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Children's Fiction General

Our Canadian Girl Marie-Claire

by (author) Kathy Stinson

Publisher
Tundra Book Group
Initial publish date
May 2010
Category
General, General, Girls & Women
Recommended Age
8 to 12
Recommended Grade
3 to 7
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780143170860
    Publish Date
    May 2010
    List Price
    $14.00

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Description

Meet Marie-Claire, who lives with her family in Montreal in 1885. Her parents are hard-working, but there is very little money to spare, and Marie- Claire worries about what will happen if one of them falls ill. Then a smallpox epidemic sweeps through the city, and it seems every family is affected-even Marie-Claire's. Her father, a fireman, has been injured and is unable to work. As a result her mother must take a job as a seamstress, and Marie-Claire has to stay home from school to help with the household chores and to take care of Emilie and baby Philippe.

About the author

Kathy Stinson is a familiar name in children’s literature. She wrote the award-winning Red is Best and Big or Little?—two of the first picture books for preschoolers in Canada. Both were a huge success and have since achieved international acclaim. Red is Best 25th Anniversary Edition was released in 2006 a newly illustrated Big or Little? was published in 2009. Kathy’s latest book, The Man with the Violin (2013), was greeted with rave reviews, including starred reviews in Kirkus and uill & uire. Illustrated by Duan Petricic, this beautifully evocative picture book tells the true story of world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, who conducted an experiment by anonymously playing his priceless violin in the Washington D.C. subway station. Kathy grew up in Toronto. “My love affair with books began as a child,” she says. “I remember regular visits to the library, getting stacks of books to read.” She still has a notebook of stories that she wrote when she was in grade four. She believes that reading a lot is the key to becoming a good writer. In the early 1970s Kathy attended university while teaching elementary school. In 1981, she took a course called “How to write and get published.” The titles she has published in the years since range from picture books to young adult novels, from historical fiction chapter books to short stories in the horror genre. 2008 sees the publication of her first brand-new picture book in sixteen years! Kathy enjoys visiting schools across Canada, and especially talking with fellow writers. In 1987 she traveled to England as part of an exchange of Canadian and British children’s authors. She has helped students across Canada pursue their own creative projects through the Writers in Electronic Residence program, and in many communities has conducted writing workshops for children and for adults. When she’s not busy writing or reading, Kathy is a self-proclaimed jigsaw puzzle addict. Her children now grown, she lives with her partner, editor Peter Carver, in a hamlet not far from Guelph, Ontario.

Kathy Stinson's profile page

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