Mem Fox, in her book Reading Magic says “If parents understood the huge educational benefits and intense happiness brought about by reading aloud to their children, and if every parent – and every adult caring for a child – read aloud a minimum of three stories a day to the children in their lives, we could probably wipe out illiteracy within one generation.”

Thanks goodness I understand the benefits and the happiness of reading aloud! I will be reading to my brand new grandson Nico, as will his parents. And not just when he’s older but starting right now. I will share with him the fun of Pooh Bear, the excitement of Curious George, the silliness of Dr. Seuss. And of course my own stories of Emma and Henry, since we have chickens running around our farm.

Give a copy of Mem Fox’s Reading Magic to every new parent you know and we can work toward sharing the happiness and benefits of reading aloud!

I just had an interview posted here: http://www.openbooktoronto.com/news/ten_questions_with_margriet_ruurs

Hope you enjoy reading it!

My School In The Rain Forest

Kirkus Review 8/15/2009

Beginning with a quote from the UN’s “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” that states that everyone has the right to an education, this selection describes an assortment of schools of various types and shapes in different locations across the globe. A huge diversity is explored and described—traditional classrooms, homeschooling, distance learning, community and nongovernment schools, international schools, specially designed buildings, outdoor learning spaces and even boats. Each spread presents a school in a design that includes the national flag, a map and facts about the country, interesting photographs of the school and students, general descriptions of the location and type of school and whom it serves and the transportation involved, as well as the words and thoughts of children who attend. Accessible and inspiring, the depictions of these 13 schools are impressive in scope, and the sheer number of similarities and differences between the schools makes for a fascinating read. An excellent choice for the classroom and a strong introduction to such topics as global diversity and the importance of education. (Nonfiction. 7-10)

Today I received a message from Papertigers (http://www.papertigers.org/) with the “Butterfly Award” for my blog!
The idea of this award is to pass it on to others. So I’m forwarding it to several amazing writers whose blogs I have admired.

One of the sites that has a Butterfly Award is Just One More Book:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/

I think that the following blogs deserve this recognition:
• http://www.lindabaileybooks.com/
• http://www.deborahhodge.com/
• http://www.sherylmcfarlane.ca/
• http://www.cwill.bc.ca/
• http://www.marycasanova.com

Hope you enjoy exploring these informative websites.

It started out as a dreary day, on Salt Spring, with snow covering the fields. Not what I want to see now that the bulbs are several inches high already. But this afternoon it turned into a glorious day when the mail arrived: I received a silver medal and certificate from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. A Silver Medal for environmental issues for IN MY BACKYARD (Tundra Books, illustrated by Ron Broda).
I love what Ron did with the art for this book: he made amazing 3D paper sculptures. Children can read about every day critters that can be encountered in any backyard, including urban settings. In each illustration you can spot a ladybug. But Ron has also added a prediction element: in each illustration is a glimpse of the animal featured on the next page. Can you guess which animal it is?
CM magazine said “Ruurs’ new book reflects her admirable desire to help children learn to appreciate the majesty of their natural surrounds. Her love of nature is evident in many of her books for children, and that is also the case here”.

I’m glad the Moonbeam Awards agreed and gave it a silver medal!

You know how wonderful it is to read a book that takes you into the character’s world, to the point where you can’t put it down and you dread coming to the end because you can’t spend more time with these new found friends?
Well – that’s what happened when I picked up Julie Burtinshaw’s book THE FREEDOM OF JENNY. The book had been on my shelf for a while. The back cover told me the book was about slavery. As soon as I started reading, the story pulled me in. I was there with Jenny and her momma and rest of the family as they toiled the fields and worked in the kitchen as slaves in Missouri in the 1840’s and ’50’s. Then the story took me along on the pioneer trail as the family traveled west to California where slaves could live in freedom. I learned much about that part of history. It came to life through the vivid characters.
But then the story took an unexpected turn – they moved on to Canada. First to Fort Victoria. And then… to Salt Spring Island.
When I picked the book up I had no idea it would take place here. I loved learning about the true history of the small island on which I live. I recognized places and people’s names. Not only a well written book but an important part of history that I had not really read about before: black pioneers. I highly recommend it to any reader!

It’s getting close to the end of November and colder. A good time to curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace. That’s just what I have been doing. Tonight I finished reading MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIHM by Robert C. O’Brien. I had heard about this Newbery winner for a long time but never actually read it. I recently bought it at Fables’ Cottage bookstore here on Salt Spring Island. I loved it. Not only is it a skillfully written tale about mice and rats, it has wonderful observations about human nature. I found myself caring about the rats and their intricate way of living. I loved the ‘pictures’ painted in words in this fascinating novel. A good book for any teacher to read aloud, especially to students who enjoyed The Redwall series by Brian Jacques or Tale of Desperaux by Kate Dicamillo. If you would like to see a list of other books I have loved to read, check out my list of recommended books on my FOR READERS page. Happy reading.

Students at Shannon Lake school in Westbank, BC made wonderful drawings based on my book Ms. Bee’s Magical Bookcase. Ms. Bee is a special teacher/librarian who spends much time visiting with fairytale characters. I thought you might enjoy seeing one of the drawings:

Notice the fairy sitting on the bookcase and two of the three little pigs peeking over the top!

I love reading letters that children write to me. I thought I’d share this one with you:

Can you decipher it?!
She liked the ‘imagination’ I put in my books! I love it.