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Press releases
- Government of PEI Children’s Book Week press release (PDF) — also hear CBC interview from this tour:
November 13, 2009
Children’s Book Week
Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour
The Hon. Carolyn Bertram, Minister of Communities Cultural Affairs and Labour, is inviting Islanders to visit a provincial library and take part in the many activities planned as part of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week, November 14-21. This year’s theme is Gold Medal Reading! Des lectures en or!
TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is the largest national celebration of Canadian children’s books. Since 1977 this touring program sends authors, illustrators and storytellers to communities throughout Canada to share with their audiences the delights of Canadian children’s books. The program is organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, a national not-for-profit organization that promotes the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian children’s books for young readers.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage young Islanders to be active readers. I commend the staff in our provincial libraries who work throughout the year to deliver programs and services in Island communities,” said Minister Bertram. “I encourage Islanders to visit a provincial library this week and participate in TD Canadian Children’s Book Week activities.”
Visiting author Kari-Lynn Winters from Vancouver, BC, will be hand at the Confederation Centre Public Library on Monday, November 16 from 3:15 to 4:15 to officially launch TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. Throughout the week Ms. Winter will be visiting four public libraries – The Confederation Centre Public Library, Summerside Rotary Library, Alberton Public Library and Montague Public Library – and 12 elementary schools to meet and share stories with students. All library events are free of charge and open to the public.
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre is again giving a free Canadian children’s book to every Grade 1 child in the country. This is made possible through sponsorship of the TD Bank Financial Group. This year’s book is Let’s Go! The Story of Getting From There to Here by Lizann Flatt, illustrated by Scot Richie and published by Maple Tree Press. Students in Grade 1 French and Grade 1 French Immersion receive the French translation, On y va! A pied, a cheval et en voiture…
The Fall Programming Guide of the Provincial Library Service is available at your local public library or online at www.gov.pe.ca/go/library.
BACKGROUNDER
Kari-Lynn Winters is an award-winning picture book author, playwright, and performer who enjoys being in the classroom in any of these capacities. She recently accepted a position at Brock University as a professor of drama-in-education and literacy. Her graduate work, which was completed at the University of British Columbia, focused on combining the arts with reading and writing.
When Kari-Lynn began to write children’s picture book manuscripts and submit them to publishers about eight years ago, people often shook their heads, advising her to write novels instead.
“It is so difficult to get picture books published in these times,” they said.
But Kari-Lynn persisted, continuing to collect, read, research, and write picture books. Her persistence paid off. Today, nine picture books that Kari-Lynn wrote—including Jeffrey and Sloth, aRHYTHMetic: a book and a half of poetry about math, Runaway Alphabet, On My Walk, When Chickens Fly, PunctuACTION, Mathical Creatures, Stinky Skunk Mel, and Just Be-a—have been accepted for publication by Orca Book Publishers, Simply Read Books, Tradewind Books, and Gumboot Books. In addition, she has had poetry and non-fiction pieces accepted for publication in KNOW Magazine for Curious Kids, Fandangle, and ChickaDEE and academic chapters and articles about student literacy published by Heinemann and in The Reading Teacher.
Kari-Lynn says the best thing about writing for children is that she can share silly ideas in funny and interactive ways and that she can talk to children about their own experiences as young authors. She currently lives in Vancouver with her husband, two kids, and two cats. To learn more about Kari-Lynn please see her website, www.kariwinters.com.
- National Council of Teachers of English 2006 press release (PDF) for Kari’s panel session “Engaging Readers through Performance and Folklore,” November 19 2006
- Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards
Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 From: Office of the Dean at UBC [edited for brevity] We are delighted to announce this year’s winners of the Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Awards. All three students are to be commended for their excellent contributions to teaching and to our Faculty. Recipients of the UBC Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Awards: Kari-Lynn Winters, Department of Language and Literacy Education Kari-Lynn is a very passionate educator who draws on her extensive background in theatre and literacy to inform her instruction. She is knowledgeable in her subject areas and continually finds creative ways of fostering student learning. She comes to classes well prepared, yet at the same time readjusts her plan if necessary to follow the energy and flow of the students. She builds from her experience as a classroom teacher to bring her subject matter to life, which authenticates her work with pre-service teachers. She establishes strong rapport with her students and has inspired future teachers. Kari-Lynn’s accomplishments were highly praised by both faculty members and students. She is a highly deserving recipient of a UBC Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Award.
- 2005 LLRC Master’s Research Award
Congratulations to the 2005 Winners of the LLRC Master’s Research Award The recipient of the 2005 Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada Masters Research Award is Kari-Lynn Winters of UBC. Kari’s thesis, Developing an Arts-Integrated Reading Comprehension Program for Less Proficient Grade Three and Four Students, was selected from a pool of 17 submissions representing all the regions of Canada. She was unable to attend the award presentation, but UBC’s Dr. Rob Tierney accepted the award on her behalf at the LLRC Annual General Meeting held on May 28th at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Tierney spoke warmly about the richness of research and about Kari’s commitment to the field both as a researcher and as a literacy educator. Congratulations to Kari and to Marlene McKay of Brandon University and Tara-Lynn Scheffel of the University of Western Ontario whose names were also shortlisted for the award. [see pdf]
Bio for media use
The following short bio is prepared for media use and may be copied without formal request. Please see more at author bio, including photos.
Kari-Lynn Winters is a picture book author, poet, and performer. She enjoys being in the classroom in any capacity, as a presenter, a teacher, or as a student. After finishing her doctoral program at UBC in literacy education, Kari-Lynn assumed her new job as Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, where she teaches drama-in-education to and mentors teacher candidates. Previously, Kari-Lynn also taught in North Carolina, Oregon, Vancouver, and Toronto. She holds a teaching degree from the University of Toronto for children ages 3-13. She is also a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, where she earned a certificate in technical theatre. Kari-Lynn has over a dozen books published or in press, many of which have won reader’s choice awards. Read more about Kari-Lynn at her website, www.kariwinters.com, or on Wikipedia.
Newspaper articles
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2010
“Online retailing seen as book industry’s future,” in The Expositor (Brantford, ON), August 14, 2010, by Richard Beales. Includes report of Summer Writers Workshop and quotes from Winters. Read PDF [2.4MB].
Author Kari-Lynn Winters wowed the crowd at Cassie Hall yesterday morning during a meet and greet with the students as part of a BC Book Prize tour. Winters shared some of her early childhood writing experiences with the youngsters, and encouraged them to write even if they don’t think they can. (Terrace Standard, 4/13/10) |
Terrace Standard (BC), April 13, 2010 (read online)
An Author’s Tip, by Kat Lee
BC Book Prize finalists hit the road this year as part of a free tour throughout the province, giving public readings at libraries, book stores and schools.
Author Kari-Lynn Winters, whose On My Walk is shortlisted for the Christi Harris Illustrated Fiction Prize, visited Cassie Hall students yesterday morning as part of the tour. She shared some of her early childhood writing experiences with the youngsters, and encouraged them to write even if they don’t think they can.
Visits were also made to the Terrace Public library on Sunday afternoon and Caledonia Secondary School yesterday morning.
Other finalists on tour are Kristin Butcher for Return to Bone Tree Hill which is shortlisted for the Shelia A. Egoff Children’s literature Prize, Michael Turner for 8 x 10 which is shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and Cathleen With for Having Faith in the Polar Girls’ Prison, shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.
“Shortlisted authors en route to Kitimat,” in Kitimat Northern Sentinal, April 7, 2010, by Marcel Vander Wier (brief mention). Read online.
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2009
- St Thomas Times Journal, December 15 2009 (read online)
Winters on roll with new books
Putting pen to paper was like pulling teeth for Kari-Lynn Winters when she grew up in St. Thomas.
Now, pearly whites of children’s literature just flow.
Winters launched her fourth and fifth children’s books on Saturday in St. Thomas.
She’s on a holiday visit home. And she’s on the way — with husband, two children, two cats — from Vancouver and completing her PhD in arts as a way to bolster reading, to St. Catharines and an assistant professorship in teacher education at Brock University.
Winters stopped Saturday at the Talbot Teen Centre with a tickle trunk of props betraying her earlier post-secondary education in technical theatre, for a presentation to a young audience.
“I’m passionate about youth and literature,” she said.
But her audience also included her Grade 3 teacher at Southwold Public School, Eleanor Lyle, now retired, who was anticipating her first taste of Winters’ work.
“It’s wonderful,” Lyle said as Winters autographed a copy of her first book, Jeffrey and Sloth, about a boy facing a blank sheet of paper who has writer’s block until he draws an imaginary creature to help him.
Published in 2007, the book is an award-winner which also suggests Winters’ own struggle writing words until she discovered that authorship actually is in storytelling — and writing is just the process of putting a story down.
“I was good at telling stories on the playground,” Winters says.
“It took me a long time to figure out what I was doing, playacting and telling stories, was actually authorship!”
And with that approach in mind, writing actually becomes the easy part, Winters says.
This redefinition of authorship is a point Winters makes in her doctoral dissertation.
Her new books are On My Walk, for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, about a walk around Vancouver, and When Chickens Fly, an Olympics-inspired reader — although Winters is reported having been prohibited from mentioning the Olympics by federal legislation protecting the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
A sixth book, Runaway Alphabet, an unconventional speller, is on the way.
- Brief mention in Vancouver Sun, March 24, 2009 (read online)
There are many fabulous books out there that connect early numeracy concepts with early literacy. Vancouver-based publisher Gumboot Books has a number of books that combine poetry and mathematics, including the new title “aRHYTHMetic”.
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St. Thomas Times Journal (Ontario), April 28, 2009 (read online)
Hometown girl returns for triple book debut
By Kyle Rea, Times-Journal Staff
Fans of children’s literature received a triple treat earlier this month.
Hometown girl Kari-Lynn Winters returned from her current home in Vancouver, B.C., where together with fellow authors Lori Sherrit-Fleming and Crystal Stranaghan, they launched three new children’s books at the Talbot Teen Centre.
The trio held an interactive live show, complete with pirates, song and music, before a crowd of more than 100 children and parents. Afterward the authors were available to autograph their books — A World of Stories (Winters and Stranaghan), aRhythmetic (Winters and Sherritt-Fleming) and The Pirate Who Lost his Aarr (Stranaghan).
Winters explained that when she launched her first book, Jeffrey and Sloth, in March 2007, about 20 people attended the B.C. book launch.
“A lot of them said they wished I could do something similar for St. Thomas,” she said. “We thought this (Talbot Teen Centre) would be the perfect place. We’re actually raising money to give back to the (TTC).”
Roughly $300 in ticket sales for the show went to the centre to support its programs.
Winters, nee Moore, grew up in Elgin-St. Thomas and went to Southwold Public School and Parkside Collegiate Institute. When she was 17, Winters went to Brock University to take theatre arts and drama.
“(We met) in clown class,” Sherritt-Fleming, a fellow Brock student, said of their meeting.
Since then, both have become authors and educators, but they haven’t abandoned the theatre side of their careers. Sherritt-Fleming owns a Vancouver-based performance troupe called the Tickle Trunk Players.
“We travel to elementary schools to celebrate literacy,” Sherritt-Fleming said.
Stranaghan, an author and poet, published their books through her company, Gumboot Books.
The event was the official launch for all three books.
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2008
- St. Thomas Times Journal, 2008 (date unknown)
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- St. Thomas Times Journal, May 27, 2008
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- Prince George Citizen (British Columbia), April 18, 2008 (read online)
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2007
- St. Thomas Times-Journal (Ontario), June 30, 2007
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The Brock News, April 19, 2010 (read online)
A book by a Brock professor has been nominated for the prestigious B.C. Book Prize.
Kari-Lynn Winters, assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, has been nominated in the Christie Harris Illustrated Book category for On My Walk. The story follows a mother and toddler on a walk through Vancouver. It is illustrated by Christina Leist and published by Tradewind Books.
This is Winters’ sixth book for young children, and the second to be nominated for the B.C. Book Prize. There are a lot of great Canadian picture books for children aged four to seven, Winters said. But there are few for children aged zero to five.
“When I read to my two-year daughter, McKenna,” Winters said, “she struggled to pay attention to the length of a regular picture book, so I wanted to write a whole story to her that was at her level.”
Toddlers prefer short text, concrete ideas and one linear theme, she said.
Writing for small children, she said, can be tougher than writing for adults. It requires taking an idea and scaling it back until it is at a children’s reading level.
“I know it’s ready when there’s not another word I can cut out of it,” she said.
Winters spent about two years working on On My Walk.
She now performs the book in classrooms using props and lots of action. She teaches drama in education at Brock.
The B.C. Book Prize will be awarded at an April 24 gala in Victoria, B.C.
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Interviewed by Cherie Givens for “Pre-censorship of children’s books: Curtailing the freedom of speech and expression of Canadian authors and illustrators”
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From writingcentre.ubc.ca:
In the spring of 2007, Orca Books published Kari-Lynn Winters’ Jeffrey and Sloth, a picture book about the daunting task of overcoming writer’s block. Her next book, Runaway Alphabet, will be published by Simply Read Books. And another story that she developed in our Children’s Book Workshop – with the working title Chicken on Skis - has been accepted for publication by Raincoast Books. Kari says she didn’t always consider herself a writer – that, in fact, she was a reluctant writer in elementary school who found composition a struggle. It was her love of storytelling and children’s literature that led Kari to eventually to try her own hand at writing. She affirms that her love of children’s literature continues to grow as she “practices writing as a reader and reading as a writer.” In her “spare time” Kari is also a PhD candidate, graduate teaching assistant, children’s theatre performer and mother of two. You can read more by and about Kari on her web site.
- Virtual Walk Famous Residents of St Thomas (see end of page)
Online interviews
- Interview with Lori Calabrese, April 8, 2010: loricalabrese.com/rollicking-rainyday-walk, also online at Children’s Book Examiner.com
- Interview with Simon Rose, June 26, 2009: facebook.com/topic.php?uid=45035902458&topic=9601
- Interview with Lori Calabrese, September 2,2008: loricalabrese.com/a-world-of-stories-author-interview-with-kari-lynn-winters
- Interview with Lori Calabrese, February 14, 2008: loricalabrese.com/author-interview-kari-winters
- Interview by Cherie Givens for “Pre-censorship of children’s books,” presented at the 31st International Board on Books for Young People Congress (Copenhagen 2008):
Some forms of pre-censorship appear to be specific to Canada. Canadian children’s picture book author Kari-Lynn Winters was forced to make extensive revisions to a book that she had written which was accepted for publication prior to the introduction of Bill C-47, the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act (1st sess., 39th Parliament, 2007):
Bill C-47 “gives the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games . . . considerable powers to prevent the use of Olympic marks by businesses or individuals seeking to profit from an unauthorized association with the 2010 Games. . . . [It] extends protection to a set of images, words, and expressions associated with the Olympic Games in general and the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in particular.”
When Winters was interviewed, a month before Bill C-47 came into effect, she said, “I’m being censored by the government.” Her book, originally titled Olympic Chicken, must be renamed and Winters notes that Bill C-47 prohibits her from using the words “Olympic, Olympic games, . . . winter, gold, silver, bronze, sponsor, Vancouver, [or] Whistler . . . in conjunction with . . . the expression of the Olympics or some sort of sporting event” (Kari-Lynn Winters, interview with the author in Vancouver, Canada, on November 12, 2007; see When Chickens Fly).
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