Each fall, the Young Readers’ Choice Awards Society of British Columbia selects 24 Canadian books (half nonfiction and half fiction) written for grades 4-7. Then it invites kids to read the books and vote for their favourite in each category in the spring. Participants form reading groups, which can involve as many or as few people as they want — even just one — and group registration is free. To be eligible to vote, readers must read at least five of the nominated books in that category.
What a great way to encourage kids to read, talk about and think about books. If you know, or are, a young reader who would like to join in the fun, visit the Red Cedar Awards website for all the details, including the full list of 2024/25 nominees.
How to Put the “Creative” in Creative Nonfiction — that’s what I’ll be talking about at the Victoria Writers’ Society October 2024 meeting.
At first glance, the words “creative” and “nonfiction” may seem contradictory, but closer consideration of this pairing reveals its power and the exciting opportunities the creative nonfiction genre offers. The trick is to make the most of all the creative writing techniques at our disposal while always staying true to the truth-telling imperative. I’ll be sharing ideas about how to make your CNF more creative, with examples from my own work, including my books Women of the Klondike and Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver. There will plenty of time for discussion and questions, too.
VWS meetings are held at one of Victoria’s best-loved indie bookstores, Russell Books (100-747 Fort Street). Everyone is welcome. (Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.)
On Saturday, Oct. 5, the Fat Oyster Reading Series invites kids with their big folks and others lovers of children’s literature to a Story Festival for Teens and Kids. I will be presenting, along with Carla Maxmuwidzumga Voyageur and Sara Cassidy. Together, we’ll offer four fun, interactive sessions between 11 AM and 4 PM.
In my session, Bear Buddies, Beaver Boosters and Owl Allies: How To Be a Friend to Wildlife, I’ll talk about the animals featured in my Orca Wild books and share ideas about how to make the world a friendlier place for them. You can find out more about Sara’s and Carla’s sessions here.
All the sessions are drop in, by donation, and participants are welcome to come for as many as they wish. Ages are merely suggestions. All are welcome! Kids under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.
APRIL 16TH UPDATE: Grizzly Bears made the Short List!!
Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Wilderness is long-listed in the Young Adult Nonfiction category for the 2024 Green Earth Book Award. The Short List will be announced in April and the complete list of winners, honorees and recommended reading will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2024.
This colourful book-cover mosaic highlights many of the contenders on the Long List. Grizzly Bears is in great company!
Every year, the Junior Library Guild editorial team reads thousands of children’s books before they are published to recommend the best choices to school librarians. Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Wilderness was one of the lucky winners of the Gold Standard Selection award and the back cover of the book sports this handsome golden badge.
The JLG also recently sent me this certificate and a lapel pin. I do indeed feel honored.
Beavers: Radical Rodents and Ecosystem Engineers is on the three-book shortlist for the 2022 City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize. This $5,000 prize, established in 2008 by the late Mel Bolen of Bolen Books, is awarded annually to an author or illustrator from the Greater Victoria, BC, region.
The Children’s Book Prize and the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize (for adult books), a partnership between the City of Victoria and Brian Butler of Butler Brothers Supplies, are overseen by the Victoria Book Prize Society. The finalists for both prizes are selected by an independent jury comprised of representatives from the local literary arts community.
This year’s winners will be announced at an in-person gala emceed by CBC’s Kathryn Marlow on Wednesday, October 12, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased from the Victoria Book Prizes website.
I’m delighted and honoured to be up for a City of Victoria book prize for the third time. The first two were for the Butler Book Prize: Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver was shortlisted in 2016; Children of the Klondike was shortlisted in 2010 — and won! Here’s a photo of this happy author on that memorable night.
A few months ago I began a new job as the associate editor of the SEJournal, the Society of Environmental Journalists‘ weekly digital news magazine. During the two decades that I’ve been a member of SEJ, I have attended annual conferences, volunteered as a mentor and developed important friendships with many other members, even some I’ve never met in person. I’m delighted to now have this opportunity to deepen my relationship with the organization and to contribute to it in a new way.
In an article announcing my hiring, SEJournal editor Adam Glenn explained that the long-vacant associate editor post was being filled as part of an effort to increase contributed features for the long-standing publication, which relaunched from a quarterly print magazine to an online weekly in 2016. The team I joined includes Adam, a staff writer and a dedicated crew of volunteer editors, along with countless contributors.
“We have been wanting to bring more of the experiences and know-how of SEJ members and other environmental journalists onto our pages,” Adam said in the article. “Frances will without doubt help us do that. She’s a standout editor, with a wealth of journalism background and strong editorial skills, but also with deep connections to environmental journalism and to the SEJ family.”
SEJ members are automatically subscribed to the SEJournal. Non-members are also welcome to subscribe, using the link on this page. Although the primary focus is environmental journalism, it’s also a great place to read about environmental issues from the journalist’s perspective. I learn new things with each story I edit, such as this one on climate attribution science and this one on the recent U.N. Food Systems Summit. Check us out!
The NSTA–CBC list was announced on Dec. 7, 2021, and will be published in the February 2022 issues of Science and Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher. At the National Science Teaching Association’s annual conference, NSTA Presidential Awardee educators will share strategies for using each of these books in the classroom. Last spring, the Children’s Book Council chose Beavers for its May 2021 Hot Off the Press list.
Beavers is also on the 2021-2022 BC Books for BC Schools, put out by the Association of Book Publishers of BC. The titles on this list are selected by teacher-librarians, who consider the books’ relevance to school curricula. The subject tags for Beavers in the catalogue include Science, Social Studies and English Language Arts.
When Morris Shumiatcher launched Smithbilt Hats near the Calgary Stampede grounds in 1919, most people still thought beavers were good for one thing only: their pelts. Today, we recognize the importance of beavers as habitat creators, water stewards and climate change allies – and organizations like the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society are working hard to figure out how to coexist with these ecosystem engineers. In many ways, our present-day conflicts with beavers are a legacy of the colonial fur trade. But the beaver benefits that we’re still learning about go back much further in time. This brief history of beavers will begin with their debut 37 million years ago, fast forward through the rise and fall of the dozens of early species, and then zero in on what has happened to North American beavers since Europeans showed up 500 years ago. As our relationship with beavers continues to evolve, a historical perspective can help inform the future.
To register for this event, please visit Historic Calgary Week’s program page.
Join me on Nov. 19, 2020, for “Once They Were Hats: A Brief History of a Radical Rodent” – a Zoom presentation.
As part of the Friends of Fish Creek speaker series, I’ll be making a virtual visit to Calgary this month to talk about beavers. My presentation will run from 7:00 to 8:00 pm MT on Thursday, Nov. 19, and since it will happen online, anyone can attend.
There is a lot of history behind our present-day dealings with Castor canadensis. The beaver conflicts that we are working to manage today are in many ways a legacy of the colonial fur trade. And the beaver benefits that we are still learning about are rooted in millennia of beaver presence on this continent. This brief history of beavers will begin with their debut 37 million years ago, fast forward through the rise and fall of the dozens of early species, and then zero in on what’s happened to North American beavers since Europeans showed up 500 years ago. As our relationship with beavers continues to evolve, a historical perspective can help inform the future.
The talk is free for Friends of Fish Creek Members and for youth 16 years of age and younger with a registered adult. It’s $10 for non-members. You can purchase tickets and register through eventbrite.
