Upcoming Events

This month I'll be presenting digitally to the grade threes at Saint Michael's University School in Victoria. Also, keep an eye out for an article about Duck Days in Pique Newsmagazine.

My Children's Book Recommendation...

January's recommendation is Tacky and The Winter Games, a picture book by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger. This has been one of my favourite picture books for years. Tacky the Penguin is an odd bird, and he befuddles his teammates from Nice Icy Land as they train for and compete in the Winter Games. He gets them disqualified by bellysliding down the bobsled and crashes in the ski jumping event. He nearly wrecks their chances of a medal entirely by eating the baton in the speedskating competition, but manages to pull through in his own odd fashion. This is such a fun read-aloud. I'm not sure who has more fun--the students I read it to or me.

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What I'm reading now...

I'm really enjoying Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. I love its opening line: "In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who might have been criminals." Set in the chaos of post-war London, is has a wonderful, eclectic cast of characters and is both a beautifully written and satisfying story.

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Behind the scenes...

The idea for Duck Days came when I was trying to find a new challenge for Lauren at school, and I thought of the WORCA bike programs that are run at Spring Creek Community School each year. Most of the kids love the mountain biking days, but there are a few for whom they are a big challenge. I wanted Lauren to have a physical challenge as well as a friendship challenge. I also wanted her to solve it in her own way, which is why she didn't learn to ride without her training wheels.