Writing Kid Lit workshop with Kids Can Press senior editor Yasemin Uçar and children’s author Jennifer Mook-Sang

Writing for Children and for Young Adults

  ~ The world’s hottest market

With Kids Can Press senior editor Yasemin Uçar 

and children’s author Jennifer Mook-Sang

Saturday, October 5, 2019

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Centennial Hall, Burlington Central Library, 2331 New Street, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

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. We'll be quite a small group, so be sure to bring all your questions – we'll have lots of time for interaction.

Special option: You may, but don't have to, bring 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or up to 750 words if that gets you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!

Note: Following the formal end of the workshop at about 3:45, Yasemin will stay around to chat with you one-on-one and Brian will stay till 4:45 to help with your opening pages.

Guest speaker Yasemin Uçar is a Senior Editor at Kids Can Press. Yasemin has been a children’s book editor for over two decades. She worked at Scholastic Canada before moving to London, UK, in 2001, where she worked as a Senior Editor at Piccadilly Press. In 2006, she moved back to Toronto and worked as a freelance editor for a number of years before joining Kids Can Press in 2012.

Yasemin has worked with many popular and award-winning authors and illustrators, including internationally bestselling author Louise Rennison, Ashley Spires, Chieri Uegaki and Caroline Adderson.

Guest speaker Jennifer Mook-Sang grew up in Guyana and moved to Canada when she was fourteen. While reading bedtime stories to her two sons, she fell in love with picture books and decided to write one of her own. In one of Brian Henry's classes she found the beginnings of a story. That story grew into the humorous middle-grade novel Speechless, published by Scholastic Canada.

Speechless won the Surrey Schools Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for many others, and was recommended by the Ontario Library Association, the Canadian Childrens’ Book Centre, the CBC, and the TD Summer Reading Club. 

Since then, Jennifer has also published a picture book, Captain Monty Takes the Plunge, with Kids Can Press. Captain Monty is the boldest, stinkiest pirate to sail the six or seven seas; in fact, he’s never had a bath. Naturally, the Junior Library Guild immediately selected him for its fall list of recommended books; it was short-listed for the Rainforest of Reading Award; and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre put it on its best books of the year list.

Jennifer has discovered another facet of being a children's author: she's traveled across Canada speaking to hordes of kids about her writing journey; encouraging them to read, write, and revise. Who knew that Brian's nudging to read aloud to the class would come in so handy someday?

Jennifer lives in Burlington, Ontario. You can find out more about her here. 

Speechless is available online here. And Captain Monty Takes the Plunge is available here. And of course they’re both available in book stores everywhere.

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 of Brian’s classes and workshops here.

Fee: $43.36 + 13% hst = $49 paid in advance by mail or Interac

or $46.90 + 13% hst = $53 if you wait to pay at the door

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

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~ Brian

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including Saturday writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Alliston, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Georgina, Guelph, Hamilton, Jackson’s Point, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, New Tecumseth, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.