Veronika Martenova Charles

Readings

For Grades 1 – 3: I read from my books with children's participation, tell the stories behind the stories, show slides and talk about the importance of imagination and perseverance.

For Grades 4 – 6: I tell legends, talk about research and show slides of the research involved in the making of my books that deal with early civilizations (a subject in the social studies curriculum).

Special Equipment:

A screen in a room that can de darkened so that images on the screen may be visible.

Book Sales:

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

Workshops

Interactive session where students invent their own stories using maps of fairytale structures. Utilizing their life experiences and their worlds as building blocks, children create original stories, imbuing them with their own personal meanings.

Special Equipment:

Two easels or a ledge on the bottom of the blackboard. Paper and coloured pencils for students.

Book Sales:

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

Biography

Veronika Martenova Charles was born in Prague, Czech Republic. She went to music school from the age of five, where she learned to play violin and sing in the choir but what she really wanted to do was to write and draw, so her parents enrolled her in drawing classes. These classes came to an abrupt end when her grandmother found life-drawings (drawings of nudes) in her sketchbooks and from then on, she was forbidden to draw.

Concentrating on her music instead, at fifteen she became a "pop" singer, songwriter and recording artist. She performed in concerts throughout Europe and Soviet Central Asia. On a return flight from a performance tour in Cuba, Veronika made a stopover in Gander, Newfoundland and decided to stay.

In Canada, Veronika continued the art education interrupted by her grandmother. She studied at Ryerson University and the Ontario College of Art and has worked as an interior designer, an art director, and a freelance illustrator. Then she became a creator of children's books. Recently, she completed graduate studies at York University and, at conferences, has presented her research results about the use of folktales in schools to encourage children's writing.

Veronika Martenova Charles lives in Toronto and travels extensively hunting down stories to re-shape for today's children.

OTHER PRESENTATIONS:

• Seminars and workshops on helping children to invent stories
• The use of fairy tales in the classroom
• Creation and use of picture books