Thursday Afternoon Smoothie!

I just had a delicious mango-pineapple smoothie at a cafe on Sherbrooke St., in NDG, the Montreal neighbourhood where I live. Better even than the smoothie (which was totally yum-yum) was the company-- I was with a friend named Carol-Ann Hoyte.

Carol-Ann does many things -- most of them are connected to the world of children's lit. She is assistant librarian at Selwyn House School; she writes about children's lit for publications like Canadian Children's Book News ; she is Quebec regional coordinator for Canadian Children's Book Week ; and she's a poetess! (I love the word poetess; it's way more poetic than poet, don't you think?) Carol-Ann is also co-representative of Yes Oui CANSCAIP, the Quebec branch of CANSCAIP , an amazing organization that supports and encourages writers, illustrators and performers whose work is geared to kids.

I asked Carol-Ann why she got into kid lit. Her answer was so interesting I had to hunt for a napkin and jot it down for you, dear blog reader: "Writing for children is real. It keeps you close to youth. Children are an appreciative audience. They're the people I want to speak to. It might sound bad, but there's nothing creative that I have to say to adults." 

So three cheers for Carol-Ann and all the great work she does to support kid lit in Quebec and Canada. And Carol-Ann, if you're reading this, thanks for the smoothie!