Later today I am flying to Edmonton, Alberta. Why, you ask? I’m going to do a taping of a CBC radio book club, in front of a live student audience! Why, you ask again? Because CBC radio, together with TD Bank (who is sponsoring the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award) ran a really cool contest in six cities across Canada. Schools could record cheers, (which were played on the local radio stations) in an attempt to ‘win’ not only a visit from one of the nominated authors to their school – but a live taping of a CBC radio book club, in which the kids themselves would be active participants.

If you follow this link to the TD Book Club, you can click on the “Edmonton” winner (Oliver School) and hear their winning cheer. You can also click on “Vancouver” and hear the winning cheers from Burnaby’s 12th Avenue School. They are the two schools who ‘won’ a visit from yours truly. I’ve already done the book club at 12th Avenue School, but sadly it was pre-blog and I have no photographic evidence! Suffice it to say, it was AWESOME – and the kids were amazing. They asked really smart questions. And I got to be interviewed by Sheryl MacKay, host of North by Northwest, a great BC radio show!The Vancouver show will air in November some time, and when it does I’ll post a link. Not sure yet when the Edmonton show will run, but I have packed my camera and this time I’ll take lots of photos.

And just so this isn’t totally text-heavy I’ve decided to add a random photo of …