Why???

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Reading through the Publisher's Weekly response to the front page NY Times article declaring an end to picture books, I kept wondering why the NYT's did it? It seems so lit-snob smarmy. I worked in publishing and know it when I smell it. There is no end of editors world-wide who will, um, crap on any book at all. So, really, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to take a dump in the picture book yard. 


Bad decision it seems. According to PW, the Times online edition received 8 - haha - pages of irate emails cursing the article and its conclusions. What's worse is that some of the individuals interviewed felt completely misquoted and that their statements were creatively edited. 


But Why? What would be served if we saw the end of the picture book? No more Eric Carle, Bruno Munari, Hillary Knight, Christoph Niemann, David Wiesner, Suzy Lee...my list goes on and on. I love the feel of good, heavy paper between my fingers; the smell of a book. To my daughter, page or ipad, it's all the same. And since the Barnes and Noble (nook) e-reader has a 4-colour screen the age of ebooks should not effect picture books at all. I declare the New York Times out of touch and snooty to boot! HA HA take that you charlatans!!

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Dragons and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

I'm so happy to see that Christoph Niemann's new picture book SUBWAY was named one of the best 10 illustrated children's books of 2010 by the New York Times. His first picture book THE PET DRAGON is magnificent...a great story with an elegant illustrative twist.

A little girl is given a baby dragon. They become best friends and then the dragon goes missing. Throughout the friendship and journey ro find the pet dragon, Chinese characters are woven into the illustrations in a way that makes the meaning obvious. After a few times through the story, my daughter was able to identify nearly all of the characters.

It's a great book, still in print, and a wonderful way to introduce Chinese characters.

Ummm, I don't have anything to say about bears. I just like the Wizzard of Oz.

READING

Last week I was invited to a party hosted by the adoption agency that facilitated our adoption from China. The room was full of girls (and 2 boys) , all adopted from China. Some were past the age of picture books but still argued which one of them was the 'tiny tiger'...my writer's heart skipped a beat. Holy cow they actually identify...and like it enough to have a spat over it! They didn't know I was the writer, so they had no idea they had made my day. And calmed my stomach, since I was under the impression that I was doing a reading later on...my first reading ever.


But after a long, somewhat painful, dance recital, followed by a weird, smarmy magician the girls  -- and parents if truth be told -- were in no mood for a book reading and mercifully it didn't happen.


My relief at not boring the life out of the already sagging party was later followed by some disappointment. It turned out that I really wanted to read. And still do...At a party full of bored children, at a bookstore in the boonies, at the library around the corner with 2 kids listening. Who knows, someone might just fight over who the tiny tiger really is.

WWF - Year of the Tiger

I chose to use Tigers in my book for a personal reason -- my childhood nickname was based on ‘tiger’.  It felt like a good fit. Before I started to write, I did a bit of research on tigers. There were some fun facts like: A tiger’s roar can paralyze a human being. They are the biggest feline on the planet; bigger than lions. The largest is the Siberian Tiger:conservatively measuring nine feet (274 cm) from nose to tail and weighing in at 400 - 600 pounds (181 - 272 kg)! And now it is nearly extinct with only 400 left in Siberian forests.

The Siberian Tiger used to be called the Amur Tiger because it inhabited an enormous territory that stretched from south of the Amur River in China, and north into Russia (Siberia). Now there are none left in China. The ever-shrinking habitat is located north of the river in Siberia. Hence, the Siberian Tiger. This weekend Russia's Vladimir Putin hosted the first ever International Tiger Conservation Forum. Twelve nations, all from Asia, were represented. Obviously a good thing, but also a sad thing since tiger population has been declining for decades...a hundred years ago there were 100 000 tigers in the world; today there are 3200.  A dead tiger is worth $50 000 (US) once the poachers skin it and harvest all the body bits for ‘medicinal’ purposes.

What is a live one worth? I say, our humanity. If we can’t get fired up to save the largest of the big cats, one of the most beautiful and revered animals on our planet, then what can we save?  This is the Year of the Tiger. Let’s make it mean something. You can visit the WWF  (WWF - Year of the Tiger ) for ways to help.

WWF - Year of the Tiger

MOON FESTIVAL

Today (September 28) is the zenith of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival; also called Moon Festival. Every year the festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar cycle of the Chinese year. 

Why moon? Because the moon is at its brightest for the entire year. Take a look tonight and you’ll see a moon of spectacular luminosity. According to my father-in-law, it is a harvest festival meant to celebrate the abundance of the harvest and our lives. Whenever we went to my in-laws’ home the place was full of food; a multi-course dinner, seeds, nuts and tiny pastries in trays, and of course the moon cakes.

I adore moon cakes. It is one of my favourite holiday sweets. I like the ones filled with white lotus seed paste the best. I’ve never warmed up to the black or red paste and the seed and nut filling is the Chinese equivalent to English fruitcake -- horrible. My mother-in-law likes it a lot. This week I’ve been left alone with a surplus of moon cakes, and I’ve eaten too many. For those of you who’ve never had one (I really think you should rectify this): the lotus paste is dense and sweet and it’s covered with a thin layer of pastry. Buried in the lotus paste is a preserved egg yolk, representing the moon. Do not be alarmed! If the egg yolk is not your idea of dessert, you can pop it right out. Just like you would with the yolk of a hard boiled egg. And of course, like all good sweet treats, it’s about a million calories a serving. My  attitude to it is that holiday and festival calories count as zero. And so I am free to eat as much moon cake, Halloween candy, shortbread cookies and Valentine’s chocolate as I can digest. 

I encourage you all to rush out and get your moon cake while the moon is at it’s highest and brightest...now that it’s on sale and calorie free, get extra!  

There are a few stories about moon cakes, and one of my favourites is this one: In  the 14th century the Mongols were driven out of China with help of the humble moon cake. Chinese rebels delivered their top secret battle plans in moon cakes -- not to be eaten until the night of the festival. The Mongol-hordes, apparently, didn’t go for moon cake and the rebellion was a success! (for the Chinese that is)


If I've persuaded you to get some of the little cakes, there are a few links on the side-bar to the right. At least one of them delivers! Enjoy.

OUR RED THREAD STORY

We began our adoption process when the wait was estimated at 9 months. Nearly 2 years later, we were still waiting. On a grey November morning I checked the CCAA site and based on our log-in date we had another 6 months to wait. Another Christmas without ...we tried to shrug it off and get on with the day.


A couple hours later the phone rang -- our file was ready! Our daughter would be here!!! We had 7 weeks to get ready to bring our daughter home. Well, 7 weeks minus holiday celebrations and a ski / snowboard trip that we book and prepaid when we were feeling sad about the waiting. In the time we had, I shopped like a maniac. Crib, car seat, clothes, bottles, formula, all of it done in what felt like record speed.


Our trip to the big mountain was amazing. A new snowboard, record snowfalls and no one but us and the locals on the runs. A dream vacation.


At the end of the first day, I took a fall. As I spun through the air, a brain tumour that I was unaware of, shifted, and made itself known.


 That night I felt so vertiginous I could barely walk. As the days passed, vertigo and disorientation haunted me. I told only my husband and then, only a watered-down version. With less than 2 weeks before we were scheduled to go to China, the migraines and vertigo got so bad I had to go to the hospital. Enough time to get fixed up before we have to leave, I told myself.


Not quite. A CT found a “mass” at the base of my brain. The mass: meduloblastoma, was brain cancer. My snowboarding fall moved it so that it was preventing fluid from draining from my brain. My only hope was surgery as soon as possible. My insanely talented and dedicated neuro-surgeon explained that there would be no air travel for at least 7 weeks. And the ‘insult’ of surgery would zero my balance and co-ordination centre. Recovery would take 2 years. No travel.


I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life. Unfair. Raw deal. @#$&%!!!
Then I calmed down, and made my husband a deal: I would meet him at the airport if he went to China and brought our little girl home. He said he would and I knew he would. Two and a half weeks later, Tom brought our baby girl home and we shared a teary family hug in the middle of the International Arrivals Terminal.


That snowboarding fall saved my life and my family. Sooner or later the tumour was going to creep its way into my brain matter and then no amount of surgery or radiation would’ve saved me. Luck. Red thread. Destiny. I don’t know, but I’m eternally grateful to whoever or whatever is responsible.

HELLO

Why this blog? Why now?  At the end of August I went to a writers’ festival and attended a workshop with the very funny writer Terry Fallis (he’s got a Leacock Medal to prove it). The workshop wasn’t about writing or being funny, it was about SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION -- something I’ve always struggled with -- but here I am shamelessly promoting by children’s (print-on-demand) picture book: The Tiny Tiger.  I wrote the book for my daughter’s third birthday, to celebrate her, and our journey to becoming a family. 

In my experience, three-year-olds don’t care about filling out forms, home-studies, and the like. Grown-up stuff = boring. So, I wrote about tigers. One looking for his echo and another looking for the end of a red string. Both of which lead to the same place...a tiny tiger all alone. And a family is born!

From the moment I heard the red thread proverb, I was enchanted. It’s so simple and, well, so true. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, here it is:

Those who are destined to meet are connected

by an invisible red thread. The thread may become tangled

or stretched but it will not break.

I love a red thread story and I’d love to hear yours...there’s lots of space below to share. Don’t be shy. If helps, I’ll go first...(this time without the animal avatars)...