Planet Ark Sets Sail

In 2013, I vow to post here more than once a year. Even once a month would significantly improve my recent record! I have a plan. We'll see how it goes. For now, I have a new book to share. Planet Ark: Preserving Earth's Biodiversity is (hopefully) in (or shipping to) a bookstore near you. There are already a few reviews in the ether. One from Kirkus Review, and a nice surprise - a starred review from Publishers Weekly. It's been a few years since I've written a book for children. This one was a nice departure from my usual "straight up" science books as, being more of a non-fiction picture book, it gave me some more scope to be a bit lyrical. And it was nice to be in a partnership with a very skilled artist, Margot Thompson who has illustrated other books for Kids Can Press as well (while also managing to be an exhibit designer at the Royal Ontario Museum!). More soon. Really.

Long Beach Wild Launches

Thank you to Mike, Jana and Lindsay from Mermaid Tales for last week's launch of Long Beach Wild in Tofino. It was a great evening and it was wonderful to be surrounded by friends. If you missed it, or if you live in Ucluelet, please consider joining me Thursday evening at Wild Heather Books for the second west coast event. It begins at 7:30 and I give more of an "illustrated talk" than a reading. I know you can all read. Hope you can join me!

Events During Whale Fest

Today is the first day of the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. I'm often out of town for these week, but this year I'm staying put and I'll be busy reading from a few of my books. Here's where you can find me:

Today! Saturday, March 17 12:30-4 at the Taste of Tofino Community Market. Marion and I will be there with our table for Postelsia Press. We're delighted that our long-awaited book, Historic Tofino: A Walk in Time, is now out.

Sunday, March 18 - 3:30 pm Wild Heather Books in Ucluelet. I'll be reading from a few of my books, including Tales from the West Coast, West Coast Adventures and the soon-to-be-released Long Beach Wild.

Wednesday, March 21, 12:30-1:30 pm at Long Beach Lodge in Tofino I'll be reading from Long Beach Wild: A Celebration of People and Place on Canada's Rugged Western Shore.

Sunday, March 25 at 10:30, I'll be leading a guided historical tour of Tofino. This tours based on Historic Tofino: A Walk in Time and we'll have books on hand to sell. Meet on the deck of the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust office at 316 Main Street in Tofino.

Hope to see you at one or more events!

Long Beach Wild: The Book

Finally. This baby has been a long time coming. (In fact, at times I referred to it as the Long-Suffering Beach Book.) Anyhow, it's here and I'm happy to finally be sharing the news. Here is the cover of Long Beach Wild: A Celebration of People and Place on Canada's Rugged Western Shore.



The official release date is April 10, although I am doing a little pre-release event on March 21 as part of the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. It's at 12:30 at the Long Beach Lodge and I will have some books for sale.

There's lots more to say about Long Beach than I could fit in the book, so I've set up a website specifically devoted to Long Beach news. I'm posting about the book and events, but, more importantly, other news and stories about Long Beach. (Hopefully I'll soon have people contributing their own memories. How about you?) Here's the link to the Long Beach Wild website.

Farewell, YES Mag and KNOW

As I mentioned last post, these two fabulous magazines are done. I'm angry and sad. Angry at how it all came to a screeching halt thanks to the new owners and so very sad for Shannon Hunt and David Garrison who started YES Mag on a table in their basement suite 16 years ago and built the company to two excellent, award-winning science magazines for children with a healthy subscriber base in Canada and beyond. I loved my six years working for KNOW, helping launch a new magazine taught me an awful lot. I'm sorry for my colleagues who are now out of work, but they're a talented bunch and will, no doubt, spring back. And then there were the dozens of artists and writers I had the pleasure of working with over the years. Here is a post from one of those talented people, Glen Mullaly, who I worked with on almost every issue of the magazine.

I am also very sorry for our fabulous and loyal readers who so appreciated that science was not dry and dull, but interesting, endlessly engaging, and, a lot of the time, a whole lot of fun.

YES and KNOW magazines R.I.P.

Yes, the rumour is true. I'm still in a bit of shock. More soon.

Bribing Kids with Banned Books

An interesting take on how to entice kids to read. Give them banned and challenged books.