Sheree Fitch

Sheree Fitch is an educator, literacy activist and author of award winning poetry, picture books, nonfiction, plays and novels for all ages. Her first book, Toes in My Nose, illustrated by Molly Lamb Bobak, was launched in 1987. The books that followed have garnered numerous awards, including The Mr. Christie Award for There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen, The Anne Connor Brimer Award for Mable Murple. If You Could Wear my Sneakers, a book on Children's Rights commissioned by Unicef won both the Ontario Silver Birch Award and Atlantic Hackmatack award.

In 1998 she won the prestigious Vicky Metcalf award for a body of work inspirational to Canadian Children. She has been goodwill ambassador for Unicef since 1994 and her lipslippery adventures have taken her to remote parts of the globe.

Her work as a poet and literacy educator has taken her to the Arctic as eight-time poet laureate for Peter Gzowski's fundraisers for literacy and to Bhutan where she taught writing and participated in that country's first national reading week. Author readings have taken her to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Belize and Mexico.

Currently, she is Honorary Spokesperson for the New Brunswick Coalition for Literacy. The coalition recently initiated the Sheree Fitch Adult Learner Scholarships. She is also Honorary Spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Read to Me Program. This program provides literacy information to new parents and books for newborns. Each year she sponsors a writing competition for New Brunswick Youth. Her latest venture in literacy education includes completing a three year (summer ) writer in residency for Somebody's Daughter --- out on the tundra in Nunavut. This is an innovative program for Inuit women started by Bernadette Dean, Sheree's friend and former student from a writing workshop Ftich held during one of her soujourns to the north.

Visit Sheree's website: www.shereefitch.com

In the fall 2004, Gooselane Editions released an expanded anniversary edition of her adult book of poetry In This House Are Many Women and Orca published Pocket Rocks, illustrated by Helen Flook.

In May 2005, Fitch's first novel (ages ten and up), The Gravesavers, was published by Doubleday Canada Random House. A coming of age story blended with a historical event—the wreck of S.S. Atlantic in 1873—Fitch considers the novel "a kind of love letter" to her Maritime home and a celebration of her roots. Upcoming books include If I Had A Million Onions, a collection of nonsense for all ages and Peek a Little Boo, a book for babies. Both will be published in fall 2005.

Fitch lives with her husband, Gilles Plante and divides her time between Washington D.C. and River John, Nova Scotia. In demand as a visiting author, workshop leader and keynote speaker, she is currently working on an adult novel. She holds a B.A. from St. Thomas, an M.A. from Acadia University and honorary doctorates from both St. Mary's and Acadia for her contribution to Canadian literature and education. She has two grown children.

Selected List of Publications

The Poetry Experience: Choosing and Using Poetry in the Classroom. Sheree Fitch and Larry Swartz. Pembroke, 2008. ISBN 978-155138223

Kiss the Joy as it Flies. Nimbus, 2008. ISBN 9781551096537

Kisses Kisses Baby-O! Nimbus, 2008. ISBN 1551096463

If I had A Million Onions. Tradewind Books, 2005. ISBN 978-1896580784

Peek-a-Little Boo. Illustrated by Laura Watson. Orca Books, 2005. ISBN 1-55143-342-7

The Gravesavers. Doubleday Canada, 2005. ISBN 0-385-66073-1

Pocket Rocks. Illustrated by Helen Flook. Orca Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1551432897
Click here for WFNS' description of the book.

Persnickety Pete (The Cleanest Boy in the World). Illustrated by Jane Wallace-Mitchell. Pearson Education Australia, 2003. ISBN 0-1236-0257-2
For more information on this book, click here.

One More Step. Orca Soundings, 2002. ISBN 1-55143-248-X
Click here for more information on this book.

EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street. Illustrated by Laura Jolicoeur. The Nova Scotia Hospital Foundation, 2001. ISBN 0-9681578-1-5
Click here for WFNS' description of this book.

No Two Snowflakes. Illustrated by Janet Wilson. Orca, 2001. ISBN 1-55143-206-4
Click here for WFNS' description of this book.

"This lyrical book unfolds the answer to the question, "What is snow?" This question is asked of a young girl by her pen pal from Ghana who has never experienced snow in any of the multitude of forms a Canadian knows well. The author, then, in what she terms "lipslipperiness," explains all of the ways that the snow can act on the senses."
      - from "No Two Snowflakes," a review by Betsy Fraser, CM Magazine, Vol.8, No. 8 (December 14, 2001).

Writing Maniac: How I grew up to be a writer (and you can, too!). Pembroke Publishers, 2000. ISBN 1-55138-121-4
Click here for WFNS' interview with Sheree about this book.

If I Were The Moon. Illustrated by Leslie Watts. Toronto: Doubleday, 1999.
     Click here for WFNS' description of this book.
     Shortlisted for the 2000 Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature.

"Fitch says that If I Were the Moon feels a bit like a prayer when she reads it, and that maybe it is. As a bedtime book, it is a gentle, comforting book which will remind readers of Margaret Wise Brown's greatly loved classic The Runaway Bunny. Teachers may enjoy using the "If I were...I would" pattern with primary students as a model to inspire original poems."
     - "If I Were the Moon." Valerie Nielsen. CM Magazine , Vol VI, No. 15, March 31, 2000.

The Other Author, Arthur. Illustrated by Jill Quinn. Lawrencetown Beach: Pottersfield Press, 1999. ISBN 1-895-900-204

The Hullabaloo Bugaboo Day. Illustrated by Jill Quinn. Lawrencetown Beach: Pottersfield Press, 1998. ISBN 1-895-900-107

There's a Mouse in My House. Illustrated by Leslie Watts. Toronto: Doubleday, 1998. ISBN 0-385-255-616

"In the hilarious, nonsensical verse Sheree Fitch is best known and loved for, There's a Mouse in my House! tells the story of a brave young mouse who works her way into a boy's heart and house by telling heart-wrenching stories about the trials and travels she and her mother have endured in searching for a permanent home."
 - "There's A Mouse In My House!" Review by Elizabeth Buckland. CM Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 11, January 30, 1998.

If You Could Wear My Sneakers! Illustrated by Darcia Labrosse. Toronto: Doubleday Canada Ltd, 1997. ISBN 0-385-25597-7

"The point of this book - trying to match up rights with poems - could provide for thought-provoking classroom discussions."
     - "If You Could Wear My Sneakers!" Review by Leslie Millar. CM Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 7, November 28, 1997.

Mabel Murple. Illustrated by Maryann Kovalski. Toronto: Doubleday, 1995. ISBN 0-385-25480-6
     Winner of the 1996 Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature.

I am Small. Illustrated by Kim LaFave. Toronto: Doubleday, 1994. ISBN 0-385-25455-5

In this House Are Many Women. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1993.

There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen! Illustrated by Marc Mongeau. Toronto: Doubleday, 1992. ISBN 0-385-25349-4
     Winner of the 1993 Mr. Christie Book Award.

Merry-Go-Day. Illustrated by Molly Lamb Bobak. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1991. ISBN 0-385-252447

Sleeping Dragons All Around. Illustrated by Michelle Nidenoff. Toronto: Doubleday, 1989. ISBN 0-385-25165-3
     Winner of the 1990 Atlantic Provinces Booksellers Choice Award.

Toes in My Nose and Other Poems. Illustrated by Molly Lamb. Toronto: Doubleday, 1987. ISBN 0-385-25106-8

You can send mail to Sheree Fitch at sheree.fitch@starpower.net or
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia