“Playing with Story” workshop with Margaret Read MacDonald

Learn several lively audience-participation folktales and leave ready-to-tell. Plan a story time for the week following the workshop so you can put your new tales to use! The workshop will also include a brief discussion of the art of the folktale picture book and the path a folktale takes from traditional teller to published book. Bibliographies for more telling resources will be provided.

Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald is an internationally renowned and respected storyteller, folklorist, children’s librarian, and author of numerous essential story-telling books. Her workshops empower the beginning teller, quickly turning novices into eager tellers. For more information, visit: www.margaretreadmacdonald.com


Saturday, January 16, 2010 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Central Library, Greater Victoria Public Library (735 Broughton Street, Victoria, BC) Cost: IslandLink Member Libraries – no charge. All others: BCLA members - $30.00 per person, non-BCLA members - $40.00 per person.
Registration deadline: December 31, 2009



For more information, please call Katherine Anderson at 250-383-9409 or email kanderson@islandlink.bclibrary.ca

Sponsored by IslandLink Library Federation, British Columbia Library Association and Greater Victoria Public Library

Next Roundtable Meeting: Monday, January 18, 2010

Our next meeting will take place on Monday, January 18, 2010 at 7:30pm at the Nellie McClung Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library. Our speaker will be Mike Deas.



Mike Deas is an Illustrator living and working in Victoria, British Columbia. Currently he is illustrating the graphic novel series Graphic Guide Adventures by Author Liam O’Donnell. His love for comics comes from an early age reading and drawing while growing up on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. 

Capilano Collage’s Commercial Animation Program in Vancouver helped Mike fine tune his drawing skills and imagination. Work as a concept artist, texture artist and art director in the video game industry took Mike to England and California. For More information visit him at www.deasillustration.com.

Great Books for the Children on Your List

Every year at this time, children’s staff at the Greater Victoria Public Library compile lists of recommended books in time for holiday shopping. Here are some of our favourites for 2009:

Children’s Picture Books

• The Bears We Know by Brenda Silsbe, illus. by Vlasta van Kampen (2009) CDN/BC
• The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith (2009)
• Bradley McGogg: The Very Fine Frog by Time Beiser, illus. by Rachel Berman (2008) CDN/BC
• Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, illus. by Polly Dunbar (2008)
• Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley & Ed Emberley (2009)
• The Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, illus. by Jon J Muth (2009)
• Dogs Don’t Brush Their Teeth by Diane deGroat & Shelley Rotner (2009)
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld (2009)
• The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Irene Luxbacher (2009) CDN
• It’s a Secret! by John Burningham (2009)
• The King’s Taster by Kennth Oppel, illus. by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher (2009) CDN
• Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini, illus. by Barry Moser (2009)
• Molly and the Night Monster by Chris Wormell (2008)
• Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban, illus. by Henry Cole (2009)
• Violet and Winston by Sonya Sones & Bennett Tramer, illus. by Chris Raschka (2009)
• Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illus. by Sophie Blackall (2009)

Children’s Non Fiction

• Amelia Earhart: the Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka (2008) CDN
• Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face And Other Poems: Some of the Best of Jack Prelutsky (2008)
• A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes & Harry Endrulat, illus. Brian Deines (2008) CDN
• Beverlie Manson's Fairies: a Celebration of the Seasons by Beverlie Manson (2008)
• The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry edited by Bill Martin Jr. (2008)
• Button Up! : Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertle (2009)
• Dr Frankenstein's Human Body Book: the Monstrous Truth About How Your Body Works by Richard Walker (2008)
• Eat it up!: Lip-Smacking Recipes for Kids by Elisabeth de Mariaffi (2009)
• FamilyFun Birthday Cakes: 50 Cute & Easy Party Treats edited by Deanna F. Cook and the experts at FamilyFun magazine (2003)
• FamilyFun Cookies for Christmas: 50 Cute & Quick Holiday Treats edited by Deanna F. Cook and the experts at FamilyFun magazine (2009)
• Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! by Bob Barner (2009)
• Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian (2009)
• Face to Face with Gorillas by Michael Nichols with Elizabeth Carney(2009)
• Hansel and Gretel retold by Michael Morpurgo, illus. by Emma Chichester Clark (2008)
• Knucklehead : Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka (2008)
• Sleight of Hand by Joe Fullman (2008)
• Super-Duper Cupcakes: Kids Creations From the Cupcake Caboose by Elaine Cohen (2006)
• Robots by the editors of YES Mag (2008) CDN
• You are the First Kid on Mars by Patrick O’Brien (2009)

Children’s Fiction

For Younger Readers (5-8):

• Bad to the Bone (Down Girl and Sit series) by Lucy Nolan (2008)
• Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman ; illus. by David Roberts (2009)
• Horse Crazy (Silver Horse Switch series) by Alison Lester (2007)
• Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas by Cary Fagan (2009) CDN
• The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt by Megan McDonald (2009)
• Melonhead by Katy Kelly (2009)
• Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes by Kate DiCamillo (2009)
• Piper Reed: the Great Gypsy by Kimberly Willis Holt (2008)
• Uh oh, Cleo by Jessica Harper (2008)

For Intermediate Readers (9-12):

• A Christmas to Remember: Tales of Comfort and Joy (Dear Canada series) CDN
• Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko (2009)
• Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress (2007) CDN
• Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson (2008) CDN
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney (2009)
• Everything For a Dog by Ann Martin (2009)
• Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (2009)
• Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (2009)
• Graveyard of the Sea by Penny Draper (2008) CDN
• Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick (2007)
• Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (2009)
• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle (2009)
• Where the River Takes Me: The HBC Diary of Jenna Sinclair (Dear Canada series) by Julie Lawson (2009) Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (2009)
• Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen (2008) CDN

Teen Fiction

• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (2009)
• Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby (2007) CDN
• Emily the Strange: the Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner (2009)
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008) (followed by Catching Fire)
• If I Stay by Gayle Foreman (2009)
• King of the Screwups by E.L. Going (2009)
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006) (followed by Dead and Gone)
• The Lit Report by Sarah Harvey (2008) CDN
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
• Q&A by Vikas Swarup (2005)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2008)
• A Thousand Shades of Blue by Robin Stevenson (2008) CDN
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (2007) (followed by Fragile Eternity)
• Wounded by Eric Walters (2009) CDN

December Roundtable Meeting

Please join us for our next Roundtable Meeting on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:30pm. Our presenter will be Penny Draper.

Penny is an author, a bookseller, and a storyteller who lives in Victoria, BC. Originally from Toronto, she received a degree in Literature from Trinity College, University of Toronto and on the side, attended the Storytellers’ School of Toronto. For many years, Penny shared tales as a professional storyteller at schools, libraries, conferences, festivals, and on radio and television. She has told stories in an Arabian harem and from inside a bear’s belly – but that is a story in itself.

Penny Draper’s first juvenile fiction novel,Terror at Turtle Mountain was a finalist for the Silver Birch Young Reader’s Choice Award in Ontario, as well as the Diamond Willow Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and Book of the Year for the ForeWord Magazine Awards in the USA. It is part of Coteau Books for Kids Disaster Strikes! Series. The series also includes Penny’s second book, Peril at Pier Nine, and her latest, Graveyard of the Sea.

Penny will show slides and tell us about her research for the Disaster Strikes! series. She is also going to treat us to some storytelling.

In the Spirit of the Holidays...

There will be Christmas goodies to enjoy and please don't forget to bring gently used children's books to donate to a literacy project of our choice.

November 16, 2009 Roundtable Meeting: Adrienne Kress

Our next Roundtable Meeting is taking place on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 7:30pm and will feature Adrienne Kress.

Adrienne Kress is a writer and actress born and raised in Toronto, Canada. It was only natural that Adrienne, the daughter of two high school English teachers, should fall in love with both creating and performing the written word. Adrienne wrote her first novel, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, while living in the UK.

Although Alex is Adrienne’s first book, it was snapped up almost immediately by publishers around the world. It earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and Adrienne was featured in the New York Post’s “Post Potter Picks” column (August 18, 2007) as one of six authors who have a chance to fill the void left by J.K. Rowling.

Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate was released in January 2009. It is both a sequel to Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and a stand-alone novel. The protagonist, Timothy, has his adventure at the same tome as the Alex has hers, meeting up with her halfway through the novel. It is being published by 5 publishers in 4 languages (so far) and has garnered rave reviews from Quill and Quire and Publisher’s Weekly.

Her short story “The Portal” is a part of the Wow! 365 anthology published by Scholastic, UK.

2009-2010 Red Cedar Book Award Nominees

Red Cedar Information Nominees 2009-2010

Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists by Raquel Rivera, ill.by Jirina Marton

Breakout Dinosaurs: Canada’s Coolest, Scariest Ancient Creatures—Return! by Hugh Brewster and the curators of the Royal Ontario Museum, ill.by Alan Barnard

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: the Story of a Painting by Hugh Brewster

Cowboys and Coffin Makers: One Hundred 19^th Century Jobs You Might Have Feared or Fancied by Laurie Coulter, ill.by Martha Newbigging

Factory Girl by Barbara Greenwood

How Soccer Works by Keltie Thomas, ill. by Stephen MacEachern

The Kids Book of Canada at War by Elizabeth MacLeod, ill. by John Mantha

Kids Who Rule: the Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs by Charis Cotter

Mirror with a Memory : a Nation’s Story in Photographs by Janice Weaver

The Siege: Under Attack in Renaissance Europe by Stephen Shapiro, ill.by John Mantha

The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr by Nicolas Debon

Sweet!: the Delicious Story of Candy by Ann Love and Jane Drake, ill. by Claudia Davila

This is My Planet: the Kids Guide to Global Warming by Jan Thornhill

Red Cedar Fiction Nominees 2009-2010

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress

A Perfect, Gentle Knight by Kit Pearson

The Castaways by Iain Lawrence

Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel

Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock

Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain by- Seán Cullen

Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuchner and illustrated by Cynthia Nugent

If I Die Before I Wake by Jean Little

Sacred Leaf by Deborah Ellis

Safe as Houses by Eric Walters

Schooled by Gordon Korman

The Secret of Grim Hill by Linda DeMeulemeester

Thora and the Green Sea-Unicorn by Gillian Johnson

Our thanks to the Red Cedar Fiction selection committee:

Pam McLeod, Victoria Miles, Joy Gugeler, Randi Robin and Tammy Fielden.

For more information, check out the Red Cedar Website

October Roundtable Meeting:

Monday, October 19, 7:30 pm at the Nellie McClung Library

Under the Reading Tree

Can you imagine life without any books to read? Find out how reading can break the cycle of poverty and effect positive changes in East Africa. Victoria author Lisa Lynam will present a slide show about her experiences in Uganda, where she worked with the Canadian organization "Under the Reading Tree" whose mission is to bring literacy to poverty-stricken communities.

Lisa is an athlete and has written a book called Triathalon for Women: a Mind-Body-Spirit Approach for Female Athletes (New York: Meyer & Meyer Sport, c2007).

Next Roundtable Presentation: September 28, 2009

with Hazel Hutchins

We are pleased to announce our first Victoria Children's Literature Roundtable meeting of the fall will take place on Monday, September 28, 2009 and will feature the very talented Hazel Hutchins.

Hazel is the author of over forty books for children spanning a kaleidoscope of age groups and interests. Most recent titles include the award-winning picture book Mattland, the fact-filled middle reader novel TJ and the Quiz Kids, and the more serious YA title After. Her lively presentations encourage young readers and writers across Canada to delight in the magic of story on all levels. Hazel makes her home in Canmore, Alberta.

You can learn more about Hazel on her website. See you at the meeting!

May 25, 2009: Chris Tougas

Our last meeting of the year is on Monday, May 25th at 7:30 pm, at the Nellie McClung Library at Cedar Hill Rd. & McKenzie Ave. (back entrance, library is closed). Chris Tougas, a writer-illustrator with nine children's books to his name, will be speaking.

For the last 10 years Chris has worked as both a concept developer and character designer for film, television and new media companies such as Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, Sesame Workshop, Bardel Entertainment, Animation Lab, Nelvana, Fox and many others.

Chris's recent work with Canadian companies has received wide recognition. Concept and design direction for location-based game development company, Blister Entertainment's, Mobile Pooch helped earn the runner up spot for the Navtec Global Challenge. Design work and commercial direction for the Alberta Chiropractic Association's television campaign earned an Ace advertising award and most recently, designs for Hotrocket Studio's C.I.E. project contributed toward winning first place in the 2007 Kidscreen International Pitch-It competition in New York City. Chris brings highly valued expertise in character and concept development; skills that are acutely tuned to merchandising and other business development triggers.

Chris' recent book Mechanimals has been nominated for the BC Chocolate Lilly and the Saskatchewan Willow award. It was runner up for best illustrated book by the Canadian Library Association and won the Alcuin Award for excellence in book design and the City of Victoria's Bolen Book award.

Chris has several new picture books in development. You can check out his blog at http://christougas.blogspot.com/

Next Meeting: April 20, 2009

Our next meeting is fast approaching. On Monday, April 20, at 7:30 pm, at the Nellie McClung Library at Cedar Hill Rd. & McKenzie Ave. (back entrance, library is closed), we will hear Diane Swanson, a very prolific writer of children's non-fiction, speak.

Diane Swanson is a full-time author who gets her inspiration from the natural world. Swanson encourages young writers to "Write what really excites you. No matter what your subject is, if you let your excitement shine through your words, you'll grab your readers' interest." Creating engaging and factual books for children is definitely what excites Diane Swanson.

For more info about Diane and her books, please visit http://www.authorviews.com/authors/swanson.php


Our last meeting is Monday, May 25 and will be a presentation by Mark Tougas, author and illustrator of Mechanimals, winner of the first Bolen Book Prize last November, 2008. More information to follow.

Kristin Butcher-Monday, February 23, 2009

Looking into the Prism—Three Sides to Every Story

It takes inspiration, perspiration, and a healthy knowledge of the craft of writing to shape a story. But it's the writer's personal experiences that breathe life into it, and it's the reader's personal experiences that unearth its soul.

Join Kristin Butcher as she examines the reflective qualities of the writing process—where stories come from, what makes them credible, poignant, and memorable, and most importantly, what makes them unique.

Please join us on Monday, February 23rd, 7:30 pm at the Nellie McClung branch of GVPL to hear Kristin and be sure to visit kristinbutcher.com and learn all about this fantastic author.

Next Presentation: Monday, January 19, 2009 at 7pm

We have two excellent presenters lined up for our next meeting. Check out their bios below:

Robin Stevenson spent 10 years working as a counselor and social worker before beginning a new career as an author. Robin’s first YA novel, Out of Order, was published in the fall of 2007 and was a Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books starred selection. She has since published four more novels: a sports adventure novel called Dead in the Water, a juvenile novel called Impossible Things, a YA reluctant reader called Big Guy, and her newest release, a teen novel called A Thousand Shades of Blue. A sixth novel for teens, Inferno, will be published in the spring of 2009. Robin grew up in England and Ontario, and now lives in Victoria, BC.

Author Website: www.robinstevenson.com

Michelle Mulder loves writing about kids who seize life’s opportunities. Her early readers, Maggie and the Chocolate War, and Yeny and the Children for Peace, are based on true stories of children who banded together to improve their world. Originally a freelance travel writer, Michelle began writing for children in 2006 with the release of the first picture book of the Theodore Too series. She has since published two more picture books (both in the Theodore Too series) and two early readers. Orca Publishers will be releasing her third early reader, After Peaches, in Fall 2009.

Author website: www.michellemulder.com

Happy New Year!

It's a new year for the Victoria Children's Literature Roundtable with lots of exciting events on the horizon. Here's a sneak peek at some of our upcoming speakers:

January 19, 2009: Robin Stevenson & Michelle Mulder - new voices in Canadian Children's Literature

February 23, 2009: Kirstin Butcher- talks about her books

May 25, 2009: Chris Tougas - Mechanimal, winner of first Bolen Book prize for children

Check back soon for more info!