June 2, 2009

Ben Hodson and I are so happy to share with you our latest news: Jeffery and Sloth won Silver Medal for the Chocolate Lily Awards! This was one of our best awards yet because all the voting was done by the schoolkids themselves, across BC.

Here are a couple photos of me with some of the other winners, inside Kidsbooks.

click for larger images Chocolate Lilly award winners, 2009

May 4, 2009

read online

Things have dried up at the pond. Worms have become harder to find. Can two hungry ducks find a solution?

Ailsa Long, illustrator, and I have just posted a new picture book online: Oh Ducky Day! Read it for free at Everytales.com.

We won! Oh Ducky Day! was awarded “Winner of the Best Tale” contest.

April 19, 2009

I am excited to say that my first book, Jeffrey and Sloth has been nominated for a Chocolate Lilly Award.

Readers from all over British Columbia will choose the winning book. This book will be announced on the evening of June 2nd, 2009 at the Chocolate Lilly Award celebration, taking place at Kidsbooks (Vancouver location, see photos below).

Hope to see some of you there! – Kari

click for larger images Chocolate Lily display at Vancouver’s Kidsbooks, featuring Jeffrey and Sloth

April 13, 2009

Here are some links for the Triple Book Launch happening in St. Thomas, Ontario at the Talbot Teen Centre on April 18, 2009 from 2-4.

See:

1) The Gumboot Books website.

or

2) The Port Stanley News.

Hope to see you there.

Kari-Lynn Winters

April 11, 2009

Saturday April 18 2009, at the Talbot Teen Centre, St. Thomas Ontario, 2:pm. Entrance fee is a donation to the Centre. Click on the image below to view the flyer (PDF):

March 12, 2009

Saturday March 14, 2009, at the Telus World of Science.

We have online videos of this first book launch, featuring the Oscar-worthy stage performances of all three authors. Videos are 24 minutes long in QuickTime format. Download small movie (28MB) or large movie (124MB). (Right-click “save as” to download to your computer.)

Click on the image below to view the flyer (PDF):

December 31, 2008

I just received the cover for my newest book aRHYTHMetic!  It is a collection of poetry about math that was conceived and created with Tiffany Stone and Lori Sherritt-Fleming.  It is also colourfully illustrated by Scot Ritchie and is published with Gumboot Books.

We will be launching the book in Vancouver, Richmond, and St. Thomas, ON in the spring.  It should be a grand time multiplied by ten!

Keep an eye on my blog to get the details.

Happy New Year!

K.

November 10, 2008

I will be presenting at NCTE in San Antonio on Nov. 21st with 3 friends: Lori, Vetta, and Liz. If you are unable to attend but would like a copy of the presentation.  Please e-mail me. kari(at)kariwinters.com

Here is the abstract:

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Title: TRANSFORMING STORYTELLING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
In this interactive and informative session teachers will explore how stories, drama, and technology can merge to scaffold students for success in 21st century classrooms. We hope to empower learners and to transform traditional literacy pedagogy by teaching multimodal strategies such as hip hop, digital narration, improvisation, and digital choose your own adventure stories.

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September 9, 2008

This is the Greater Vancouver area’s official Launch Party for the World of Stories collection.

It’s your chance to come out and pick up your copy of the book without paying for shipping, and get it signed by 30+ authors and illustrators who contributed to the book!

Revenues generated from the sales of this book are used to fund community literacy projects in Canada and the US.

Caulfeild Elementary has generously offered their gym for the occasion, and we will be presenting the students of Mrs. Perry’s 2008 grade 1 class with their copies of the collection, in celebration of their poem being included in the collection.

We will also have author readings and lots of fun activities celebrating literacy!

April 22, 2008

It has only been a few days since I left the Northern Tour, and already I am missing our tour and times together.
After the soiree—an incredible event with silent auctions, friendly faces, kind hearts, and a celebratory atmosphere, I flew off to Ontario for a book tour.  I miss having a van full of friends to discuss the events with while listening to Johnnie Cash, a driver that would drop us off at a local coffee shop while he found the schools, libraries, etc., always ensuring that we were on time, and the fantastic scenery of the mountains, lakes, and forests.  The only thing that I don’t miss is the weather.  It’s warm here in Waterloo (about 24 degrees).  Also, the people are incredible here too (just as they were in the north).  I am reminded how lucky I am to live in this incredible nation.

I wrote a wee poem about the soiree….

If the soiree were a colour, it would be salmon pink (my favourite colour).
As vibrant as the reefs outside Australia.
If the soiree were a taste, it would be dark chocolate,
Smooth and melting in our mouths with just the right amount of sweetness.
If the soiree a sound it would be the alarm clock music on my ipod,
Something I love to savour and be in the moment with, but also something that moves me into another great day.

April 19, 2008

Thoughout this tour, the words of Trace Adkins’ keep ringing in my ears.  His words sing out: “These are some good times.  Take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.“His words remind me to live in the present—to be in the moment.As I think about this tour, I know he’s right.  I ‘ll tell you what I am going to miss.

-Insightful children, asking sophisticated and difficult questions.
-Inspiring talks with the other authors, about writing, about fashion, about scenery, about books, about families, about stories, about life.
-Bryan’s coy sense of humour. His friendly and welcoming smile.
-Intelligent and caring teachers/principals who give us warm welcomes where ever we go.
-Librarians who adore books and make a difference in their communities.
-Incredible scenery.
-Yummy food.
-Gorgeous and well stocked book stores with dedicated and kind-hearted owners.
-Generous donations and accommodations.
-The smiling faces in the sea of audience members.
-Acting and presenting with Nan Gregory.
-Being driven to each event.
-Giving schools free books (paid for by donors).
-Spending time with new friends.
-Making a difference in the lives of hundreds of children each and every day.
Let me end with a poem written by Lee Bennett Hopkins, which I think says it all.

Good books.
Good times.
Good stories.
Good rhymes.
Good beginnings.
Good ends.
Good people.
Good friends.
Good fiction.
Good facts.
Good adventures.
Good acts.
Good stories.
Good rhymes.
GOOD books.
GOOD times.

April 14, 2008

Kari-Lynn signs a card for Kelsey Brown and Delaney MacDonald at Seal Cove Elementary

April 14, 2008

Yesterday Mary, Theresa, Nan, and I presented at the Terrace Public Library, in a gorgeous art-gallery.  On the walls were some incredible quilts, created by Betty Doering, Jan Goodwill, and others. Theresa Kishkan’s presentation included a reading from her book, Phatom Limb.  This essay was about quilt-making.  I couldn’t help but feel completely engaged.  As she read, I studied the quilts around me and I came to the conclusion that writing is quiltmaking.Here are some similarities between quiltmaking and writing (for reference—anything in quotes is Theresa’s writing, pp. 18-21)

- “A quilt takes months.“
- A story takes months.

- “You choose a pattern, something formal or an idea to cobble together.
- You choose a theme, ideas that you will piece together.

- “You try to think how much fabric you will need…“
- You try to think how much material you will need and how long your story will be.

- “Cut out fabric into required pieces…“
- Write out the material into required blocks of text.  You can fill in the gaps later.

- “Fit these [blocks of fabric] together in an agreeable way…“
- Fit these blocks of text together in an agreeable way.

- “Baste together with big stitches…“
- Baste your writing together with rough transitions.

- “Then you can quilt.“
- Then you can draft and re-draft.

- “Make the tiny stitches which draw the layers together and create texture.“
- Make tiny edits which draw the layers together and create texture.
Then be sure to share your creation with others.  Hang up your writing, share it with everyone who will listen.

April 13, 2008

Twas the night before the tour, when through the apartment
Kari Winters was stirring, wondering what to represent.
The luggage was set by the front door with care,
In hopes that the tour van soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in my bed,
They knew I was leaving soon, choosing my bed instead.
And I in my PJs, and Jonah in his shirt,
Had revved up our brains for a how-to-blog spurt.

When outside my door there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Slid open the curtains and threw up the sash.

The moon on the water of English Bay.
Made me start to wonder about the following day.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a homeless couple, and a twelve-pack of beer.

With their own little party, so lively and loud,
I knew in a moment, they would draw a crowd.
More rapid than eagles, my husband he came.
And he whistled, and waved, and called them by name!

“Now Hayley! Now, Adam! Come away from the door!
You know that they’ll hear you on the pent-house floor!
To the end of the drive! To the end of the street!
Now quiet down. Quiet down! And try to be neat.”

As things always happen before the airplane would fly,
We meet with a new obstacle—Oh me, oh my!
So back to my lap-top, Jonah and I flew,
Why wasn’t it working? My computer? Askew?

And now you know why I couldn’t blog any further tonight….

April 12, 2008

It’s been a crazy week with the Writer in Residence Program at Caufeild Elementary School, two CWILL meetings, the last days of writing and of ethnography class, homework assignments, dissertation work, and 3 presentations at Kitchener Elementary School.

I keep hoping that my voice will hold out throughout the upcoming tours. Any suggestions?

By the end of today I should be packed and ready to go. BC Book Tour here I come!