Authors’ Booking Service is pleased to announce that children’s author Kari-Lynn Winters is now scheduling visits to Ontario schools for the coming school year.  Kari-Lynn would love to plan a visit to your school or library. Her rate is $250 per session, plus travel from St. Catharines, Ontario. 

Kari-Lynn Winters is an award-winning picture book author, playwright, educator, 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, completed at the University of British Columbia, focused on authorship and the arts. 

Her 50 minute interactive presentations are both educational and engaging. They include lively readings from her books and magazine stories, puppetry, songs, strategies for literacy and drama, a question period, and a book signing. Kari-Lynn can accommodate large audiences and a range of ages (JK to grade 8 and infant to adult). 

Here’s what teachers and librarians are saying about Kari-Lynn Winters:  

One of our best author visits! 
Becky Pendleton, Teacher-librarian, Ferris Elementary (Richmond BC, 2009)  

A teacher workshop with Kari-Lynn Winters is lively, fun, and full of fresh ideas. I have left her workshops with many strategies to support my students’ literacy through storybooks, drama, and games. She demonstrates how a teacher can make children active participants in classroom literacy experiences. I am so glad that Kari introduced me to her delightful children’s book Jeffrey and Sloth. This humorous story highlights our power to create wonderful stories with our drawings and writing. It is a must have book for any early childhood or primary classroom. I highly recommend her teacher workshop to any school, and would love to have her back at mine. 
David Johnson, Teacher, Ivy Montessori School (Vancouver BC, 2008)  

Kari-Lynn Winters is an outstanding author whose ideas really resonate with children, making children’s learning feel relevant and purposeful to them. Whether she is writing about the struggle for writing topics in Jeffrey and Sloth, or giving children an easy way to remember math concepts through rhythmic poems in aRHYTHMetic, she relates to students and makes them feel that they too can accomplish their dreams one day. 
Amanda Vine, Grade 2 Teacher, Clemens Mill Public School (Cambridge, 2008)

Kari-Lynn is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, and may be eligible for subsidies for visits. Contact us for more details.

Published Works 

Winters, K(2010). When Chickens Fly. Illustrated by Izabela Bzymek. Vancouver: Gumboot Books. 

Winters, K. (2010). Runaway Alphabet. Illustrated by Ben Frey. Vancouver: Simply Read Books. 

Winters, K. (2009). On My Walk.  Illustrated by Christina Leist. Vancouver: Tradewind Books. 

Winters, K. (2009). Oh Ducky Day! Illustrated by Ailsa Long. Free online publication: Everytales.com. 

Stone, T., Winters, K., and Sherritt-Fleming, L. (2009). aRHYTHMetic: A book and a half of poetry about math. Vancouver: Gumboot Books. 

Winters, K. (2007). Jeffrey and Sloth. Illustrated by Ben Hodson. Victoria: Orca Book  

Magazine Articles and Stories (Selected) 

Winters, K. (September, 2009). “The Smartest Dresser.” Illustrated by Bob Fortier. ChickaDEE Magazine, pp. 22-25. 

Winters, K. (January/February 2009). “Unicorns: Story or Science?” KNOW Magazine, 19, p. 4. 

Winters, K., and Stone, T. (May/June 2009). “Snail Mail.” KNOW Magazine, 21, pp. 18-19. 

Winters, K. (Jan-Feb 2008). “Extreme Rollers.” Illustrated by Shane McGowan. ChickaDEE Magazine, pp. 22-25. 

Winters, K. (Jan-Feb 2008). “The Mightiest of All.” KNOW Magazine, 13, pp. 18-19. 

Winters, K. (November 2007). “Naming my Adopted Sister.” Fandangle Magazine, 2(10), p. 7. 

Stone, T. and Winters, K. (2007) “Measure Me a Measurement.” Illustrated by Patricia  

Anthology Stories 

Winters, K. (2009). “Rumors.” In Rogers, S. (ed.) My First Year in the Classroom: 50 Stories That Celebrate the Good, the Bad, and the Most Unforgettable Moments, pp. 32-35. Cincinnati: Adams Media. 

Winters, K. (2008). “Rhyme or Reason.” Illustrated by Scot Ritchie. In Stranaghan, C. (Ed.) A World of Stories. Vancouver: Gumboot Books, pp. 6-11. 

Awards and Nominations 

2010: Selected  for the Toronto Public Library's First and Best List for On My Walk.

2011: Shortlisted, BC Reader’s Choice Chocolate Lilly Award for On My Walk. 

2010: Finalist for the 2010 BC Book Prize (“Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize”) and sponsored tour for ON My Walk. 

2010:  Resource Links Best List for 2009 for aRHYTHMetic. 

2009: TD Canadian Children’s Book Tour (Prince Edward Island). 

2009: Silver Medal, BC Reader’s Choice Chocolate Lilly Award for Jeffrey and Sloth. 

2009: Winner, EveryTales Best Tale Contest for Oh Ducky Day! 

2009: Winner, Association of Educational Publishers “2009 Distinguished Achievement Award” in the fiction category for Extreme Rollers. 

2008: Finalist for the 2008 BC Book Prize (”Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize”) and sponsored tour for Jeffrey and Sloth. 

2008: Honour Book for the Blue Spruce Award. 

2007: Winner of the ABCs of Education best books of 2006-2007 for Jeffrey and Sloth. 

2007: BC Flash Fiction first runner-up. 

2006: UBC Faculty of Education Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. 

2006: won a full SSHRC Scholarship. 

2005: Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada Master’s Research Award for best master’s thesis. 

2005: Lomcira Harold Covell Memorial Scholarship. 

2001: Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, North Carolina Public Schools. 
 

Presentation Details 

Get over writer's block, try free-style skiing or snowmobiling, meet some rot-ten dragons and some teacup pups, participate in a word hockey game, or go for a rhythmic Vancouver Walk!

In her educational and interactive presentations, Kari-Lynn Winters (an award-winning author and drama/literacy professor) collaborates with teachers in order to explore how to bring reading and writing off the page for students.

Rather than occupying the traditional space of presentation (e.g., students listen quietly while the author speaks), her author visits are re-imagined as interactive spaces for mentorship between author and child.

Audiences negotiate what it means to be an author by participating in story building, exploring the power of imagination, identifying the joy of generating ideas, and by asking questions.

Kari-Lynn's creative and dynamic presentations include visuals, puppets, songs, and dramatic play.

She believes that books and stories provide boundless spaces where authors and readers can come together to explore literacy strategies, social justice issues, sports, science or mathematics concepts, and most of all—imagination!

Grades I will present to: Infant-Grade 8  

Is this flexible? Yes. I can also provide workshops for teens and adults.

Maximum number of students per session:  250    

Is this flexible? Yes, providing there is enough space and sound equipment is provided.   

Workshops available? If yes, for which grades: Pre-school – adult.   

Maximum participants for workshop: 40   

Professional Development Workshops? Yes.   

Grade 12 Writers' Craft Workshops? Yes.  

Venues you’re comfortable in: classrooms, libraries, auditoriums, gymnasiums,  classrooms, festivals, conferences, and more.   

Is this flexible? Yes. 

List any equipment or other requirements you have: Computer projector (though I can bring my own), a power bar, extension cords, water, table, music stand or podium 
 

Adult Presentations 

Kari-Lynn’s experiences as an award-winning author, a professional actor, a drama and literacy scholar and an educator are called upon during these adult presentations.  There are two types of workshops/presentations that Kari-Lynn offers: 1) writing for children and moving beyond the slush pile and 2) presenting for large audiences.  Both of these workshops/presentations are engaging and interactive.

PD Workshops

 
Kari-Lynn Winters, a professor at Brock University,  provides Drama/Literature workshops for various groups of participants (elementary and secondary school students, pre-teachers, librarians, and so forth).  These workshops demonstrate drama and play writing strategies that can be used alongside literature, especially picture books and YA novels. The specific vision for these workshops (e.g., the themes that can be addressed, the amount of time needed, the culminating project, and so on) can be customized and negotiated prior to Kari-Lynn’s visit.

Writing Workshops  

Kari-Lynn Winters is an assistant professor of literacy and drama at Brock University as well as an award-winning author and educator.  She offers an array of interactive literacy workshops for participants of all ages.  Some of these workshops include:

1. An Author’s craft: writing with and beyond words

2. Moving between writing genres

3. Writing humour

4. The how, now, wow, pow of picture book writing

and

5. Writing, children’s literature and drama