And that might be a good thing! I’ve been on the roster of an arts organization that promotes artist presentations in the schools for probably about ten years. I’ve visited thousands of schools, in person, as a result of it. In fact when I first started out I was doing about a hundred school visits […]

I’m probably not the only person who thinks the world will never be the same. Sometimes it takes a crisis to change the way people do things, to force them out of their comfort zone and into a new normal and I do believe we’re in that type of period of history. With the pandemic […]

I’m not that old! Really, I’m not! And I’ve been doing this stuff for a while, but sometimes just buying a pair of socks can turn into a nightmare! Whoever heard of creating a password for an online sock account? And then there’s organizations like Kiva, where you’re really just trying to do some good […]

My family is unusual. Me, I am the sports fan whereas my husband could care less. It was one of the things I admired about him when we got married. He wasn’t into watching sports. So it is above ironic that I became the sports person. I see it as halal entertainment. There’s nothing kinky […]

I’m really worried about this next generation of children. In response to serious abuse from some nefarious teachers (that absolutely had to be dealt with!) we’ve really undermined the whole system. As an author/storyteller, when I go into a school I’m fully aware that most of the children have no intention of following my line […]

Had a hard time sleeping last night. Today I was doing a custom made presentation for a school that likes to call me back every year and I always get nervous when I have to do a presentation outside my tried and true. I was supposed to address the idea of reconciliation with grade ones […]

We seem to be living in an age of outrage. An age of activism, an age of resistance. It’s about time. My goodness, I’ve been an activist for going on 30 years! I’ve been resisting for about that long too. I’ve made no secret of the fact that yes, in addition to trying to tell […]

On the tenth of November I conducted a workshop for Packaging Your Imagination, a one day conference for children’s writers and illustrators. It’s part of CANSCAIP, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors Illustrators and Performers an organization I joined at the very beginning, to learn the craft of writing. Oh what a journey it’s been! […]

What possessed me to embark on three trips in six weeks? Towards the end of September I visited Sharjah UAE for about three days. Yup. I traveled on a plane for 13+ hours to stay at a hotel in Sharjah for three days and come back. It was for an international storytelling festival. But the […]

but that does not mean that Islam is being promoted in any way. Islamic Heritage month is like Asian heritage month or Pride month or Black History month, simply a chance for schools to recognize the contribution of the disparate members of our community. Canada really does try to be ‘multi-cultural’. We try to include […]