Miriam Körner is the author or illustrator of several children's books. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

creative writing

Local children write book with help from award-winning author

Aug 21, 2025 | 4:59 PM

It was quite the week for a group of children who put together a children’s book with the assistance of author and illustrator Miriam Körner.

The week-long summer program is being held at the Alex Robertson Public Library and is designed for children between the ages of seven to 12. It involves the creation of a sequel to Körner’s book Fox and Bear, which she published in 2022. It was also the winner of a Saskatchewan Book Award.

“They have come up with their own story ideas and have developed their own characters and drew them all out and coloured them in with pastels, and we made a little diorama which we will photograph and put into scenes for the book,” Körner remarked.

“We first collected ideas of who the characters can be, and we voted on the main characters and then the kids developed a storyline. We figured out what kind of problems these characters might run into.”

Similar to Fox and Bear, the sequel revolves around Fox cutting down the forest and unleashing unintended consequences in the world. For instance, the rabbit has nowhere to hide from the wolves, the bear can’t make a den, and the ravens can’t build a nest.

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“The kids collectively solved those problems,” Körner said.

“They basically guided the process and I was just there to provide them the materials and funnel their creative energy.”

Throughout the years, Körner has done the activity with children at schools across Northern Saskatchewan. She noted children tend to have strong creativity skills and vivid imaginations, adding they are a joy to watch and learn from.

Community members are welcome to attend a book launch at the library at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Each child will leave the program with a copy of the book, along with a unique book cover they individually created.

“The kids are going to act out the story. It’s going to be like a puppet play almost,” Körner mentioned.

“Each kid will say the lines for their characters, so we are collectively going to tell the story. First, we collectively wrote the story and illustrated it, and now we are collectively going to tell the story.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com