From the Author

From Canada to Route 66 Canadian author Janice Garden Macdonald has never let geography get in the way of a good story. As the author and illustrator of more than 20 children's books, she has created everything from curious donkeys and mischievous cats to heartwarming stories about friendship, kindness, and imagination. Her picture books, including Are Snowmen Real?, The Red Sweater, and the Did the Cats Do It? mystery series, combine gentle humour, colourful illustrations, and a healthy dose of curiosity. Writing as J.G. Macdonald, she takes readers considerably farther south—to the dusty, peculiar towns of the American Southwest. Her...

   Two cats. Two very different personalities. Absolutely no intention of behaving. There's something new happening at Backpack Books! We're launching a little comic strip starring Toots and Sweet, the two feline suspects from our Did the Cats Do It? children's mystery series. If you've met these two before, you already know they're trouble. Sweet is innocent, enthusiastic, and generally convinced that everything is wonderful. Toots is considerably less impressed. Together, they're exploring the world one ridiculous conversation at a time. Our new comics feature the same scruffy, lovable cats from the books, with plenty of mischief, misunderstandings, and the...

Apparently, three books into the Jane Dougherty series, I have finally discovered what readers have been waiting for. Pictures. Rustwater, the third Jane Dougherty adventure, is now available in paperback and Kindle. This time, Jane is headed to Rustwater, Arizona—a desert town with very little water, rather a lot of rust, and more conspiracy theories than permanent residents. She isn't supposed to be solving anything. She's supposed to be taking photographs. That goes about as well as you'd expect. Before long there are two Swiss tourists, four donkeys, a suspiciously silent train, a dead municipal inspector, an alarming amount of...

Extending Storytime—Without Turning Your Kitchen Into a Classroom Children’s books don’t have to end on the last page. When I create free teacher resources to go with my books, I’m not imagining rows of desks and lesson plans. I’m imagining kitchen tables, couches, rainy afternoons, and ten extra minutes together before bedtime. You don’t need to be a teacher to use teacher resources. Think of them as simple ways to extend storytime. A 32-page story can become a conversation, a drawing, a mystery to solve, or even a memory. Follow the Theme Every story is about something beyond the plot....

(And Why Solving the Story Can Matter More Than Finishing It) Not every child falls in love with reading immediately. Some children devour books. Others wiggle, wander, negotiate for one more snack, and suddenly need to reorganize their sock drawer. That’s normal. One thing teachers and parents often notice, though, is that mystery stories can feel different. Mysteries give readers a job. Instead of simply moving from page to page, children begin asking questions: What happened? Who did it? What am I missing? That tiny shift can make reading feel more active—and sometimes more fun. Mystery Creates Momentum In many...