By donating bikes, helmets and other prizes to be awarded to Read-a-thon winners, Canadian Tire is encouraging children to read and making a difference in the community.

You can register your school for the Fall 2011 Read-a-thon at the Kiwanis Read-a-thon site.

To thank the Canadian Tire dealers, the Club ran an ad in the Ottawa Citizen on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 (page A5).

Way to go Manotick Public students for a job well done and keep up the reading!

Please visit: www.picturebookstories.com to contact Kita.

Below is a short bio about our author:

Kita Szpak

I was born in London, England, the twin daughter of Polish parents.  I
immigrated to Canada at the tender age of three.  During my school years,
competitive figure skating took a first seat.  And I know now that the
discipline of being athlete and scholar has been beneficial to my
professional and creative growth.

During my language studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, I had
the opportunity to travel, work and study in Europe.  I completed my honours
B.A. in German, and went on to finish a second honours degree in Education.

Having initiated a successful teaching career in Kingston and Ottawa, family
life then took over. Three sons later, I re-entered my career orbit.  In
1992, I started my own consulting business, KS Communications, focusing in
the areas of strategic communications, media relations, publicity and
writing.

All the while, I have been writing children's short stories in my spare
time.   Initially, these were stories that I told my boys when they were
little. They are all grown up now but the stories keep coming, and I have
great satisfaction in putting them to paper.

When not writing, I am outside where I run and compete in the occasional
road race. This year, I will be particpating in my first marathon in
California.

Below is a short bio as well as her link should you wish to contact her for a visit.

"Amanda Sage is a local writer, filmmaker and photographer. In 2009, she launched her publishing shingle, Wonderpress, to put out the first two books in her three-part children’s series: Dinostory and Astrorocket. The third book, Zootopia, will be released in late 2010. Each of the books is dedicated to, and inspired by, one of her three young nephews."

Kiwanis Read-a-thon, Kiwanis Club of Ottawa and our schools thank you for participating!