Category: News stories

Superconference 2017

Brian Deines and me, at our signing.

 

Ted Staunton, me, Brian, Gail Winskill and John Spray

With Dave Atkinson

 

Awesome Mississauga visit

Loved my day with San Lorenzo Ruiz students last week. Such a pleasure to be able to present to every student in the school! I surprised one student who could read Portuguese with her own Portuguese edition of Stolen Child. With FDK and grade 1, I did 30 minute storytelling sessions for each, with When Mama Goes to Work. In the book, moms and kids have special bags when they’re going to work or school or day care. I told the kids that I’m a mom too, and I showed them my special bag — really a giant rolling box filled with my books. They had lots of fun pushing it around.

Adrift At Sea was for grades 2&3, then the WWII trilogy for the grade 4-6, then in more depth for grades 7-8.

Storytelling with When Mama Goes to Work

Adrift at Sea gets fab review from Resource Links!

Thank you Victoria Pennell for your high praise! Here are some of my favourite quotes:
 
“What a powerful book!”
 
“This book is very timely as we have so many refugees from war torn countries in the Middle East now attempting to make their way to a better life under the same kind of conditions that the Vietnamese people experienced back in 1981. With so many refugee children attending schools in Canada now, books like this one can help young children appreciate what some of these children have experienced and develop an empathy for them as they integrate into Canadian society.
 
I would highly recommend this book for all school and public libraries”

A slew of awesome reviews for Adrift at Sea!

From Laura Fabiani and Sandra Olshaski on their blog Library of Clean Reads:

Laura says “I highly recommend this book as a teaching tool and feel that it should be in every library. It’s books like this that will make history come alive for our next generation of children.”

And Sandra says “The soft-focus artwork done by Brian Deines that illustrates each page is amazing….The author has produced a very readable book that both parents and children should read together. I highly recommend this beautiful book.”

From Literacy Daily: “The evocative text and powerful illustrations, painted with oils, enable readers to feel as though they, too, are refugees adrift at sea during this risky journey to freedom.”

Sal’s Fiction Addiction says “The authors include personal photographs of Tuan’s family, before their escape and following their settling in Canada, to help readers understand this historical moment in time….Brian Deines (as he always does) has created truly beautiful artwork using oils on canvas to bring Tuan’s story to this book’s readers.”

Sherry Early’s Semicolon says: This nonfiction picture book opens with a bang. The illustrations in this book, full color paintings, are absolutely stunning….Brian Deines, has outdone himself in two-page spreads that bring this refugee story to life….[A] good introduction to the subject of the Vietnamese boat people…”

 

Adrift at Sea Brantford book launch!

A surprise snow storm didn’t keep people away from coming to the Station Cafe on Dec 6th. We had a packed house!

Tuan came with his entire family and we all autographed the books that were sold that night. Proceeds of the event were donated to the Brant Anglican Churches Support for Syrian Refugees. Sweets were provided by the Brant Anglican Churches refugee committee. The Family Literacy Committee of Brant, Kids Can Fly and the St. George Girl Guides hosted the event. Many thanks to Mike Tutt and the Station Cafe for the great venue.

Here I am with the amazing Sharon Brooks of Kids Can Fly. Sharon was the master organizer of the launch. Sharon is dedicated to improving the lives of the kids of Brant (she has my vote for being a woman selected for Canadian currency!)