APPLY TO HOST BRIANA SCOTT CORR IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND (IN PERSON)
APPLY TO HOST BRIANA SCOTT CORR IN NEWFOUNDLAND (VIRTUALLY)
Home Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Genres: Picture books
Creator Type: Author/Illustrator
Website: brianacorrscott.com
Tour Region: Prince Edward Island (in person) / Newfoundland (virtually)
Target Audience: Grades 2 - 6
Cost: $300* (for one 60-minute presentation)
*(The author-illustrator collects $250 of the fee and $50 of the fee covers The Canadian Children's Book Centre's administration fees for coordinating Book Week).
Taxes charged on presentations: YES
BIOGRAPHY
Briana loves to make illustrations by painting from life. While she walks by the sea and hikes in the woods near her home in Nova Scotia, lines of poems and stories come to her. She often writes and draws simultaneously in one sketchbook. All of her projects are inspired by a place in this way; she combines the magic that is found in the quiet details of a landscape with her love of folktales to imagine her many creations. Her favourite thing to make is picture books. Briana's forthcoming picture book, I Lost a Day, focuses on the importance of caring for mental health and healing she finds in nature.
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Writing and Drawing inspired by I Lost a Day
Building a creative space to care for our mental health.
Target audience: Grades 2-6; can be adapted for multiple age groups
Group size: 12-25 students Maximum group size: 45 students
Briana will read aloud from her picture book, I Lost a Day, and describe briefly in an age-appropriate way her own relationship to mental illness and depression. Although this book touches on a difficult subject for young people to navigate, the presentation will leave students with the idea that art is a form of self-care, and there are many creative and mindful ways to live with mental illness.
Briana will lead students through a brainstorming process using writing. Students will be asked to describe their “happy places,” or favourite activities, people and places, like the children share in I Lost a Day. They will write by responding to a series of prompts. Briana will share about her own happy place, the Happy Island, which is the inspiration for all of her picture books. Students will use their brainstorm activity and a provided template to design their very own island that holds space for their own happy things. The island is a visual reminder of a place filled with joy, comfort, and self-care. Although we all sometimes lose a day, there is an internal place we can go to take a mental break. Briana will finish the workshop with a short drawing and breathing exercise.
Required materials: pencils, paper, paper handout provided by me
Required equipment: projector and screen
Presentation timeline
Introduction 5 min
Read-Aloud 15 min
Guided Brainstorm 10 min
Drawing 25 min
Breathing 5 min
A Day on Sable Island
Learning about nature through Imagination
Target audience: Grades 3-6
Group size: 12-25 students
Maximum group size: 45 students
Briana will take students to the remote and rugged Sable Island for a day in this dynamic presentation. Briana travels to Sable Island once a year to teach art, and this incredible place inspired her very first Picture book, She Dreams of Sable Island.
Using her picture book as a framework, students will experience a fact-packed presentation that touches on science, social studies, math and Nova Scotian history. Briana will explain how her fictional picture book is inspired by true information she learned about this wild island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Discussions of seals, wild horses, birds and plant life will inspire students of all ages.
At the end of the presentation Briana will lead students through a drawing activity to learn how to draw a Sable Island horse. (Handout included.)
Required materials: paper handout printed by me, pencils
Presentation timeline
Introduction: 5 min
Read-Aloud and AV presentation: 40. Min
Drawing: 15 min
BIBLIOGRAPHY
She Dreams of Sable Island, written and Illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2019.
The Book of Selkie, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2020.
The Mermaid’s Handbook, illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2020.
Wildflower, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2021.
Mermaid Lullaby, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2022.
If You Could Be Anything, illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2022.
The Twelve Days of Christmas, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2022.
While You Were Sleeping, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2023.
Seaside Lullaby, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2024.
FORTHCOMING TITLES
I Lost a Day, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing. (Pub Date: April 7, 2025)
Anne of Green Gables for Young Readers, illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2025.
Nina and the Wolf, written and illustrated, Nimbus Publishing, 2026