Grandma’s busy; have a cookie.
Some 24 years ago, when I barely knew Norma Charles, she invited me to stay at her home for a Writers’ Union AGM in Vancouver. She helped me find school visits in order to fund the trip and she also hosted a party for me to meet the other BC kids’ writers. ( I was president of CANSCAIP, Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrator and Performers, at the time). We bonded over shelling shrimp, slicing pineapple, and the fact that my teenaged daughter was pregnant, and I was bereft. Norma had been there herself and convinced me as to how well it turned out for her daughter and how well it would turn out for mine. Smiles and kind words, Norma was an optimist, and she was always right.
Norma didn’t only invite me. The house was full of children’s writers. She and her partner Brian owned a rambling large house right on University of British Columbia Campus. Her home transformed into a giant slumber party every Vancouver AGM. At every AGM, Norma Charles could also be seen volunteering at the book sale table.
Fellow BC children’s writer Linda Bailey told me when the Union was looking for a venue to host an after party, Norma volunteered. Linda wondered out loud if that was wise: “Where are you going to put all the people? Your house is big, but not that big.” Norma replied, “We’ll have it outside. We’ll set up tables and patio umbrellas.” “But what if it rains,” Linda asked. Norma smiled, “It won’t.” Norma was right. I was there for that wonderful evening.
Over the years, she would stay at my house when she visited Toronto as member of National Council. I would help her get readings to fund her visits and drive her to her son Trevor’s house in Waterloo. Norma had four children, Trevor, Andrea, Melanie and Jason. I had three. We grew to know each other’s children mostly vicariously. Besides loving books, reading, and inspiring children to read, we loved our families fiercely and proudly. We would meet in different Canadian cities for other AGMs; Winnipeg, Halifax, Ottawa. We shared a Harbourfront hotel room for the larger Toronto writers’ meetings. We talked and laughed till late in the night.
But there are so many things I didn’t know about her until I researched her background for this last goodbye. I heard a podcast in which she said she was an introvert. I was astounded. She was always so friendly and chatty. Imagine inviting all those stranger writers back to her house and she was an introvert!
I knew Norma taught and then stayed home with her kids till they were in school. But I found out that it was during this time with her children that she realized she needed to do something for her brain. Because she loved reading, she took a writing course. The instructor turned out to be a romance writer and the first night was a how-to class on creating a true romance story. Norma banged out a really juicy romance. The next week when the instructor asked for volunteers to share their work, no one raised their hand. As a teacher herself, she empathized and took the plunge. She read her romance to the class. Afterwards there was dead silence. After a few moments, the instructor finally said, “Oh Norma, you should really try writing something you know something about.” During the following week Norma looked around at her house and family and ended up writing about kids, something she knew a lot about. Several rewrites later, the draft of that picture book became See You Later, Alligator, a best-selling Scholastic picture book.
She went on to write 22 picture books and novels for young people. We wrote for the same educational line with Nelson Canada. Norma had a wonderful routine, a walk through the nearby forest before breakfast and then writing. Her process was to always write a first scene and then the ending scene to give herself a goal to reach towards. While her children and then later her 13 grandchildren meant everything to her, they knew to respect her writing time. On her door she hung a sign that said, “Grandma’s busy, have a cookie.”
Over the pandemic, we lost touch but when I heard she was going to have a new picture book out with Groundwood, I emailed, suggesting she apply for a book tour in Ontario and stay at my house. It was then she disclosed that she had stage four cancer. A vegetarian, who never smoked or drank, but hiked and kayaked and lived for the outdoors—how could this be possible? She quickly added what good care her children and grandchildren were taking of her. She sounded optimistic. She turned me into an optimist.
She asked me when I could come back out to Vancouver and visit and I began to plan for next summer. Instead, I watched her present her last book with her co-writer daughter Andrea at CANSCAIP’s March 2025 Zoom meeting. It was a proud moment. The story The One and Only Question gave a unique twist to the racial bullying her grandson Kai had experienced. Instead of focussing on the bullying, Norma told the story of how the main character connects with someone who compliments his running. The unexpected overture at friendship when he expects more racist insults helps him overcome his apprehension and turn around what began as an awful day. The last words I heard my optimistic friend Norma Charles say were: “It’s amazing that a smile or a kind word can make a difference in a person’s whole outlook.”
Norma certainly made a difference to mine.
For more on Norma, please see here.
