Available for in-person visits: New Brunswick
Craft: Author/Illustrator
Genre: Picture Books
Target Audience: PreK to Grade 6
Cost for School and Public Presentation: $250.00, plus applicable taxes
Biography
Jack Wong (黃雋喬) was born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver. In 2010, he left behind a life as a bridge engineer to pursue his Bachelor of Fine Arts at NSCAD University in Kjipuktuk / Halifax, Nova Scotia; he has called the east coast of Canada home ever since. Working as a children’s author/illustrator, Jack seeks to share his winding journey with young readers so that they may embrace the unique amalgams of experiences that make up their own lives. His debut picture book, When You Can Swim, received a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and a Governor General’s Literary Award. His second picture book, The Words We Share, is a nominee for the Ontario Library Association’s Blue Spruce Award.
Presentation Information:
Writing Workshop: Creating from Fact to Fiction
Grades 4-6
Duration: 60 minutes
Join Jack for a fun and interactive session about creating fictional stories from real-life inspiration! Jack will read his picture book, The Words We Share, and reveal how it was partly (but not entirely) based on his memories of immigrating to Canada at a young age. Participants will then follow along in a prompt-based writing activity to create imaginative stories based on their own lived experiences. By the end of the session, students will come away with the beginnings of their story, in their preference of written or sketched ideas.
Maximum: 30 students
Note: A 30-minute version of the presentation, which includes a discussion of the real-life inspiration behind Jack’s story but omits the writing activity, is also possible upon request. (Suitable for Grades 2 and up, maximum 100 students.)
Presentation (with optional drawing workshop):
When You Can Swim (Pre-K to Grade 3)
Duration: 30 or 60 minutes
“I didn’t always like swimming, and I’m still a little scared of the water. So how did I end up writing a book about it?” Join Jack as he shares his picture book When You Can Swim — which simultaneously serves to introduce, in kid-friendly terms, the value of letting curiosity take us outside our comfort zones, and the power in each of us to tell a story (even if we’re not the expert!) To further inspire students, Jack will then share a trick for drawing objects in water with ease, in one of two formats:
Option 1: 30-minute presentation, wherein the drawing portion will be demo-only (with the option of students following along on their own sheets of paper).
Maximum: 150 students
Option 2: 60-minute presentation plus workshop, wherein students will draw as a group on one large, shared piece of paper. This results in a drawing with the visual effect of all manner of characters and objects floating together in one body of water — a big hit for classes as they are able to display the piece after the session.
Maximum: 30 students (in-person only)
Book List
When You Can Swim (Orchard Books/Scholastic, 2023)
The Words We Share (Annick Press, 2023)
All That Grows (Groundwood, forthcoming March 5, 2024)