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Richard Scrimger

Author, Teacher

 

Member profile details

First Name
Richard
Last Name
Scrimger
Province or Territory
Ontario
Craft
  • Author
  • Teacher
Member Photo
Website
www.scrimger.ca
Blog
scrimger should be writing something else
Facebook
yes
Twitter
@richardscrimger
Instagram
Richard Scrimger
LinkedIn
yup
YouTube
think so,somewhere
 

Professional information

Bio
I was born with very little hair and very little feet and hands. They all grew together and I still have them, together with all my organs except tonsils. I have four children. They used to be younger, but then, so did I.

Since 1996 I have published twenty-something books for children and adults. (Couple more coming out soon.) My work has won awards in Canada and the US, and been translated into lots of different languages. The best-known of my middle-school novels feature a smart-alec alien living inside our hero's nose. Older kids like the developmentally-challenged narrator of Ink Me, a story about an accidental tattoo and a street gang. My latest books are Autumn Bird And The Runaway, a co-pro with Melanie Florence about a cool Indigenous girl and a dorky racist white guy. (Guess which one I wrote.) At The Speed Of Gus features a reality-challenged hero NOTHING LIKE me, who's looking for his sister. IBBY voted it one of Canada's best neurodivergent themed books. Just out is Your Story Matters, a surprisingly practical guide to writing, which has been endorsed by the Junior Library Guild.

Did I mention that I'm right-handed? Well, I am. I've never had a nickname, though. My former father-in-law used to call me "You," but I don't think that counts.
Available For
School Visits

Library Visits

My presentation to juniors (K-2) is loud, funny, interactive, and mildly informative. It lasts about a half hour, and involves talking about and reading from one or two of my picture books. The audience helps me.

My presentation to middle schoolers (3-6) is about an hour long. It's even more interactive, and way more informative. I use humour, and concrete examples from the audience, while delivering a thorough introduction to the idea of "the story". I talk about how to use your own experience, when to let fiction take over from fact, how the story as a whole, and individual scenes within it, are structured. I talk about the importance of villains, and secrets, and walk them through one of the three basic plots of western culture. They usually laugh so hard they don't know they're learning. I have been told by several teachers that I am the best presenter they have ever seen. (Maybe they were just being polite.)

Sometimes I adapt the mid-school presentation for seniors (7-8) by adding mature themes and salty language. I also offer a workshop for keen older kids, with examples and exercises from my teaching experience at Humber College. We might work through character development, dialogue, point of view, focussed description ... They must have pencil and paper, and they must want to do it. This option is also open to any adults who may be interested.


Audience size

I'll talk to any number of people at a time. I've done TV feed presentations to 700 kids at a time, and readings at a cancer clinic to four kids in beds and wheelchairs. A standard middle-school presentation would have an audience of 50-100.
Publications
Your Story Matters, Tundra Books, 2024

At The Speed Of Gus, Scholastic, 2023

Autumn Bird And The Runaway, Scholastic, 2022

Irresistible, Scholastic, 2019

Lucky Jonah, HarperCollins, 2016

Downside Up, Tundra Books, 2016

Weerdest Day Ever! Orca Books, 2016

Viminy Crowe's Comic Book (with Marthe Jocelyn), Tundra Books, 2014

Zomboy, HarperCollins, 2014

The Wolf And Me , Orca Books, 2014

Ink Me, Orca Books, 2012

Me & Death, Tundra Books, 2010

From Charlie's Point Of View, Tundra Books, 2007

Into The Ravine, Tundra Books, 2007

The Boy From Earth, Tundra Books, 2004

Eugene’s Story, Tundra Books, 2003

Noses Are Red, Tundra Books, 2002

Princess Bun Bun, Tundra Books, 2002

Of Mice And Nutcrackers, Tundra Books, 2001

Bun Bun’s Birthday, Tundra Books, 2001

A Nose For Adventure, Tundra Books, 2000

The Nose From Jupiter, Tundra Books, 1998

The Way To Schenectady, Tundra Books, 1998

*Shorter Fiction*

"QuestCon," in Reality Imagined: Stories of Identity and Change
McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2011

“Away In A Garage,” Canadian Living (January 2004)

“The Real Father Christmas” Canadian Living (January 2002)

“Looking Down I Can Just See”; in Tim Wynne-Jones, ed. Stories For Boys
Penguin Books, 2001

*For Adults*

Mystical Rose, Doubleday Books, 2000

Still Life With Children, HarperCollins Canada, 1997

Crosstown, The Riverbank Press, 1996
Awards
Red Cedar Nominee (,2023,2015, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001)

Canadian Library Association Honour Book (2009, 2007)

Hackmatack Nominee (2004)

Quill & Quire Books of the year (2001)

Globe and Mail Notable Book (2001)

Pacific Northwest Readers' Choice Honor Book (2000)

ALA Notable Book List (2000, 1999)

YALSA Book List(2000, 1999)

Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" (2007)

Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee (1999, 2016)

Red Maple Award Nominee (2007, 2015, 2017, 2023)

Silver Birch Award Nominee (2001, 2000, 1999)

Mr Christie Book Award (1999)
Other Memberships
Humber College Advisory Committee
    

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