Did you know that exactly one week ago, November 2 was I Read Canadian Day? It’s a special day set aside to raise awareness of Canadian books for children and celebrate their richness, diversity and breadth.
I got to spend I Read Canadian Day in the best way possible. I was invited to make an author visit to John Pritchard School in Winnipeg to talk about my novel Lost on the Prairie which the grade six kids in Allison Caldwell’s room had just finished reading!
What a delight! Those students knew my novel inside and out! They had come up with twenty questions about Lost on the Prairie that really got me thinking and brought to mind all kinds of stories I could tell them about the writing of the book and my family members who inspired it.
They were so interested in the family artefacts I had brought along and when it was time to go out for recess many stayed behind to ask me MORE questions and to get my autograph.
I felt like a celebrity!
A Canadian author, visiting Canadian kids, in a Canadian classroom, in a Canadian school! What better way to celebrate I Read Canadian Day?
This week I made a pile of middle-grade fiction books by Canadians currently on my bookshelves but it really doesn’t do justice to all the amazing work by Canadian authors I’ve read over the last while.
That’s because I give away so many of the books immediately after reading them. Some go to my grandson who is ten or to my son who teaches a grade six languages arts class. I take them to our church to put in the library there so more kids will have a chance to read them. Many of the books in the stack pictured here will soon find their way to those destinations as well.
The next time you are buying a book for children why not be deliberate about buying Canadian? There are so many FANTASTIC titles out there for Canadian kids by Canadian authors.
I’m proud to say I WRITE CANADIAN and I READ CANADIAN!
Here are the most recent blog posts I’ve done about AMAZING books by Canadian authors!
Harvey Takes The Lead by Colleen Nelson
The U-nique Lou Fox by Jodi Carmichael
Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile
Sorry for Your Loss by Joanne Levy
The Undercover Book List by Colleen Nelson
Rescue At Lake Wild by Terry Lynne Johnson
Tainted Amber by Gabriele Goldstone
The Girl Who Loved Giraffes by Kathy Stinson
Show Us Where You Live Humpback by Beryl Young
The Vegetable Museum by Michelle Mulder and Peter Lee’s Notes From the Field by Angela Ahn
What Next? 