APPLY TO HOST EMIL SHER (IN PERSON)

BIOGRAPHY

Emil’s wide-ranging books and plays for children have been honoured at home and internationally and translated into French, Italian, Hebrew, Russian, Japanese, Turkish and Danish and Indonesian. Young Man with Camera, Emil’s debut young adult novel, was a 2015 Governor General’s Award finalist and won a 2016 Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature. His most recent picture book, I Love You More, is illustrated by Barbara Reid and was a bestseller shortly after its release in January 2022. A regular contributor to Chirp, Emil's other children's books include Away, Mittens to Share, two board books and abridging The Children of Willesden Lane, a true story about the Kindertransport, for young readers.  Amongst the books Emil has adapted for the stage are Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine and Ian Brown’s The Boy in the Moon, selected by The Globe and Mail as one of the Top Ten Productions of 2017. His plays for children have been staged across North America and abroad and include Bluenose, Beneath the Banyan Tree (U.K. tour) and Edward the 'Crazy Man'.  As playwright in residence at Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Emil adapted By Chance Alone, Max Eisen’s Holocaust memoir. He was on the creative team behind the musical theatre adaptation of Roch Carrier’s beloved classic, The Hockey Sweater (librettist and co-lyricist with composer Jonathan Monro). The show premiered at the Segal Centre in Montreal in 2017 and played to full houses at the NAC in Ottawa in 2018. 

Home Location: Toronto, Ontario
Creator Type: Author
Genres: Picture books, non-fiction, young adult fiction
Website: emilsher.com
Tour Region: Manitoba
Target Audience: Grades 1 – 12
Cost: For one 60-minute presentation: $300 plus 5% GST       

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

Unpacking the Holocaust: A Playwright’s Journey

Target Audience: Grades 5 - 12
Preferred group size: 2 classes per session (two classes)
Maximum group size: 80 students

An engaging presentation on Emil Sher's acclaimed stage adaptation of Hana's Suitcase, the beloved book by Karen Levine. The brief life of a young girl who was killed in Auschwitz and the tireless Japanese teacher devoted to sharing her story has touched the lives of students and readers of all ages. What are the challenges, the choices, the considerations when history is both honoured and dramatized on stage? How can sets, costumes, masks, slides and silence give voice to an unspeakable tragedy? How can a dark chapter from the past bring light to children today? This doorway into Holocaust education invites students to engage in a conversation about empathy and moral choices. By journey's end, Emil has stitched together an unexpected pairing: the Holocaust and hope. Unpacking the Holocaust includes images and video footage from a stage production that has toured Canada and internationally.

Required equipment: Projector/screen and speakers
Required materials: None

I Love You More: So Much in Store!

Target Audience: Grades 1 - 4
Preferred group size: 60 students
Maximum group size: 90 students

Word play. Ice cream cones. Activity sheets. A heart-to-heart game that connects pairs of students through images and words. A page-by-page treasure hunt. Wait! There’s more: a peek at how Barbara Reid made the beautiful illustrations for I Love You More, the bestselling picture book written by Emil Sher. During I Love You More: So Much in Store!, a 45-minute presentation for students in younger grades, Emil engages hearts and minds as he shares the back story to how this acclaimed book went from a game he played with his daughters when they were children to a “a swoon-worthy classic.” Emil covers all the steps that went into the making of I Love You More, from his first drafts to Barbara’s rough sketches, to a last-minute change before it was published.  The session is capped by a game called Heart2Heart. Students and teachers are each handed a paper heart that is one half of a word pair. They then search for the person holding the heart with the other half. It’s only a matter of time before ‘sharpener’ finds ‘pencil.’ Each heart features both a word and an illustration to ensure that children who can’t yet read can fully participate. 

Required equipment: Projector/screen 
Required materials: None

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I Love You More. Illustrated by Barbara Reid. Scholastic Canada, 2022
Away. Illustrated by Qin Leng. Groundwood Books, 2017
Mittens to Share. illustrated by Irene Luxbacher. Scholastic Canada, 2016
Young Man with Camera. Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic, 2015
A Pebble Story. Annick Press, 2014
A Button Story. Annick Press, 2014
Beneath the Banyan Tree. Scholastic Canada, 2008
Hana’s Suitcase on Stage. Second Story Press, 2006