Me

I am a children’s author, educator and storyteller. Among my fifteen published books so far are chapter books, picture books, and graphic novels.

 

For the past twenty-six years, I have been working with children ages 3 to 13. I’ve been a school age childcare provider, a preschool teacher, a creative drama and a creative writing teacher. I’ve developed a multitude of creative activities for children including movie making and a radio show involving school-age childcare centres across Vancouver. As a preschool teacher, I developed Stories in Our Own Words, a program for 3 & 4 year olds based on the ideas of famed educator and author, Vivian Gussin Paley that fostered the development of the children’s own stories by recording them and then acting them as a group.

 

In the past, I trained and worked professionally as an actor, have written for theatre, as well as written and performed sketch comedy across Canada. These days, when not writing or teaching writing to children through the organization CWC, I travel around the country visiting many schools and libraries.

 

Hiking and travelling are two of my passions. Baking and then eating the results of what I’ve baked are some of my others. I live in Vancouver, BC with my partner, artist and goldsmith, Dominique Bréchault. We are both under the spell of Sasha, a cat with diabolical powers of cuteness.

 

You can follow me on Facebook at:

Dan Bar-el – Children’s Book Author

 

You can learn a bit more about what goes on in my head from these available interviews:

A Cozy Chat with Dan Bar-el – Interview in Medium.com

The Book Wars – Interview with Dan Bar-el

CBC Radio – North by Northwest

(interview with me begins at 8:45 in the audio recording)

If you belong to a learning institution that has a subscription to Something About the Author, there is extensive information and an interview with me within their database.