Ken Setterington

Ken is the Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services at the Toronto Public Library.  He is also a storyteller, author, and book reviewer. 

As a storyteller he has told stories ranging from Arthurian legends, with Joan Bodger on the tour “A Winter’s Journey to King Arthur’s Britain”, to the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen at the statue of Andersen in Central Park.  Ken has published retellings of The Snow Queen, The Wild Swans, and Clever Katarina with Tundra Books. He told his own stories of growing up in his one-man show, Heroes of my youth: The Women of Scarborough.  He is also the author of the controversial children’s book, Mom and Mum are Getting Married.

Ken is an acknowledged expert on children’s and teen literature and co-wrote A Guide to Canadian Children’s Literature with Deirdre Baker.  He has served on many book award committees including the 2008 Caldecott and 2002 Newbery in the United States, and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award in Canada.  For those interested in children’s literature, his voice is familiar as a member of the children’s book panel on CBC discussing with Peter Gzowski, Michael Enright, and Shelegh Rogers the best new books for children and youth.  Ken has taught in the Information Faculty at U of T in the area of children and youth library services.  At the Toronto Public Library Ken manages the TD Summer Reading Club and the Leading to Reading literacy program bringing the joy of reading to thousands of children.