Anita Horrocks

Authors’ Booking Service is pleased to announce that children’s author, Anita Horrocks, is now scheduling visits to Ontario schools for the coming school year.

Anita would love to plan a visit to your school or library during this time. Her rate is $250 per session ($900 for a full day of four sessions), plus travel from Toronto.

Anita’s books have won the Red Maple Award and the Alberta Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her bibliography and details of her presentation follow this message.

Here’s what Librarian Maureen Wakeford of Monsignor Smith School in Calgary has to say about this author: “The students thoroughly enjoyed Anita's visit. Thanks to her enthusiasm I still have students waiting to sign out her novels five months later.”

Anita is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, and so schools wishing to invite her may be eligible for a travel and fee subsidy to off-set the cost of her visit. For details of this program, please contact us.

Time slots are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, so please respond early if you are interested in booking Anita Horrocks.
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PUBLISHED WORKS: ANITA HORROCKS

Almost Eden. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2006.
Topher. Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 2000.
What They Don’t Know. Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 1998
Breath of a Ghost. Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 1996.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Topher:
Winner, 2001 Writers Guild of Alberta Literary Awards, R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature
2001 Our Choice Star Selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Nominated, 2002 Rocky Mountain Reader’s Choice Award
Nominated, 2002 Manitoba Reader’s Choice Award
Nominated, 2003 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award
Runner-up, 2003 Golden Eagle Children’s Choice Award

What They Don’t Know:
Winner, 1999 Writers Guild of Alberta Book Awards, R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature
Winner, 2000 Red Maple Children’s Choice Award, Ontario Library Association
1999-2000 Our Choice Star Selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
2000 Books for the Teen Age List, New York Public Library

Breath of a Ghost:
Finalist, 1997 Writers Guild of Alberta Book Awards, R.Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature
1998 Books for the Teen Age List, New York Public Library
97-98 Our Choice Selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Nominated, 1997 Manitoba Reader’s Choice Award

ANITA’S PRESENTATION DETAILS

My goal when visiting schools is to share my enthusiasm for reading and writing, and inspire students to read. I will present to Grades 4 to 8 (as well as adult groups), tailoring my reading selections and topics to the specific age level.
Reading from my books and interacting with students are central to my presentations. Starting with how I became a writer (I was a reader!), I’ll share some of discoveries I’ve made about writing that make it the most fun I’ve ever had. Props – from rattlesnake skins and highway signs to my own childhood secret box – help students understand that the spark for a story can come from anywhere in their own lives, and how careful observations and research add details to make a story feel real. I’ll read one or two excerpts from my novels to illustrate how ideas are shaped into stories, and talk about writing as a process of discovery. Other topics, depending on time, include rewriting, working with an editor and how a story becomes a book. Sessions are one hour and generally end with a question and answer period.

I prefer to work with groups of up to 50 to 60 students.