John Wilson

Readings

For History/Socials teachers, John can focus on modern and medieval history using books set during the First and Second World Wars, American Civil War, Spanish Civil War, the Indian Mutiny and in 17th century London (grades 6 to 10).

For grades 5 to 7, John can discuss exploration and the search for the Northwest Passage, focusing on Henry Hudson, Sir John Franklin and John Rae and putting them in the historical context of their times.

John can also present several figures from Canadian history who are misunderstood and should be better known—Norman Bethune, Albert 'Ginger' Goodwin, John Rae, John Franklin, Robert Bylot. Using John's novels and biographies, these presentations can be tailored to a wide range of grades from 5 to 12.

For the younger Elementary grades (3-5), John can work with his trilogy of dinosaur time-travel fantasy (Weet, Weet's Quest and Weet Alone).

For English teachers, John can cover most aspects of writing including structuring novels, research, descriptive writing and creative non-fiction. He can also touch on book reviewing, freelance writing and poetry (all of which he does or has done).

Perhaps most importantly, John can tell stories from his books and their historical background and get young readers (particularly but not exclusively boys) energized and wanting to read and find out more about the past.

Special Equipment:

n/a

Book Sales:

Copies of books can be brought to be sold and autographed.

Biography

Teachers and librarians will like to prepare their students for your reading and/or workshop. Please provide a biography outlining your career as an author, illustrator or storyteller (please do not exceed 350 words.)

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, John Wilson grew up on the Isle of Skye and outside Glasgow without the slightest idea that he would ever write books. After a degree in Geology from St. Andrews University, he worked in Zimbabwe and Alberta before taking up writing full-time and moving out to Lantzville on Vancouver Island in 1991. John is addicted to history and firmly believes that the past must have been just as exciting, confusing and complex to those who lived through it as our world is to us. Every one of his sixteen novels and five non-fiction books for kids, teens and adults deals with the past. His tales involve intelligent dinosaurs, angry socialist coal miners, confused boys caught up in the First and Second World Wars, and the terrors faced by lost Arctic explorers.

John's particular interests are in war and how young people, trapped in events they can only barely comprehend, have dealt with the horrors of conflict and local and global scale. John's books are particularly sought after by boys keen to find excitement and adventure within their reading material, but girls are not immune to the lure of death-defying escapades. John uses his long-standing fascination with history to craft his tales and enjoys talking about his books to anyone who will listen. He spends significant portions of his year travelling across the country telling stories from his books and their historical background and getting young readers (particularly but not exclusively boys) energized and wanting to read and find out more about the past.

OTHER PRESENTATIONS:
John has given numerous keynote addresses, presentations to teachers.librarians, book clubs and round tables. His topics are flexible but include writing historical fiction, the writer's life and the difficulties of writing for teens, in particular, boys.