Biography
Kathy Stinson has loved reading books since before she started school. Her parents had to take her to the public library often.#Kathy sorted mail, taught elementary school, and worked as a waitress before it occurred to her that she might like writing books, too. An argument with her then three-year-old daughter led to the writing of her first book, Red Is Best. It quickly became a classic and was soon followed by Big or Little?, which was inspired by her son. They were two of the first picture books for toddlers published in Canada.#Kathy has since written a wide range of books: picture books, nonfiction, young adult fiction, historical fiction, horror, biography, series books, and stories in anthologies and magazines. Her book The Man with the Violin won the prestigious TD Children’s Literature Award.#Kathy has enjoyed the privilege of meeting with readers in every province and territory of Canada, in the United States, Britain, Liberia and Korea. She has worked as a freelance editor for a number of writers and publishers, and has served as a Writer-in-Residence for several library systems in Ontario. She has led writing workshops all across Canada and even in Africa.#An avid amateur photographer and a volunteer reader and technician at the CNIB Recording Studio, Kathy is the mother of two grown children, stepmother of two more and the grandmother of six. She currently lives in Rockwood, Ontario, with her partner, Peter, and their dog, Georgia.#A longtime believer in IBBY’s philosophy of “international understanding through children’s books,” Kathy is donating a portion of her earnings from The Lady with the Books to IBBY’s Children in Crisis Fund.~Instagram: @thekathystinson~Twitter: @thekathystinson
Awards
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The Lady with the Books
2021 - Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, IBBY Canada, Commended
2021 - Outstanding International Books List, USBBY, Winner
2020 - Best Books of the Year, The Globe and Mail, Winner
2020 - Books of the Year list, A Mighty Girl, Winner
Picture Books
The Lady with the Books, 2020