Katherine Reynolds

 

Katherine Reynolds attributes her love of story telling to an old wooden cupboard which stood, when she was small, in a corner of her bedroom. Its shelves and drawers held her private treasures. Its doors, adorned with an ever-changing array of postcards and pictures, opened onto the many worlds of her imagination.

Although the written word was her first love, she found she had a natural aptitude for film making, founding in 1962 Dateline Productions in Soho’s busy film district. In 1970, she accepted an invitation to edit a Canadian feature film, - ‘The Rainbow Boys’ starring Donald Pleasance – the assignment signalled a new chapter in her life.

Katherine became a Canadian citizen in 1979. Soon after, she was appointed Contributing Editor for Britannia Magazine, a monthly publication aimed at British ex-patriots. In 1982 she married Canadian actor, Michael J. Reynolds.

In 1988 she founded ‘The Street’, a monthly newsletter for Canada’s many ‘Coronation Street’ fans.

After 30 years in Toronto, she and Michael upped stakes, moving to England. Katherine now makes her home in the Somerset heritage village of Milverton where she has returned to her love of story- telling. The old wooden cupboard has come into its own at last.

Why do you feel people should read your books?

Katherine responds: I think it was best expressed in an article in Parent Talk here in the UK. The article said my books bring a “welcome burst of sunshine to the world of children’s fiction”. So much of what is written for children seems to try to be cool and sassy – almost as if the authors fear not being accepted by their readers. In my books, I have tried to create a form of pure, timeless story-telling in the enduring tradition of the great classics. An author friend said this of BORN TO DANCE ‘I love the relationship between the horse and the cat. The message of being true to oneself and one's gifts is one that all children need to believe in. We are indeed all born to dance in some form or another.’ For children to be exposed to and to be able to absorb that message in an entertaining form early in life seems to me to be a gift very worth the giving.

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