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641309&sr=8-1-spell"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tumble Bumble</span></a>, as well as Margaret's beloved book of the moment <a href="http://www.amazon.com/BooBoo-Gossie-Friends-Olivier-Dunrea/dp/0618356541"><span style="font-style: italic;">Boo Boo</span></a>. Finn in particular enjoyed <span style="font-style: italic;">Tumble Bumble</span>. His mom Sara came with a copy of one of her childhood favourites, the absolutely magical <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Book-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0064431843"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Bed Book</span></a> by Sylvia Plath. Who knew Sylvia Plath wrote a children's book? No, not I. But I liked the elephant bed the very best.<br /><br />Leo's mom Alex brought along a copy of hardcore alphabet book <a href="http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=awaketonap"><span style="font-style: italic;">Awake to Nap</span></a> by Nikki McClure. The illustrations were beautiful, and "I is for inside" was the best one. Later, Alex read Margaret Atwood's first kids' book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Up-Tree-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0888997299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641667&sr=8-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Up in a Tree</span></a>, which was pretty delightful and might even impress the most avid Atwood-hater. Also remarkable was the character that looked like a baby Margaret Atwood, and was absolutely adorable.<br /><br />I read <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Ten-Little-Fingers-Toes/dp/015206057X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641763&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ten Little Fingers Ten Little Toes</span></a>, as well as Harriet's fave <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/All-About-Me-Babys-Babies/dp/0375845291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641796&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">All About Me: A Baby's Guide to Babies</span></a>. And then, because of the singsong theme, we also read/sang <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/MacDonald-Farm-Salina-Yoon-Books/dp/0843128178">Old MacDonald</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Little-Ducks-Raffi-Songs/dp/0517583607/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641935&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">Five Little Ducks</span></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Bus-Pop-up-books/dp/1852132728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264641960&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Wheels on the Bus</span></a>. The babies played quite happily together, and took turns playing with the best toy out of all the toys we own: a tin pie plate. Harriet fell down from sitting and now has her first bruise. Leo and Finn bonded over a set of plastic rings. Margaret showed us her mobility prowess. We listened to Elizabeth Mitchell, and drank tea, and ate delicious things, and in celebrating family literacy, we spent a splendid afternoon.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-37037246070782954032010-01-26T23:05:00.003-05:002010-01-26T23:14:49.058-05:00Guh-gungI have this terrible habit of finding certain things terribly funny in theory, but not considering the long-term consequences of following through on my actions. For example, when I was #143 on the holds list for Patrick Swayze's posthumous autobiography <span style="font-style: italic;">Time of My Life</span>, it was a funny story. But that hold was going to come in sometime, and that sometime is today, and now, with all the books in my life to be read, I've got to add <span style="font-style: italic;">Time of My Life</span> to the teetering stack. A book with such lines as, "It felt like an electric charge suddenly coursed through my body. I looked into Lisa's eyes, and it was as if I was seeing her for the first time. We moved together as one, and I felt a stirring deep in my soul." And then a few pages on, he woos her to the sounds of Bread's "Baby I'm-a Want You." When they finally have sex on page 46, "it was like a dam had broken and the flood came rushing in."<br /><br />This is either going to be the best book ever, or the worst.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-78442555809473556392010-01-26T15:04:00.008-05:002010-01-27T20:46:39.386-05:00Expert Recommendations for Family Literacy Week: Author/Illustrator Geneviève Côté<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S19ywtT5AwI/AAAAAAAACTU/rdNDsBr0Zkc/s1600-h/GenevieveCote3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S19ywtT5AwI/AAAAAAAACTU/rdNDsBr0Zkc/s320/GenevieveCote3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431185856754418434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Geneviève Côté has illustrated books for children of all ages, working with a variety of talented authors, like Janet Wong, Gilles Tibo or Susin Nielsen-Fernlund. Her own picture books include </span><span>Me and You</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(Kids Can Press 2009),</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span>What Elephant?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(Kids Can Press 2006) and </span><span>With you always, Little Monday</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (Harcourt 2007). Her editorial art has appeared in </span><span>The New York Times</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span><span>The Wall Street Journal</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span><span>l’Actualite</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> and other publications. She has won several honours, including the Elisabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award in 2005 and the General Governor’s Award for Illustration in 2007. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And she was kind enough to share recommendations for the following books:</span><br /><br />1) <span style="font-style: italic;">The True Story of The Three Little Pigs! </span>as told to Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith: Outrageous, funny to read aloud and to play-act<br /><br />2) <span style="font-style: italic;">Penny Lee and her TV</span> by Glenn Mc Coy: Funny enough to wean small kids from TV (at least for a while)<br /><br />3) <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wishing of Biddy Malone</span> by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Christopher Denise: A tale, rather classic in form, about learning the power of working for what you wish for (thanks to something akin to placebo magic), and therefore being actually happy when you do get what you wish for.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S190NsmZ-fI/AAAAAAAACTc/L-4gIsJbW3Q/s1600-h/cote.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S190NsmZ-fI/AAAAAAAACTc/L-4gIsJbW3Q/s320/cote.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431187454291474930" border="0" /></a>4) <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tree of Life</span> by Peter Sis: A picture book biography of Darwin -who would have thought he would still be a controversial figure 125 years after his death?<br /><br />5) <span style="font-style: italic;">Madeline </span>by Ludwig Bemelmans: Out of nostalgia, mostly, but hey, it worked for me, for my sisters, my niece, and her daughter!<br /><br />6) <span style="font-style: italic;">Bonjour Madame la Mort</span> by Pascal Teulade, illustrated by Jean-Charles Sarrazin: This one in French. Hotly recommended most of all for any kid mourning a grandparent, but probably many other kids as well. Death here wears a flannelette nightdress, plays cards with the old lady she's come to claim, and takes silly photographs. Cartoon-like illustrations fit the text - a perfect mixture of tender, sensitive and surprisingly funny. I'd be real interested to know what you think about this one, Kerry! I heard it caused a bit of a stir when it was published, but personally I find it very appropriate.Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11662692.post-69407408450238415942010-01-25T20:32:00.010-05:002010-01-25T22:05:26.327-05:00Author Interviews @ Pickle Me This: Patricia Storms (for Family Literacy Week!)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S15KEaI3-eI/AAAAAAAACS8/L5eGzPUJ3EA/s1600-h/patriciastorms.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 155px; height: 180px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S15KEaI3-eI/AAAAAAAACS8/L5eGzPUJ3EA/s320/patriciastorms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430859640251873762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I first encountered <a href="http://www.stormsillustration.com/">Patricia Storms</a> through her blog </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/">Booklust</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, and I think I've only ever met her two or three times in person, but I feel as though I know her much better than two or three times would allow. She is a generous spirit who radiates such warmth and energy, she has a delightful sense of humour, and she's a talented illustrator (of books including </span><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/13-Ghosts-Of-Halloween-Robin-Muller-Patricia-Storms/9780439935692-item.html?ref=Search+Books:+%2713+ghosts+of+halloween%27">The 13 Ghosts of Halloween</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1554532647/?tag=adaptiveblue-20">Edward and the Eureka Lucky Wish Company</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811855929/?tag=adaptiveblue-20">Good Granny Bad Granny</a><span style="font-style: italic;">) and now author/ illustrator (of her latest book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/189734967X/?tag=adaptiveblue-20">The Pirate and the Penguin</a><span style="font-style: italic;">). I love her books, I think she's fabulous, and I'm so pleased that she's answered some of my questions about writing and illustrating picture books, and also about family literacy. </span><br /><br />I: Funny, we call them “picture books”, but then the pictures themselves are so often regarded as secondary (that an illustrator might not receive the same credit as an author of the text, for example). What role do you think illustrations play in children’s books? And why do the illustrations get less respect?<br /><br />PS: In my Utopian world, the writer and the artist would get equal-billing, since they are both so dependent on each other. Ideally, the artist (I would hope) would be more than just a hired hand doing grunt work and translating literal images onto the page from the words provided. In a good picture book, I see the illustrator as someone who takes the story to another level of delight, imagination and entertainment. The illustrator should be just as much of a story-teller as the author. But they should not be competing with each other. It makes me think of a couple in love, walking in the forest holding hands, each pointing to the different things they both see on their travels. Each person has a unique perspective, but they are still connected, and are grounded in the same environment (the story).<br /><br />Perhaps 'get less respect' is a tad dramatic. (I know, I know I'm the one who used this phrase in a previous email conversation. Heaven knows, I can be a tad dramatic at times). That being said, I have on occasion encountered a certain lack of appreciation for what illustrators (and might I add, especially cartoonists) do for picture books. It can be small annoying things like every time I illustrate a book I have to send a special request to Amazon so that they will add my name at the top of the book entry, following the author. Or really shocking situations like when Madonna 'wrote' all those kid's books, and the illustrators didn't have their names on the cover of the book at all (of course that is a unique and hopefully never-to-be-repeated situation by any other author). Usually it just seems to me that in terms of promotion, the writer's name gets more coverage than that of the illustrator. And yet it is called a 'picture' book. But I have to be fair, here. It's the writer who comes up with the idea for the story, and yes, the words are usually crafted long before any pictures appear. As much as I would like equal billing, I must concede that the writer is steering the ship (am I using too much cheesy imagery here? This is the wannabe hack writer coming out in me). So perhaps it is assumed that since the writer is the one who has thought of the original idea and the story, then the illustrator will never be as 'creative' as the author, and is simply following the author's lead. I would rather not see the relationship of author and illustrator in this manner. And I am starting to ramble. Next question.<br /><br />I: Over the course of your career, what have you learned about the art of illustrating children’s books that would have surprised you in the beginning?<br /><br />PS: I had always assumed that when an illustrator was hired to draw the pictures for a picture book manuscript, that the story was completely polished and finished at this point. But this is not always the case, and the artist may go off in some interesting directions, while editors are still actually doing last-minute edits on the story. Sometimes art can change at the last minute because of this.<br /><br />I was also very surprised to find out how much control the Marketing Department (in some publishing houses) has in terms of which artist is chosen for specific projects. But I do have to remind myself that as much as I may just want to create silly, adorable pictures for kids, it is, in the end, a commercial product, and well, publishers do appreciate making money (as do I).<br /><br />One aspect of this industry which really surprised me was when I was told that some big box bookstores even have editorial control over potential manuscripts and art. They are consulted by publishers and can say yea nor nay on a project, if they think it will or will not sell. They can also recommend creative changes on book covers. Frightening.<br /><br />I: You’ve recently made the leap from illustrator to author too, of your most recent book <span style="font-style: italic;">The </span><a style="font-style: italic;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S15O5R0wnHI/AAAAAAAACTE/Q6t6wN_eJWs/s1600-h/pp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 278px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vMEDJZgTd_c/S15O5R0wnHI/AAAAAAAACTE/Q6t6wN_eJWs/s320/pp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430864946599599218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Pirate and the Penguin</span>. Would this be a natural extension for any illustrator? Was it a natural extension for you, and why?<br /><br />PS: I don't think making the leap from illustrator to author is for every artist. Not every illustrator has a gift of the written word. Some just have no interest in doing it at all (and really, why would one willingly enter into another career that has the potential to do more serious damage to one's already delicate ego?)<br /><br />Becoming a picture book author was a natural extension for me, though. I have always loved words just as much as art, and I think this has a lot to do with my enduring love of cartoons and comics. In fact, that's how I learned to read through cartoons, comic strips and comic books, in conjunction with picture books, of course. As a kid I wrote and drew countless comic strips, and as I got older, I enjoyed writing stories and poems and my own one-panel gag cartoons. Any chance I could get to not write a standard dull essay in high school English, and instead do something creative, I took it. (For example, in my grade 13 Canadian English course, I opted to write a musical based on Richler's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz</span>).<br /><br />As much as I enjoy illustrating the words of others, I do have my own ideas that I would love to see come alive in a book. I sometimes have to pinch myself when I look at <span style="font-style: italic;">The Pirate and the Penguin</span>, I can't believe I've managed to get this far with my dreams. I hope I may be allowed to write and illustrate more stories in the future. But I gotta be truthful for me, it's very hard, writing picture book stories. The writing is much harder to do than the art. So really, just ignore everything I was kvetching about in question one. What the hell do I know?<br /><br />I: What were your favourite books as a child? What contemporary children’s books would you recommend now? And what about graphic novels?<br /><br />PS: Favourite picture books as a child...hmmmmm....<span style="font-style: italic;">Dr. Suess</span>, of course, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Harry The Dirty Dog</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Curious George</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Madeleine</span>, and I adored the <span style="font-style: italic;">Nutshell Library</span> books by Maurice Sendak. Oh, and everything by Ezra Jack Keats. I was also a big fan of <span style="font-style: italic;">Harriet The Spy</span>, and devoured all the <span style="font-style: italic;">Freddy The Pig</span> books. And there's a big place in my heart for <span style="font-style: italic;">Charlotte's Web</span>, one of the most beautiful children's books ever written, I would say. I always associate the <span style="font-style: italic;">Paddington The Bear</span> books with warmth, comfort and security. Roald Dahl, of course. And I read all the work of L.M. Montgomery many, many times when I was young. As much as I adore the <span style="font-style: italic;">Anne </span>books, <span style="font-style: italic;">A Tangled Web</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Blue Castle</span> are my favourites.<br /><br />Books I would recommend now? I really enjoy picture books by Oliver Jeffers and Mo Willems, and Sara O'Leary's <span style="font-style: italic;">When You Were Small</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Where You Came From</span> are so lovely (and illustrated by award-winning artist Julie Morstad!). If you haven't read Carin Berger's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Yellow Leaf</span>, then you must! The art and the story are so astoundingly beautiful, I nearly wept with envy when I read it. And I've been reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbit & Squirrel: A Tale of War & Peas</span> over and over again lately (written by Kara LaReau, art by Scott Magoon); I laugh every time. I'm not a fan of fantasy fiction (I've yet to crack open any Harry Potter); I tend to be drawn to more 'whimsical' books, things like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Penderwicks</span> by Jeanne Birdsall, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Willoughbys</span> by Lois Lowry, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mysterious Benedict Society</span> by Trenton Lee Stewart. Kate DiCamillo's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tale of Despereaux</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane</span> are definite must-reads.<br /><br />I'd love to one day create a graphic novel, but I must confess, I need to read more of them I don't feel I know enough about them. I'm a big fan of the work of Posy Simmonds, but her graphic novels aren't really for kids. Heh.<br /><br />I: What do you think are the best things that families can do to promote a love of reading?<br /><br />PS: The best thing a family could do to promote a love of reading? Blow up the damn TV. Seriously, (and I know I'm going to sound like a pompous grumpy old lady) if you want to encourage your kids to read, then you've got to set a good example, and read in front of them, not just to them. Have plenty of books in the house. That's the kind of environment I grew up in. Books were everywhere. I always saw my mother reading at home (it helps of course, that she's a librarian). If parents do not place great value on books and reading, why should the kids? A child should have a library card at a very early age, and going to the library should be a family ritual, as should reading stories at home, and discussing books and authors. Video games, television and computer time should be limited. I know that's an old-fashioned attitude, but too bad. It takes discipline, care and effort, end of story.<br /><br />I: And on a somewhat unrelated note, but because I always want to know, what are you reading right now?<br /><br />PS: Right now I am struggling with A.S.Byatt's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Children's Book</span>, of all things. It's a long novel, and there are so many characters, and the writing is at times a tad dull and plodding, as if I am learning a history lesson. But there are lovely and rich moments, too, and I am still very intrigued and curious, and I have been assured that it will get better, so I shall soldier on. I just finished Francine Prose's <span style="font-style: italic;">Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them</span>, and I can't stop thinking about it. I found her discussions on writing and reading so clear and concise, and so very helpful. I highly recommend it. I also recently read Marisha Pessl's <span style="font-style: italic;">Special Topics in Calamity Physics</span>, and I can't stop thinking about that book either, but not in a good way. I'm so mad that I wasted time on such overrated pretentious pap, but part of me is also thankful for reading this mess, if for no other reason than to remind myself of what never, ever, ever to do when writing anything. And in the past few months, I have fallen in love with Philip Roth (his work, of course, not the man). I've also been enjoying a collection of old <span style="font-style: italic;">Punch </span>cartoons, and I've always got a <span style="font-style: italic;">New Yorker</span> issue on the go-- it's a must in my house!Kerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.com