News
Posted on April 2nd, 2017 by Barbara
Two original illustrations from Sing a Song of Bedtime have travelled to Jaffa, Israel to join in a group show of plasticine art at the Old Jaffa Museum. It is an honour to be part of this group of outstanding clay artists including Edgar Alvarez and Irma Gruenholz. I have enjoyed making connections with plasticine artists from around the world through social media, and been inspired by the range of art that can be created from this basic medium. I’m sorry that I can’t attend the show in person, but knowing some of my work is there brings me one degree closer to these artists and their work!
Curators Limor Margules and Sarah Jane describe the show as: “An extensive international exhibition that places the familiar and beloved raw material, CLAY, at it’s center.
Hundreds of colourful, sensational and inspirational works by leading Israeli and international artists created for this exhibition will be exhibited in the framework of the exhibition, which will take place from April 7-August 31, 2017.
PLASTALINA ART invites visitors to discover, thrill, visualize, create and enable Plasticine to give them wings to the areas of inspiration, imagination and creativity.
The exhibition presents works from various fields of activity that use the raw material of PLAYLINA-CLAY:
Illustrations for children’s books, TV series, animation films, film and photography, painting, sculpture, advertising and branding, social projects and unique plasticine stabilizers.”
As well as the originals for Diddle Diddle Dumpling, My Son John, and The Wise Old Owl, digital images from Picture a Tree will be displayed.
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Jaffa Museum Clay exhibit poster, artwork by Irma Gruenholz
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DidleDiddle Dumpling, My Son John
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Wise Old Owl
Posted on February 28th, 2017 by Barbara
Preparations for the opening of Barbara Reid Public School in September 2017 included creating a video to share with the new school community. I was delighted to meet four future students for an interview and discussion. What a group! Bright, enthusiastic, articulate and fun, each one. I would have liked to chat all day. You can see for yourself by watching the resulting video here. We are off to a great start!
Posted on February 6th, 2017 by Barbara
Family Literacy Day 2017 was celebrated with hundreds of exciting events across the Canada. I was able to connect with readers and supporters of family literacy during a live tweet chat, and was honoured to have the Kenora Public Library create Storywalk® with my book Perfect Snow. I had the pleasure to take part in storytelling and hands-on clay workshops at Toronto Public Library’s Cedarbrae and Goldhawk Park branches. Both libraries are lively community hubs, and I met kids, families and even a few teachers all excited to try their hands at plasticine artwork. As always, when I spend some time in a public library, the future looks brighter! I think the beautiful artwork samples and the smiles in this gallery tell the story best. A BIG thank you to all the organizers and participants, I’m already looking forward to FLD 2018…
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Work in progress
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M is for mountain
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Family fun
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Plasticine library shelves, beautiful!
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An artist and his work
Posted on January 3rd, 2017 by Barbara
January 27, 2017 is Family Literacy Day. You can learn about FLD events, or share your own plans here. Of course, we can celebrate literacy and lifelong learning anytime. Let’s play!
Learn at play every day!
Posted on December 20th, 2016 by Barbara
I am honoured and delighted to announce that a new elementary school in Whitchurch-Stouffville will be named Barbara Reid Public School. The new school will open in September 2017.
Growing up in Toronto in the 1960’s, few of the books I found in my school and public library were written or illustrated by Canadians, or published in Canada. Books that inspired me were written by people from far away, or long ago.
Much has changed! Thanks to passionate creators, publishers, librarians, teachers, booksellers and support from organizations like The Canadian Children’s Book Centre, The National Reading Campaign and ABC Life Literacy (to name a few), bookshelves are filled with outstanding Canadian books that reflect our culture and diversity. Millions of school children have had the opportunity to meet and interact with real live authors and illustrators. Young readers find themselves in our stories and take part in award programs. Our books are winning awards at home and around the world, and reaching international audiences.
A snowball starts out small, but once it’s rolling it builds upon itself and grows in size and importance at a faster and faster rate. I am very grateful for the pioneers who started the process that has brought Canadian Children’s Literature to where it is today. I am proud to know there are schools named for Jean Little, Robert Munsch and Phoebe Gillman. I have had the good fortune to know and learn from each of these brilliant Canadian authors, and had the opportunity to visit students at the Phoebe Gilman School library. Most of all, I am thrilled to be part of the snowball effect and determined to keep the ball rolling!
Thanks to this vast community of supporters, and the York Region District School Board for their recognition and celebration of Canadian Children’s Literature. Imagine what today’s young readers will contribute!
The snowball effect; illustration from Perfect Snow
Posted on November 18th, 2016 by Barbara
When asked if I would like to continue as Honorary Chair for Family Literacy Day 2017 the answer was a big YES! Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. It is an honour and a thrill to support this event, and the outstanding programs provided by ABC Life Literacy all year round.
This year’s Family Literacy Day theme is: “Learn at play, every day.” As a warm up, I’ve been playing with some plasticine letters. This “Y” celebrates my yes to encouraging the learning and fun. Pleased stay tuned for upcoming events and activities. YAY!
Y is for yes!
Posted on October 14th, 2016 by Barbara
The manuscript and rough sketches for my new book have been accepted, hooray! It will be published by Scholastic Canada. I’m excited to be working on the final drawings.
At this stage I collect reference to make sure all the details are just right. Sometimes I create my own reference. For example, I may make a 3-D plasticine model of a character to see how they look from different angles. This book features a house that will be seen in several illustrations, so I had to build it. With pencil, paper, cardboard, scissors, tape and glue, the house in my imagination took shape. I’m pleased with the result, but can say I much prefer working with plasticine! Stay tuned for more work in progress…
Building a model for a new book
Posted on September 26th, 2016 by Barbara
The 2016 Telling Tales Festival was a huge success! Thanks to the terrific organizers, dedicated volunteers, outstanding presenters and most of all, the enthusiastic audiences. The warm September sunshine perfectly matched the happy energy of the participants. The day got off to a great start with the fabulous “authorstrator” Jeremy Tankard spotting a frog making it’s way to the Festival entrance. Perhaps a prince hoping to meet up with some of the costumed princesses or book characters?
I enjoyed meeting young readers and their families at my presentations, and was most impressed by the singing talent as the audience joined in for Frere Jaques and Row Row Row Your Boat. I met many fellow plasticine artists, and was delighted to present an award to some of the winners of the Explore Your World contest. The three grand prize winning schools will receive an author visit. Fellow “prizes” are Ruth Ohi and Andrew Larsen. I’ll be visiting with artists at John T. Tuck School, who created a beautiful plasticine artwork inspired by Picture a Tree. All in all, a grand day!
The Telling Tales frog prince
A great reading and singing audience at Telling Tales
A young artist shares his work
Prize winners from John T Tuck PS
Posted on August 25th, 2016 by Barbara
I love walking and looking at trees, so couldn’t be happier that Picture a Tree is the first of four titles to be installed as a Storywalk® by the Hamilton Public Library.
A Storywalk® features a children’s picture book, mounted page by page, throughout a park or along a trail to encourage both reading and physical literacy for kids and families. The concept originated in Vermont and typically pairs the book pages with Public Health “tips” for actions that kids will do as they move from sign to sign. With partners from the City of Hamilton’s Public Health and Parks Departments, funds were accessed through the Healthy Kids Community Challenge to create Storywalk® signs for four Canadian picture books.
You can walk Picture a Tree at Mountain Drive Park, in Hamilton Ontario – winter, spring, summer and fall. What is your favourite tree season?
Picture a Tree Storywalk®
Posted on August 2nd, 2016 by Barbara
Fox Walked Alone has been selected as a PJ Library title for September. PJ Library sends out free Jewish children’s books and music to Jewish and interfaith families on a monthly basis by subscription. Tens of thousands of Jewish children have a PJ Library book or CD mailed to them each month. The PJ Library books and music are available for children between 6 months and 8 years of age, depending on the available funding in each community.
Children that have been enrolled in PJ Library receive age-appropriate books highlighting Jewish holidays, values, Bible stories, and folklore. Books are selected by the PJ Library Book Selection Committee. Working with authors, publishers and editors, the committee strives to ensure that the finest Jewish books for children find their way each month into the mailboxes of all PJ Library families. Many of the PJ Library books have won prestigious awards, including the Caldecott Medal and the Sydney Taylor Book Award.
I’m delighted to know that Fox will be making some new friends!
