L.E. Carmichael and the Forest of Reading program

by Paula Johanson

The Forest of Reading is a Canadian reading program by the Ontario Library Association -- the largest recreational reading program in Canada. Most participants hear about it through their libraries. Across the country, kids register in the Forest of Reading program to read books nominated for awards and then vote for their favourites.

This year, Sci/Why's own L.E. Carmichael has a book nominated for the Yellow Cedar Award! Her book is The Boreal Forest, a science book you can read about on her website at this link. You can also click on this link to see a number of resources she has shared about the book here on Sci/Why, including fun videos, lesson plans, activities and projects, and links to traditional indigenous knowledge websites.

L.E. Carmichael talks all about the Yellow Cedar Award and her book's fellow nominees at this link to her website. Many of the nominees this year are books on science topics. If you're looking for some great ideas for science reading, that's a great place to start! And the other nominees are interesting, too. If you're looking for books that are more age-appropriate, the Forest of Reading program has nominees for ten awards at this link. 

Book Awards for Helaine Becker!

One of our own authors on Sci/Why blog, Helaine Becker, announced today (June 16) on Facebook good news about two of her books. She reports:

Forest of Reading awards are being given out today. Thrilled that SLOTH AT THE ZOOM was chosen as a Blue Spruce Honour Book, and COUNTING ON KATHERINE as a Silver Birch Express Honour Book. Thanks , OLA!!!

Glad to hear the Ontario Library Association moved their Forest of Reading awards to an online event, when the pandemic made it impossible to gather in person to celebrate these and other fine books. Ask at your library and local bookstore for books on science and more by Canadian author Helaine Becker.

Congratulations, Helaine!

Youth and Their Science Discoveries

Paula Johanson

There are a variety of stories from around the world, telling of young people using science to discover amazing and useful things! Many of their projects are of particular interest in a world facing climate change and resource emergencies.

Check out the story of Fionn Ferriera, described as an eighteen-year-old wunderkind. At the 2019 Google Science Fair, he took the top prize. His invention? Creating a way to remove microplastics from ocean water. Click here for a link to read more about Fionn and the Google Science Fair.

It's not so simple to tell you the story of a South African youth who was part of a resounding success at rescuing penguins, during the oil spill when a tanker sank off his country's coast in 2000. He learned of the difficulty rescuers were having in removing crude oil safely and completely from the feathers of sea birds. While practising at home with a couple of feathers and a sample of crude oil, this teenager ended up inventing a way to clean oil spills off penguins, using a combination of dish detergent and ... well, that would be telling. Dyan deNapoli tells all about this teenager and his dad as one small part of her terrific book The Great Penguin Rescue: 40,000 Penguins, a Devastating Oil Spill, and the Inspiring Story of the World's Largest Animal Rescue. She's the penguin scientist who was present at this rescue, and you can learn more about her at this link to her website. Dyan deNapoli's book has so much to tell about professionals and volunteers working with animals, and solving this crisis. It's recommended reading for any family with a young person interested in working with animals, or worried about how people can cope with resource emergencies.

There's a family in Colorado that was learning how to test their drinking water. Their daughter, Gitanjali Rao, wanted to find a way to test water reliably and quickly. While browsing the MIT website, this eleven-year-old came up with an adaption for technology she read about in an article. Her portable device tests for lead in water, which is a problem for many people and places. This story is a terrific read for people who are upset by reading all the news articles about undrinkable water in Flint, Michigan or on First Nations reserves.

These three brief mentions are just a little of the great news that can be found about young people using science to make the world a better place.

Claire Eamer's book wins Science Writing award!

Posted by Paula Johanson

Congratulations to our own Claire Eamer, whose book WHAT A WASTE! has just been given a Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics.

There are four winners chosen for these awards, and the categories are books, articles, broadcast/new media, and writing for children. Claire's fine book from Annick Press was selected in the category of writing for children. You can read the announcement on the website for American Institute of Physics at this link.

As Claire commented on Twitter:

My book, WHAT A WASTE!, has won the American Institute of Physics award for science writing for children. I am honoured, delighted, and somewhat astonished.

Celebrate with the Sci/Why Crew!

With such a diverse - and productive - crew of writers here at Sci/Why, it's no surprise we have a lot to celebrate! Here's what our members have been up to:

Joan Marie Galat

Dark Matters, Nature's Reaction to Light Pollution is one of three shortlisted titles for the Canadian Authors Association (Alberta Branch) Exporting Alberta Award

Joan's new book is Solve This! Wild and Wacky Challenges for the Genius Engineer in You (National Geographic Kids). It was the number one new title on the Amazon.ca list: Children's How Things Work Books.

Claire Eamer

What a Waste! Where Does Garbage Go? Has been racking up award nods:

• Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Youth Book Award, shortlist
• Green Book Festival Award, second place 
• Canadian Children’s Literature Roundtables Information Book Awards, finalist 
• Silver Birch Award nomination, Ontario Library Association 
• American Association for the Advancement of Science SB&F Prize nomination 

So has Inside Your Insides:

• 2018 - AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books - Middle Grade Category, shortlisted. More than 4000 copies of a special edition will be distributed to American schools by Subaru!
• 2018 - Prairie Pasque Children’s Book Award, shortlist
• 2016 - Youth Book Award, Canadian Science Writers' Association, shortlist
• 2016 - Lane Anderson Award, Fitzhenry Family Foundation, shortlist 

Claire's non-science picture book, Underneath the Sidewalk, has also been shortlisted for the 2018 Shining Willow Award (Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice).

Paula Johanson

Paula is celebrating two new releases from Crabtree Publishing: Supercharged Sports and Tech Industry. Catch her at the When Worlds Collide festival in Calgary this August for all the details!

She's also edited three collections of articles for Greenhaven Publishing: Online Filter Bubbles, Student Loans and the Cost of College, and The Armenian Genocide, and completed a practicum at the University of Victoria's Electronic Textual Cultures Lab.

Margriet Ruurs

Margriet will be visiting an international school in Egypt and is looking forward to visiting mummies and pyramids. We hope she blogs all about it!

Helaine Becker

Helaine's Monster Science was a finalist for the Silver Birch Nonfiction award. She's also looking forward to launching Counting on Katherine on June 23 at the Ontario Science Centre.

L. E. Carmichael

Lindsey is thrilled to be working on her first science book for Kids Can Press! She's also recently returned from Hawaii, where she had a great time swimming with endangered sea turtles, learning about Hawaiian ethnobotany (traditional uses of food and medicine plants), and avoiding angry volcanoes.

Looking for a Good Science Book? But Where to Start....

By Claire Eamer

If you're curious about Canadian kids' science books, but you don't know quite where to start, consider taking advantage of the expertise of others. A lot of that expertise goes into choosing shortlists and winners for a number of annual book awards that honour science and non-fiction writing for children. Here's where you'll find some of the best titles in Canadian science writing for children -- including some books by Sci/Why bloggers.

L.E. Carmichaeil's Fuzzy Forensics won the
2014 Lane Anderson Award for Youth Books.

Canadian Science Writing Awards

Science in Society Youth Book Award is given annually by the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada. For recent and current shortlisted and winning books, follow the links on the organization’s website at http://sciencewriters.ca/  Award winners for 2014 and earlier are listed on the Canadian Children’s Book Centre website at http://bookcentre.ca/awards/science-society-book-award-0/

The Lane Anderson Awards recognize Canadian science writing in both adult and youth categories. The current year’s shortlist will appear on the main website at http://laneandersonaward.ca/  Past winners and shortlisted books are at http://laneandersonaward.ca/past-winners-and-finalists/

Canadian Information Book Awards

The Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada’s Information Book Award names a winner and an Honour Book each year. Many of the shortlisted and winning books are science books. For current and previous winners, go to the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable’s website at http://vclr.ca/information-book-award/

The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk by Sci/Why's own
Jan Thornhill won the 2017 Information Book Award
given by the Canadian Children's Literature Roundtables.

The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction was established by the Fleck Family Foundation and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. For a complete list of winners and shortlisted titles, many of them about science, go to http://bookcentre.ca/programs/awards/norma-fleck-award-for-canadian-childrens-non-fiction/previous-winners-and-finalists/ 

International Awards

The American Institute of Physics presents an annual award for science communication for children, and Canadian writers have won on occasion, most recently in 2017. The list of previous winners is at https://www.aip.org/aip/awards/science-communication/children

Claire Eamer's Inside Your Insides: A Guide to the
Microbes That Call You Home was on the shortlist
for the 2018 AAAS/Subaru SB&F award.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science gives out the AAAS/Subaru Science Book & Film awards, and Canadian books have appeared on the award shortlists frequently. Find winners and shortlisted books at https://www.aaas.org/program/aaassubaru-sbf-prize

Our Booklist

If the awards lists have whetted your appetite for Canadian science writing for kids, why not delve deeper? Take a look at Sci/Why's own annotated listing of Canadian kids' science books. It's a free download on the Sci/Why site at https://sci-why.blogspot.ca/p/science-book-list.html

New Books, New Awards, New Ways to Get Pumped About Science

by L. E. Carmichael

It's spring and the Sci/Why writers are celebrating. Check out these latest and award-winning books by our team of bloggers!

Simon Shapiro

Simon's book, Faster Higher Smarter (Annick Press) just won the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Youth Book Award! It takes a lot of talent, skill, and hard work to become a world-class athlete. But it takes even more to make a sport better: it takes smarts! And whether innovators are aware of it or not, it takes an understanding of physics, mechanics, and aerodynamics to come up with better techniques and equipment. From swimming, soccer, and basketball to skateboarding and wheelchair sports, Faster Higher Smarter looks at the hard science behind many inventions and improvements in sports.

Claire Eamer

Claire's book Inside Your Insides (Kids Can Press) was shortlisted for the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Youth Book Award!

Her latest, What a Waste! Where Does Garbage Go? (Annick Press) came out in March. It's the history, sociology, science, past, present, and future of human garbage (and even some pre-human garbage). 

Helaine Becker

Helaine's Monster Science (Kids Can Press) was also shortlisted for the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Youth Book Award! She's also got two new books out: You Can Read (Orca) and Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs (Kids Can Press).

Paula Johanson

Paula's latest is Critical Perspectives on Vaccinations, a book for high school students from Enslow Publishers. It's a collection of published articles from doctors and experts, as well as court documents and personal viewpoints of ordinary citizens. Stay tuned for Critical Perspectives on the Opioid Epidemic, as well as two kids books on technology in sports and in industry!

Anita Miettunen 

Our newest blogger is also a newly published author! In January 2017, Red Deer Press published Anita's Big Blue Forever. This is a photo-based information book, inspired by the true story of how a blue whale skeleton, buried for over twenty years in PEI, was shipped cross country and reassembled for permanent display at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver, BC. This story is complemented with intriguing facts about blue whales and their environment, and the fascinating process that museums go through to uncover, prepare, and reassemble skeletons for display and study. Big Blue Forever can be purchased through your local independent!

L. E. Carmichael

Lindsey has two new forensic science books for middle readers. Discover Forensic Science (Lerner) starts with crime-fighting cadaver dogs and ends with cutting edge technology in forensics - like a camera that ages blood stains based on their colour. Forensics in the Real World (ABDO) explores careers in forensics, inspiring future Locards... and Sherlocks!

BREAKING NEWS: Sci/Why Bloggers Shortlisted for Major Award

Three of Sci/Why's regular bloggers have books shortlisted for the Canadian Science Writers' Association's 2017 Youth Books Award. The books and authors are:

• Faster Higher Smarter, by Simon Shapiro. Published by Annick Press.
• Inside Your Insides, by Claire Eamer. Published by Kids Can Press.
• Monster Science, by Helaine Becker. Published by Kids Can Press.

The other nominees are To Burp or Not to Burp: A Guide to Your Body in Space by Dr. Dave Williams and Loredana Cunti (Annick Press) and Dinosaurs of the Deep by Larry Verstraete (Turnstone Press).

BREAKING NEWS

June 30, 2016 -- Author and speaker Shar Levine, a founding member of Sci/Why, has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. The appointment, announced today, is for "her contributions to making science easier for children to understand through her hands-on workshops and for her work to involve parents, teachers and librarians in science education."

The Vancouver-based author, known as The Science Lady, said she is still numb with the news. "It's a win for all science writers," In particular, she said, she shares the honour with her long-time writing partner, Leslie Johnstone.

The Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Books! Books! Books!

By Claire Eamer

Claire Eamer photo

A few months ago, we at Sci/Why put together a list of kids' science books by Canadian writers - ourselves and others. It's a work in progress, which we plan to update as often as we can manage, but it's already pretty lengthy.

The list is organized so that you can find books by topic and see immediately what grade level they're suitable for. That was for the convenience of teachers and librarians. But it's awfully convenient for people who might be looking for presents for their favourite kids at this time of year. Right?

So we thought we'd just mention again that we offer, for your consideration, our list of Science-Themed Books for Children. Just follow the link to a lot of science a lot of fun, and a lot of great ideas!

And the Hits Keep Coming!

By Claire Eamer

It's been an award-laden autumn for Sci/Why bloggers. And here's another.

Our friend, world traveller, and occasional Sci/Why blogger Margriet Ruurs has won the 2015 Information Book Award from the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada for her beautiful book on Yukon landscape painter Ted Harrison, A BRUSH FULL OF COLOUR: THE WORLD OF TED HARRISON. Margriet co-wrote the book with Katherine Gibson. It was published by Pajama Press.

The 2015 Honour Book is DREAMING IN INDIAN: CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN VOICES, edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale, and published by Annick Press.

Congratulations to everyone!

Jan Thornhill Wins 2015 Vicky Metcalf Award

By Claire Eamer

Jan Thornhill

Sci/Why's own Jan Thornhill is this year's winner of the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People - and the rest of us at Sci/Why couldn't be prouder! The award is given for a body of work over many years, and Jan certainly has that. She has fourteen books to her credit (so far) - and for many of them, she was both writer and illustrator.

Here's what the award jury had to say about Jan and her work:

With clarity and grace, Jan Thornhill’s books use both art and text to draw children into a closer and more understanding relationship with the natural world. Over a period of almost 30 years she has shown a rare ability to present serious topics to children from a scientific perspective in which gaining knowledge is pleasurable, never didactic or dry. From concept books like The Wildlife ABC, to stories and folk tales dealing with subjects like migration or wild animals in urban environments, to non-fiction books for older children on complex and challenging subjects such as conservation or death, Thornhill enriches the young reader’s awareness of the physical world and our place in it. A passionate and deeply-informed interest in nature is always conveyed with her characteristic combination of humour, empathy, and common sense.

Jan with Kirsten Hanson, chair of the board of the Metcalf Foundation and one of Vicky Metcalf's grandchildren. (Laurence Acland photo)

Jan has kindly shared with us her acceptance speech, delivered at the Writers' Trust Awards banquet on November 3. Here it is:

Thank you so much! I am humbled and thrilled to receive this award— my sincerest gratitude to the Writer’s Trust and the Metcalf Foundation.

Of course, I’ve known about the Vicky Metcalf Award for a long time, but I never thought I had a chance of getting it. Not only because there are so many amazing children’s writers in Canada, but also because I write mostly non-fiction. For a long time, non-fiction, especially for kids, has been the odd man out awards-wise. So I’m so glad that someone – well, a jury of three someones – has decided that what I write is both important and literature…. Literature, despite the fact that, in one of my books, there are fewer than 50 words in the main text. The Wildlife 123 begins with the very hard-to-write line: “One panda,” and ends with the equally difficult “One thousand tadpoles.”

So I guess I am also being recognized as an illustrator. This shows a growing understanding that picture books are, indeed, literature; and that when they work, they are a perfect marriage between words and art. This has been made even clearer to me when other artists have illustrated my words, most recently the fabulous Ashley Barron who did the gorgeous artwork for Kyle Goes Alone, published by Owlkids this fall.

I am not the only writer/illustrator who has received this award in the past 50 years, but I do seem to be the first author who writes primarily non-fiction, almost always about science, nature, and the environment. And YAY! to that, I say. As a science writer, it’s particularly gratifying to be recognized after 10 years of living under an unbelievably heavy-handed anti-science regime – a government that did not understand the importance of long-term scientific studies, research libraries, and, most critically, the free dissemination of information and ideas—which is part of what literature is also about. I hope the new government gets it right, with both the sciences and the arts.

On a more personal note, my family and friends, and a few industry associates know that more than 10 years ago I had to give up illustrating because of a painful condition in my arm that was eventually diagnosed as cancer. I’m happy to report that I’ve been cancer-free for seven years since my treatment. But I’m just as thrilled to say that, though my dexterity is not what it once was, I’ve recently figured out a way to work around my handicap and I’ve almost completed my first self-illustrated book in more than 10 years. (It comes out with Groundwood next fall.)

Along with offering my thanks again to the Writers’ Trust and the Metcalf Foundation for granting me this award, I would also like to express my gratitude for the substantial sum of money that comes with it. I don’t know if everyone here knows this, but trying to create children’s books that make a difference doesn’t often pay very well. I, and others like me, do it because we believe that children deserve excellence in the books they are given to read. Receiving this recognition confirms I actually did make the right career choice 25 years ago.

I’d also like to thank the publishers and editors I’ve worked with over the years: Sheba Meland and Anne Shone, Jennifer Canham, Karen Boersma, Karen Li, and Sheila Barry, to name just a few. I’d also like to thank my pal, Laurence, who has been my computer and science mentor for years, and my mum, who’s sitting right there, my biggest fan from the first time she stuck a crayon in my hand when I was two, and who, along with my dad, surrounded me with books.

And of course, my wonderful husband, Fred, who, for more than thirty years, has put up with the squalor that surrounds me when I work. And who has stood beside me on volcanoes and in hospitals, and has made me laugh in both places.

Finally, I want to thank the astonishing biodiversity of this planet of ours that never fails to entertain me and provide me with inspiration."

If you'd like more Jan Thornhill (who wouldn't?), check out her fungus blog, Weird and Wonderful Wild Mushrooms, or just enter her name in the Sci/Why search engine (right) to find links to her many fine Sci/Why posts.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!! (Well, several winners, actually.)

By Claire Eamer

Every now and then, we have to boast about the amazing awesomeness of the Sci/Why crew. After all, somebody's gotta do it. Why not one of us?

So - without further ado - let me announce that my colleague, L.E. Carmichael has won this year's Lane Anderson Award for the best Canadian youth science book published in 2014. Ta da! She earned the award with her book Fuzzy Forensics: DNA Fingerprinting Gets Wild.

Part mystery and part scientific guidebook, Fuzzy Forensics tells the story of cutting-edge science put to work to solve a wildlife crime, how the science works, and why wildlife crime is important. It's both fascinating and fun.



Pretty impressive, eh? But that's not the end of our amazing accomplishments.

In September, Sci/Why blogger and Science Lady, Shar Levine, was presented with a 2015 Alumni Honour Award by her alma mater, the University of Alberta, for her work in advocating for children's science literacy.

Shar's writing partner, Leslie Johnstone, is no slouch either. While Shar was being honoured at the University of Alberta, Leslie was named one of the 100 leaders in education in British Columbia by the University of British Columbia. Besides writing dozens of entertaining science books for kids, in partnership with Shar, Leslie has taught science at Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver since 1988 and is currently acting vice principal and head of the science department there.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Are Canadians interested in science? You tell us!

By Claire Eamer

A couple of weeks ago, Rick Mercer delivered one of his trademark rants in support of science - pure science, whether or not it confers immediate economic benefit. He criticized the federal government for its lack of respect and support for science and said that Canadians are “as passionate and curious as anyone else” when it comes to science.

Now, as a science communicator - both to kids and to adults - that is my experience too. I've talked to kids, teachers, librarians, parents, and passing adults from Vancouver Island to Nunavut in the past few years. Almost all were enthusiastic about science, curious about how things work, fascinated by the natural world, and delighted to learn new things. (The exceptions were two kids from a religious fundamentalist family and one grown-up radio interviewer - but you can't please everyone, I guess.)

But this, it appears, is not everyone's experience.

Canadian geneticist David Kent, currently at the University of Cambridge in the UK, wrote a blog post politely and articulately disagreeing with Rick Mercer. That triggered an online storm of the best possible kind - some people agreeing with Kent and others disagreeing.

Besides the stream of comments attached to Kent's post - all polite and passionate (including, I hope, my own) - the discussion has continued on other blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds.

One of the commenters, science communicator Kevin Mogk, felt strongly enough about the discussion to repost his own comments, inviting more discussion. Another referred to his own earlier post with concerns similar to Kent's. 

A number of people referenced the Council of Canadian Academies' report, issued in August 2014, on the state of science culture in Canada. Among its findings: "Canadians have positive attitudes towards science and technology and low levels of reservations about science compared with citizens of other countries."

The Canadian science blog and blog aggregator, Science Borealis, recently published a careful and detailed set of counter-arguments to Kent's post.

Theresa Liao, science communicator at the University of British Columbia and a friend of David Kent, posted her own response on her blog, Science, I Choose You!

Among the evidence cited for Canadians' interest in and enthusiasm for science are the excellent books, blogs and articles being produced by Canadian science writers for a Canadian and international audience, including:

• nominees and winners of the Canadian Science in Society Book Awards  and the Lane Anderson Awards
• the Canadian science bloggers listed and featured on the website of the Canadian Science Writers' Association and the Science Borealis blog
• the substantial audiences attracted by CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks and CBC Television's The Nature of Things
• the crowds of kids and adults who fill science centres, science museums, and open science days at universities and research centres

So, who is right? Or are we all right, to some degree? What do we - all of us - need to do to make sure that Canadians have access to scientific information in a form that makes it useful to them? And how can we ensure that kids who are passionate about science (and that's most of them, in my experience) don't lose that passion as they get older, whether or not they become scientists themselves?

If you read this far, you care - and you have an opinion. Please share!






 

We're all winners! - The Lane Anderson Award for Science Writing

By Claire Eamer

On September 15, I attended a very nice dinner in a very, very nice heritage house in Toronto - and got a very, very, very nice surprise. My book, Before the World Was Ready, Stories of Daring Genius in Science, published by Annick Press, won the 2013 Lane Anderson Award for science writing for young readers.

The Lane Anderson Award is a relatively new award honouring the very best science writing in Canada, both in the adult and young reader categories. It was created and is supported by the Fitzhenry Family Foundation. The official website says, "Each award will be determined on the relevance of its content to the importance of science in today’s world, and the author’s ability to connect the topic to the interests of the general trade reader."

It's an honour - a huge honour. And there's money attached, which is unusual and extremely welcome in the world of book writing.

Now, I knew my book was on the three-book short list - that's why I was at the dinner - but my bets were on another of the shortlisted books. However, I was the only one of the three who could attend the ceremony. We all know or know of each other - that's the nature of kids' science writing in Canada - so we decided to put together a short, joint statement of appreciation, with a bit from each of us.

And here it is - from nominees Jude Isabella, Daniel Loxton, and me, Claire Eamer:

Science writers – and especially children’s science writers – carry collegiality to an extreme. All three of the finalists for the children’s book award would jointly like to thank you for this opportunity and for your recognition of the importance of good, accessible science information that fosters science literacy in both adults and children.

From Jude, who wanted to emphasize the contribution of her long-time Kids Can Press editor, Val Wyatt: “She’s been at it for over 30 years and to me this nomination is a testament to Val’s huge impact on science writing for kids in Canada. There’s just so many writers today that are writing and winning awards and everything that wouldn’t be where they are without Val. She’s just legendary.”

From Daniel: “I'm tremendously grateful not only to the Fitzhenry Family Foundation and the judges for this nomination, but to Kids Can Press and my editor Valerie Wyatt for making this book possible in the first place. To Val especially. It's simply not possible to overstate the importance of a good editor in the life of a writer, and Val is the best.”

From Claire: “In addition to the praise of editors, including my editors at Annick Press, I’d like to add my appreciation for the illustrators of these books – including the astonishing Sa Boothroyd, who illustrated Before the World Was Ready. They grab the attention of kids and keep them reading through what is often pretty complex information.”

And here are the three short-listed books:

Before the World Was Ready, Stories of Daring Genius in Science (Annick Press), by Claire Eamer

Chitchat: Celebrating the World's Languages (Kids Can Press), by Jude Isabella

Pterosaur Trouble (Kids Can Press), by Daniel Loxton

Sci/Why Bloggers and Friends Win National Awards

By Claire Eamer. Photos by Juanita Bawagan.

The Canadian Science Writers' Association (CSWA) handed out its top awards at its recent annual meeting in Toronto, and Sci/Why folk were front and centre.

Vancouver-based Sci/Why blogger Shar Levine and her writing partner, Leslie Johnstone, won the Association's Science in Society Youth Book Award for Dirty Science: 25 Experiments with Soil, published by Scholastic. You can peek inside the book here.

Shar Levine (l) and Leslie Johnstone receive their award from CSWA president Stephen Strauss.

Victoria freelance writer Jude Isabella won the coveted Science Journalism award for her story "The Secret Lives of Bears" published in British Columbia Magazine's Fall/Winter 2013 issue. Jude, former editor of YesMag, the late lamented Canadian children's science magazine, was part of the group that launched Sci/Why. You can read her prize-winning article here and you can even see the scientists at work in this short video.

Jude Isabella thanks the CSWA, while Association president Stephen Strauss looks on.

Talking Science with Kids

By Claire Eamer

This blog, in a slightly different form, first appeared on the Eamer Science Services website (where I masquerade as a writer of science for grown-ups), but I thought it might be worth repeating the main points here.

I spent most of May touring Ontario and talking about science with kids, mainly because one of my kids’ science books, Lizards in the Sky: Animals Where You Least Expect Them, was nominated for an award in the Ontario Library Association’s annual Forest of Reading competition.

This was my first Forest of Reading nomination, and it was awesome! It’s a children’s choice award, which means that kids all over Ontario read the books and vote for their favourites. Even if you don’t win (I didn’t), you still win, because schools and libraries buy your books and kids read them.

And, I found, they read with enthusiasm!

I gave presentations at several schools on the Niagara Peninsula to audiences from kindergarten to Grade 8. In one case, the whole K-to-8 school was — rather alarmingly — in the audience. At a Toronto library, the mid-week afternoon audience ranged in age from two to roughly 70. To my amazement and pleasure, all the audiences were interested, attentive, courteous, full of questions, and enthusiastic about science.

Toward the end of the month, I even spent an afternoon at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, talking with kids and adults about animals, habitat, evolution, and the sheer joy of learning about all of them.

The Forest of Reading wraps up with a two-day Festival of Reading at Harbourfront in Toronto. Thousands of kids and teachers attend, cheering on their favourite authors, swapping books, collecting autographs, getting their photographs taken with authors, and generally talking books-books-books with anyone and everyone.

The whole experience was immensely encouraging to someone who cares about books and about science. Books are not dead. The kids love ‘em, in whatever form they find them. And they love science. Both the kids and adults I talked to were full of smart, interesting questions about the science in Lizards in the Sky, and full of enthusiasm for the diversity of life that the book celebrates.

My take-away message from a month of touring? If we can talk about science in an accessible way, people — both kids and adults — are more than ready to listen.

Sci/Why Parteeee!

By Claire Eamer

We usually celebrate science on this blog, but this week we decided to celebrate ourselves. Just a little bit.

Here, in their own words, are a few highlights from some of the Sci/Why bloggers and our fellow Canadian kids’ science writers over the last few months.

Helaine Becker:

• My newest picture book, Little Jack Horner, Live from the Corner (Scholastic Canada), illustrated by the incredible Mike Boldt, came out in January. A sequel is in the works.
  
• The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea (Kids Can Press) won the Outstanding Youth Book Award from the Canadian Science Writers’ Association and was longlisted for Information Book of the Year by the Vancouver Children's Roundtable.
• Alphabest (Kids Can Press) has been shortlisted for Best Book Illustration for Dave Whamond’s glorious and hilarious artwork by the National (US) Cartoonists Society.
• I’ll be presenting at the Kids Can Press 40th Anniversary party to be held on May 16th at the Forest of Reading Celebrations at Toronto's Harbourfront. Watch for wild squirrels and rampaging turtles at this not-to-be-missed partay!
• Last but not least, the TV show I write, Dr. Greenie’s Mad Lab, has been renewed for a fourth season. I’ll be writing that this summer. You can see the trailer here.

Paula Johanson:
I've just defended my Master's thesis. While completing my MA, I also wrote four books:

• Lady Gaga: A Biography, for Greenwood/ABC-Clio
• Fish: From The Catch To Your Table, for Rosen
• Money-Making Opportunities For Teens Who Like Pets And Animals, for Rosen
• Love Poetry: How Do I Love Thee, for Enslow.

Marie Powell: 

• I was runner-up in the 2012 Lush Triumphant Literary Awards with my short story "Grid Lines," and the story was published in subTerrain magazine, Issue #63 (Winter).
• My YA fantasy novel Hawk won a fully-funded Creator-in-Residence mentorship from CANSCAIP in January. 
• I  also wrote six juvenile beginning readers for Red Line, which are scheduled for publication in September.

Lindsey Carmichael:

ABDO Publishing released two of my books this January:

• Hybrid and Electric Vehicles 
• The Scientific Method in the Real World

Adrienne Mason:

• I have a book out this year: Planet Ark: Protecting Earth's Biodiversity by Kids Can Press. 

Shar Levine:
I’ve been collecting award nominations this year (but no wins, I’m afraid), including:

• The NSERC award for Science Promotion for the creation of Celebrate Science ( joint nomination with Jo-Anne Naslund)
• The University of Alberta Alumni Honor Award, the Queen's Jubilee Medal ( joint nomination with Leslie Johnstone)
• The Lieutenant Governor’s Award-BC-Community Involvement for science promotion (joint nomination with Leslie Johnstone)
• The Knight Science Journalism Fellowship - Food Boot Camp

Kari-Lynn Winters: 

• My book Buzz About Bees will be on the shelves in May. The publisher is Fitzhenry and Whiteside. This science book looks at the ways bees are disappearing worldwide and some of the things kids can do to advocate on behalf of the bees.

Claire Eamer: 

• The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods (Annick Press) was named 2013 Eureka! Silver Honor Book earlier this year. It has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Youth Book Award from the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, the AAAS/Subaru Science Books & Film Book Award, and the the 2013-2014 Hackmatack awards, as well as being longlisted for Information Book of the Year by the Vancouver Children's Roundtable. 
• Lizards in the Sky: Animals Where You Least Expect Them (Annick Press) is a finalist in both the Red Maple Awards in Ontario and the Rocky Mountain Book Awards in Alberta.

The Red Cedar Shortlist - Full of Science Fun

Congratulations to all of the science writers on this year’s shortlist for the Red Cedar awards. There are several science books on the short-list, including The Insecto-Files by Helaine Becker, Animal Aha! by Diane Swanson, Hoaxed!: Fakes and Mistakes in the World of Science by Jude Isabella, Out of this World: The Amazing Search for an Alien Earth by Jacob Berkowitz, Kaboom!: Explosions of All Kinds By Gillian Richardson and You Are Weird: Your Body's Peculiar Parts and Funny Functions by Diane Swanson. (Diane! A double header. And aren’t you retired?)

Evolution Wins the Lane Anderson Award

Courtesy of Gillian O'Reilly:

The Lane Anderson Award winners have been announced and the winner in the young reader category is:

Evolution by Daniel Loxton. (Kids Can Press)

Brought to life by amazing computer-generated images, illustrations and photographs, Evolution is an accessible introduction to a fundamental process of life on earth.

Daniel Loxton is Editor of Junior Skeptic, the children’s section of Skeptic magazine.

“This tour-de-force of science writing will spark the imagination of readers as they contemplate how we and other creatures came to be.” – The Jury

More information on the award and selection process can be found at www.laneandersonaward.ca