Author: Caryn

Book Review: Edwin Speaks Up By April Stevens & Sophie Blackall

Perhaps it is because my own little one just turned a year old and we have fully entered the babbling-almost-words phase, but something about this book just tickles my fancy. I had never heard of this one before, but the name Sophie Blackall is enough to make me pick up just about anything and give it a try. And what’s not to love about that sweet little guy in a striped one-piece on the cover? This book is a surprisingly calm but clever story about an absent-minded mother and her crazy ferret brood’s trip to the grocery store that is saved from being completely disastrous by the unassuming sharp eye of the tiniest member of the family. Here is Edwin Speaks Up by April Stevens, illustrated by Sophie Blackall, 2011.

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Caryn2 Comments

Dinosaur Storytime Saturday At 11am

It has been a while since I’ve posted about storytimes here, but they do still happen every first and third Saturday at Union Ave Books. This week is going to be extra gigantic as we read some great books, old and new, about those ferocious (or not) beasts called dinosaurs. Come on out locals! In the words of fabulous author Molly Idle (from twitter), “It promises to be a ROARING good time!”

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Oliver Jeffers Calls Them Picture Books

“Since I began making picture books I have come to realise over time that I call them just that. Picture books. Not children’s books. The reason for this is twofold; firstly I don’t believe they are just for children. I have met countless adults that collect picture books for themselves, and they are growing in confidence about openly admitting this in a book-signing queue. It’s not for my daughter, or a friend’s nephew. It’s for me. Often these individuals are teachers, librarians, publishing employees, art college students / aspiring picture-book makers themselves. But increasingly, they are doctors, civil servants, bus drivers … just people who have discovered the joy of a story unfolding visually over a few dozen pages.

I refrain from calling them children’s books because that implies I write them specifically for children. I don’t. I write them for myself. And for everyone.”

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Barbara Cooney On A Robust Literary Diet

“I believe that children in this country need a more robust literary diet than they are getting…. It does not hurt them to read about good and evil, love and hate, life and death. Nor do I think they should read only about things that they understand… a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. So should a child’s. For myself, I will never talk down to—or draw down to—children.”

Caryn1 Comment