Everyone can watch live presentations by our speakers on the WVML Youtube Channel. Events are open to all and not just limited to West Vancouver school classes this year.
No registration is required. Just visit our Youtube channel at the time of the event or find the link on the homepage half an hour before the event. You can also sign up for an email reminder at the bottom of this page.
You or your class will not be seen or heard during the event, which is a one way stream. You will be able to send questions to presenters in advance by email to youth@westvanlibrary.ca or by emailing live during the event (a librarian will be monitoring email during all livestreams and passing questions on).
About Our 2021/2022 Presenters
Varian Johnson is the author of several novels for children and young adults, including The Parker Inheritance, which won both Coretta Scott King Author Honor and Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor awards; The Great Greene Heist, an ALA Notable Children’s book and Kirkus Reviews Best Book; and the graphic novel Twins, illustrated by Shannon Wright, an NPR Best Book.
Varian was born in Florence, South Carolina, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He later received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is honored to now be a member of the faculty. Varian lives outside of Austin, TX with his family.
Peter H. Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many books for children, including Happy Dreamer, The Word Collector, Say Something!, and Be You!. His books have been translated into over 25 languages around the globe and are celebrated worldwide. In 1996, he founded FableVision with his brother, Paul, as a social change agency to help create “stories that matter, stories that move.” Born in Toronto, Ontario, Peter lives in Dedham, Massachusetts, with his family. Visit him online at peterhreynolds.com.
KATE DiCAMILLO’s writing journey has been a truly remarkable one. She grew up in Florida and moved to Minnesota in her twenties, when homesickness and a bitter winter led her to write Because of Winn-Dixie, her first published novel, which became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. The Tiger Rising, her second novel, was also set in Florida and went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the best-selling author has explored settings as varied as a medieval castle and a magician’s theater while continuing to enjoy great success, winning two Newbery Medals and being named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She now has over 37 million books in print worldwide. Kate DiCamillo’s books’ themes of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances and their messages of shared humanity and connectedness have resonated with readers of all ages around the world. In her instant #1 New York Times bestseller The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a haughty china rabbit undergoes a profound transformation after finding himself face down on the ocean floor, lost and waiting to be found. The Tale of Despereaux, the Newbery Medal–winning novel that later inspired an animated adventure from Universal Pictures, stars a tiny mouse with exceptionally large ears who is driven by love to become an unlikely hero. The Magician’s Elephant, an acclaimed and exquisitely paced fable, dares to ask the question What if? And Kate DiCamillo’s second Newbery Medal winner, Flora & Ulysses, was released in 2013 to great acclaim, garnering five starred reviews and an instant spot on the New York Times bestseller list. In 2021, it was released as an original movie on Disney+. Her most recent trilogy of novels, starring three best friends in the world of Raymie Nightingale, all achieved national bestseller list status and are positioned to become coming-of-age classics for decades to come.
Her latest novel, The Beatryce Prophecy, about a girl who is destined to unseat a king, was an instant #1 national bestseller and named a best book of the year by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Publishers Weekly. Born in Philadelphia but raised in the South, Kate DiCamillo now lives in Minneapolis.
Virtual Presentations
Learn more about the content of each presentation, including grade recommendations, and sign up for an email reminder.