Jennifer-Mook-Sang is the author of three fantastic books for young readers! Her latest, *The Care and Keeping of Grandmas*, is available now and would make a fantastic gift for kiddos and grandmas alike!

A few posts ago, I wrote about first meeting Lana Button at the launch of her book, What if Bunny’s Not a Bully, the week before the pandemic closed Ontario schools and turned my world upside down. At that same event, I also met the wonderful Jennifer Mook-Sang for the first time. She kindly came up and introduced herself while I was eating a cookie and working up the courage to talk to someone.

In the years since, I have had the pleasure of running into Jennifer at several book events, and she’s always just as kind, funny, and encouraging as she was that first day by the snack table in Mable’s Fables.

Jennifer is the proud author of middle grade novel Speechless (Scholastic) which was nominated for a slew of readers’ choice awards across Canada and won the Surrey Schools Book of the Year. Her picture book Captain Monty Takes the Plunge (Kids Can Press) was a McDonald’s Happy Meal book, and nominated for the Rainforest of Reading Award but lost to Robert Munsch – Woo! Currently, she’s bragging on her latest picture book The Care and Keeping of Grandmas (Tundra Books, Penguin Random House) illustrated by the amazing Yong Ling Kang, a Dolly Parton Blue Ribbon Selection. Her writing is every bit as warm and witty as she is!

Jennifer will be appearing at Word on the Street in Toronto on May 28th. If you are in TO, stop by and say hello!

Jennifer: When Kate sent me the parameters for this blog post, I thought, “How fun – this will be easy.” And then I started writing and found myself grasping at smoke. How could I pick just seven wonders? I took a few stabs at the task; but when I looked at my maudlin lists of clichés, I despaired. (Insert swear word here) it! I started over. Really, Jennifer, what do you truly love? Beyond gratitude for the givens of family, friends, and my privileged life, here are my seven wonders (in no particular order) – the things that bring me joy today.

The Mug

When I wrote The Care and Keeping of Grandmas, I didn’t know if I’d ever be a grandmother. When the story was accepted for publication, I gave the news to my son and daughter-in-law. They congratulated me and presented me with a little gift bag. It wasn’t even my birthday. Inside the tissue paper was a pink coffee vat that said “GRANDMA!” I may have screamed a little. That’s when I realized that my writing could manifest an actual human being—Magic!

2. Old Bruce Willis Movies

I love the raging pace of the action that never stops, the ridiculously snappy dialogue which I like to imagine he makes up on the spot, and, heart-stoppingly, the way his eyes crinkle at the corners when his lip curls in that lop-sided smirk. Bruce is everything I want in a story – page-turning, laugh-out-loud surprises – with the promise that all will be right with the world after the flames and destruction.

2. BIC pens (medium blue) and spiral-bound school notebooks

Thanks for all the gorgeous journals, my friends. But I can’t write in those. They give me paralysis of the brain and fingers. I can only write if I convince myself that none of it matters and it’s just for fun.

4. My rust-covered license plate

After forty years, I finally got pulled over by a police officer who strongly advised I hie me to the nearest MTO service centre to get a replacement. My current joy is in thinking about the cool things I could have on my car if I got a personalized plate. In response to being asked, “What’s your license plate?” I could respond, U TELL ME, I DUNNO, BEATS ME, ITS BLANK, or YOU GUESS.

5. The view from my balcony

The sunset on the escarpment, the late-setting morning moon, clouds.

6. Potluck meals

What needs to be said? Food! Friends! Inappropriate conversation!

7. The wonder that I wrote a book

And that it was published. And another. And another. Today I feel like a writer. Tomorrow I may not.

That’s the thing about wonders. They’re fleeting, ever changing. Nothing stays the same, especially me. But when I look, I can find one or two, or seven delights. Today’s wonders bring me joy or peace.