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APPLY TO HOST ANDREW KATZ AND JULIANA LÉVEILLÉ-TRUDEL (IN PERSON)
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Montréal in 1985, Juliana Léveillé-Trudel is a novelist, a picture book author and a playwright. Her work has been translated into English, Spanish, Icelandic, Danish, Basque and Arabic. She is the founder and director of Productions de brousse, a non-profit leading numerous projects in literature and cultural mediation.
Andrew Katz is a bilingual writer based in Montreal, where he teaches children's literature and creative writing at Dawson College. In 2013 he won his college’s Director General’s Teaching Excellence award. He has published five picture books for young readers and soon will be publishing a graphic novel for middle grade readers as well. His first picture book, How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read (2018), co-written with Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, was nominated for the 2020 Prix Peuplier, a Forest of Reading Award.
Home Location: Montreal, Quebec
Creator Type: Author
Genres: Picture books
Website: www.andrewkatzbooks.ca
Tour Region: New Brunswick (Campbellton, Dalhousie, Bathurst and areas surrounding these cities)
Target Audience: Kindergarten – Grade 6
Cost: For one 60-minute presentation: $300 plus 15% HST
NOTE: The fee of $300 (plus tax) will be paid to The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) upon receipt of an invoice from the CCBC. After Book Week, the CCBC will pay the author their presentation fee of $250 (plus taxes, if applicable).
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel will be available to give presentations in English or French.
*Priority will be given to schools/libraries who wish to host presentations in French or in a bilingual format where the majority of the content is presented in French.
The Captain's Hat
Target Audience: Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten
Preferred group size: 20 - 30 students
Maximum group size: 40 students
After a reading of A Starlit Trip to the Library, the children are invited to decorate the captain’s hat worn by Bertrand, the bear who loves to read, in the book. As the children decorate their hats, Julia’s Song––an original lullaby that can be accessed through a QR code at the back of the book––plays in the background to create a calming atmosphere. Children then cut out the hat, assemble it and wear it, becoming captains themselves.
Required equipment: LCD projector and screen, speaker
Required materials: Paper handout (printed by teacher), coloring pencils, scissors, glue and/or tape
Julia's Song
Target Audience: Grades 1 -2
Preferred group size: 25 - 35 students
Maximum group size: 45 students
After a reading of A Starlit Trip to the Library, the children are invited to watch the song video of Julia’s Song. The video includes lyrics that light up across the screen in time with the vocals, so that children’s who are learning to read can match the words they hear out loud to the ones they see on the screen. The authors then teach the children a section of the song and the children sing it as a
whole group, accompanied by the authors.
Required equipment: LCD projector and screen, speaker
Required materials: N/A
Animals Among the Stars
Target Audience: Grades 1 -2
Preferred group size: 25 - 35 students
Maximum group size: 45 students
After a reading of A Starlit Trip to the Library, the authors go over the back matter page that discusses the various animal constellations that appear in the book. The authors present other known animal constellations, such as Scorpius and Leo, and ask children to try and identify them. Finally, the children are invited to invent their own animal constellation and to draw it, presenting their creations to each other at the end. Julia’s Song plays in the background as they draw.
Required equipment: LCD projector and screen
Required materials: Paper, coloring pencils
Bertrand's Library
Target Audience: Grades 2 - 4
Preferred group size: 30 - 40 students
Maximum group size: 60 students
After a reading by the authors of How To Catch A Bear Who Loves To Read, the children will be asked to help choose a book to bring as a present for Bertrand, to add to his library.
The children will explore the children’s section of the library and each child will choose a book to offer to Bertrand—for example: Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, or for older students a more modern book that they love.
In a large group, each child will present their book and explain their choice. At the end, the group will vote on the book that will be offered to Bertrand for his library. The activity will help the children develop both social and cognitive skills all while encouraging them to familiarize themselves with literature and reading.
Required equipment: LCD projector and screen. Also a blackboard, whiteboard or flipchart for writing down students’ ideas
Required materials: Books and either chalk, dry-erase markers or permanent markers
Writing Mini-Narratives
Target Audience: Grades 2 - 6
Preferred group size: 30 - 40 students
Maximum group size: 60 students
This lively and collaborative workshop is designed for elementary students who are starting to write their own stories, even if only modestly. Students who are not yet able to write can still fully participate in the workshop. After a reading of their picture book, Little Hearts in the Snow, the authors will show students how every longer story is made up of many shorter “mini-stories”—for example, a girl stumbles upon heart-shaped tracks in the snow (beginning), follows those tracks (middle) and discovers a deer (end). The authors will then lead the group in creating their own
mini-stories and linking them together to make a longer story. Near the end of the workshop, students will have the opportunity either to continue the group story or begin a new one on their own, drawing and/or writing it down on a handout that will be provided.
Required equipment: LCD projector and screen. Also a blackboard, whiteboard or flipchart for writing down students’ ideas
Required materials: Books and either chalk, dry-erase markers or permanent markers, paper and pencils
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Picture books co-written by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel
Little Hearts in the Snow / Petits cœurs sur la neige (French version). CrackBoom! Books / Livres, Les Éditions Chouette. Illustrated by Joseph Sherman.
A Starlit Trip to the Library / Voyage de nuit à la bibli (French version). CrackBoom! Books / Livres, Les Éditions Chouette, 2022. Illustrated by Joseph Sherman.
How To Catch A Bear Who Loves To Read / Comment attraper un ours qui aime lire (French version). CrackBoom! Books / Livres, Les Éditions Chouette, 2018. Illustrated by Joseph Sherman.
Picture Books written by Andrew Katz
Jackie’s Drawing / Le dessin de Charlie (French version). CrackBoom! Books / Livres, Les Éditions Chouette, 2025. Illustrated by Tony Luzano.
I Just Want To Be Super! Illustrated by Tony Luzano. CrackBoom! Books / Livres, Les Éditions Chouette, 2020.