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  • Scaredy Cat — Susanna Hill’s HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST

    By Beth | October 29, 2013

    Susanna Leonard Hill, who comes up with the most delightful ideas, is hosting her annual Halloweensie writing contest on her blog this week. The “weensie” part of the Halloweensie title indicates the length of the story contestants are to write, and believe me, this year the word limit makes for a very weensie story. The…

  • Little Penguin — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | October 24, 2013

    Title: Little Penguin: the Emperor of Antarctica Author: Jonathan London Illustrator: Julie Olson Publisher: Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Children, 2011

  • Celebrating Tony Walton!

    By Beth | October 23, 2013

    I’ve recently read a wonderful book about the amazing stage and film designer (of both costumes and sets), stage director, and illustrator Tony Walton, and I wanted to share both the book and some thoughts about a few of his design projects with you. Title: The Designs of Tony Walton Author: Delbert Unruh   Publisher:…

  • Jean Little, Great Canadian Author

    By Beth | October 20, 2013

    Doing the research for this post was a joy. Jean Little is one of my favorite authors, a widely acclaimed author of both picture books and middle grade novels. She was born in Taiwan of Canadian parents in 1932, which makes her 81 — a fact which boggles my mind just a little. The family…

  • Too Much Noise in the Library — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | October 17, 2013

    Title: Too Much Noise in the Library Author: Susan Margaret Chapman Illustrator: Abby Carter Publisher: Janesville, WI: Upstart Books, 2010.

  • Giving Thanks

    By Beth | October 13, 2013

    It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada. It’s a day of thinking of all that we have to be grateful for, of celebrating the harvest, of joining with family and friends to feast on turkey and pumpkin pie (unless you’re a farmer, in which case you’re likely very busy getting the crop off the field and the…

  • Mirror mirror — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | October 10, 2013

    Title: Mirror, mirror: a book of reversible verse Author: Marilyn Singer Illustrator: Josée Masse Publisher: New York: Dutton (Penguin Group), 2010.

  • Super Reader Erik is READING FOR RENN

    By Beth | October 8, 2013

    Just a quick post on a non-posting day. You are likely familiar with Erik, the Kid Who Reviews Books — I participated in the blog tour launching his first book not long ago. And if you’ve read this blog before, you’re likely also familiar with Renn, the son of my friend and writing colleague, Bethany…

  • A book of a different order …

    By Beth | October 6, 2013

    Make that “of a different phylum…” My cousin Beverley Brenna has a new book coming out, with an anticipated release date of November 15th. It is a departure from the subject matter and style of her recent books, which may come as a surprise to those who have read and loved the time-slip adventure Falling…

  • Introducing “Flubs 2 Fixes”

    By Beth | September 30, 2013

    I am pleased to announce that as of today, Tuesday, October 1, 2013, I am launching my freelance copy-editing and proofreading service for writers! Yes, this is the news I hinted at yesterday. As I say in my introduction page (in the drop-down menu above), have you ever hit send on a document, or put…

  • Chester’s Masterpiece — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | September 26, 2013

    Title: Chester’s Masterpiece Author/Illustrator: Mélanie Watt (although Chester the Cat would disagree) Publisher: Toronto, ON, Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, 2010 Genre: Picture book, fiction, humor

  • Of mysteries — both reading and writing them…

    By Beth | September 22, 2013

    I surprised myself this spring when I began writing a middle-grade mystery, and found that I was enjoying the process thoroughly. (Since it’s for middle grade readers, it has no goriness in it. My kind of book!) When I think about it, though, it shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Although my mystery reading as…