Gillian Richardson
grichardson@books4kids.ca
A Writer!
Gillian Richardson discovered she was a writer one day in 1985. On the phone, an editor said, “We’d like to publish your book, One Chance to Win.” Up to that moment, Gillian had thought of herself as a reader (a book-worm since about age 4), a teacher (showing others how to read and write) and a teacher-librarian (sharing other writers’ stories with her students). Having a first book published didn’t change all that, but it opened a new door to an exciting dream and a huge challenge – if one book was possible, could she write more? Ideas were everywhere, after all.
Books and More Books
Gillian has since written over a dozen children’s books. They include realistic chapter books and novels about finding a sense of belonging, the rewards of helping someone of an older generation, and meeting the challenge of a serious illness. Her picture books show themes of honesty, being true to oneself, and understanding nature. She has written biographies, science and geography books for young readers. Her books have appeared on the Canadian Children's Book Centre's 'Our Choice' list.
Articles
Some ideas aren’t big enough to be books. Gillian has turned many smaller finds into children’s magazine stories and articles using nature as a focus. Combining research on animals such as foxes, pronghorn antelopes, porcupines, mountain goats, snowshoe hares, owls and grebes with a fictional dramatic survival moment is an especially fun and rewarding kind of writing. Seven of these stories have been published in Cricket, a top US children’s magazine.
Nature Writing
Animals that spend time upside down, and the tiniest of creatures became the subjects for articles that appeared in WILD, a Canadian nature magazine. Gillian’s article about Mt. St. Helens was published in a UK magazine, Aquila, on the 25th anniversary of that volcano’s 1980 eruption. She writes regularly for KNOW, a Canadian science magazine for kids, about a variety of topics like cactus, solar energy, platypus, shells, crows and fingernails.
Teaching
As long as ideas are everywhere, Gillian hopes to keep rediscovering that she is a writer. She also enjoys teaching other adults to write for children, as an Instructor for The Institute of Children’s Literature since 2002.
Mystery Box:
In May 2009, Gillian did a 6-reading tour in libraries of the Okanagan valley
in British Columbia.
The photo shows her in Keremeos library, talking about her book
Kaboom! Explosions of All Kinds,
published by Annick Press in September 2009.
The box contains three things that are described in the book:
popcorn, volcanic rock and seed pods that have burst open.