What Are YOU Doing on Family Day, Feb. 17?

What are you doing for family day? I'll be presenting two fun and informative workshops for kids about the legend of the Golem at The Jewish Literary Festival in Toronto.

The Golem is the subject of my upcoming Young Adult novel Gottika, which will be published by Dancing Cat Books this spring, and includes some dramatic illustrations by new talent Alexander Griggs-Burr.

In my workshop, we'll talk about the story and its influence on pop culture (you'd be surprised!), watch some funky videos and create comic strips based on the tale. So please come out and meet the Golem with us!

Yes, there ARE nice people in the world

I'm sure you were as horrified as I was to hear the stories about Malala Yousoufzai's getting shot for supporting education for girls.

Journalist and author Kate Jaimet was. And she decided to do what she could to help Malala and the girls of Pakistan. So she got in touch with other members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in our region, Canada East, to see about sending a "Get Well Soon" box of kids books to Malala.

The response was overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that Kate quickly found herself faced with logistical and practical problems of sending boxes and boxes of books to Pakistan. In the end, Kate arranged to have a small box of books, written and donated by SCBWI members who had attended the recent SCBWI conference in Ottawa, to the girls' school in Pakistan that is named for Malala. Another book and get well card was mailed directly to Malala in hospital in Britain.

The selected book was Greener Grass by Caroline Pignat. The card, handmade by illustrator Peggy Collins, was signed by all the authors and illustrators who had contributed to the project.

My own contribution was The Quiz Book for Girls. I hope the girls in Pakistan enjoy it!