Available for virtual visits in: BC (Kootenays) and New Brunswick
Craft: Author
Genre: Picture Books, Early Chapter Books, Middle-Grade Fiction, Teen Fiction, Non-Fiction
Target Audience: Kindergarten – Grade 9
Cost for School and Public Presentation with CCBC subsidy: $200.00, plus applicable taxes
Presentation/Workshop Information:
Presentation #1 (30 minutes, interactive) – Recommended for Grades 3-6
This presentation will begin with a reading of my STEM picture book, Who’s Looking? How Animals See the World. A question and answer will follow the reading, with the students centering on how the students might each see the world slightly differently from each other. From there we will move to how differently animals see the world. I will read them a paragraph of scientific research on a complicated eye like the dragonfly and see if any of them understand it. Then I will read them my interpretation of the data and explain how I simplified and even “translated” the science into something understandable. We will finish by my asking them to choose an animal (and how it sees) that they would like me to research, and we will do that in real time. This will vary depending on the age group of the class.
Presentation #2 (30 minutes, interactive) – Recommended for Kindergarten to Grade 2
Reading of Who’s Looking? How Animals See the World. Each child stands, one by one, and chooses an animal. Then they pretend to be that animal and tell the class what everyone and everything looks like. An open-ended question and answer to follow.
Presentation #3 Writing workshop (45- 50 minutes) - Recommended Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-6
The workshop begins with a reading of the book, Who’s Looking? How Animals See the World. The class and I will then choose three of the animals from the book and create a story, using how they see the world so differently as the theme.
Presentation #4 Writing process (45-50 minutes) - Recommended Grades 4-6
The presentation will begin with the earliest draft of the book, Who’s Looking: How Animals See the World, which happened to be fiction. I will explain how it became a non-fiction title, my first non-fiction book and my first picture book. I will explore the research and the difficulties I encountered as a non-scientist, researching a very scientific project. Then I will detail the process with the publisher- the back and forth about the science, the art and how to express how animals see the world through the artwork and the text. I will explain how the story of the two girls came about as well as the seasons and the setting in the Pacific Northwest. In the end I will read them the final book. This will be followed by a question and answer.
Presentation #5 Racism and Antisemitism (45-50 minutes) – Recommended Grades 5-6, Grades 7-9
This presentation will begin with a short talk about how antisemitism developed and grew over the centuries. I will then tie it into a broader theme of racism, focusing on Germany in the Third Reich. I will read a chapter of my novel A Struggle for Hope and tell the students a little bit of the story, especially the rebellion in Auschwitz by young women who helped to blow up the crematoria. Question and answer at the end. Will tie in well with Holocaust Remembrance Day April 18.
Book List
- Behind Enemy Lines, World War II, Sam Frederiksen, Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1944, I Am Canada, February 2012, Scholastic Canada.
- Pieces of the Past: The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, Dear Canada, February 2013, Scholastic Canada.
- Tucson Jo, 2014, Fictive Press.
- Cloning Miranda, 2016, Fictive Press. New, revised edition. Korean edition pending.
- Past Crimes, 2020, Fictive Press. New, revised edition.
- A Struggle for Hope, 2021, Scholastic Canada.
- Who’s Looking? How Animals See the World, Illustrated by Cornelia Li, Orca Book, 2022. Chinese edition pending.
Other Selected Titles
- The Whirlwind. Spring 2007, Orca Book Publishers.
- Rebecca, Scholastic Canada, Fall 2000.
- Sparks Fly Upwards. Clarion, New York, Spring 2001.
- The War Within. Simon & Schuster: New York, 2001, Scholastic Canada.
- The Second Clone. Scholastic, Canada, Fall 2001.
- Footsteps in the Snow, Dear Canada, Scholastic, Canada, Spring 2001.
- Gotcha! Rosie In New York City. Simon & Schuster, Aladdin, NY, Key Porter, Toronto, Spring 2003.
- Play Ball! Rosie in Chicago. Simon & Schuster, Aladdin, NY, Key Porter, Toronto, Fall 2003.
- Action! Rosie in L.A. Simon & Schuster, Aladdin, NY, Key Porter, Toronto, Spring, 2004.
- The Dark Clone. Scholastic Canada, Spring 2005.
- Turned Away, The World War 11 Diary of Devorah Bernstein, Dear Canada. Scholastic Canada, Fall 2005.
- Past Crimes. fall 2006, Key Porter.
- The Whirlwind. spring 2007, Orca Book Canada.
- The Freak (Book 1 of The Freak Series), fall 2007 Key Porter Books. Reissued.
- The Freak: Visions (Book 2 of The Freak Series), fall 2007, Key Porter Books.
- The Ghosthunters 1: The Proof That Ghosts Exist (Book 1 of The Ghosthunters trilogy) spring 2008, Key Porter Books, with Perry Nodelman.
- The Freak: Far (Book 3 of The Freak Series), fall 2008, Key Porter Books.
- The Ghosthunters 2: The Curse of the Evening Eye (Book 2 of The Ghosthunters trilogy) spring 2009, Key Porter Books, with Perry Nodelman.
- Tales of a Reluctant Psychic, fall 2009, Key Porter Books.
- The Ghosthunters 3: The Hunt For The Haunted Elephant (Book 3 of The Ghosthunters trilogy), spring, 2010, Key Porter BooksTwith Perry Nodelman.
- The Edge of When, fall 2011, Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Biography
Carol Matas is an internationally acclaimed author of over forty-five novels for young people. Her best-selling work has been translated into sixteen languages and has received over 100 awards and honors. She is well known for her books concerning the Holocaust, writing Daniel’s Story at the request of The United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. which has sold over a million copies in Canada and the U.S. She just published her first picture book.
