About Frances Backhouse

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Another Exciting Red Cedar Award Nomination

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Who-whoo! Owls: Who Gives a Hoot? is a nominee for the 2025/26 Red Cedar Award, making it my third children’s book to be selected for this honour by the Young Readers’ Choice Book Awards Society of British Columbia. Beavers competed for this readers’ choice award in 2022/23 and Grizzly Bears followed in 2024/25.

Each fall, the society picks a handful of Canadian fiction and nonfiction books written for grades 4-7 and invites kids to read them and vote for their favourites in the spring. Participants form reading groups, which can involve as many or as few people as they want — even just one — and group registration is free. To be eligible to vote, readers must read at least five of the nominated books in that category.

It’s a great way to encourage kids to read, talk about and think about books. If you know, or are, a young reader who would like to join in the fun, visit the Red Cedar Awards website for all the details, including the full list of 2025/26 nominees in the nonfiction category.

Owls: Who Gives a Hoot? book cover

North American Bison Discovery Center Webinar

I’m honoured to be the first presenter in the North American Bison Discovery Center‘s new Critter Chat series – a free, online program that explores wildlife and conservation topics with experts from across the continent.

Please join me on Saturday, October 25 at 1:00PM Central Time to learn about what makes bison so special and hear some of the surprising things I learned while writing Bison: Community Builders and Grassland Caretakers. Kids and adults are both welcome to attend.

This webinar is free to attend and pre-registration not required. Join on Oct. 25th by clicking on this link.

Owls Shortlisted for 2025 Green Earth Book Award

Owls: Who Gives a Hoot? is shortlisted for the 2025 Green Earth Book Award in the Young Adult Nonfiction category. The winner, as well as honorees and recommended reading selections, will be announced on April 22nd, Earth Day.

NatGen calls the GEBA Short List “a celebration of powerful storytelling that inspires the next generation of eco-heroes” and says “These books remind us that every page turned can lead to a greener future for kids!”

A mosaic of book covers.

Owls Gets a Perch in Prestigious Forest of Reading Awards Program

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Owls: Who Gives a Hoot? is a 2024/25 Yellow Cedar Award nominee in Canada’s largest recreational reading program, the Forest of Reading. Just 10 nonfiction books for grades 5-8 make it onto this list each year. Between now and next April, kids all across Canada will read the nominated books and then vote for their favourite.

Registering in this young readers’ choice program gives participants access to a multitude of book-related activities, as well as voting privileges for all 10 Forest of Reading awards categories. Participation is often organized by teachers and librarians, but homeschoolers, families and book clubs are equally welcome to join the fun. More than 270,000 readers participate each year!

The Forest of Reading nurtures a love of reading for everyone from confirmed bookworms to reluctant readers. It also celebrates and supports Canadian authors, illustrators and publishers. You can learn more about the program’s goals and history here.

 

Grizzly Bears Vies for Red Cedar Award

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Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Wilderness has been nominated for a 2024/25 Red Cedar Award!

Each fall, the Young Readers’ Choice Awards Society of British Columbia selects 24 Canadian books (half nonfiction and half fiction) written for grades 4-7. Then it invites kids to read the books and vote for their favourite in each category in the spring. Participants form reading groups, which can involve as many or as few people as they want — even just one — and group registration is free. To be eligible to vote, readers must read at least five of the nominated books in that category.

What a great way to encourage kids to read, talk about and think about books. If you know, or are, a young reader who would like to join in the fun, visit the Red Cedar Awards website for all the details, including the full list of 2024/25 nominees.

How to Put the “Creative” in Creative Nonfiction

How to Put the “Creative” in Creative Nonfiction — that’s what I’ll be talking about at the Victoria Writers’ Society October 2024 meeting.

At first glance, the words “creative” and “nonfiction” may seem contradictory, but closer consideration of this pairing reveals its power and the exciting opportunities the creative nonfiction genre offers. The trick is to make the most of all the creative writing techniques at our disposal while always staying true to the truth-telling imperative. I’ll be sharing ideas about how to make your CNF more creative, with examples from my own work, including my books Women of the Klondike and Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver. There will plenty of time for discussion and questions, too.

VWS meetings are held at one of Victoria’s best-loved indie bookstores, Russell Books (100-747 Fort Street). Everyone is welcome. (Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.)

Frances Backhouse reading her book, Once They Were Hats, to a stuffed beaver.

Fat Oyster Story Festival for Teens and Kids

On Saturday, Oct. 5, the Fat Oyster Reading Series invites kids with their big folks and others lovers of children’s literature to a Story Festival for Teens and Kids. I will be presenting, along with Carla Maxmuwidzumga Voyageur and Sara Cassidy. Together, we’ll offer four fun, interactive sessions between 11 AM and 4 PM.

In my session, Bear Buddies, Beaver Boosters and Owl Allies: How To Be a Friend to Wildlife, I’ll talk about the animals featured in my Orca Wild books and share ideas about how to make the world a friendlier place for them. You can find out more about Sara’s and Carla’s sessions here.

All the sessions are drop in, by donation, and participants are welcome to come for as many as they wish. Ages are merely suggestions. All are welcome! Kids under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Grizzly Bears Listed for 2024 Green Earth Book Award

APRIL 16TH UPDATE: Grizzly Bears made the Short List!!

Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Wilderness is long-listed in the Young Adult Nonfiction category for the 2024 Green Earth Book Award. The Short List will be announced in April and the complete list of winners, honorees and recommended reading will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2024.

This colourful book-cover mosaic highlights many of the contenders on the Long List. Grizzly Bears is in great company!

Grizzly Bears Wins JLG Gold Standard Selection Award

Every year, the Junior Library Guild editorial team reads thousands of children’s books before they are published to recommend the best choices to school librarians. Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Wilderness was one of the lucky winners of the Gold Standard Selection award and the back cover of the book sports this handsome golden badge.

The JLG also recently sent me this certificate and a lapel pin. I do indeed feel honored.

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