Annabel Slaight (''nee'' Gerald) is a Canadian author and former elementary school teacher. She is the co-founder of

OWL Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

, Chickadee, and Chirp magazines and a former producer of

OWL/TV OWL/TV is a Canadian children's educational television series that aired on CBC, from 1985 to 1990, and then later on CTV, from 1990 to 1994. It focused on nature and science discovery, emphasizing to viewers how they can affect their own envi ...

Early life and education

Slaight was born and raised in Toronto but enrolled at the

Crofton House School Crofton House School, in the neighbourhood of Kerrisdale in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a private university-preparatory school for girls that is tied for first place in the Fraser Institute's rankings of schools in British Columbia. ...

in British Columbia for her high school education. She struggled throughout her schooling and eventually dropped out of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Career

After dropping out, Slaight spent four years as a teacher before moving to Toronto to start a career in journalism. She then spent 10 years editing books and magazines before meeting Mary Anne Brinckman, a volunteer for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON). Together, they established a non-profit entitled Young Naturalist Foundation (YNF) and persuaded the FON to support their children's magazine,

. This became the first children's nature magazine to be published in Canada on a nationwide basis and their first issue sold over 8,000 copies. They had initially faced criticism from environmentalists who critiqued the lighthearted tone of the magazine and many were doubtful of their ability to succeed. Despite this, Owl had gained 12,000 subscribers to their magazine, with 1,721 coming from schools, by 1976. The magazine continued to be successful and author

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

praised the magazine in

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

. By the end of 1976, circulation had jumped to 15,000 and Shell Canada Ltd. gave YNF a $25,000 grant to continue the magazine. Slaight credited the magazine's success due to a growing interest in Canadian content. Within its first two-and-a-half years, the magazine increased circulation to 2,000 copies a month. They also compiled a book of one of their cartoon characters, Dr. Zed, and sold over 60,000 copies in Canada, Britain, and the United States. By 1979, Owl's circulation had hit about 100,000, making it one of Canada's most widely-read magazines. Slaight and Brinckman then launched Chickadee, a magazine aimed at younger readers. The magazine launched with an initial subscription base of 35,000. By 1982, the two magazines had a combined circulation is 195,000, reaching about 10 per cent of Canada's pre-teen children. The magazine's success resulted in the launch of a television show and a prototype computer video game for Ontario school classrooms. The television show was eventually picked up by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

and

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and called

. When discussing the show, Slaight described it as more discovery than informational saying: "You give them a little bit about a lot of subjects. You can't tell them everything. The best thing is to have them come away wanting to know more." In one of the episodes, a 13-year-old from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

explained how he stopped smoking

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and started to breed rabbits. Slaight served as an executive producer on OWL TV and helped it get renewed for a second season in 1986. In 1991, Slaight received the Sandford Fleming Medal from the

Royal Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

for her outstanding contributions to the public understanding of science. In 1992, Owl won the EDPRESS award as best children's magazine in North America while A Kids' Guide to the Brain won 1994's Science in Society Book Award from the Canadian Science Writers' Association. While continuing to author Owl and Chickadee through the 80s and 1990s, she also oversaw the production of its preschool equivalent, Big Comfy Couch. The newest television program won the 1993 Alliance for Children's Television Award of Excellence and the 1995

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

as the best children's series. As a result of their ongoing success, Slaight and Gord Haines, former chief operating officer of Alliance Communications, oversaw the launch of Combined Media. As Owl moved away from non-profit to the private sector, Combined Media was established as an umbrella company that owns 90 per cent of Owl Communications and 60 per cent of Mackerel Interactive. Slaight and Brinckman then established Chirp as another children's magazine aimed at the youngest reading level. However, they found that children's magazines had trouble keeping dedicated readers and they subsequently reinvent Chickadee in 1999 to keep its annual readership. Her accomplishments as an author earned her appointments as a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and Member of the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaight, Annabel Living people Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Members of the Order of Ontario Members of the Order of Canada Canadian women television producers Year of birth missing (living people)