Green Prize for Sustainable Literature

I'm happy to announce that my book Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City is the winner of the 2012 Green Prize Award for the Best Community Garden Book for Children, given by the Santa Monica Public Library. To see more about the award, please go here and to read more about the book, please go here.

In addition to that lovely news, Watch Me Grow! was also named as a Best Children's Book of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education in New York. To find out more about the Bank Street List of Best Books, please go here.

A big thank you to the Santa Monica Library and to Bank Street College for these wonderful honours!

Wild West Coast

It's been a few weeks since I posted and I am pleased to report that we west coasters have indeed seen the sunshine. We are thrilled!

I recently returned from a trip to the very west coast of Canada — to Long Beach and Tofino, BC. I am posting a couple of photos taken from Mackenzie beach where we stayed. The beautiful sunset photo was taken by my niece on an evening stroll down the beach. The other photo (blue sky, tide out) was taken by moi from the porch of the cabin we stayed in.

As always, it was an inspiring trip, seeing the power of the ocean and the beauty of the rainforest. It's possible there may be a book in the works. And on that note, I picked up a copy of Long Beach Wild written by my friend and fellow author, Adrienne Mason, who is a Tofino resident. It is fascinating reading. I recommend it!

Hope you enjoy the photos and are having a lovely summer.

Cheers!

Summer!

Now that school is out, summer has officially arrived! (Sadly, our west coast weather tells another story. The garden is soggy and the strawberries are moldy. But we don't let that dampen our spirits!)

We can look forward to sunshine (one of these days) and a more relaxed summertime pace. I wish all of you a happy couple of months! Kids, teachers, families and everyone else — go beachcombing, get your summer reading material, host a barbecue or do whatever it is you like to do best when the days are long and the weather is warm.

FYI: This blog may also be on a slightly more relaxed schedule, but come fall, the posts will be (more or less) regular again.

Happy Summer!

Sneak Preview!

"Many of the Kinder believe that their parents gave them life twice: once when they were born and a second time when they were sent to safety on the Kindertransport."

Who were the Kinder and why were they in danger? Find out more here.

I am delighted to show you the cover of my upcoming book, Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport. It will be published by Tundra Books and Random House on Oct. 9, 2012, in both hardcover and e-book forms.

It is a book I've been working on for the last couple of years and I am thrilled that it will soon be available. If you'd like to learn more about it, please check out the description on my website.

Cheers!

Thank you!

The school year is drawing to a close and I have finished the last of my school presentations until fall. A big thank you to the schools and teachers who invited me to visit this year. It was wonderful to meet you all!

I wish you a happy, relaxed and well-deserved summer vacation.

Cheers!

Thank you, ICS!

I had a lovely morning at Immaculate Conception School yesterday. Thank you to Catherine Minshull and Trish Weaver for their kind invitation to speak to their students.

The school has recently created their own garden and the students had been busy building raised beds and planting seeds. The teachers asked me to speak about my recent books, Up We Grow and Watch Me Grow, both about planting seeds and growing food, with one set on a local, organic farm and the other in urban gardens in Vancouver.

Thank you to the ICS students and staff for a great morning! It was a pleasure to meet you all.

Happy Growing!

Visit to Harry Hooge School

A big bouquet of thanks to Pam Rose, teacher-librarian, and the primary students and teachers at Harry Hooge School for a lovely day. It was great to meet you all and chat about books. You were a wonderful audience!

I wish you a happy June and a relaxing summer.

Cheers!