Writing for kids: Terrace-inspired stories

Maggie Stone is nervous, very nervous. That's because she has to play the piano at the big music festival and just the thought of playing in front of an audience makes her palms sweat. ?

Anyone who has taken music lessons as a child understands the fear and trepidation that comes with performing in front of an audience; the sweaty palms and queasy stomach and a sense of nervousness that just wont go away.

And so begins the story of The Duet by Terrace-based children's author Brenda Silsbe.

Maggie's piano teacher, Sister Bernadette, thinks Maggie just needs a little encouragement, that playing at the festival will be good practice for her. ?

But Maggie doesn't want to play in front of an audience or an adjudicator. Sister Bernadette convinces her to join forces with another student, Kathleen, to perform a duet. Kathleen, a shy, red-haired girl with crazy bangs is equally worried about playing in front of an audience.

Reluctantly, the girls set to practicing for the big day. As they learn the piece for the festival they also learn a lot about one another. Soon a friendship develops out of all their hard work. And though the girls end up giggling their way through their festival performance they come to realize that getting a high mark from an adjudicator isn't all that important.

"I like this book because its a gentle story," says Brenda Silsbe. "I hope that it shows that its okay to not truly succeed at something because something else comes out of it. The girls kind of botch their duet, but they become friends and even their teacher learns a lesson, which is always nice," she says laughing.

And Brenda knows first hand what that is like. That's because The Duet is based on her own experiences as a young pianist in a music festival. She too had been set up with a girl she didn't know to play a duet, only her teachers name was Sister Marilyn. And just like Maggie and Kathleen, Brenda and her partner didn't quite get it right at the festival.

The Duet was released by Vancouver's Hodgepog Books last fall and it was illustrated by Vancouver artist, Galan Akin. This is the first of Silbe's books to be published by a BC publisher. The Duet is Brenda's sixth book published to date.

Just as The Duet is based on Silsbe's own experiences, so are many of her previous books. ?In fact, many details in Silsbe's books are based on her own experiences or inspired by the people and places around Terrace, B.C., where she was born and raised.

Her first children's book, The Bears We Know (Annick Press) tells the story of some bears who lead a wild, bohemian lifestyle while living inside a house. The bears do everything they are not supposed to do. They don't clean up very much, they are shaggy and they even smoke cigars. The bears were inspired by some friends of Silsbe's who were all living together many years ago.

Her third book, Winning the Girl of the Sea (Annick Press) contains wonderful allusions to places around the northwest. The family in the book lives on a volcano inspired by the volcano in the lava beds in the Nass Valley. The family also has a hot tub complete with water slides - a detail that emerged from the natural hot springs just south of Terrace.

Brenda Silsbe started writing stories at a very young age.

"I remember writing my first series when I was in grade four. It was about a little girl named April ODay. I cut pictures out of magazines and wrote stories around them," Silsbe says smiling.

Silsbe says the reason she enjoys writing children's books so much is that these are the types of stories she likes to read and the stories she likes to write the most.

But Silsbe wasn't always a working children's writer. She went to UBC where she got her degree in elementary education. She taught for a few years and then took time out to raise her two kids.

But in 1988 Silsbe wanted to give writing a shot. So, she negotiated a deal with her husband.

"I said give me two years, and if anything gets published than Ill keep writing," says Silsbe.

So she dusted off the manuscript of a story she had written many years before. She re-worked it and The Bears We Know was born, now all she had to do was get it published.

The very next year, the small square book packed with colorful illustrations hit the bookstore shelves. Unlike most unpublished authors Silsbe's manuscript was accepted the very first time she sent it out - something many authors only dream of.

"I typed it out and sent it off and they accepted it. I knew I was lucky at the time. I knew people get rejected," she says.

Silsbe went on to publish 3 more books with Annick. Her fifth book, W. Haigh Animal Poet (Nelson Thompson press) was published in 1998.

Brenda Silsbe's books are available at Misty River Books in Terrace. People can all her directly at (250) 638-9612.

The ISPN numbers for Silsbe's books:

(Sarah Zimmerman writes and lives in Terrace.)

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