I’m Andrea Curtis, a writer in Toronto, Canada. I write books for kids, young adults and grownups, too. My work has been published all over the world. My new book, City Streets are for People (Groundwood), is available now. I had two books for young readers come out last year: Barnaby from Owlkids and City of Water from Groundwood. I am also the author of A Forest in the City about the beauty and benefits of trees in the city, and the young adult novel Big Water based on the true story of a pair of teenage shipwreck survivors. I live in Toronto with my family.
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News

City of Neighbors, the fourth book in the ThinkCities series is coming to bookstores near you in spring 2023! Illustrated by the wonderful Katy Dockrill, it explores placemaking initiatives all over the world, and how we can work together to make our cities great—safer, greener, cleaner and more accessible for everyone.

City Streets are for People is on the Kobo Best of the Year list for children’s literature! It has also been named as one of the Top 10 Books on Environment and Sustainability for youth by Booklist. It’s available now both digitally and in hard copy at your favourite indie bookstores! *Streets* is the third book in the Groundwood ThinkCities series about urban systems and sustainability. It’s illustrated by Emma FitzGerald and Kirkus calls it “an empowering look at reclaiming urban areas… for a better quality of life and a greener future.” Check out the free parent and teacher resources here.

For recent reviews and articles about me and my work, visit lnk.bio/andreapcurtis.

I also released two new books for young readers in 2021.

Illustrated by Katy Dockrill, City of Water is the second in the ThinkCities series from Groundwood Books. Aimed at 8-12 year olds, it tells the story of how water gets to our cities and what we need to do to preserve this precious, finite resource. It was awarded with the influential Junior Library Guild Gold Standard seal and was recently published in German. Order now or ask your favourite bookshop to bring it in! You can also read my short piece about wandering the ravines, inspired by researching this book.

Barnaby is illustrated by Kass Reich and it’s my first fiction picture book to be published by Owlkids Books! I’ve been working on this book for years and I’m so excited to see it finally come to life. Barnaby tells the tale of a vain little blue budgie who flies away, only to discover there’s no place like home. Kirkus gave it a starred review! Watch for it at bookstores or order now!

A Forest in the City came out in 2020 from Groundwood Books. With beautiful illustrations by the prolific, award-winning artist Pierre Pratt, it’s an ode to the trees that make our cities sing.

As a former treeplanter and longtime tree lover, I’ve been writing and thinking about trees for a very long time. Check out my first magazine feature about treeplanting here; or my piece about the threats to Toronto’s urban forest here. I’ve also written about my experience forest bathing here.

To spread the love for city trees, I’ve started a social media campaign encouraging kids and adults to write letters of thanks to their favourite city trees. Listen here for an interview with me on CBC’s Metro Morning talking about my favourite tree! See my Instagram or follow #notetoatree on social for some of the amazing letters. Teachers and parents: please click below for a craft tutorial related to the campaign.

I’m thrilled that A Forest in the City is the first in a series of books about sustainability and changing urban systems called ThinkCities.