Ever alert to references to children's books changing lives, I was delighted to come across this memory of reading Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by science fiction writer China Mieville, in the June 4/11 issue of The New Yorker, p 80 – 81: "Your dapper batrachian hero sits on his lily pad. […]
This past weekend's conference "From the Garden to the Trenches: Childhood, Culture and the First World War" was the occasion for a stunning display, here at the Osborne Collection, of children's books, toys and games relating to the two world wars. You could do a whole study of attitudes to war, play and childhood in […]
My colleagues at the Vermont College of Fine Arts alerted me to this lovely short video showing a book being constructed. The publisher being featured is "Slightly Foxed." Their quarterly publication (www.foxedquarterly.com/) often features smart and appreciative articles about children's literature. Here we go: Take a couple of minutes and sink into the pleasure of […]
Q: What does it take to make a little boy happy? A: Many cardboard boxes, a roll of strapping tape and lots of time. For a joyous reminder of the sustaining power of imagination (and to meet a really great dad) have a look at this short film. Caine sums up why I write for […]
On my walk to the Osborne I pass by a rich medley of fences: lattice, wrought-iron (plain and fancy), wattle and picket. There is even one split rail fence, obviously constructed by some lonesome cowboy. Best poem about fences? My nomination is by David McCord. It is a marvel of rhythm and the precise use […]
Prompted by Case #2 in the current Osborne display, "The World Was All Before Them," I've just read E. Nesbit's Harding's Luck from 1923. This is a wild book! E. Nesbit is really the godmother of the middle grade novel and my biggest influence as a writer. This is a time travel novel, in which […]
There's a piece on young adult literature in this morning's Globe and Mail. Commentator Sheila Heti makes a couple of good points. The first is that adult approval is the kiss of death for a young adult novel. (This makes things tricky for the marketing folk at publishers!). The second is that young adults read […]
Yesterday's stunning performance of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" at the Lillian H. Smith Branch played to a capacity crowd. The production incorporated both classical and avant garde elements, adhering to the Aristotelian unities of time and place while experimenting with a post modern middle billy goat: "I'm the middle billy goat and my name […]
Last Tuesday at the Picture Book Workshop we had a chance to see some of Barbara Reid's work up close. The Osborne has several of her original plasticine illustrations and they brought a couple down to the meeting room for our pleasure. One was from her 2009 title, Perfect Snow. What hit me was the […]
Thoughts on Classics. On my way to the Osborne Collection in the morning I walk through a neighbourhood in which people put their unwanted stuff out on the street. (A very sensible approach to recycling. Wonder why we don't do this more in Vancouver? Oh yes. Rain.) There are always lots of books. This morning […]