Last week, I had the pleasure of joining Mrs. Brown and the Grade 1 class for the Forest of Reading’s Blue Spruce Awards. I left this experience feeling so lucky that my children go to a school that participates in such a wonderful event. I was amazed – I watched our kids get excited over books and their authors!  As the authors came out one by one onto the stage the kids cheered after every introduction. When it came time to announce the winner I watched my daughter cross her fingers and hold her breath as she waited in anticipation of her favorite book becoming the winner. I now reflect on the presentation of one of the authors, and how she begun to write the book “I Dare You Not to Yawn”.  She used words to purposely entice you to yawn while reading the book. She described the process she follows as she creates her stories and the journey an author takes to write and rewrite over and over again until the story is perfect. It took her 18 months to create this book! I now have a true appreciation of what it takes to write a story, how a spread is created, how the illustrations are created and, more importantly, so does my daughter. Thanks Richland Academy, Mrs. Brown, and the Ontario Library Association for a great event and I look forward to doing it all again next year!

Parents are a vital part of the Richland community and we are grateful to Mrs. J. for her insightful reflection.