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SCBWI Member Videos: How to Apply for Awards and Grants

2024

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Let’s go! Experience the magic of skating on wild ice.

Two children wake up to hear the lake singing, then the wind begins wailing … or is it a wolf? They bundle up and venture out into the cold, carrying their skates. On the snow-covered shore, they spot tracks made by fox, deer, hare, mink, otter … and the wolf! In the bay, the ice is thick and smooth. They lace up their skates, step onto the ice, stroking and gliding, and the great lake sings again.

In her signature poetic style, Jean E. Pendziwol describes the exhilarating experience of skating on the wild ice of Lake Superior, including

Skating Wild on an Inland Sea

Through the window, the child can hear the trees breathe and watches them sway back and forth as they begin to dance. Then bears join in, accompanied by the child on their drum, making so much noise they wake up a dragon! The dragon’s smoky breath fills the sky, and the wind forms a knight on a steed that gallops through the stars. The child’s adventure continues, as one wonderful flight of fancy leads to the next, from pirates to mermaids to whales, until they find themselves sitting silent once again among the trees.

When I Listen to Silence

Why do shadows sometimes disappear? How can snowflakes be soft and fluffy, but also icy and sharp? What do you do when the wind howls life a wolf? When the world seems unpredictable, confusing and scary, the child in this story-poem finds hope in the tiny buds on a cherry tree. Jean E. Pendziwol’s lyrical text is beautifully interpreted by Nathalie Dion’s delicate, textured illustrations featuring the child and their playful cat.

I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree

Setting out from Camp Camelot in search of a noble quest, a girl and her dragon friend cross swords with a bully of a knight. The bully says the dragon is too big, tall and green to play knights. Suddenly, playtime is spoiled. The girl stands up for the dragon, but the other bystanders let the bully do as he pleases. It's time for a petition to the king! After a roundtable discussion, the bully comes to accept that everyone has a right to play --- no matter how big, tall or green they are! This winning combination of adventure and information provides the perfect starting point for discussions about bullying. The Tale of Sir Dragon: Dealing with Bullies for Kids (and Dragons) offers a constructive approach to an important subject.

The Tale of Sir Dragon

After a thump-bumping ride on a slide, a little girl and her dragon friend find themselves inside a fairy-tale book. The stories are familiar, and there's lots of silly fun as the dragon is transformed into fairy-tale characters. But danger lurks in the form of strangers --- including the hungry wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood” and Snow White's evil stepmother. And it's up to the girl to keep an eye on the dragon, who walks alone through deep dark woods and takes treats from people he doesn't know. Little by little, the girl teaches her irrepressible friend to be careful about strangers.The winning combination of fairy-tale adventure and concrete safety information --- including the Dragon's Stranger Safety Rhyme and the checklist of rules at the end of the book --- provide the perfect starting point for discussions with children about stranger safety

Once Upon A Dragon

Marja admires her big, brave older sister and is waiting until she too can ski and go to school. When Marja turns seven she is finally ready. Her father tells her, When you are strong inside, you can do anything. And despite her mother's objections, she skis off to school on her own.It's hard to stay true to her father though when he dies in a logging accident, and the family must struggle to survive. But Marja persists, skiing to school each day, learning her sums and letters and how to speak English, just as her father had always wanted. Then one sunny spring afternoon as she is skiing home alone, Marja's new-found strength is put to the test.Evocative prose and beautiful illustrations bring this moving tale, set in a 19th-century Canadian logging town, to life.

Marja's Skis

The Red Sash is the story of a young Metis boy who lives near the fur trading post of Fort William, on Lake Superior, nearly 200 years ago. His father spends the long winter months as a guide, leading voyageurs into the northwest to trade with native people for furs. Now it is Rendezvous, when the voyageurs paddle back to Fort William with their packs of furs, and North West Company canoes come from Montreal bringing supplies for the next season. It is a time of feasting and dancing and of voyageurs trading stories around the campfire.With preparations underway for a feast in the Great Hall, the boy canoes to a nearby island to hunt hare. But once there, a storm begins to brew. As the waves churn to foam, a canoe carrying a gentleman from the North West Company appears, heading toward the island for shelter. The boy helps land the canoe, which has been torn by rocks and waves. Then he saves the day as he paddles the gentleman across to Fort William in his own canoe, earning the gift of a voyageur's red sash.

The Red Sash

In this exquisite lullaby, the beauty and wonder of a northern winter night unfold, with images of a soft snowfall, the wild animals that appear in the garden, the twinkling stars, the gentle rhythm of the northern lights and the etchings of frost on the window pane.As the young child sleeps, wrapped in a downy blanket, a snowflake falls, and then another and another. The poem describes the forest of snow-covered pines, where a deer and fawn nibble a frozen apple, and a great gray owl swoops down with its feathers trailing through the snow. Two snowshoe hares scamper and play under the watchful eyes of a little fox, and a tiny mouse scurries in search of a midnight feast. When the snow clouds disappear, stars light up the sky, followed by the mystical shimmering of northern lights - all framed by the frost on the window.Jean E. Pendziwol's lyrical poem reflects a deep appreciation of the magic of a northern winter night where, even as a child slumbers, the world outside does not rest but continues its own natural rhythms.Isabelle Arsenault's spare, beautifully rendered illustrations, with their subtle but striking use of color, make us feel that we too are experiencing the enchantment of that northern night. They simultaneously evoke winter's nighttime life and the cozy warmth and security of a beloved child's sleep.

Once Upon a Northern Night

While out for a walk with her mom, a little girl has the surprise of her life --- she meets a real, live, fire-breathing dragon! Now this dragon is nothing to be afraid of --- in fact, he's so friendly that she invites him home for tea. But their afternoon snack is suddenly interrupted when the dragon sneezes and sets the table ablaze. Luckily, the girl knows just what to do, and she teaches her new friend to be fire smart, too. With its funny, rhyming verse and spunky illustrations, Dragons for Tea shows kids that learning about fire safety doesn't have to be scary. The story ends with “The Dragon's Fire Safety Rhyme” --- a fun and easy way to remember what to do in case of fire.

No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons)

In the stillness of a summer dawn, two siblings leave their campsite with fishing rods, tackle and bait, and push a red canoe into the lake. A perfect morning on the water unfolds, with thrilling glimpses of wildlife along the way.The narrator describes the experience vividly. Trailing a lure through the blue-green depths, the siblings paddle around a point, spotting a moose in the shallows, a beaver swimming towards its home and an eagle returning to its nest. Suddenly there is a sharp tug and the rod bends to meet the water. A few heart-stopping moments later, the pair pull a silvery trout from the water, then paddle back to the campsite to fry up a delicious breakfast.The poetic text is accompanied by stunningly beautiful paintings rendered on wood panels that give a nostalgic feeling to the story.

Me and You and the Red Canoe

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