The University of California Riverside news website has a neat online video interview with Marlene Zuk author of Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, And The Parasites That Make Us Who We Are. Yes that does say Ladybug Sex. Honestly, who knew?

Anyway, check out the interview. I really don’t remember science being this interesting at school…

Pirates are, of course, the new wizards, by which I mean THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

Melinda Long’s hilariously awesome Pirates Don’t Change Diapers is currently number 10 on the New York Times Bestseller list for kids books, Pirates of the Caribbean III is out on May 25th, and Colin Woodard author of The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, published in a week or two, is interviewed on NPR. The whole interview is available online from their website and there are lots of other nifty links for your pirating pleasure. Arr! Indeed!

Roses are red
Violets are blue
April is Poetry Month
And time for podcasts, too!

OK fine, that poem was pretty lame. For much, MUCH better poetry, listen out these podcasts on the School Library Journal’s website:

Julie Larios reads from Yellow Elephant. (Find out more about the book here.)

Douglas Florian reads from Zoo’s Who. (Find out more about the book here.)

Not too long ago, Design Klub recorded a podcast interview with modern quilter extraordinaire, Denyse Schmidt.

Denyse Schmidt has a quilt exhibition called “New Traditions” on now at the P Design Gallery in Denver, running until May 12th.

If you can’t make it to Denver (I wish I could!), the next best thing might be to check out her book, Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects, in which she shares some of her patterns and techniques. She’s also designed a beautiful line of stationery with Chronicle Books. Here’s a list of Denyse Schmidt’s books and stationery.

Listen to the full podcast interview with Denyse Schmidt here (approx. 26 minutes long).

In her column this weekend, Susan Perren at the Globe and Mail included a great review of The Aunts Come Marching, a new picture book written by CBC personality Bill Richardson and illustrated by Cynthia Nugent.

In The Aunts Come Marching, a band of bustling, busy, noisy aunts march into the house, bringing all their musical instruments along with them, much to poor Pop’s dismay.

“This book is a noisemaker’s dream come true, and those looking for visual thrills won’t be disappointed either, thanks to Cynthia Nugent’s multitudes of costumed aunts."
--Susan Perren, Globe and Mail

Read the full Globe and Mail review right here.

And if you’re a noisemaker yourself—or you know a little one who is—download our instructions on how to build a shoebox guitar from our Activities page.

Anne Fleming dropped us a line to let us know about her new website. Check it out, then rush out and buy her latest novel, Anomaly.

“I became so immersed in the characters that I was almost two-thirds through when I remembered I was supposed to be preparing a review. So I finished quickly and began reading again from the beginning. All books should be so engrossing.” - The Guelph Mercury

“Fleming has a keen eye for dramatic scenes and a good ear for dialogue...Isolated scenes impress with keen drama and a vivid prose style.” - The Vancouver Sun

“Sentence by sentence, Anne Fleming is one of the finest writers I’ve ever read. The dialogue is impeccable, but still innovative and inventive.” - The Globe and Mail

Two of our bright young authors have been longlisted for the ReLit Awards: Adam Lewis Schroeder and Nathan Sellyn.

Winners of the ReLit win a nifty ring that spells out words, handed out at a bonfire ceremony.

Check out the full longlist here. Good luck to all the longlisted authors!

Here’s some Very Cool News about my hero Tony Millionaire: The Drinky Crow Show premieres on The Cartoon Network on May 13!

On Sunday, May 13, The Cartoon Network’s popular Adult Swim animation showcase will premiere the long-awaited pilot of The Drinky Crow Show, based on cartoonist Tony Millionaire’s long-running Maakies comic strip. The show’s comedy is brutal, existential, and hilarious. As with animated shows like The Simpsons or Futurama, The Drinky Crow Show is a fast-paced, plot-twisting laff-riot combining adventure, romance, debauchery and graphic violence—offering something for everybody!

The show will take the cast from freezing Antarctic waters (where Drinky and Uncle Gabby catch small-pox and inadvertently spread it throughout the world), to Gay Paree (where Drinky falls in love with a French princess and contracts a new strain of syphilis, which falls in love with his old strain of syphilis), to Japan (in an episode that looks like a Hiroshige print come to life), and even to Brooklyn (where Drinky and Gabby create Tony Millionaire in a fit of delirium tremens). And the theme song is by They Might Be Giants. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

You can get a sneak preview over at the Fantagraphics blog.  Dook! dook! dook!

BC Book & Magazine Week 2007 runs April 21 - 28!

For event listings and more, see the official website

Two events that youwon’t want to miss are the How To Get Published panels, where you can get advice right from the source, and the Main Street Literary Tour, an afternoon of readings and trivia in unconventional locations around Main & Broadway, hosted by Billeh Nickerson and Michael V. Smith.

A very cool way to support BC books and magazines (and the folks like us who make them possible!)