Category: Uncategorised

Posted on

Interview an Author!

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

Posted on

Information Wall Chart Fixed!

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!

 

Posted on

Gala hiatus 2018-19

Our AGM was held on October 28, and we have decided to put the Gala on hold for a year. This will give us time to focus on building up the Red Cedar program, with a focus on developing financial partnerships and spreading the word about the program. Everything else will proceed as normal, including the author interviews! And keep those book trailers coming!

We are thrilled that we have a new teacher librarian liaison, who brings the expertise of having organized the Nanaimo Children’s Book Festival. We welcome input or partnership suggestions; please email ideas to redcedaraward@gmail.com.

 

Posted on

Kathleen Cherry visits Mile 108 Elementary!

Red Cedar Award nominee Kathleen Cherry visited Mile 108 Elementary and presented to their enthusiastic and long-standing Red Cedar club. Kathleen sent us this awesome photos of her and group leader Lynn McArthur with the Mile 108 Elementary Red Cedar club!  Thanks so much for sharing this!

Posted on

How to Make a Book Trailer

Book trailers are creative short videos that tell students something about the book without giving away the ending, and convince them to read the book!  The video should be 2-3 minutes long and can include images, narration, sound, text and a variety of effects.

Research Other Book Trailers

Share one or more of these links with students so they can research student-created book trailers:

Create Your Book Trailer Script and Storyboard

Print out a book trailer planning template and storyboard  This will help students decide on the number of slides, captions, type of images needed, etc.  Here are some samples:

Search for and Download Images

  1. Students can use Pixabay  or the Creative Commons‘ new search engine to find images that have a creative commons / copyright free designation.
  2. Images that match the tone of the book can be saved to a thumb drive.

Choose Copyright Free Music

  1. Students can find and listen to one or more copyright free music tracks on one of the following sites:
  2. One or more sound files that reflect the mood of the book can be downloaded to a thumb drive.

Create Your Book Trailer

Students can use one of the following video tools to create a book trailer.  Their names, year made, image and audio sources should be added to the end of the trailer.

Adobe Spark Video App

Download the app. Open it and follow along with the YouTube video Using Adobe Spark Video for a Book Trailer YouTube video

Additional resources:

iMovie App

Download the app. Open it and follow along with this iMovie iOS Guide

Additional resources:

Posted on

Sight Unseen

Sight Unseen by David Carroll
sightunseen
David Carroll’s Sight Unseen is an uncomfortable read on many levels. Since his diagnosis with the rare Stargardt disease, Finn is obsessively counting down the seconds to total blindness. His poor vision has already forced him to give up the mountain biking that he loves, and he’s lost many friends because of the protective walls he’s built around himself. He does have two friends; a loyal friend nicknamed Cheese who he’s invited along for the summer, and Tab, a girl he’s just met and to whom refuses to acknowledge his disability.
At his family cabin for the summer, Finn takes dangerous risks, such as canoeing alone and a heart stopping ride down the mountain in an attempt to feel like himself again. Adding to the stress level of this read is Finn’s compulsive list-making of things to do before “lights out”, which he plasters around his bedroom with a portent of doom. But in the ultimate “would you rather?” question, Finn discovers a mysterious island, where his vision is perfect and time stops in the rest of the world. But to stay on the island Finn must give up friends and family. This is a difficult read, it’s hard to see Finn lashing out and fighting the finality of his diagnosis, and the anxiety which he carries around every minute of the day. It’s a skillful author who can paint such an intimate and truthful portrait of a grim diagnosis, and leave Finn with hope for the future at the end.
This is David Carroll’s second nomination for Red Cedar; he was also nominated in 2014 for Ultra.
–Reviewed by Katherine Parker
Posted on

The Summer We Saved the Bees

The Summer We Saved the Bees, by Robin Stevenson

summerWhat do you do when your activist mom is so worried about the state of the environment and the future of the world that she forgets to consider the needs of her own kids first? That’s the dilemma 12-year-old Wolf faces when his mom uproots his family from their home on Vancouver Island to travel by van across Canada performing skits to warn people that the bees are dying: When the honeybees are gone, humans will die out, too. Of course, Wolf fears for his future, but he doesn’t want to stop his whole life to try to do something about it, especially when his mom insists the whole family wear those stupid-looking bee costumes!

Beautifully written and loaded with interesting facts about bees, The Summer We Saved the Bees is an important book that is not just about need for environmental activism to make the world a better place, it is also about family, friendship, love and tolerance of others who might be different, and shows the reader that there is usually more than one way to look at things.

The Summer We Saved the Bees is classed as middle-grade fiction, but can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

–Reviewed by Lori Shwydky

Posted on

Power Up! A Visual Exploration of Energy

Power Up! A Visual Exploration of Energy, by Shaker N. Paleja

Comprehensive and clear, Power Up! A Visual Exploration of Energy breaks down the different img_6740types of renewable and nonrenewable energies on each oversized page. Fantastic visuals — including colourful infographics, charts, diagrams, and maps — provide an understanding of what energy is, the various types, and how it works. The strong illustrations clarify and bring to life many complex concepts. Questions like What is fracking?, How does hydroelectricity work?, and Can the oceans’ tides produce energy for us? are broken down and explained. Significant issues such as oil spills, new energy sources, and global demand are also presented in a manner which appeals to the visual learner. An excellent resource for research, Power Up! is also a fascinating read on its own.

-Reviewed by Johanna Ahn

Posted on

Red Cedar Award Gala 2016!!

Red Cedar Book Awards — 2016 Winners & 2017 Nominees

The Red Cedar Awards Gala 2016 was a resounding success! More than 200 people attended the Gala in Vancouver, which featured presentations by young readers & nominees, door prizes donated by Kidsbooks, and a book signing after-party with official bookseller Kidsbooks. We also announced the 2016 winners!

There were so many wonderful Canadian books nominated for the 2016 Red Cedar Book Award in the fiction category. It was a close race, between cows, cats, campers, ghosts, gardeners, hockey players, guitar players, siblings, friends, and (of course) zombies.

But the young reader voters have spoken and chosen their favourite… And the winner of the 2015/2016 Red Cedar Fiction Award Winner is ….

2016 fiction winner

We also had some fantastic nominations in the information book category for the Red Cedar Award. We learned about history, the environment, animals, quirks of the human body, viruses and germs. Oh, so many germs…

The young readers of British Columbia have cast their ballots, and chosen their favourite… And the winner of the 2015/2016 Red Cedar Information Book Award Winner is….

2016 info winner

We also announced the 2016/2017 Red Cedar Nominees! And the nominees are…

Fiction Book Nominees

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
Masterminds by Gordon Korman
The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford and Kelly Murphy
Lost in the Backyard by Alison Hughes
Seven Dead Pirates by Linda Bailey
Sight Unseen by David Carroll
Speechless by Jennifer Mook-Sang
Eco Warrior by Philip Roy
Connecting Dots by Sharon Jennings
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
Shot in the Dark by Janet M. Whyte
The Summer We Saved the Bees by Robin Stevenson

Information Book Nominees

Animal Hospital: Rescuing urban wildlife By Julia Coey
The Art of the Possible: An everyday guide to politics  by Edward Keenan, illustrations by Julie McLaughlin
Baseballogy: Supercool facts you never knew.  By Kevin Sylvester
Colossal Canada: 100 epic facts and feats By Elizabeth Macleod and Frieda Wishinsky
DNA Detective  By Tanya Lloyd Kyi, illustrations by Lil Crump
Elephant Journey: The true story of three zoo elephants and their rescue from captivity By Rob Laidlaw, art by Brian Deines
Friend or Foe: The whole truth about animals that people love to hate By Etta Kaner, illustrations by David Anderson
Give Me Wings: How a choir of former slaves took on the world By Kathy Lowinger
Power up!: A visual exploration of energy  By Shaker Paleja, art by Glenda Tse
Trash Talk: Moving toward a zero-waste world Written by Michelle Mulder
What’s the Buzz?: Keeping bees in flight By Merrie-Ellen Wilcox

A huge thank you to all of our amazing group leaders, passionate young readers, generous sponsors, talented authors, brilliant publishers and hard-working volunteers for another fantastic Red Cedar Award season!