Children’s authors feted

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Register

“Tell Me A Story” is a new exhibit at the Kings County Museum in Kentville, featuring the work of local children's authors and illustrators.

The idea was a simple one, says curator Bria Stokesbury: invite local authors and illustrators of children's books to share what inspires them.

Joyce Barkhouse, awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2007, is the most senior author represented in the room full of books.

Born Joyce Killam in 1913 in Woodville, she was first published at the age of 19 while a teacher in a one-room, rural school in East Aylesford. For many years, her short stories appeared in magazines, school readers, newspapers and anthologies; she did not publish her first, full-length book until she was 61. Barkhouse now has eight to her credit, and many awards. In 1980, she and her niece, Margaret Atwood, wrote Anna’s Pet, which became a Mermaid Theatre play.

Best-known for her historical fiction for children, she achieved her greatest success with her prize-winning 1989 story, Pit Pony. Currently living in Bridgewater, Barkhouse, now 95, was delighted recently when Pit Pony was made into an audio book by her friend, retired teacher Marcia Pierce Harding. The book is the tale of Willie MacLean, a boy forced to work in the dark, rat-infested coal mine to provide for his family. Willie’s plight is made bearable when he befriends Gem, a spirited Sable Island pony, sentenced to pull heavy coal cars. According to Barkhouse, many of Harding’s friends rallied around to produce the audio book.

“She did a top-notch job. I’m very pleased. They’re on their third printing.”

Narrator is well-known South Shore actor, Richard Donat, who played the role of Willie’s father in the Pit Pony movie.

Barkhouse says her horse hero was drawn from her youth when her father, Dr. Harold Killam, visited patients in a horse and buggy. Today she’s an interested member of the Green Horse Society that chronicles life on Sable Island www.greenhorsesociety.com).

Among the other writers and illustrators celebrated at the Kings Courthouse Museum are Barkhouse’s son, Murray; Lila Hope-Simpson, Ron and Sandra Lightburn, Patty Mintz, Allison Mahar, Michael Bawtree, Pam Hickman, Jan Coates, Holly Carr and Rev. Robert Wallace.

The exhibit runs until late August.