FICTION: From Ant to Eagle by Alex Lyttle
INFORMATION: Smiley: A Journey of Love by Joanne George
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners, and to all the 2018/19 nominees!
FICTION: From Ant to Eagle by Alex Lyttle
INFORMATION: Smiley: A Journey of Love by Joanne George
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners, and to all the 2018/19 nominees!
Congratulations to the Prince George School District, on holding another very successful Battle of the Books! It looks so fun – great job everyone!
Maybe next year other school districts can hold their own battles….
Did your group conduct an author interview this reading season? Send the transcript to redcedaraward@gmail.com and we will put it on our news blog!
Have your say! We have opened voting a bit early! It’s open now at https://www.redcedaraward.ca/schedule-of-events/
Voting closes May 17, 2019. It’s not long now til the winners will be revealed!
Abbotsord Christian interviews Top Dogs author Elizabeth MacLeod:
I knew there were lots of great stories about dogs in history and dogs who have shown incredible bravery during war time. I wanted to share these tales with kids. I’d just written a similar book about horses (called Galloping Through History), and I know how much kids like dogs so I hoped readers would really enjoy Top Dogs.
I don’t have a dog but almost all of my neighbours do, so there are lots in the neighbourhood. I have a cat named Cosimo, so of course I had to write about cats in history! If you like cats, you might like to read Super Cats.
My best friend has a Tibetan Spaniel, so think that’s my favourite breed of dog. Carmen (the dog) looks a lot like the Pekingese on page 18 of Top Dogs. While I was writing the book, I also fell in love with Stubby, the little Boston terrier in chapter 3 of the book. I love the image of Stubby standing up on his two back legs and saluting his owner’s commanding officer!
It took me about 5 months to write the book. That involves working with my wonderful editor to write a couple of different versions of the manuscript, each time making it better. Then I had to answer any questions from the copy editor — that’s the editor who really knows all the rules about grammar and punctuation. I also had a number of meetings with the photo researcher to help choose the best photos for the book. And finally I had to prepare the index, which takes a lot of very picky work. I was writing two other books at the same time, so I wasn’t working on Top Dogs exclusively.
I use as many sources as I can. I read lots of books, check Web sites (but only ones that I really trust, like encyclopedias, government institutions, etc.) and read newspapers and magazines. I also talk to experts — many are especially helpful when they find out I’m writing a book for kids. As well, I’m at my local library often, either picking up books, or getting help with my research. Librarians are really smart and very helpful!
I’ve never owned a dog, not even as a child. (But we did have a cat named Jeremiah and many guinea pigs.) I grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto.
I live in Toronto but I love visiting British Columbia. You live in a beautiful province!
I studied sciences at university — I think the whole time I was there, I only wrote one essay! (I DID have to write lots of lab reports, tests, etc.) After university, I took the Banff Publishing Workshop in Banff, Alberta, and I thanks to that course I soon got a job at OWL Magazine. While there, I started writing books — I think that was in the late 1980s.
I’ve written around 65 books. I obviously really like writing!
Like every author I know, I’ve had book ideas rejected by publisher. It hurts but I really love writing so I just have to keep trying and proposing new book ideas. It feel so great when a book proposal is accepted! Because I’m a non-fiction writer, I don’t have to write a whole book before getting a decision from a publisher about publishing it or not. I prepare an outline, describing what stories I think should be in the book, etc. It’s still a lot of research and work but not as much as writing the whole book.
If you read the introduction to the book, then you know there are lots of expressions with the word “dog” in them. That’s because dogs are so important to people. I thought it would be fun to use one of these expressions for the title. Luckily for me, my editor agreed! I don’t think we considered any other title for the book.
Voting will be open from May 6-17 this year! Don’t forget to download your voting tallies at the Group Leader Resource site https://www.redcedaraward.ca/group-leaders-resources/
Who will win? Not long now before we find out!
For Red Cedar Leaders!
A message from Sigmund Brouwer: The presentation, Vimy Ridge Today, tells the story of how Canadians succeeded (without any spoilers for the students reading the book!). Along the way, I encourage students to use story as foundation in their own expository writing. I also celebrate the ways that teachers in the classroom mirror the leaders of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and how we can all be better as team mates, similar to the soldiers in the trenches.
I would welcome anyone interested in learning more about the presentation to email me directly at: sbrouwer at mac.com. Also, here is a link to the TVO interview that features Innocent Heroes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt585KRtLVo <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt585KRtLVo>
Again, thanks!
Sigmund
What inspired you to write the story?
It’s time again for author interviews!! Kids always ask such great questions.
The authors below have indicated they’re available for groups to interview. Send your top two choices to redcedaraward@gmail.com asap, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. When you are matched, we will send details about making contact. As always, keep a transcript of your interview, then send it in to us to add to our blog!
Fiction authors:
Kallie George, Natalie Hyde, Anna Humphrey, Alex Lyttle, Yolanda Ridge, Linda Bailey, Sigmund Brouwer, Charis Cotter, and Emma Donoghue
Information authors:
Maria Birmingham, Claire Eamer, Joanne George, Linda Granfield, Monique Gray Smith, Ann Love, Jane Drake, Elizabeth MacLeod, Antonia Banyard, and illustrator Paula Ayer
Thanks to Melisa and her staff (School District 73, Kamloops) for sending a revised Information Book chart for the website. Now it actually shows all the titles!
If any group leaders have suggestions for improving our website, or notice errors, please email us: redcedaraward@gmail.com. We love to make the site as useful as possible!