Category: 2022 Silver Birch

Gentile, Leslie (Brentwood Bay, BC)

Leslie Gentile

Leslie Gentile, Brentwood Bay, BC. Writer’s Union Member. Middle grade Indigenous fiction English, grades 2-7. Virtual and local in person visit rates: $150 for 45-60 minutes.

Leslie’s debut middle grade novel Elvis, Me and The Lemonade Stand Summer won the 2021 Victoria Children’s Book Prize, and as shortlisted for the 2022 Rocky Mountain Book Awards and Silver Birch Award, The 2023 Hackmatack Award, MYRA Award, The Diamond Willow Award, the Red Cedar Award, The Jean Little First-Novel Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Historical Fiction Award. Leslie is of Coast Salish, Tuscarora and Settler heritage.

Leslie is an engaging speaker who is very comfortable working with children of all ages. As a musician, she often incorporates songs with her readings.

Leslie is an experienced and engaging speaker who prefers to connect with and engage her audience rather than just deliver a set talk. Leslie is very comfortable working with children of all ages, and is prepared to answer all questions from the audience.

45 – 60 minutes: Readings from her novel, plus Q&A’s from audience.
This can include a discussion on The State of Kindness. Using characters from her novel, Leslie will lead a discussion on how the kind characters appear to be happy, and the unkind characters are unhappy. She will include examples from the book of bullying and racism. This can lead to a discussion or short writing activity where students write about a time when they were kind (or
unkind) and how it made them feel.

In person audience size 45 maximum. Virtual audience is limitless.

Contact Leslie to book a visit:

    Cohen, Tziporah (Toronto, ON)

    Tziporah Cohen

    Tziporah Cohen. Toronto, Ontario. Writers’ Union Member. English. Grades SK-3 (picture book presentations), Grade 4-8 (novel presentations).

    Virtual rates: $200 per session (45-60 min). In-person rates: $275 for one session (45-60 minutes), $200 each for additional visits up to four. Full day visits can include eating lunch with small group of interested older students. Kindergarten visits can be split into two 25 min visits with different classes. No travel costs within City of Toronto; GTA (excluding City of Toronto) $25 per 30 min car travel, rounded up. 

    Tziporah is the author of three picture books:  ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE: HOW MILTON HERSHEY BROUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE TO AMERICA (December 2022), the award-winning wordless picture book AFIKOMEN (March 2023) and CITY BEET (March 2023). She is also the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, NO VACANCY, published in September 2020.

    Middle Grade Novel Presentations

    • Author’s Journey: How do you go from writer to author? Learn the origin story of NO VACANCY and all the steps from beginning to publication: from idea to first draft and revisions, to acquisition, editing and copy editing, cover design and book-on-the-shelf! Includes photos from the entire process and reading of a chapter from the book. (60 minutes, Grades 4-7, in-person or virtual)
    • Revision, Revision, Revision! What are the steps in going from first draft to finished story? Get an inside view on the author’s revisions of NO VACANCY, both before and after acquisition by the publisher. Includes specific examples of revision strategies (using strong verbs; show, don’t tell; adding detail; use of outlines and calendars; eliminating writing quirks, etc) with photos of manuscript. Includes reading of a chapter of the book. This presentation works best if students have read the book, but not required. (60 minutes, Grades 4-7, in person or virtual)

    Picture Book Presentations

    • Let’s Talk About Chocolate! Where does chocolate come from? Learn about where and how cacao beans grow and how they are turned into the chocolate we all love, followed by a reading ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE: HOW MILTON HERSHEY BROUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE TO AMERICA. (45 minutes, Grades JK-2, in person or virtual)
    • How Do Picture Books Get Made? Using ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE or CITY BEET, we’ll talk about how a picture book gets made, from idea to research, first draft to revision, illustration to printing, plus the various people involved in the process, including the writer and illustrator, editor, book designer, publicist and more.  Includes a reading of either book and Q&A time. (45 minutes, Grades 1-3, can be combined with Let’s Talk About Chocolate for total of 60 minutes, in-person or virtual)
    • Let’s Make a Picture Book Workshop! Why are picture books always 32 or 40 pages in length? What is the author’s job and what is the illustrator’s? Who decides if the characters will be people or animals? We’ll answer these questions and more and then, using one of the author’s manuscripts, the students will illustrate the words and put them together to make their own picture book for the classroom library. Includes a reading of any of author’s picture books. (45-60 minutes, Grades 3-4, in-person only)

    Size limits: 100 for virtual presentations, 30 for in-person visits (60 for Reading/Q&A)

    Equipment: For virtual visits, Skype or school Zoom account. For in-person visits, laptop with Powerpoint, (can bring own laptop if it can be connected to school projector, otherwise will bring USB stick), projector and screen for Power Point presentation, table, microphone if space larger than classroom, glass of water. Teacher or librarian must be present for all presentations, virtual or in-person.

    Contact Tziporah to book a visit:

      Cooke, Stephanie (Toronto, ON)

      Stephanie Cooke. Toronto, ON. Writers’ Union of Canada Member. English. Fantasy, Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Middle-Grade, and Young Adult. Stephanie’s rates for school visits is $300 for one session (local schools only), $500 for two sessions or for a half-day, and $900 for a full school day (maximum four sessions), plus travel if applicable. Virtual visits are $250.

      Stephanie Cooke is an author and editor based out of Toronto, Canada. She is the writer of ParaNorthern and the co-writer of Oh My Gods!

      She loves to speak to people about comics, graphic novels, and writing and devotes a lot of time to helping educate people about creating, understanding, and appreciating the graphic novel medium.

      CREATING A GRAPHIC NOVEL
      Ever wonder how a comic book or graphic novel gets made? How many different people work on one book? What’s the process for creating a story and turning it into a graphic novel? Stephanie delves into all of this and more as she helps people explore the world of the comic book industry and sheds light on the process of writing a story from inception to completion.

      Ages: Any

      Group size: Any, but especially love working with smaller groups of 15-30 kids.
      A/V needs: Projector or anything to present some images to go along with the presentation.

      Collaboration is hands-down the best parts of creating a graphic novel. Working with someone to bring an idea to life is an incredible feeling. Having someone to bounce ideas around with is amazing and inspiring. And getting to see an artist bring what was in your head to life on the page is nothing short of magical! With her experience as a co-writer on Oh My Gods! and a co-creator on an unannounced series, Stephanie has created this presentation to help teach you about the process, what to expect, and provide exercises for you to learn from.

      Ages: Any, but works especially well ages 6 and up (and for students and adults)
      Group size: 15-30

      Other topics are available upon request.

      Contact Stephanie to book a visit…