Gillian Richardson (Author of 10 Plants That Shook The World)

Gillian Richardson鈥檚 Followers (2)

Gillian Richardson

Gillian Richardson became a world traveler at three months of age when she emigrated from England to Canada with her parents and older sister. After living briefly in Vancouver and Montreal, the family settled in southern Ontario.

Books can be best friends to shy kids, and they opened up the world of reading for Gillian. It turned out to be the perfect foundation for a future writer. Her favorite books were about animals, like the Thornton Burgess series of animal adventures. 鈥淥ne day, I found a cocoon and took it home. It hatched into hundreds of praying mantis babies. They were everywhere! That experience later inspired a picture book,鈥� recalls Gillian.

Gillian graduated from McMaster University and St. Catharine鈥檚 Teachers鈥� College (Broc Gillian Richardson became a world traveler at three months of age when she emigrated from England to Canada with her parents and older sister. After living briefly in Vancouver and Montreal, the family settled in southern Ontario.

Books can be best friends to shy kids, and they opened up the world of reading for Gillian. It turned out to be the perfect foundation for a future writer. Her favorite books were about animals, like the Thornton Burgess series of animal adventures. 鈥淥ne day, I found a cocoon and took it home. It hatched into hundreds of praying mantis babies. They were everywhere! That experience later inspired a picture book,鈥� recalls Gillian.

Gillian graduated from McMaster University and St. Catharine鈥檚 Teachers鈥� College (Brock University). After a summer course for elementary school teacher-librarians, she found teaching positions in Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

As an adult, her interest in nature really bloomed. With so much to discover in the PEI countryside around her home, it was natural to begin writing. 鈥淚 had worked as a teacher-librarian for almost eight years when I began to wonder if my own writing skills could match those of the children鈥檚 authors I encouraged my students to read,鈥� says Gillian.

A move to the prairies in 1982 gave her the chance to try writing seriously, which she did while working until 1997 in school libraries in Regina. She has been teaching writing to adults as an instructor for the Institute of Children鈥檚 Literature (Connecticut) since 2002. She is a co-founder of the Saskatchewan Children鈥檚 Writers Round Robin, a critique group that celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2009. During that time, she wrote sixteen books, and many short stories and articles for children鈥檚 magazines.

Since 1999, she has reviewed children鈥檚 books for CM, an online periodical. The review of an Annick Press book led to an invitation to write Kaboom!: Explosions of all Kinds (2009). 鈥淲hen I heard the topic would be explosions, I wondered how it might fit with my experiences of writing about nature. In fact, there were many links, from geysers to decomposition, from exploding seed pods to avalanche control.鈥� Gillian had already developed a fascination with volcanoes after visiting two in Costa Rica, and Mount St. Helens in Washington to see the aftermath of an eruption first hand. Between drafts of Kaboom!, she peered into steam vents at Hawaii鈥檚 Kilauea. 鈥淭hinking back to university days when I opted to study languages (most useful for a wordsmith!), I wish science and environmental topics had also been on my list. But I鈥檝e found that experiencing nature, and reading and writing about it, are great ways to learn, and to share. Write about what stirs your curiosity!鈥�

Gillian joined the Regina Natural History Society to find out about local wildlife when she lived on the prairies. She now enjoys hikes and the annual Christmas Bird Count as an active member of the Shuswap Naturalist Club. She鈥檚 still traveling, too. From her home near Sorrento, B.C., she and her husband regularly explore the province and northwestern states in their RV.
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Gillian Richardson鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.91 · 192 ratings · 60 reviews · 19 distinct works

	10 Plants That Shook The World by Gillian Richardson, Vladyana Krykora (Illustrator), Kim Rosen (Illustrator) 3.99 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	10 Routes That Crossed the World by Gillian Richardson, Kim Rosen (Illustrations) 4.21 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dan Gutman 3.64 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	10 Ships that Rocked the World 4.17 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kaboom!: Explosions of all Kinds by Gillian Richardson, Gillian O'Reilly (Primary Contributor), Virginia Gray (Illustrator) 3.27 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2009 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Machu Picchu really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hiking liked it 3.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2007 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saskatchewan really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1995 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Friend for Mr. Granville by Gillian Richardson, Collective Books Staff, Claudette McLean (Illustrator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1997	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Migration of Robyn Birchwood 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1992	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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