Archive for April 2009
Another Treasure for My Pocket
Last night, at the CANSCAIP Mentor’s Dinner honouring my husband, Peter Carver, I learned from Rick Wilks of Annick Press that A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It has been short-listed for the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award.
Let’s hope that the young readers at Market Lane Junior School in Toronto make their selection for the prize wisely! 
5 comments April 23, 2009
Green Roofs Updated
I asked my son the other day, “If I say ‘Cornelia Oberlander’, do you know who I mean?” He’s a busy guy, working on his MBA while working full time, so I wasn’t sure how much he took in of the book I had written about her. “Yeah, she’s the Green Roof Lady,” he said. I don’t think Cornelia would be unhappy with that description.
Today Cornelia emailed me and others a link to a National Geographic article which cites examples of green roofs all over the world (including one of her creations). Including lots of great pics (as any National Geographic article does), it’s an article that will help inspire the building of more green roofs – for their many benefits to urban environments and to the health of the planet.
Happy Earth Day! Okay, I’m a bit early, but with the spring rains nudging open the buds outside my window, it feels like a good day to celebrate.
2 comments April 21, 2009
Facebook Frustrations
My apologies to anyone who has gone in search of my South Africa or Europe photos, only to be asked, annoyingly, for Facebook login information. I specified that I wanted “Everyone” interested to be able to see the photos, but apparently Facebook doesn’t interpret “Everyone” the way I do. (Facebook may soon lose me; it has proven annoying in more ways than one lately.) If I get around to posting them elsewhere, I will let people know. In the meantime, thanks for your interest!
Perhaps my next posting will be about my novel in progress, that is patiently awaiting my return.
2 comments April 15, 2009
More On Africa
I’ve just finished reading The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (winner of the Best Book In Africa Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007). I bought it while in South Africa, thinking it might offer me useful insight into the complex world of that beautiful country, and it did, to some extent, though of course there is a lifetime of learning to be done here.
The Native Commissioner is George Jameson, “deeply unsure of the morality of his work [during the early years of apartheid], but unable to escape it”. The novel is the story of his son, eight years old at the time of George’s death, piecing together a picture of his unknown father from papers in a box his mother has passed on to him.
There is a line in the novel about those white people who don’t seem to get that Africa is not just its wild animals and its dramatic landscapes; Africa is its people. It stood out among many great lines, perhaps in part because I had recently finished sorting through hundreds of photos taken in South Africa into “albums” – Kruger Wildlife, SA Plant Life, SA Scenery – knowing that different people will be interested in looking at different things. There’s also a SA Carver Family Connections album that I’ll send out to family, so maybe I’m not one of “those white people…”. Still, the line did give me pause.
I will go ahead, nonetheless, and offer up my South Africa albums for anyone interested in having a look.
Add comment April 13, 2009
A Pocket… Goes to Italy
A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It will be on display in a special exhibition of recent books for toddlers and babies, during the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) Congress in Rome in August.
A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It has also been shortlisted for the 2009 CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, recognizing an illustrator of a noteworthy Canadian picture book. Thank you, illustrator Deirdre Betteridge!
Add comment April 9, 2009
The ABCs of European Travel
Cruising down rivers and canals from Amsterdam to Budapest had its lovely moments, but the experience paled in comparison to our visit to South Africa and to my own time in Liberia in February. Not that I’m ungrateful for a season so rich in travel opportunities, but I do understand why “Another Bloody Castle” is how many sum up travel to a string of cities in Europe. Among low points: cold rainy weather and head colds when the weather improved, stretches of time on buses instead of on the ship because of water levels and ship damage, too much dependence on buses where we thought we’d be free to come and go on foot. Of course these complaints were put in perspective the night we docked unexpectedly so that a sick passenger could be taken to hospital, along with his wife. They were still in Turin, I believe, when we boarded our plane home on Monday.
We bring home good memories, too, though. Meals and conversations enjoyed with a number of Australians on board. Our initial delight at the narrow cobblestone streets lined with old houses. How luxuriously relaxed it was to float along with scenery showing increasing signs of spring passing by. The loveliness of the Rhine Valley vineyards (and yes, castles!) A concert in Vienna. The sight of Budapest at night.
But it’s good to be home – despite the snow and the wind - reconnecting with family and friends, our neighbourhood and our work.
See more photos from this trip.
4 comments April 8, 2009
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