mail	RR#1, HP1 Bowen Island, BC V0N1G0
ph	604-947-2825
cell	604-803-1837
fax	604-947-2826
e	ainsman@telus.net
web	http://www3.telus.net/ainsliemanson/

Biography

I grew up in Hudson Heights (near Montreal). I had a happy outdoorsy kind of childhood. I rode horses at a farm across the road. I rode my bike to school, and to the store and to the library. We didn’t have a family car until I was ten.
I loved books as a child but because of the war, I had few of my own. (A little like Sally in my story, Just Like New.) I had really poor eyesight (a little like Allison in my story Ballerinas Don’t Wear Glasses) and when I was in about Grade Four, an eccentric eye doctor informed my mother that I should be reading nothing but essential school work. Probably because of that skimpy beginning, I now read voraciously.
In my school days, I spent a great deal of time staring out the window, deep in daydreams. I was extremely shy and hated it when the teachers asked me questions. I was happiest when we had a subject called Composition. I loved making up stories. I also kept a diary. Writing in my diary was like sharing secrets with a best friend.
By the time I was in high school I’d found another subject that I loved... history. Over the years, much of my writing has tied in with some aspect of Canadian history.
After high school I could have (and probably should have) gone right on to university, but in those days it meant taking more math. I couldn’t face that! So instead, I worked and then traveled. I didn’t cover the whole world, but I saw a good deal of it. And I wrote about my experiences every night.
Back in Montreal, I met my husband. He was a Vancouverite and he’d come to Montreal to do his medical internship. During his training we lived in the States for several years and it was while we were there that I finally realized I wanted to make some sort of writing into a full time career. Full time university was out because I had a day job, so I took a three year creative writing course that I could work on in the evenings.
We eventually settled in Vancouver where I wrote (badly) for magazines, and then (better) for newspapers. It wasn’t until my life was totally chaotic with three active sons and hardly any free time that I found my true genre… writing for kids.
The boys (Graeme, Murray and Gavin) are grown up now and have moved on. Murray and his wife Deborah have blessed us with two grandsons, Connor and Rowan. We now live on Bowen Island, B.C., a twenty minute ferry ride to West Vancouver but a million miles away from city living. It’s a perfect, peaceful spot for writing. There is no traffic. We hear only the wind and the rain (yes, sometimes) and the sea lapping at our doorstep.


For more details, please visit my website:
http://www3.telus.net/ainsliemanson/

Book types: picture books, juvenile fiction, juvenile nonfiction

Guest speaker/presentation information

School and Library Visits

In recent years I have visited schools and libraries all across Canada, in the U.S., in Scotland and in Uganda.

Sometimes I talk about a number of my books. Sometimes I talk about just a few. I usually chat with teachers and librarians beforehand, and find out what sort of talk they have in mind. I usually mould my talk to a teacher’s or librarian’s wishes. I read as well as talk, and I always use a number of "show and tell" items. I like to speak about the differences in writing fiction and non-fiction: how the thought process differs, where the ideas come from, the research, etc. I’ve also had a lot of requests to talk about the "building" of a book, from first idea to finished product.

I usually include a reading. I will read either a picture book (or sometimes two) and/or the first chapter of "Leaving The Log House." I like to leave lots of time for questions at the end of my talks.

Several of my books tie in well with the school curriculum:

Pioneers: HOUSE CALLS, The True Story of a Pioneer Doctor

First Nations: A Dog Came, Too

Explorers: A Dog Came, Too and my biographies on Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser.

Prime Ministers: BABOO The Story of Sir John A. Macdonald’s severely handicapped daughter, Mary

World War II: Just Like New

Disabilities: (a) BABOO The Story of Sir John A. Macdonald’s severely handicapped daughter, Mary (b) "Leaving The Log House" the story of a young girl from northern B.C., who comes to Vancouver to get a prosthetic leg. (c) "BOY IN MOTION, Rick Hansen’s Story"


Other Talks for Students and/or Adults

In recent months I have spoken to both students and adults (ie Children’s Literature Roundtables) on the following subjects or combinations of these subjects:

What it’s like to be a Writer; A Writer’s Day
How I got started in my Writing Career
Where ideas come from
Fun and not-so-fun research
Working with an illustrator
Differences in writing fiction and non-fiction

Presentation geographic range: Vancouver, Coast, Lower Mainland, Gulf and Vancouver Islands, Thompson Okanagan, Northern British Columbia, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Kootenay Rockies, The Territories, Canada - beyond BC, USA

Presentation audience age groups: primary school, grades K-3, grades 4-6

Published work

-BOY IN MOTION, Rick Hansen’s Story, Greystone, Spring ‘07
-ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, FROM CANADA BY LAND, Biography. Groundwood, 2002.
-LEAVING THE LOG HOUSE, chapter book, fiction, Orca, 2002.
-HOUSE CALLS, The True Story of a Pioneer Doctor, Historical fiction. Illustrated by Mary Jane Gerber, Groundwood, 2001.
-BALLERINAS DON'T WEAR GLASSES, fiction, picture book. Illustrated by Dean Griffiths. Orca, 2000
-BABOO, The story of Sir John A. Macdonald's daughter, picture book. Illustrations by Bill Wand, Groundwood , 1998..
-JUST LIKE NEW, fiction, picture book. Illustrations by Karen Reczuch. Groundwood, Division of Douglas & McIntyre, Fall 1995. Bound: ISBN 0-88899-228-9 U.S. edition: 1996.
-A DOG CAME,TOO, The story of the dog that crossed Canada with Alexander Mackenzie. Illustrated by Ann Blades. Groundwood, l992.
-SIMON FRASER, a biography. Grolier, January l991. (Out of Print)
-ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, a biography. Grolier, l988, (Out of Print)
-MR. McUMPHIE OF CAULFEILD COVE, Queenston House Publishing Ltd., Winnipeg, 1982. (Out of Print)

Magazine articles:
Placename series, Canadian Children's Magazine, 1978-79

Newspaper series:
Vancouver Province, seven series (100 pages) on Education Page from 1980 - 1985

Awards & recognition

BOY IN MOTION, Rick Hansen’s Story.
Silver Birch Express Honour Book 2009
Nominated for: Chocolate Lily Award, 2009

LEAVING THE LOG HOUSE,
OUR CHOICE, Canadian Children’s Book Centre: 2004
Nominated for:
2004 Silver Birch Fiction Award
2005 Hackmatack Fiction Award
2006 Red Cedar Fiction Award


HOUSE CALLS, The true story of a pioneer doctor
Nominated for: ?
2002 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award, ?
2004 Hackmatack Children's Choice Award

BALLERINAS DON'T WEAR GLASSES, fiction, picture book.
OUR CHOICE, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Nominated for: Mr. Christie Award and BC 2000 Book Awards Winner of the 2003 Chocolate Lily Award (B.C.)

BABOO, The story of Sir John A. Macdonald’s
daughter
Canadian Children’s Book Centre: 1998 OUR CHOICE

JUST LIKE NEW
1996 OUR CHOICE, Canadian Children’s Book Centre,
Nominated for:
Short list: Mr. Christie Award, 1996
Amelia Francis Gibbon Award (CLA) for illustration 1996 The Five Owls Book of Merit (U.S.), 1996 Chosen for "Rochester Reads '04. "What if an entire community read the same book?" (details: http://www.rochesterreads.org/ )

A DOG CAME, TOO Story of the dog that crossed Canada with Alexander Mackenzie. OUR CHOICE, Canadian Children’s Book Centre Nominated for: Short list: B.C. Book Prizes, The Sheila A. Egoff Prize, 1993 Short list: Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, 1993 Short list: Tiny TORGI award, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, 1994 American Bookseller, “Pick of the Lists”, 1993