Look and Listen

Biography

Christopher Francis was born in Brisbane, Australia, on June 21, 1974. At 19, he was accepted into the Animation program at Sheridan College, and then graduated with a degree in Sociology from McMaster University. Following a two year adventure overseas working children, Christopher completed a Bachelor of Education at York University. He is now teaching junior level students in Burlington, Ontario. Through Christopher’s experience working with children, he found writing and illustrating to be one of his passions. Currently working on a middle grade series, Christopher has recently completed and illustrated the first two books entitled: Solving Damian Dermite and Respecting Mr. Ravi. He has also created three primary leveled books called How to sneak your Monster into School, Mr. Pancake Turkey, and Mr. Pancake Turkey’s First Christmas. Additionally, Christopher has illustrated children’s novels for several independent authors including Kids4kids.com, BrendanKelly Publishing, Highview Press.com and Trimatrix. They all can be viewed on francisart.com.

Inspiration

At first I was inspired to write because I had always wanted to find a creative way to document some of the quirky adventures and events that took place in my childhood. However once I began teaching I found a new purpose behind my writing, and that was to find ways to engage reluctant readers, especially boys. By reading my stories to the students I was able to gage what elements of a story interested them, and what did not. Kids, after all, are the best critics.