Award-winning author, journalist and columnist Tina Powell uses humour and authenticity to entertain and inspire. Her work has appeared in Canadian Business Magazine, the Toronto Star, Canadian Health and Lifestyle Magazine, and more. She is the recipient of the 2005 Mississauga Emerging Literary Arts Award, the 2010 inductee into the Sheridan College Business Hall of Fame, and a 2011 McMaster University Arch Award recipient.

Most recognized for her best-selling children’s books, Picnic in Pisticci is Tina’s first title for adults. It takes the reader on an amusing, picnic-filled journey from Niagara Falls, Canada to Pisticci, Italy. Inspiring images, famous quotations, song lyrics, and simple, traditional picnic food recipes, such as devilled eggs and pasta salad, accompany each of her adventures, adding nostalgic flavour to the page and inviting readers to pursue the promises of the picnic.

As a children’s author, Tina amuses and empowers children, while celebrating the special view they have of the world. Through Big Fat Pen Publishing’s Edu-Lit Marketing program, she has reached over 600,000 children and worked with companies, such as Boar’s Head Provisions, Canada Bread, Mars Canada, and Procter & Gamble, to encourage healthy eating,physical fitness, and improved literacy skills. Her latest children’s book, Fernando’s Fun-tastic Friends, was selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as one of the Best Books for Kids & Teens in 2011.

With a strong desire to make the world a better place, Tina uses her books as a platform to give back. Her children’s book If You Could See What I See… raised $58,000 for the Canadian Red Cross U.S.A. Appeal in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks and has been accepted into the National September 11 Memorial Museum in NYC. Other Tina Powell titles haveassisted the Children’s Aid Society, Kids Help Phone, Raise-a-Reader, the American Diabetes Association, the Jays Care Foundation, and other worthy organizations. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Picnic in Pisticci will be donated to Food Banks Canada.