Camilla Gryski

Camilla Milton Gryski
Born	(1948-03-02) March 2, 1948 (age 77) Bristol, England
Subject	String games

Camilla Milton Gryski (born 02 March 1948 in Bristol, England) ^[1] is a Canadian librarian and string figure enthusiast. She has a degree in English, an M.L.S., an M.Ed, and a Montessori Primary Teaching Certificate. ^[1] From 1995 to 2004 she worked in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children as a therapeutic clown named Posy. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

In the 1980s and 1990s Gryski wrote a number of books on string games and related activities. A review of Let's Play: Traditional Games of Childhood in Quill & Quire described it as "a splendid book, both as accurate reference and just plain fun." ^[5]

Awards

• C.L.A. Notable Non-Fiction for Children, 1996.
• Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Awards: winner in 1991 for Hands On, Thumbs Up; honour book in 1996 for Let's Play ^[6]
• ALA Notable Book for Cat's Cradle, Owl's Eyes, 1984.

Bibliography

Books

• Gryski, Camilla (1983). Cat's Cradle, Owl's Eyes: A Book of String Games. Illustrated by Tom Sankey. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   0-919964-49-4.
• ——— (1985). Many Stars and More String Games. Illustrated by Tom Sankey. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-0-919964-76-1.
• ——— (1987). Super String Games. Illustrated by Tom Sankey. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-0-921103-44-8.
• ——— (1990). Hands On, Thumbs Up. Illustrated by Pat Cupples. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-0-921103-99-8.
• ——— (1992). Friendship Bracelets. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-1-55074-085-1.
• ——— (1993). Boondoggle: Making Bracelets with Plastic Lace. Illustrated by Linda Hendry. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   1-55074-131-4.
• ——— (1995). Camilla Gryski's Cat's Cradle: A Book of String Games. Illustrated by Tom Sankey. Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-1-55337-090-1.
• ——— (1995). Camilla Gryski's Favourite String Games. Illustrated by Tom Sankey. Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-1-55074-261-9.
• ——— (1995). Let's Play: Traditional Games of Childhood. Illustrated by Dušan Petričić. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN   978-1-55074-817-8.

Shorter works

• Schwekbe, Shobhana; Gryski, Camilla (2003). "Gravity and Levity — Pain and Play: The Child and the Clown in the Pediatric Health Care Setting". In Klein, Amelia J. (ed.). Humor in Children's Lives: A Guidebook for Practitioners. Praeger. ISBN   978-0-89789-892-8.
• Koller, Donna; Gryski, Camilla (March 2007). "The Life Threatened Child and the Life Enhancing Clown: Towards a Model of Therapeutic Clowning". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 5 (1): 17–25. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nem033 .

See also

• Children's literature portal

• List of string figures

Sources

1. Lumley, Elizabeth, ed. (1997). "Gryski, Camilla Milton". Canadian Who's Who. Vol. XXXII. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 500.
2. Bortolotti, Dan (October 2004). "Our Heroes". Today's Parent. Vol. 21, no. 9. pp. 165–166, 169–170. ProQuest   232904543.
3. "The Hospital Clown Newsletter: Articles from Past Issues in PDF format Archived 2012-02-21 at the Wayback Machine ", HospitalClown.com.
4. Davie, Michael B. (8 February 2003). "Comic relief; Laughter can promote healing, ease tension 'It's the social glue that binds us together'". Toronto Star. ProQuest   438568141.
5. Quill & Quire (July 1995). "Let's Play: Traditional Games of Childhood". Quill & Quire . Vol. 61, no. 7. p. 62. ProQuest   235721525.
6. "Information Book Award Archives". Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable. Retrieved 8 July 2025.