Meet My Friend Picture Book Author Jennifer Lloyd... and her mum

I am just home from Jennifer Lloyd's double book launch! It's a rainy day here in Montreal, but it felt sunny inside Livres Babar's Pointe-Claire store. 

Jennifer's two new picture books are Murilla Gorilla and The Best Thing About Kindergarten (Simply Read Books), both of which got glowing reviews in this week's New York Times! Talk about exciting!

The first person I met when I walked into the bookstore was Jennifer's mom, Nancy (that's the two of them in today's pic). Like Jennifer, Nancy is a modest person. She credited her husband, Douglas, for Jennifer's creativity. "He was writing all the time," she said. But it turns out that Nancy deserves some credit, too. A longtime children's librarian, she read out loud to her three kids every night. "On Friday afternoons," Nancy said, "we'd go to the Beaconsfield Library and load up on books. We spent weekends on a farm. My husband would ask, 'Don't you kids want to play in the barn?' They just wanted their books!"

Even though Jennifer was very busy signing books this afternoon, she didn't mind when I interrupted with a question. (Jennifer is a kindergarten teacher so she is used to interruptions!!) I wanted to know if she had a writing tip for you, dear blog reader. And she did. Here's what Jennifer had to say: "Keep trying. You never know how things are going to work out. It takes so much persistence." Thanks for a great tip, Jennifer, and thanks, too, for your great books -- and your big heart!