I met Caroline Fernandez aka through CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers) aka . In addition to volunteering at CANSCAIP, Caroline is the author of children's books that spark curiosity, creativity, and a love for adventure. She's best-known for her Asha and Baz series, and the award-nominated Plague Thieves. I've long admired Caroline's enthusiastic support of fellow children's book creators. Her newest book is About A Home Child, inspired by real stories of Canada's home children (Cormorant Books). You can find out more about Caroline at parentclub.ca/parent-club-links.
Q. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
The short answer is: I write books, drink tea, and bake (really my three fav things). An an author: I've written 18 books which have been traditionally published in the genres of non-fiction, picture book, chapter book, and middle grade book. I tend to write in the themes of historical fiction, adventure/survival, and STEM/STEAM. As a tea drinker: orange pekoe, vanilla earl grey, and/or peppermint. As a home baker: baking is cheaper than therapy and gives you something productive at the end.
Q. How do you tend to discover books that you want to read?
For pleasure reading: Luckily, I'm surrounded by readers in my family and friend group and we often recommend books to each other. Conversations usually go: "what's new? how's the family? I'm reading they mention the book title this week." I keep a running list of TBR recommended books on my phone and then I add them on my public libary Libby app.
For kidlit reading: I go straight to the Canadian nominees of the big kidlit awards like the Governor General's Literary, Forest of Reading , CCBC awards , Willow awards and such. When book lists are curated by a jury and have been judged by kid readers - I know the books will be good.
For research reading: I search up subjects on Google, Libby , and even Amazon and then create a curated list from what I find.
Q. Why are school visits helpful in book discovery?
It's so easy for a book to get lost on a bookshelf - a school visit really helps spotlight the book and the author to a specific audience. Classes read the books together before the visit. Learn about how the book was created, drafted, and edited right from the book creator themselves in the school visit. And then the readers can ask specific questions about the characters, the plot, or even the process directlly to the author. Like all jobs -- authors often have roadblocks or challenges when they are writing a book -- and in a school presentation readers can learn about resilence and persistance in a real world way.
And a school visit can open up un-read genres to readers...like the reader who only reads graphic novels might get interested in historical fiction if they attand a kidlit historical fiction school presenation. Same with chapter books or non-fiction.
My school presentations include activities that compliment classroom learning (like outline tips, editing ideas, organization and proofreading suggestions). And I leave activity pages based on the books for after-visit classroom literacy: activity pages, word searches, brainstorming games.
A school visit can inspire a reader to enjoy life-long reading.
Note from Debbie: You can find out more about Caroline Fernandez's school visits via Authors' Booking Service.
Q. What are you excited about next?
I'm super excited for the launch of an upcoming historical fiction middle grade book set at the Home For Incurable Children (a real place). The rules are strict, the doctor is gruff, and bedrest feels endless. Until the main character discovers three secrets: unexplained baseball clippings, a kid-created newspaper, and a Bloor Street mystery. With the help of new friends and supportive caregivers, the main character realizes that being "incurable" doesn't mean being invisible.My personal connection to the story is that my great-uncle spent time in the Home for Incurables in Toronto in the 1900s. Look for this book to release sometime in 2027.
I also have an upcoming book launch for About A Home Child on Tuesday November 3rd 6:30-8:30pm at Mabel's Fables Children's Bookstore in Toronto. All are welcome!
Looking for more ways to discover books? Browse the list of Sources mentioned by this blog's contributors so far. Also, please help boost the book boosters by visiting their blogs, websites, other projects. Thank you!