
Winterkill webinar Nov 17th, 2pm CST

writes about war from a young person's view #bannedbyrussia

Thank you, Valentina Kuryliw and HREC ED for hosting this wonderful opportunity to discuss Winterkill with Dr. Mateusz Swietlicki, author of many academic works, including the upcoming Next-Generation Memory and Ukrainian Canadian Children’s Historical Fiction. Thank you to all who tuned in. The webinar will soon be available online as an educator resource.

Thank you Ms Richardson and your 7/8 students for great questions and interesting conversation about Winterkill, the Holodomor and Russia’s current war on Ukraine. Thank you, HREC ED for making this visit possible!



It was a pleasure speaking with 5th grade students and younger about my picture books Enough and Silver Threads, about those who flee from war and about the situation in Ukraine right now. Thank you for the great questions!




It’s an honor to be included in this commemoration of Kateryna Sikorska and her daughters and to participate in a Q&A about my novel, Don’t Tell the Nazis, inspired by Kateryna and her daughters.
Thank you, HREC Education, for providing this webinar for educators. I look forward to speaking with Dr. Mateusz Świetlicki about Winterkill, my novel set during the Holodomor, and how it can be used in the classroom as an entry into a time in Ukraine’s history that is chillingly like the current war.

Go here for more info.
It was such a treat to virtually speak with students from grades 1 to 3 via Richmond Hill Public Library for Ukrainian Heritage month, discussing how art can be used to talk about the refugee experience and to discover the power of storytelling. I showed them a simplified way of creating pysanky (Ukrainian Easter Eggs) and how when the first Ukrainian pioneers came to Canada they wouldn’t have survived without the guidance and friendship of the Indigenous community. We talked about the cultural exchange of kokum scarves and I showed them a beautiful Polish beaded necklace (thank you Mateusz) and how the craft in its making blended so many cultures. I think there will be many kids making stick-tak or bubble-gum pysanky soon, and they all liked my bookshelf!



One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is visiting with kids who have read my books! This was such an enjoyable visit with students and educators from Waukon MS. Thank you Ms Snitker, for putting together this video and sharing these great photos. Thank you Scholastic Book Fairs for organizing!




These pics from the other side of the screen are ever so much better than mine! I enjoyed the great questions and enthusiasm of Hurffville students during yesterday’s Scholastic Book Fair visit as we talked about Winterkill, the Holodomor and the current war that Russia is inflicting upon Ukraine.

