November 28, 2003 Pioneer Life Author Visits Area

Barbara Greenwood the award-winning author of 14 books, many with historical themes is in North Bay today and Powassan tomorrow. She will be discussing her work on pioneer life, the writing of historical fiction and creative writing. She will also be signing her beautiful new book A Pioneer Christmas. Her schedule is as follows

Friday November 28 1:30 - 2:30pm North Bay Public Library
Friday November 28 5:30 - 9:00pm Gulliver's Books - Part of Old Fashioned Christmas Downtown
Saturday November 29, 1:00 - 2:00pm Powassan Public Library 324 Clark St. Powassan (724-3618)

Much of Barbara's work is geared to 8to12 year olds and her work is used widely in schools in grads 3-7. The books are fun for people of all ages, especially for people with an interest in our heritage. My favorite book is A Pioneer Story, which describes the daily life of a pioneer family and I have used my copy many times. She has also written several historical novels including The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railway.

Barbara Greenwood's new book A Pioneer Christmas featured at her presentations in North Bay and Powassan

One of the reasons I love her books on pioneer life is the remarkable illustrations by Heather Collins who has illustrated over 50 books in her career. There are few photographs from those days but her drawings recreate that era and make you feel you are right there with the Robertson family.

When I visited the foundation of an old J.R. Booth lumber office for a previous article in Community voices I looked up how foundations were made in Greenwood's Pioneer Story and there was an excellent illustrated description of the process.

The pioneer books are designed around 3 complimentary components.
1. A good fictional family story
2. Non-fiction sections of factual information and
3. Pioneer activities that can be performed.

Her books are widely available in libraries or are available through Gulliver's Books and are published by Kids Can Press.

A Pioneer Christmas tells the story of the Robertson family as it prepares for Christmas in the backwoods. They are expecting some guests who are caught in a winter storm. The craft sections include Christmas crafts, games, lyrics for carols, traditions, etc.

In one delightful section of the book Greenwood describes how the Robertsons and their neighbours prepare for a Christmas Frolic. Since they had no holly or mistletoe for kissing, they made kissing balls by tying together everygreen boughs. They were hung in key locations to catch as many guests as possible and add a little extra excitement to the fun of the Christmas season.

The evergreens were also collected for home use (see cover) to add colour and smell and the book describes the making of garlands with ribbons and cranberries instead of holly berries.

Sarah Roberston gathers an armful of evergreens to make garlands for Christmas. Illustrated by Heather Collins. Used by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto. Illustration ã 2003 Heather Collins.

Barbara Greenwood was an elementary school teacher, raised a family and began to write and teach creative writing. She has been a writer in residence at a library, a teacher of creative writing at Ryerson, and at various workshops including Canadore College's Summer Art Camp. For further information check www.canscamp.org the Canadian Society of Authors, Illustrators and Performers website.

This is a great opportunity to meet and hear a fascinating author and pick up a personalized copy of her latest book for Christmas.