When I was a little girl, bedtime stories were the best part of my day. I’d snuggle up with Mom or Dad in the big green-upholstered armchair for another round of The Digging-est Dog or Stop That Ball (parts of which I can still recite to this day). When I got a little older, I’d...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Marie Prins. Take it away, Marie! I came to writing for children late in life, well after my own children had grown and left home. But books and stories have always been a big part of my life, even...

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I’m still freaking out a little bit about not being ready for Halloween, and here we are, with Christmas just around the corner. But I’m pretty sure I’ve nailed the holiday decorating: I’m back from a whirlwind trip to Boston, where Tech Support and I took in the sights, and where I – with author-friend...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Jean Mills. Take it away, Jean! Like most authors, I use the world around me – especially my own world of experience – to create stories for young readers. So it’s not hard to identify the spark that ignited...

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Happy I Read Canadian Day, everybody! If you’re not familiar, today is the day we celebrate Canadian stories by reading a Canadian book for 15 minutes. All forms of reading count, and you certainly don’t have to stop after 15 minutes. Goodness knows I never do! This year, I’m celebrating I Read Canadian Day with...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Karen Autio. Take it away, Karen! The most important tip for having a playdate with a child with developmental disabilities is just to have [a playdate]. —Sarah Lyons, freelance writer and mother of six Playdates at our home got...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Alison Lohans. Take it away, Alison! Creating new things. Sometimes beautiful things. We rarely know the deep origins, or why a particular “something” begins to wiggle, and then morph into a new creative work. Ever since high school, already...

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Autumn is creeping up on me. It’s getting dark earlier and there are more cloudy days, neither of which my light-sensitive brain is very happy about. But as things get a little greyer, I’ve been gifted two enormous reasons to celebrate. Polar has just won the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award! The...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Lana Button. Take it away, Lana! My new picture book is best served with Sprite in a fancy glass and my Grammie’s scotch cake cookies. So set your oven to 325F and mix: 1 pound of soft butter 1...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Heather Stemp. Take it away, Heather! I began writing Amelia & Me, the first book in the Ginny Ross Series, when Amelia Earhart dropped into my family history. The convergence of Amelia’s history with my own was an opportunity...

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