In this week’s episode, Charlie Kraig and Rick Gilson of ARPDC visit with the National Award-winning author David A. Robertson. Our conversation touches on several topics applicable to teachers and their work in the classroom supporting student reading and writing. David, a Swampy Cree member in Manitoba, has written for all ages with non-fiction works such as Black Water, fiction and graphic novels for adults and young adults, and picture books for early readers. David shares some fascinating stories about how he came to build out a series the first novel of which was the award-winning, Barren Grounds. In addition to what goes into writing and planning a series (with a little criticism/example of what happens when you don’t plan, pointing to some of the Star Wars series, for example). David shares how one can draw upon various sources to build out characters and voices for a story, book, or poem. Our conversation also included some very wise counsel for schools, divisions and public libraries as it relates to preparing for those inevitable complaints or requests to ban books that should not be banned.
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