Children’s Book Authors Panel

Join this fabulous panel of authors, moderated by Norah Fountain to discuss children’s literature and their process of writing and creating.

Margot L. Denomme J.D. practices criminal law in Toronto. After publishing Mommy, am I pretty? and attending a number of schools to speak with students about its message, Margot recognized the need to develop a book that would reach both boys and girls. Awesome, Inside + Out! is designed to initiate a dialogue with all children about developing character and resilience, following their passion, and understanding that true beauty and strength come from within. These are the qualities that make you awesome from the inside, out!

Michael Gayle a.k.a. Magic Mike In 2016, aged 19, Michael Gayle or ‘Magic Mike’, a then first-year University student wrote and illustrated his first picture book which he shared to flowing response from family and friends. A hobbyist’s foray followed two years later by his first commercial publication, a punchy, starry-eyed folk tale called, “The Very Unluckily Lucky Quaroo”. Michael, now 26, has since quietly built a decorated start to his writing career, being selected for the Malca Litovitz creative writing award at the age of 20, embarking on a national book tour at 22, being profiled by one of Canada’s most prestigious academic institutions at the University of Toronto, and drawing recognition for his work in Children’s literature from civil leadership in Canada. Michael grew up in Scarborough (Toronto), ON, with a lover for storytelling that has continued into his adult life now with a partiality toward genre-atypical stories that successfully champion the delicate balance of humor and heart mastered in the works of his literary heroes, which includes the likes of Lewis Caroll, English nonsense poet Edward Leer, and more contemporarily, author/illustrator, Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Jessica L. Ware Dr. Jessica Ware is an evolutionary biologist. In her past and current research, she has focused on four main areas: systematics, behaviour, biodiversity and biogeography. Using molecular and morphological techniques she has used modern phylogenetic analyses to evaluate species, test family monophyly, assess biogeographical distributions in light of divergence time estimates and improve conservation efforts.

She is Past President of the World Dragonfly Association, Past President of the Entomological Society of America, and former president of the SysEB section of the Entomological Society of America. She serves as the Diversity Director for the Society of Systematic Biology. Jessica is a member of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, the Society of Systematic Biology, the Entomological Society of America, and the World Dragonfly Association.