I built my first cabin near Lonesome Lake in the early 1980s. I wrote about this period in Cabin at Singing River. I spent two summers living in a tent camp before moving into the house during the fall of 1984.
I had met Katie Hayhurst and Dennis Kuch, and their son Birch, a couple of years before. When Birch was four years old, the family hiked and boated into my camp. The story is written in rhyme and of course I did the illustrations. It starts:
“Once upon a time, when Birch was four, He went to visit Chris who lived next door. But next door here means a long way away. You have to walk, and it takes all day.”
Katie wanted to publish it. She has a lifelong friend from Mexico (now living in Chile) who has written and illustrated her own children’s books. She kindly did all the computer work – an excellent job. So now we can present this book to anyone interested. It is 30 pages long, full colour, sturdy paper. It is available in local stores for $18 or $20 from me to offset some of the postage.
The Williams Lake Tribune has just published an article about it that will give you a bit more background.
I did not write it with the idea of publishing it and I wince at some of the drawing, but it is what it is! Here are some sample pages.:
Hello,
My sister saw your book recently when travelling through Bella Coola. She sadly did not buy it for me then… I have one grandson, one year old, named Birch! He lives with his family in an off-grid house on a 70 acre farm on the Skeena River, near Kitwanga BC. I would like to purchase a copy of the book for him. Please let me know how I can pay for and get a copy sent to him. Thank you so much.
Monica Forget
Guelph, Ontario
It’s been a long time since I’ve last read your posts. I love the fact that you’ve now got a children’s book.
I’ve order books directly from you before but since those days I’ve had a stroke and moved to Alberta. Can you contact send me an email and remind me how I can go about getting a copy of Birch Goes Hiking.