Fitch, Sheree 1956–

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Fitch, Sheree 1956–

Personal

Born December 3, 1956, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; daughter of Kenneth Douglas and Dolores Shirley Fitch; married (divorced); married Gilles Plante; children: two sons. Education: St. Thomas University, B.A. (with honors), 1987; Acadia University, M.A.

Addresses

Home—Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Office—c/o Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia, 1809 Barrington St., Ste. 901, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3K8, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Children's author and performance poet. Worked variously as a floor scrubber and government file clerk; founder and member of Enterprise Theatre (alternative theatre troupe); performer and actress on stage, radio, film, and television. Teacher of creative writing. Keynote speaker and workshop participant; Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, beginning 1994.

Member

CANSCAIP, Writers' Union of Canada, Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia.

Awards, Honors

Queen's fellowship, 1987; Atlantic Booksellers' Choice Award, 1990, for Sleeping Dragons All Around; Mr. Christie's Book Award, 1993, for There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen; Ann Connor-Brimer Award, 1995, for Mabel Murple, and shortlist, 2000, for If I Were the Moon; Vicky Metcalf Award for body of work, 1998; Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Honour Book designation, 2006, for The Gravesavers; Canadian Toy Testing Council Great Books for Children designation, 2007, for Peek-a-Little Boo; honorary doctorates from St. Mary's and Acacia University.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Toes in My Nose, and Other Poems, illustrated by Molly Bobak, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1987, Boyds Mill Press (Honesdale, PA), 1993.

Sleeping Dragons All Around, illustrated by Michele Nidenoff, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Merry-Go-Day, illustrated by Molly Bobak, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen!, illustrated by Marc Mongeau, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

I Am Small, illustrated by Kim LaFave, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Mabel Murple, illustrated by Maryann Kovalski, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

If You Could Wear My Sneakers!, illustrated by Darcia Labrosse, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

There's a Mouse in My House, illustrated by Leslie Elizabeth Watts, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

The Hullabaloo Bugaboo Day (also see below), illustrated by Jill Quinn, Pottersfield Press (Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1998.

The Other Author, Arthur, illustrated by Jill Quinn, Pottersfield Press (Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1999.

If I Were the Moon, illustrated by Leslie Elizabeth Watts, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

No Two Snowflakes, illustrated by Janet Wilson, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2000.

EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street, illustrated by Laura Jolicoeur, Nova Scotia Hospital Foundation, 2001.

The Tale of the Hidden Story, illustrated by J.O. Pennanen, Early Childhood Centre (Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada), 2002.

One More Step (middle-grade novel), Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2002.

Pocket Rocks, illustrated by Helen Flook, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2004.

Birthday Pandemonium, illustrated by Trevor Keen, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Peek-a-Little Boo, illustrated by Laura Watson, Orca Book Publishers (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 2005.

If I Had a Million Onions, illustrated by Yayo, Tradewind Books (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2005.

The Gravesavers (middle-grade novel), Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

PLAYS

Light a Little Candle, produced at Eastern Front Theatre, 1996.

Rummabubba, Lid-Maker of the Snufflewogs, produced at Mermaid Theatre, 1997.

The Monkeys Are Back and We're Out of Bananas, produced at Montreal Youth Theatre, 1998.

The Hullabaloo Bugaboo Day (adapted from her book), produced by Young Company Tour, at Theatre New Brunswick, 1998.

Persnickety Pete (The Cleanest Boy in the World), illustrated by Jane Wallace-Mitchell, Pearson Educational Australia, 2003.

OTHER

In This House Are Many Women (poetry; for adults), Goose Lane Editions (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada), 1996, expanded edition, 2004,

Writing Maniac: How I Grew up to Be a Writer (and You Can Too!), Pembroke Publishers (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Contributor of articles and poetry to periodicals, including Fiddlehead, Antigonish Review, Language Arts, New Quarterly, Atlantic Books Today, and Alpha. Author, with Graham Pilsworth, of weekly column/cartoon. Also author of The Sweet Chorus of the Ha, Ha, He! Polyphony in Utterance: A Collection of Writings on Children's Poetry, National Library of Canada, 1994.

Adaptations

If I Were the Moon was adapted to music by James Wright, Leslie Music Supply, 2004.

Sidelights

Canadian poet and performance artist Sheree Fitch is an award-winning author of numerous books for children and adults, including nonfiction, chapter books, novels, plays, and poetry. Making her living as a writer, storyteller, literacy educator, and workshop leader, Fitch is a self-described life-long learner and a passionate spokesperson, advocate, and cultural ambassador. She considers both life and writing "serious joy"—she first discovered the phrase reading the poetry of John Ciardi—and agrees wholeheartedly with nineteenth-century writer William Blake, who said that imagination is divine.

Fitch's books for children, which include There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen!, If You Could Wear My Sneakers!, No Two Snowflakes, and If I Had a Million Onions, are part of a body of work the author calls "utterachure": writings that are especially suited to oral presentation. Fitch performs her poetry in personal appearances as well as on television and radio. When presented on the printed page, her work has been paired with illustrations created by artists such as Kim LaFave, Mariann Kovalski, and Laura Watson. Her young-adult novels include One More Step and The Gravesavers, and she addresses an adult audience with poetry that has been published in periodicals as well as in book form. Fitch's 2000 memoir, Writing Maniac: How I Grew up to Be a Writer (and You Can Too!), "interweaves meaningful tips for capturing the ‘magic’ of writing and joys of language" with the threads of her life story, creating what a Resource Links contributor described as an "inspiring personal journey" that "combines a writer's love for writing with meaningful, concrete ideas to encourage and instruct writers of all ages."

In 1987, when Fitch published Toes in My Nose, and Other Poems, Joanne Stanbridge wrote in Canadian Children's Literature that while "although the poems don't dance and sing on the page," the collection "promises to generate some unforgettable author visits" by Fitch. The poet elicited comparisons to Dennis Lee and Shel Silverstein from Quill & Quire contributor Adele Ashby, the critic calling the collection of thirty-six poems "zany" and suggesting that "this is read-aloud poetry … to reinforce the enjoyment of the subject."

In her review for Books in Canada, Carole Corbeil recommended the rhyming picture book Sleeping Dragons All Around because Fitch's poetry "trips off the tongue." Featuring illustrations by Michele Nidenoff, the book tells a rhyming tale about a girl who has to brave a group of dragons on her way to get a late-night snack. Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, reviewing the book for Canadian Children's Literature, noted that Fitch's text features "vivid free verse with strong rhythm, repetition and aural effects," and Quill & Quire contributor Anne Gilmore complimented the book for its "delightful sense of music and amusement."

A visit to the annual Canadian National Exhibition is the subject of Fitch's Merry-Go-Day, a picture book dubbed "delightfully playful" by Phil Hall in a review

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for Books in Canada. While reiterating the recommendation that Fitch's work should be read aloud, Canadian Review of Materials contributor Ray Doiron maintained that the author brings "to life all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes" of the fair and concluded of Merry-Go-Day that "one reading is not enough."

The amusing There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen! features a story poem reminiscent of Sleeping Dragons All Around. In this work, Willa Wellowby finds that an uninhibited group of monkeys has made a mess of her kitchen, but she cannot convince the Canadian Mounties who come to her rescue that mischievous monkeys actually did the damage. Writing in Quill & Quire, Kit Pearson noted that, although "Fitch has a good ear for aural effects and uses long and nonsense words effectively," her text is long enough to risk "intimidating the young child." Bert Almon, a Canadian Children's Literature critic, called There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen! "a very funny narrative" in which "the language of the poetry fits the uproar of the action."

The humorously titled Mabel Murple takes a character from Toes in My Nose, and Other Poems and places her in a book-length story. In her rhyming text, Fitch ex- plores the imaginary world where Mabel lives, a world where there is much that is familiar to a young child but where absolutely everything is purple. In a review for Quill & Quire, Gwyneth Evans praised Fitch's "insouciant four-line stanzas" and added that the book's ending—in which the setting switches from a purple world to a green one—"provides an almost irresistible temptation to create our own verses about coloured worlds."

Fitch's picture book I Am Small uses prose poems to express the thoughts of Small, a girl of about kindergarten age. Peek-a-Little Boo is an alphabet book that contains illustrations featuring babies of many cultures and ethnicities, while If I Had a Million Onions contains over two dozen nonsensical poems brought to life in Yayo's colorful art. Canadian Review of Materials reviewer Maryleah Otto called I Am Small "a quiet, thoughtful collection" and maintained that Fitch's "expressions are pure childhood and pure delight to read." Reviewing If I Had a Million Onions for Kirkus Reviews, a critic deemed the book "a delight from first line to last," adding that Fitch's texts reveal a "consistent sensitivity to the sound and flow of language." Describing the picture book No Two Snowflakes, in which a young Canadian attempts to describe snow to his Caribbean pen pal, Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper wrote that "Fitch's poetry is full of dazzling images," while

School Library Journal critic Susan Hepler deemed the work "a valuable poetry or writing lesson."

No Two Snowflakes, published in association with UNICEF, is one of several of books Fitch created to benefit humanitarian projects or target special audiences. Another, If You Could Wear My Sneakers!, was designed to illustrate several articles from the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, while EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street was produced for the Nova Scotia Hospital Foundation. Quill & Quire contributor Loris Lesynski found the poems in If You Could Wear My Sneakers! "delicious," adding: "The goofiness of the poems and lightness of the art will put young readers at ease and inspire discussion."

The young-adult novel One More Step finds Fitch turning her attention to older readers as she tells the story of a young teen who tries to deal with his divorced mother's problematic love life with dry humor. An historical novel featuring similar coming-of-age themes, The Gravesavers focuses on the tragic 1873 sinking of the S.S. Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia. Minn, a modern young teen, lives near the town where the accident victims were buried, and when she discovers that the bones of some victims are now washing out to sea due to coastline erosion, she spearheads a movement to renovate the graveyard. In One More Step Fitch "continues to display her love of sounds and words that she has so aptly demonstrated in her poetry," maintained Resource Links contributor Gail De Vos, while The Gravesavers "manages to incorporate Fitch's talent for fun and clever wordplay," in the opinion of Resource Links writer Nadine d'Etremont.

A collection of Fitch's poetry for adults, published as In This House Are Many Women, was released in an expanded anniversary edition in 2004. Regarding the work, which includes three poems about the lives of people in a women's shelter, Lesley D. Clement commented in Canadian Literature that Fitch's background as a children's writer is "everywhere evident" in the poems, which range "from nightmarish through to whimsical." The subjects explored in the volume include women as mother figures and male-female attraction; one poem focuses on a homemaker-turned-circus performer. Overall, Clement described the poems as "sensuous" and found interesting links between the several groupings of poems in the volume.

Active in numerous literacy programs in her native Canada, Fitch has also traveled to the Arctic as a literacy advocate. During an extended stay in Bhutan, she taught writing and participated in that country's first national reading week. Other travels on behalf of literacy include trips to Belize, Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition, Fitch has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since the mid-1990s.

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Fitch, Sheree, Writing Maniac: How I Grew up to Be a Writer (and You Can Too!), Pembroke Publishers (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of No Two Snowflakes, p. 1140.

Books in Canada, June-July, 1990, Carole Corbeil, review of Sleeping Dragons All Around, pp. 13-16; October, 1991, Phil Hall, "In Praise of Playable," pp. 52-53; December, 1992, p. 32; September, 1997, p. 33.

Canadian Book Review Annual, 1994, p. 450; 1995, p. 468; 2000, review of Writing Maniac: How I Grew up to Be a Writer (and You Can Too!), p. 531; 2001, review of No Two Snowflakes, p. 451; 2002, review of One More Step, p. 490; 2005, Anne Hutchings, review of If I Had a Million Onions, and Britta Santowski, review of Peek-a-Little Boo, both p. 536.

Canadian Children's Literature, number 50, Joanne Stanbridge, review of Toes in My Nose, 1988, p. 76; number 61, 1991, Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, review of Sleeping Dragons All Around, pp. 80-81; number 78, 1995, p. 73; number 81, 1996, Bert Almon, review of There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen, pp. 43-44.

Canadian Literature, spring, 1996, Lesley D. Clement, "The Compulsion to Sing," pp. 136-138.

Canadian Review of Materials, March, 1990, p. 63; May, 1992, Ray Doiron, review of Merry-Go-Day, p. 162; October, 1994, Maryleah Otto, review of I Am Small, p. 187; March 31, 2000, review of If I Were the Moon; December 14, 2001, review of No Two Snowflakes.

Children's Book News, spring, 1990, p. 14; summer, 1995, p. 13; spring, 1997, p. 29.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2006, review of If I Had a Million Onions, p. 84.

Kliatt, January, 2003, review of One More Step, p. 18.

Quill & Quire, June, 1987, Adele Ashby, review of Toes in My Nose, p. 10; December, 1989, Anne Gilmore, review of Sleeping Dragons All Around, p. 22; July, 1991, Barbara Robertson, review of Merry-Go-Day, p. 52; October, 1992, Kit Pearson, review of There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen!, p. 34; June, 1995, Gwyneth Evans, review of Mabel Murple, p. 56; April, 1997, Loris Lesynski, review of If You Could Wear My Sneakers!, p. 37; December, 2001, review of No Two Snowflakes, p. 26.

Resource Links, October, 1999, review of If I Were the Moon, p. 4, and The Other Author Arthur, p. 11; February, 2000, review of There's a Mouse in My House, p. 3; February, 2001, review of Writing Maniac, pp. 44-45; February, 2002, Gillian Richardson, review of No Two Snowflakes, p. 4; February, 2003, Gail De Vos, review of One More Step, p. 39; October, 2003, Rosemary Anderson, review of Mable Murple, p. 45; October, 2004, Lidna Ludke, review of Pocket Rocks, p. 4; October, 2005, Nadine d'Etremont, review of The Gravesavers, p. 34; December, 2005, Adriane Pettit, review of Peek-a-Little Boo, p. 3; February, 2006, Adriane Pettit, review of If I Had a Million Onions, p. 21.

School Library Journal, March, 1999, pp. 192-193; January, 2000, Kthleen M. Kelly MacMillan, review of There's a Mouse in My House, p. 94; January, 2002, Susan Hepler, review of No Two Snowflakes, p. 98; December, 2005, Rachel G. Payne, review of Peek-a-Little Boo, p. 110; June, 2006, Kathleen Whalin, review of If I Had a Million Onions, p. 174.

Today's Parent, April, 2000, Paul Kropp, "Sheree Fitch: Poetess in Motion," p. 22.