Join us for a Kid Lit workshop with Patrica Ocampo, Senior Editor at Scholastic

Writing for Children & for Young Adults

~ with Patricia Ocampo, Senior Editor at                  Scholastic Books

Sunday, August 23, 2026
 1:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

This is your chance to speak with someone within a publishing company in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 800 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop.

Patricia and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started. And, yes, if you want to submit to Scholastic, Patricia will be accepting queries from everyone who attends the workshop! ~Brian

Guest speaker Patricia Ocampo is a Senior Editor at Scholastic Canada. Scholastic Canada’s priority is publishing “kid picks” – books that children would spend their own money to read. Stories featuring Canadian culture, settings, and history are also a priority.

Patricia acquires fiction for babies, children, and tweens. She has a particular interest in laugh-out-loud stories – she’s forever looking for the Canadian Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. Her favourite recent books that she developed are Way Off Track by Carl Brundtland (illustrated by Claudia Dàvila), Worm on the Job by Maureen Fergus (illustrated by Paul George Hammond), and Cat Shapes by Aidan Cassie.

Patricia has worked at Kids Can Press, Simon and Schuster, Annick Press, and HarperCollins. She was also a literary agent at Transatlantic Agency. Patricia served five years on the International Board on Books for Young People, including two years as president of the Canadian chapter. She teaches a course on editing books for children at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University). 

Brian’s led writing workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Charlottetown, and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors.  

Read reviews and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $46.90 + 13% hst = $53 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

Join us for a Kid Lit workshop with literary agent Andrea Cascardi

A Wolf Called Fire by Roasanne Parry
represented by Transatlantic Agency

Writing for Children
      and for Young Adults

With Andrea Cascardi 
        ~ Senior Literary Agent
            at Transatlantic Literary Agency

Sunday, March 1, 2026
 1:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

This is your chance to speak with someone within the publishing industry in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 800 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop.

Andrea and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started! ~Brian

Guest speaker Andrea Cascardi is a senior literary agent with the Transatlantic Agency, a leading literary management company with a team of 22 experienced agents based in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Oregon, Boston, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Andrea herself is based in New York.

Transatlantic offers a full spectrum of career representation to authors (Adult, Children’s & YA, and illustrators) and storytellers (Speakers, Industry leaders & Influencers) across all genres and formats for book, content development, speaking, and TV & Film.

Andrea has held senior editorial positions at Random House, Disney/Hyperion, and Egmont USA. As an editor she acquired and edited Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King winner Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, the Raffi Songs to Read series, and Pura Belpre winner Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez, among many other award-winning books.

As an agent she has represented many bestselling and award-winning titles including Clare Vanderpool’s Newbery winner Moon Over Manifest and Printz Honor winner Navigating Early;  e.E. Charlton-Truillo’s Stonewall winner Fat Angie, New York Times Bestseller Nubs: A Mutt, A Marine, and a Miracle, and Texas Bluebonnet winner Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive the School Bus.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

Join us for “Writing Kid Lit – Intensive”

“Writing Kid Lit – Intensive”

Online: Mondays, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
First readings emailed January 12, 2026
Classes: Jan 19 – March 30, or to April 6 if the class fills up. No class Feb 16 

This Intensive course will be organized like my other Intensive courses, but it’s for people writing kid lit: board books, picture books, early chapter books, and middle grade – both fiction and nonfiction, conventional text or scripts for graphic books. It’s for people who are working on their own writing projects, not for complete beginners. 

You’ll be asked to bring in several short pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. Or, possibly, you might bring in the same piece, but reworked several times. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, we’ll have discussions and I’ll give short talks addressing the needs of the group. You’ll receive constructive suggestions about your writing, learn how to critique your own work, and you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and rewrite.

We’ll also have published author as a guest speaker (to be announced).

I expect you’ll find this course extremely rewarding – and fun. After all, we’re working on kid lit! ~Brian

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University, and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. Brian is also the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.   

Read reviews and other pieces about or inspired by Brian's courses, workshops, and retreats, see here (and scroll down).

Fee: $292.04 + hst = $330

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here. ~Brian

Join us for a Kid Lit workshop with Orca Books editor Sarah Howden

Writing for Children
     and for Young Adults

With Sarah Howden 
        ~ Editor at Orca Books

Saturday, January 17, 2026
 1:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

This is your chance to speak with someone within a publishing company in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 800 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop.

Sarah and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started! ~Brian

Guest speaker Sarah Howden is an editor with Orca Books, an independently owned Canadian children’s book publisher. She started out at HarperCollins Publishers over fifteen years ago, as an editorial assistant, moved on to become the managing editor at Owlkids, then worked as a freelance editor before coming to Orca in 2022.

With over 1,000 titles in print and more than 80 new titles a year, Orca prides itself on publishing Canadian authors (almost exclusively) and bringing them to a wider market.

Sarah’s focus is board books, picture books, early chapter books and middle grade fiction. She especially likes slightly offbeat points of view, humour with heart, and writing that has a strong narrative voice. She’s looking for manuscripts that feel fresh, original, and authentic – and if your work reflects your often-unheard perspective, all the better.

Sarah is also an author of children’s books, including Cone Dog and Cone Cat, The Tunnel (all from OwlKids), and Five-Minute Stories for Fearless Girls (HarperCollins), plus several I Can Read Books (Harper Kids). Her latest picture book The Wise Pickle (Tundra) is due out in June 2026. (For more about The Wise Pickle or to pre-order a copy, see here).

Sarah lives in Toronto with her family and their two goofball cats.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

Join us for Writing Kid Lit – The Next Level!

Writing Kid Lit – The Next Level!

Graphic books, picture books, middle grade and young adult novels

With guests Erin Silver
       and Rhael McGregor 

Online: Wednesday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m.
October 8 – December 3 (or to Dec 10 if the course fills up). No class Oct 22.

This course is for adults (or teens) interested in writing graphic books (fiction or nonfiction, for very young kids or older kids), picture books, chapter books, middle grade books, or young adult novels. It’s meant for people who have previously taken a kid lit course or who otherwise know the basics of the contemporary market for children’s literature.

For graphic books, we’ll be looking at writing scripts not creating the art, though if you’re a writer-artist, we’ll want to see your work!

The focus of the class will be on your work – picture book manuscripts, proposals for nonfiction books, chapters of longer books for young people – whatever you’re working on, you’ll present to the class for feedback as to how to make your work even better.

We’ll also have discussions, talks from the instructor, and a children’s authors and an illustrator guest speakers:

Erin Silver is an award-winning children’s author and freelance writer. Her books for children include Rush Hour: Navigating Our Global Traffic Jam (Blueberry Award winner) and the picture book Sitting Shiva (Ontario Library Association Best Pick, Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor, Vine Award finalist, and TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award finalist).

She's also the author of: Good Food, Bad Waste: Let’s Eat for the Planet; Mighty Scared: The Amazing Ways Animals Defend Themselves; and Plant Attack! The Fascinating Ways Flora Defends itself; also, In It To Win It: Sports and the Climate Crisis; and All Consuming: Shop Smarter for the Planet. 

Erin’s very first kid’s book was a middle grade novel, Just Watch Me, and her most recent is Resistance and Survivors, part of the series, Remembering History: The Holocaust, from Beech Street Books. Several additional nonfiction books are in the works. 

Visit Erin's website here. 

Rhael McGregor is a Métis and two-spirit/queer comic artist based in Winnipeg. Since 2018, Rhael has been passionately telling stories in which they hope all readers can see themselves. Their work includes illustrations and stories published by Iron Circus Comics, Quindrie Press, and HighWater Press, along with several self-published works. 

Rhael’s also the illustrator for the middle grade novels Touching Grass (launching Sept 9 – see here) and the Governor General Award finalist Mortified both by Kristy Jackson (more here). For the class, Rhael will be talking about graphic novels and will love to take questions.

Visit Rhael's website here.  

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. Brian is the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reviews and other pieces about or inspired by Brian's writing courses, workshops, and retreats here (and scroll down).

Fee: $257.52 plus 13% hst = $291

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.  

Still spots open in “Writing Picture Books (and other little kid lit) – Intensive”

“Writing Picture Books – Intensive”

Online: Wednesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
First readings emailed March 19.
Classes: March 26 – June 4 (or to June 18 if the course fills up. No class April 23 or June 11)

Note: See all the writing classes on offer this spring here.

This Intensive course will be organized like my other Intensive courses, but it’s for people writing picture books – though if you want to bring board books, early chapter books, a nonfiction proposal, or some other form of kid lit, we’re very easygoing. You’ll be asked to bring in several pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. This may be several separate picture book manuscripts or, possibly, just one, reworked several times. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, we’ll have discussions and I’ll give short talks addressing the needs of the group. You’ll receive constructive suggestions about your writing, learn how to critique your own work, ands you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

I expect you’ll find this course extremely rewarding – and fun. After all, we’re working on picture books!

Fee: $292.04 + hst = $330

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. He’s also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published. 

Read pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's retreats, courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

To receive new postings on Quick Brown Fox as soon as they go up, visit Quick Brown Fox on Substack, and subscribe: https://brian999.substack.com/ 

The 2025 Prairie Horizons Conference for writers of Kid Lit

 

CANSCAIP Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Writers Guild present:

    The 2025 Prairie Horizons Conference

       “Don’t Drop Out: Speak Out, Stand Out!”

            ~ for writers of Kid Lit

Friday May 16 – Sunday, May 18, 2025
Park Town Hotel, 924 Spadina Crescent E, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Map here)

If you want to write for young people, Saskatoon is the place to be this spring. The line-up of speakers includes Picture Book author Lana Button who will be giving the keynote address, Emma Sakamoto managing editor of Groundwood Books, middle grade author and Governor General Awards finalist Kristy Jackson, and me, Brian Henry of Quick Brown Fox. Plus, many other children’s publishers, authors and an illustrator.

Talks and panels include everything from “How do I stand out?” to “How to craft a hook that stands out.” and “From boring to bling!” Plus, many others topics.

Emma Sakomoto, managing editor
Groundwood Books

Participants will also have an opportunity for a One-on-One Manuscript Evaluation. Brian Henry, Ed Willet of Shadow Paw Press, Deana Driver, publisher of DriverWorks Ink, and Emma Sakamoto of Groundwood Books will evaluate manuscript. Brian can also help you out with your query letter. (And I’m also okay with looking at your synopsis, the start of your nonfiction proposal or whatever else you want feedback on.)

Register for the conference and (optional) your manuscript evaluation here.

Conference Schedule at a glance:

Friday, May 16

4:00 – 5:00 pm Early Arrival Walking Tour Option “Discover the History and Arts of Downtown Saskatoon” (meet in lobby at 4pm for those joining us)

6:00 – 6:45 pm Registration – Cedar Room

6:45 – 7:00 pm Opening Remarks

7:00 – 8:15 pm “How Do I Stand Out?” – Publishing Panel: DEANA DRIVER, EMMA SAKAMOTO, EDWARD, WILLETT, BRIAN HENRY (MODERATOR)

8:15 – 8:30 pm Break (**Cash bar, Hot Appetizers provided**)

8:30 – 9:30 pm “Speak Out! in Spoken Word” - KHODI DILL (author/performer)

Saturday, May 17

 **Coffee and snacks provided throughout the day; Lunch provided**

8:30 am – 5:15 pm One-on-One Evaluations of Manuscripts (pre-register and pre-scheduled throughout the day) 

8:30 – 9:30 am “Why Should I Speak Out?” The Moral Imperative of Speaking Out on Injustice and Racism – CORT DOGNIEZ (author/storyteller)

9:30 – 10:00 am Break (coffee and snacks provided throughout the day)

10:00 – 11:00 am “Make Your Work Stand Out!” Marketing Panel – authors: LANA BUTTON, VICTORIA KOOPS, DIANNE YOUNG, ALICE KUIPERS, MAUREEN ULRICH (MODERATOR)

11:00 am – 12 pm “How to Craft a Hook that Stands Out!” – ALICE KUIPERS (author)

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch (provided)

1:00 – 2:00 pm “Comic Relief: How to Create Compelling Narratives Through an Illustrative Medium” – RHAEL MCGREGOR (illustrator)

Dana Church signing her latest book,
The Monarch Effect

2:00 – 3:00 pm “I Want to Speak Out, but I Don’t Know How!” Tips and Tricks for Writing Nonfiction – DANA CHURCH (nonfiction author)

3:00 – 3:15 pm Group Photo

3:15 – 4:00 pm Break

4:00 – 5:15 pm “Characters That Speak Out and Stand Out” – Creating Outstanding Diverse Characters Panel – authors VICTORIA KOOPS, CORT DOGNIEZ, KRISTY JACKSON, ADAM POTTLE, MARY BISHOP (MODERATOR)

5:15 – 7:00 pm Supper (not provided, *limited space reserved for attendees in Park Town dining*)

7:00 – 8:15 pm KEYNOTE: LANA BUTTON (author)  “There Are Seven Audiences for Your Story—Let’s Captivate Them All!”

8:15 – 8:30 pm Break (Cash bar, Snacks provided)

8:30 – 9:30 pm “It’s Your Turn to Stand Up and Speak Out” - Open Mic – DIANNE YOUNG (MODERATOR)

Sunday, May 18

**coffee and muffins provided**

9:00 – 10:15 am “Stand Out – Take Your Text from Boring to Bling” – Brian Henry

10:15 – 10:45 Conference Wrap-Up

11:00 – 11:30 am CANSCAIP PRAIRIE HORIZONS AGM (CANSCAIP members)

More about the conference and the speakers at the CANSCAIP Saskatchewan website here.

Register for the conference and (optional) your manuscript evaluation here.

Author Kristy Jackson & Brian

Brian Henry has been a book editor, writer and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. A former instructor at Ryerson University (now known as TMU), he now teaches weekly writing courses and one-day workshops online and in-person in the Toronto area and leads weekend writing retreats. He’s also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). 

But Brian’s proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published and launch their careers as authors, including Kelley Armstrong, Erin Silver, Jennifer Mook-Sang, and Saskatoon’s GG finalist, Kristy Jackson. Lana Button, the keynote speaker for the Prairie Horizons Conference still comes to Brian’s workshops, but now as a presenter, rather than as an attendee.

To see pieces about, or inspired by,  Brian’s writing retreats, weekly courses and Saturday workshops, see here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day  retreats here.

You're invited to “Writing Kid Lit” with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Mortified by Kristy Jackson a finalist
for the Governor General's Prize
this year ~ yay, Kristy!

“Writing for Children and for Young Adults”

 ~ with guest Patricia Ocampo, senior editor at Kids Can Press

Saturday, March 1, 2025
 1:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Online via Zoom and accessible wherever there’s Internet

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

This is your chance to speak with someone within a publishing company in a small group setting and to pull back the curtain and see how it all works. Be sure to bring your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: Participants are invited to submit the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 800 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter). Email your pages to me prior to our workshop.

Patricia and I will publicly critique about half a dozen submissions so everyone can see what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your story-telling. Get your pages in early if you want to be part of this. If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started! ~Brian

Guest speaker Patricia Ocampo is a Senior Editor at Kids Can Press. Since 1973, Kids Can has published award-winning, best-selling books for young readers, including The Most Magnificent Thing and the Franklin the Turtle series.

Patricia acquires books for children and tweens, both fiction and nonfiction. She has a particular interest in laugh-out-loud stories – she’s forever looking for the next Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging – and unique approaches to nonfiction.

Patricia has worked at HarperCollins, Annick Press, and Simon and Schuster. She was also a literary agent at Transatlantic Agency. Patricia served five years on the International Board on Books for Young People, including two years as president of the Canadian chapter. She teaches a course on editing books for children at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.

Read reviews and reflections on Brian’s retreats, classes and workshops here.

Fee: $45.13 + 13% hst = $51 paid in advance by mail or Interac

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.