APPLY TO HOST KATRINA CHEN (VIRTUALLY)
BIOGRAPHY
Katrina Chen (陳葦蓁) is a Taiwanese Canadian former politician, community advocate and author. She served as BC’s Minister of State for Child Care and helped launch the $10-a-Day child care system, becoming the first Taiwanese-born Cabinet member and one of its youngest at the time.
Now President of 安信 Community Savings, Katrina leads BC’s first Chinese Canadian and Chinese-language credit union initiative. She is also the author of A Stronger Home, a picture book dedicated to raising awareness about family violence.
Fluent in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese, Katrina is also a certified empowerment and life coach who continues to advocate for equity, child care, mental health, and anti-violence. Katrina has also publicly shared her experience as a survivor of gender-based violence.
Home Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Creator Type: Author
Genres: Picture books
Tour Region: Virtually across Canada
Target Audience: Grades 1 - 7
Cost: For one 60-minute presentation: $300 plus tax (5% GST in BC, AB, SK, MB, QC; 13% in ON; 14% in NS; 15% in NL, NB, and PEI)
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
Explore the meaning of “home” through A Stronger Home
Target Audience: Grades 1 to 5
Preferred group size: 20 to 35 students
Maximum group size: 50 students
What does home mean to you? What do we need to feel safe?
In this interactive session, Katrina will read A Stronger Home and guide children through an engaged and thoughtful discussion about what makes a home special. Students will share their ideas, explore what safety means, and discover that home is more than a building - it’s about feeling loved, secure, and connected. Through creative activities like drawing or storytelling, children will express their own vision of a “stronger home.”
Drawing on her experience as a survivor, a single mother, and her extensive work in education and child care, Katrina creates a warm and inclusive space where young learners feel safe to share and build empathy.
Required equipment: Zoom, Google Meet or MS Teams for virtual platform
Required materials: Crayons and coloured pencils (not required, but preferred)
Building Stronger Homes: Exploring Empathy, Safety & Identity through Story
Target Audience: Grades 3 - 7
Preferred group size: 20 to 40 students
Maximum group size: 60 students
What does home mean to you - and what helps you feel seen, heard, and supported? What can we do to build caring communities?
Using A Stronger Home as a starting point, Katrina invites upper elementary students to reflect on emotions, empathy, and the meaning of safety in different situations. Through open-ended discussion and a guided creative activity, students will explore these questions and express their ideas of a “safe space” or “stronger home” through writing, art, or storytelling. This session encourages deeper dialogue about belonging and care while fostering creativity and resilience.
Drawing on her experience as a survivor, a single mother, and her extensive work in education and child care, Katrina creates a warm and inclusive space where young learners feel safe to share and build empathy.
Required equipment: Zoom, Google Meet or MS Teams for virtual platform
Required materials: Crayons and coloured pencils
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Stronger Home. Written by Katrina Chen and Elaine Su. Illustrated by Delphie Côté-Lacroix. Orca Book Publishers, 2025. Available in French as Une maison solide.