Today I got to meet the students at First Lutheran School in Kelowna! We connected via FaceTime so I was able to read them a few pages from Trouble in the Trees and answer their questions from the comfort of my home in Rossland! I wish we’d had more time together but it was great to watch them dance and hear them protest on screen. My thanks to Janine Draper for inviting me into the school to virtually celebrate their literacy week!
Kootenay Book Tour
I’m nearing the end of my Kootenay Library Tour. Sad in so many ways… in part because it was only on this last trip that I actually remembered my camera! So, here you go, the tour summed up with as many pictures as I have (plus a few that I didn’t take!)
My hotel (Park Place Lodge) in Fernie
Walking in Fernie
Radium
My last set of thanks go to the Fernie Heritage Library and the grade 5 students and teachers that attended my talk in their beautiful space. Fernie’s library is definitely worth a visit – if you are travelling through, pull off the highway and take a look. While you are in town, check out the Toys&Books store and one of the many coffee shops – I highly recommended the blended coffee/chocolate/banana drink I had (and wish I could remember the name of it!)
Thanks to Emma Dressler, I was put up at a fabulous hotel for the night and got to explore the network of trails around town – thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!
And finally, my thanks to the Radium Hot Springs Library who have done amazing things with a small space. And thanks to all the students at Edgewater Elementary – it was great fun talking to people who had already read my books! What great questions you all had and I love your ideas of book titles and future plots featuring Ethan Matheson. I was sorry to have to get back on the road so soon but really appreciate the quick lunch I shared with Jane and Trudy. I will be back!
And in case that isn’t enough – here’s a huge thank you to the Kootenay Library Federation, Joanne Richards, and Helen Graham. You are truly an amazing team that does a lot of work with very little. THANK YOU!
The tour continues…
Leading the protest at Salmo Elementary
This week I got to visit with the students at Salmo Elementary and JV Humphries School in Kaslo. My list of thanks continues to grow but today I am particularly grateful to Marianne Hansen from the Salmo Public Library for reuniting me with my laptop’s power cable!
I am so proud to live in the Kootenays. It is such a beautiful area, full of wonderful librarians and teachers… and, of course, great kids.
Next week I’m off to Fernie and Radium. Look out East Kootenays… here I come!
Nakusp
The next stop on my KLF tour – Nakusp! What a spectacular village! With a beautiful library! Really – there are not enough exclamation marks to describe it and the kids were wonderful too (thanks in part to their very supportive teachers!) A huge thank you to Susan and Patty for the warm welcome. And a special thanks to Helen, the KLF co-ordinator, for arranging the visit for May 21st. The day greeted me with a sunny two and a half hour drive and enough warmth for a walk along the lake after my library time…
Today it would have been a very different experience with a rainfall warning and road closures due to high winds last night. Sending hugs to everyone in Nakusp – I hope to be back soon!
KLF Tour
Today, my tour with the Kootenay Library Federation officially began! Over the next few months I will be visiting seven different libraries across the Kootenay region of BC, thanks to the KLF and the amazing organization of Helen Graham.
My first stop was Midway where I got to meet with over a hundred enthusiatic grade four and five students who just completed the Reading Link Challenge.
Congratulations to all the participants and thank you to all the students who attended my talk – you were a terrific audience!
Publishers Weekly Article on A4ED
I am so proud to be part of Authors for Earth Day! Read more about the 2013 international event in this Publishers Weekly Article.
Here’s a list of the Non-Profit Environmental Organizations on the nominee list for my visit;
These are all great, local organizations that are making a difference to the environment of the West Kootenays. I hope the students at MacLean are having fun learning all about them!
Not an April Fools joke!
This photo was taken by my good friend, Jean-Michel Lemieux, near Jervis Bay in New South Wales, Australia. I can’t wait to take it to my next author visit to show students how silly people can be about following rules… they even left their address!
