Recognition!!!

Just to let you know, 'Can Hens Give Milk?' was on the shortlist of five books nominated by VEPVPA for 2012 (Vancouver Elementary School Principals and Vice Principals) I didn't win, but 'I Want To Go To The Moon,' did. Written by Tom Saunders it is also illustrated by my pal Cynthia Nugent and the honour to them both was well deserved.

'Can Hens Give Milk?' was also awarded an Honorable Mention on the OLA (Ontario Library Assoc.) Best Bets List for 2011.

Jewish Seniors Alliance

I'm going to be writing for the Jewish Seniors Alliance in Vancouver. You can find it online. My column is under Book Reviews. I'll review children's books (old and new) and give tips on reading to children. I might also include some of my unpublished stories. Even though the site is for Seniors, it will be suitable for anyone who is interested in children's stories. Enjoy!

PJ Library

It stands for Pajama library. PJ Library gives books to families who want to read Jewish bedtime stories together. I just found out that they've chosen 'Can Hens Give Milk?' as one of the books they'll be giving away to families in North America. What I didn't know, until I checked their website, was that they'd already chosen my earlier book 'The Kugel Valley Klezmer Band,' quite a while ago! It was the U.S. edition and somehow I never got the information. In Canada the title of the softcover version of that book was changed to 'Shira's Hanukkah Gift.' Confusing to everyone, even me - ESPECIALLY me. But I feel honoured to have had two books chosen for this project.
Keep on writing!

Reading and Writing and Re-Writing

And I suppose I could have said re-reading too. First of all One Dog and His Boy was a beautiful book. It was written for children but I couldn't put it down, and we all know I'm not a child anymore. Why couldn't I put it down? Because it's a good story well written. It has humour, emotions, adventure, loyalty, a good cast of characters and some great dogs. I hope that Eva Ibbotson knew what a beautiful book she had written. And reading it reminded me to aim higher myself - to make sure my stories are everything I want them to be so that readers will enjoy reading them.

The re-writing I'm doing right now is on my musical Hanukkah in Chelm. Yes, Kol Halev is re-mounting it in December, but we have a few new cast members and I've changed the script a little bit here and there, and added a new song. I wrote a couple of monologues for the auditions and one monologue was funny enough to convince me to put it into the script. Of course this script is not the only re-writing that I'm doing. There's a pile or two of stories waiting for some heavy re-writes and some subtle tweaks.

Re-read all your work, over and over again. But also re-read some of your favourite books. A good book is a friend you want to keep visiting. So what are you waiting for? Visit.

One Boy and His Dog

I have just started reading Eva Ibbotson's final book. She had only just finished correcting the proofs when she died in her sleep aged 85. From what I've read so far, and also from the reviews this book has garnered, I'd say she died on top of her game. I'll tell you more when I've finished reading it.

Write!
Proofread!
Re-write!
Then repeat all of the above a few more times.

Bert, Ernie and Rubber Ducky.

There's a petition going the rounds to have Bert and Ernie get married on Sesame Street. Some people might not approve, but it seems to me that anyone getting married should have a song, especially someone on Sesame Street. I decided to write a duet for Bert and Ernie, just in case.

Bert:'You and me and rubber ducky/Ernie we are oh so lucky/Always together in all kinds of weather/We were meant to be.'

Ernie: 'You and me and rubber ducky/Bert, you're right, we're oh so lucky/We're getting married 'cos we're feeling plucky/We were meant to be - You, Rubber Ducky and me.'

I know, it might sound like a threesome, but it's not. Rubber Ducky is only their toy, not a real living breathing puppet.

Kids Can Figure Things Out For Themselves! Really!

Why do so many publishers underestimate the intelligence and intuition of children? When a book is set in another time and/or another place it's very jarring to suddenly read a modern phrase or sentence structure that propels you back into the here and/or now. In England it's common to say 'out of the window' and 'at the back of the house,' not 'out the window' or 'in back of the house.' A child will understand the difference or figure it out. 'Sidewalk' is North American and 'pavement' is English. The context will make the meaning clear. Please don't insult the child by assuming you need to translate! With more difficult words or concepts there's nothing wrong with a footnote. I'm reading a very good book for young readers which takes place in Victorian London. Unfortunately, now and then, a word appears out of time and place. The narrator uses the word 'bangs' to describe her hairdo but the word is 'fringe' in England. Even without an explanation the meaning of the word 'fringe' is easy to figure out. So editors, please don't talk down to the kids. They want a challenge.