e	pscollins@vsb.bc.ca
web	http://pjsarahcollins.wordpress.com

Biography

If I’m not teaching children or chasing them at home, my favourite way to relax and recharge is to write for them. I think investing in children is the best way to spend my life. I’ve had the opportunity to teach in three school districts: Vancouver, Coquitlam, and Northern Ireland. I’m born and bred in the Lower Mainland, am passionate about all things green, and love family life with my husband and three young kids. I aspire to be like Sam and Nate in their simplicity and joy in life, but I’m often more like Mr. Tangent. (One of the Mr. Tangent stories in Sam and Nate is autobiographical, unfortunately.)

I discovered the joy of writing for children after the death of my first daughter in 1996 and signed up for every course I could attend by my author-friend, Alison Acheson. Her courses took us both through the Delta School Board and into the Faculty of Creative Writing at UBC over a period of seven years. When I submitted “Letters from the Mailbox” to our writing group, it was Alison who prodded me to write more stories about Sam and Nate based in this world I knew: the primary classroom. When I write for this age group, I feel like I’m playing with light brush strokes of watercolour paint.

I was a volunteer youth leader for much of the ‘90s, and have had the opportunity to speak at retreats and camps of teens and adults. I’ve travelled around North America as a teen elite athlete, Peru and Ecuador on a teen construction team, and Ireland, where I lived for two years with my husband. I love gardening, bicycling with my kids, playing soccer with moms on a local team, co-leading my school choir, and looking for ways to see green initiatives succeed in my community.

Book types: picture books, juvenile fiction, YA fiction

Guest speaker/presentation information

My presentation style is very much like the Earth Day assembly I just organized with another teacher for our school on April 23, 2010. I like to involve the audience, use humour (sometimes magic), teach with as many visuals and props as possible, prepare as much in advance as I can, and work off a memorized script, leaving room for spontaneity as it develops. [Although for this assembly, it was more effective to have the children work off my scripts and take all speaking roles.] This year I’ve developed my skills on the Smartboard in my two classrooms, which I enjoy using in assemblies and presentations.

Presentation geographic range: Vancouver, Coast, Lower Mainland

Presentation audience age groups: primary school, grades K-3, grades 4-6, grades 7-8, high school, college/university/adult

Published work

Sam and Nate (Orca, 2005)
WHTS? (Red Deer, 2011)
& other books currently in negotiation

Awards & recognition