Two big surprises at the Literacy Conference in Burlington last weekend.

1. The onsite bookseller, Different Drummer, had on hand a big stack of Love Every Leaf: The Life of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander - and it wasn’t scheduled for release till several days later! (It looks gorgeous, and after I spoke about it briefly during my keynote address, they sold out quickly.)

2. The night before the conference, I learned that Janet Lee Stinson and Arnie Stewart (see I’ve Got Mail posting) were planning to attend. Not only did I get to meet these two remarkable people, Arnie helped make my keynote address a truly memorable event for everyone there. After mentioning the correspondence I’d been enjoying with Janet Lee, I looked around for where they might be sitting, thinking the audience might like to recognize them. But Arnie surprised me (and his wife and Janet Lee) by coming up to the front of the room, where he described letters he has exchanged with children who have struggled with learning to read. He said he knows he will like my new book, A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It. He then took from his pocket a stone and placed it in my hand. “Put this in your pocket,” he said, “and it will bring you good luck.”

Before going off to sign autographs (for 3 hours! what a great bunch of readers that audience was!), I had a chance to visit with Arnie and hear some more of his personal stories about learning to read. Janet Lee is working on his biography and plans to apply to a writing workshop/retreat that my husband and I are offering this summer. (See “Summer Workshop/Retreat by the Sea” posting.) I hope she does!

To read Janet Lee’s account of Arnie’s participation in last week’s event, and about how the good luck stone circle has been completed, visit Janet Lee’s blog (and find the entry for Apr9/08).

Happy reading!

It’s now available! My first brand new picture book in sixteen years!

Dave Jenkinson at CM (Canadian Materials) - a friend since I did my first Book Week tour in his province (Manitoba) in 1983 and who was sent a review copy - said, “Loved the imagination of it & the wonderful twist at the end. Deirdre did a great job with the illus. too… This is definitely a book that will be waiting for my future grandchild in the box of books I’m building.” What a nice start as a new book begins making its way out into the world!

Next weekend my granddaughter will get A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It for her birthday. I can’t wait till she discovers that she gets thanked - on the copyright page of the book - for helping to inspire it.

What fun it was to read my brand new, hot off the press, advance copy of A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It to a huge roomful of enthusiastic parents and their preschoolers on Saturday. The crowd that had gathered for Port Colborne’s first family literacy event to celebrate the joys of reading together were a pretty restless bunch as I was introduced, but it was pure magic how they quieted as soon as I started reading Red is Best. Pretty gratifying! As was their response to A Pocket… coming soon to a bookstore near you!

My sister has been running lots of ideas past me recently, as she works on redesigning my web site. Hard to believe, but it’s been almost 10 years since she designed my first web site for me.

It has been through a number of changes since then - quite apart from regular updates - but I’m so pleased with what Janet is doing that I’ve just got to give you a sneak preview!

Please keep in mind that this is just a picture of the new home page. The links will work, of course, when it’s actually up and running.

Watch for it in the new year!

As if I’m not already delighted enough to have a new picture book coming out next year (the first brand new one in sixteen years!) as well as a biography for adolescent readers (my first ever biography!) — I have just signed a contract for a totally new take on the theme I explored in Big or Little? 25 years ago!

Oh happy day!

Have I been upstaged or given a bit of pre-pub stirring up of interest in the subject of my new-next-year book?

The first time I met Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (in 2004) I was convinced she deserved to be better known, and soon I’ll be proofing galleys for my first ever biography - Love Every Leaf: the life of landscape architect cornelia hahn oberlander (to be published by Tundra next spring).

Want to know something about this woman who so quickly captured my imagination? Read “Queen of green” in the Sept/Oct2007 issue of Canadian Geographic magazine. It seems journalist Sarah Scott thought Cornelia deserved to be better known too!

You know you’ve made the big time when your name appears as a clue in the crossword of a national newspaper. (Okay, so it had to be The Post.) The clue to No. 7 Down on April 30 was “Canadian Children’s author Stinson” 5 letters. That’s me! So I decided it was time to start a blog. (I wonder if anyone will read it.)