FOLD Kids Book Fest

Virtual Events for Grades 9-12

Thursday, October 29

On-demand (Pre-recorded)

Grief, Ghosts and What We Leave Behind with Sophia Hannan and Sam Wilket

Join first-time authors Sophia Hannan (We Were Never Here) and Sam Wilket (A Good Daughter’s Ghost) as they discuss their characters being haunted by grief and ghosts in their debut novels. This event will be moderated by Ameema Saeed. Enjoy this Halloween themed bonus event for Grades 9 – 12.

Tuesday, November 3

10:00 am – 10:45 am

A Teen Creative Writing Workshop with Michaela Allen and P. Anneka Lynch

As editors of the Let Me Be Honest anthology, Michaela Allen and P. Anneka Lynch enjoy helping teens find their creative voice. In this creative writing workshop, teens will learn about the power of storytelling by deconstructing a poem followed by a few self-reflective writing prompts. Students are encouraged to have materials for notetaking. This event will have a live audience Q&A. Grades 9-12.

Wednesday, November 4

11:00 am – 11:45 am

Remixing Fairytales and Folklore with Nafiza Azad

In this writing workshop, author and editor Nafiza Azad leads teens through her writing process, exploring how she edited the A Thousand Nights anthology and how she retells and remixes fairytales and folklore. This event will have includes an audience Q&A for live attendees. Grades 9-12.

Thursday, November 5

10:00 pm – 10:45 pm

The Writer’s Life with Astronomer Emily Deibert

The Writer’s Life series explores the journey of writers who balance their craft with fascinating careers, offering insights into the challenges, inspirations, and unique paths that shape a writer’s life. This year, author Emily Deibert (Bea Mullins Takes a Shot) discusses what it’s like being an ASTRONOMER and what her path to publishing was like. Grades 9 – 12.

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Find the perfect live or on-demand session for every grade in your school, from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

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Frequently Asked Questions

To attend events in our Virtual Clubhouse, attendees need to purchase a virtual pass or use their board-wide code for free access.

If your school board has purchased a board-wide pass you have FREE access to all virtual events. The following school boards have purchased a pass:

  • Durham District School Board
  • Halton District School Board
  • Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
  • Peel District School Board
  • Waterloo Region District School Board
  • York Catholic District School Board
An Individual Virtual Pass costs $50 and allows you to access our Virtual Clubhouse for a month after the live festival dates. It includes an interactive scavenger hunt, resources, exhibitors, live events, on-demand events and more.
 
For group tickets for five or more, email the FOLD for bulk pass rates.

Virtual passholders get access to our Virtual Clubhouse, which includes an auditorium featuring more than twenty virtual events especially designed for educators and students Kindergarten to Grade 12. The Clubhouse also includes an Exhibit Hall with exclusive access to book publishers and resources, and a customized resource room for additional support material. All virtual passholders will receive a festival book list and will have access to an educator resource guide, which provides pre- and post-event activities.

You can login to the Virtual Clubhouse for the first time as soon as you register. However, you can't access resources and bonus events until October 30. Live virtual events will begin on November 3 and will run until November 5 - although you'll be able to access them on-demand for the entire school year.

For live events, we recommend logging into the Virtual Clubhouse 10 mins before the event. The event will go live (meaning you'll be able to click on the event video via a JOIN button in the schedule) roughly 3 mins before start time to give people time to enter.

Most of our virtual events are initially offered live - meaning they become available on a specific day at a specific time and include the opportunity to chat live with other attendees, the hosts, and the authors. On-demand events are events that are pre-recorded and will be available as soon as the Clubhouse opens. All virtual events can be watched and re-watched as on-demand events June 30, 2027.

Anyone with a virtual pass will be able to watch all of the on-demand videos until June 30, 2027.

Click here for our book list that includes all of the authors and titles appearing at this year's festival. Click here to purchase titles from our virtual bookseller, Tinlids. Proceeds go towards the festival.

If you've registered for a virtual pass and you're having trouble logging in, email our Virtual Clubhouse tech support team at foldkids@getvfairs.io

Student Access Login (SAL) provides students with access to the platform and allows them to login on their own devices with a generic account that's connected to their educator's account. SALs limit a student's reach on the platform for safety and security reasons. NOTE: Some boards may not be able to share the SALS with their students due to board policy. Please check your board policy before distributing the SALs.

If you're planning to show the events in class, you will not need an SAL, but when you register as an educator who will be showing the events in class, one will automatically be created for you. SALs are helpful if a student is away or if they are planning to watch events on their own device. If you do need an SAL, you must select yes when registering for the SAL to be created.

The FOLD is taking every precaution to keep all guests safe. SALs give students restricted access on the platform. They will never appear on video. While they can pose questions in Zoom, they cannot participate in the chat or on the leaderboard. All questions will be monitored by a designated FOLD team member. Any concerns with student use will result in the suspension of that code and a follow up with the teacher associated with the account. Our Virtual Safe Space Policy will be posted on the platform. In the unfortunate event that inappropriate behaviour does occur, FOLD staff will act swiftly, in consultation with the teacher and school board.

The FOLD Foundation relies heavily on the support of individual donors. If you have the means, please consider becoming a monthly donor and donating $20, $50 or $100/month to the work of the FOLD through Canada Helps, which will provide you with a charitable receipt.