You may also know the sweet, dull pain of having to read many kids classics, like
Goodnight Moon, approximately 100,0000 times. But a great picture book, one that works for all readers, can transcend time and culture in the best fashion. As Nobel-prizewinning author Olga Tokarczuk said, “I adore the picture book. For me it is a powerful, primeval way of telling a story that’s able to get through to anyone regardless of age, cultural differences or level of education.”
As picture books go, the Canadian-born Klassen is kind of a big deal. Ask any kid and their slightly freaked-out parents about his global bestseller,
A remake of
Footloose will be filmed in B.C. with Premier John Horgan as the mayor and, in the Kevin Bacon role, a bunch of irresponsible young people. Alberta’s War Room has hired the Easter Bunny to debate Bigfoot on the positive aspects of digging lots of holes. Fox News is taking a break from wall-to-wall coverage of cancel culture to provide wall-to-wall coverage of an evil rapper’s Satanic running shoes.
Wait, that last one is real. The Lil Nas X sneakers story has pushed all else to the side, in case you’ve been wondering why Mr. Potato Head updates have been slow coming in recently.
Daniel Wood Has Months to Live. So the Writer Sent out a Funny Postcard
It’s typical of the acclaimed journalist who’s made Vancouver his base for a world of stories.
Heather Pringle has written four books and many hundreds of magazine articles for publications as diverse as National Geographic, Scientific American and Discover magazine. Based in Victoria, she is an editor emerita at Hakai magazine. SHARES ‘On a journey among Mongolia’s nomads in the Khoridol Saridag mountains,’ says Daniel Wood, ‘I met Dagjii, his encampment surrounded by domesticated reindeer. He was one of 48 remaining members of the Tsaatan tribe.’ (The Tyee asked Wood to share recollections to go with photos in this article.)
Michelle Cyca: How would you describe your literary tastes?
Jen Sookfong Lee: I mostly read novels my favourites are really immersive novels that have a lot of different layers in terms of setting and character, and all those fictional elements. I look for something that will suck me in and not let me go.
The last one was
Songs for the End of the World by Saleema Nawaz, which is a pandemic novel. Oddly, she wrote it before any of this happened. It’s not that she was predicting the future, but she did a lot of research into pandemics and viruses like COVID. It’s a fascinating read, and it follows something like five protagonists and their experiences through the pandemic.