Maureen Bush is the author of The Veil of Magic series (Coteau Books)—The Nexus Ring, Crow Boy, The Veil Weavers—and a lifelong lover of fantasy books.
Maureen's Lit Wish List is Five Books for of All the Ages. On the list are some of Maureen's favorite Canadian books for kids. They're funny and exciting stories that would make great gifts this holiday season, or any season, for children of all ages.
First, let's hear from Maureen about her own youthful experiences as a reader.
Julie Wilson: Do you have a specific memory of reading as a child?
Maureen Bush:I have lovely early memories of being read to, but most of my book-related memories are from when I was older, and immersed in favorite novels, like The Hobbit, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. To me reading was very solitary—just me living in the book.
JW: What kind of reader were you back then, and what kind of reader are you now?
MB:When I was a child, I read everything—cereal boxes, my dad's Scientific American Magazine, Mom's Robertson Davies, while walking to school, at school whenever I could sneak it in.
I don't read cereal boxes anymore, but I still read a great variety of things, and I still read like a child. If the book doesn't grab me within 10 or 20 pages, I assume it isn't going to and move on to a new one.
JW: Now that you're a writer for young people, are you particularly mindful of what you think (or know) they'll like? Meaning, do you serve your reader as much as your story?
MB: When I write, I try to let the story become what it needs to become, but in the background I always have an awareness of children as readers. When kids are excited about a good book, they won't want to put it down, they'll want to share it with friends, and they'll want to dive in to another as soon as they're finished. And they love fantasy.
That awareness sits with me as I write. If I can create a story that excites a child, it's almost as big a thrill as writing itself.
Maureen Bush's Lit Wish List: Five Books for Children of All Ages
From Maureen: When I'm buying books for kids, I think about their ages and interests, and then I look for a book that might delight them. These are stories that delight me, and have delighted kids I know. I look for humour, absurdity, adventure, and a sense of the deeper meaning in life (like the importance of red, to a five-year-old).
Red is Best
Kathy Stinson
Illustrated by Robin Baird Lewis
Annick Press, originally published 1982
Ages 2-5
Kelly's mom doesn't understand that red is best, for everything. Red mitts make better snowballs, red boots take bigger steps.
This is the perfect picture book for everyone who understands that red things go faster.
Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog
Tim Beiser
Illustrated by Rachel Berman
Tundra, 2009
Ages 2-5
A ridiculous story told in ridiculous rhymes, delightfully illustrated.
"Bradley McGogg was a very fine frog
Who happily napped in a hollowed-out log.
This log in a bog, where our frog spent his days,
Was a pad Brad had had since his pollywog phase."
I Want To Go Home
Gordon Korman
Scholastic, originally published 1981, republished 2004
Ages 9-12
Declared by a nephew The Funniest Book Ever, Rudy Miller is sent to summer camp because his school counselor and his parents think it would be good for him. He doesn't agree, and causes havoc. Hysterically funny, this is perhaps not quite the book parents would want their child to read just before leaving for camp.
Airborn
Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins, 2004
Ages 10-14
The same nephew declared this The Best Book Ever.
In a rollicking steampunk adventure, Matt, a cabin boy on the airship Aurora, boards a crippled air balloon, fights pirates, and discovers strange creatures of the air.
The Warlocks of Talverdin Series
K. V. Johansen
Orca Books, 2007-2010
Ages 10-14
A fantasy series that reminded me of my childhood love for Ursula Le Guin. The Warlocks of Talverdin are nightwalkers, who have a magic that allows them to walk through darkness, and are greatly feared because of this.
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Maureen Bush is the author of four books including The Veil of Magic Series: The Nexus Ring, Crow Boy, The Veil Weavers. Her books have been shortlisted for numerous awards including the Silver Birch and the Saskatchewan Diamond Willow.
She has a Post-graduate Certificate of Creative Writing from Humber College, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Masters in Environmental Design (Environmental Science), both from the University of Calgary.
Born in Edmonton, Maureen Bush now lives in Calgary with her husband and two daughters.
Her favourite books as a child were: Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne; Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome; and, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein.
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