So apparently it’s the middle of July already? The backyard menagerie doesn’t seem surprised by this news. The first clutch of robins has fledged, and a pair of goldfinches have set up house in a tree just over the neighbour’s fence, so we get to watch them swoop past our deck on their supply runs....

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Sheryl McFarlane. Take it away, Sheryl! Hi, I’m Sheryl McFarlane and I’m so excited to share my new picture book, The Blue Canoe. It’s published by Familius and beautifully illustrated by Laurel Aylesworth. Every cabin day is a paddle-on-the-lake...

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Apparently Science Rendezvous Kingston was SIX WEEKS ago, and I haven’t posted about it yet?! In my defence, COVID took up two of those weeks. I’d managed to avoid catching it up to this point, but after getting up close and personal with literally thousands of children during Book Week and Science Rendezvous, it was...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Rochelle Strauss. Take it away, Rochelle! Take a deep breath in. Now hold it. You probably know that you have the trees to thank for that breath you just took. Trees and other plants provide the oxygen that makes...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Amanda West Lewis. Take it away, Amanda! For most of my life, I’ve actively avoided writing poetry. There are SO MANY bad poems in the world. But poetry has always been a huge part of my life. I studied...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Syliva McNicoll. Take it away, Sylvia! Food allergies seem like a big bother when you can’t bring your favourite sandwich or have a special treat day at school. But how much bigger is the bother for the person who...

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Well, that was a whirlwind! Experienced authors warned us newbies that Canadian Children’s Book Week was both incredible and exhausting, and they were… not wrong. I crashed pretty hard after my last visit Friday afternoon and am just now starting to feel like myself again. But what a week! Nickel City Literacy League I started...

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Happy Earth Week, my friends! Tech Support and I celebrated Earth Day by doing our annual “stick it in the ground and hope for the best” spring planting in the back garden. So far, the neighborhood bunny – affectionately known as DoG (Destroyer of Gardens) – has declared our new lupin delicious… which does not...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Carol Matas. Take it away, Carol! I know I am a guest on a scientist’s blog today, but I have to talk about something that doesn’t quite fit in with scientific theory. Or does it??? Psychic powers? Synchronicity? Messages...

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Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Loretta Garbutt. Take it away, Loretta! Writing for children is an incredible experience and it’s also a lot of hard work. But, I love it. Not every single minute, but when I sit to write, I feel like I’m...

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