OCULUM is a Best Reads 2019 plus a special thank you card from a class visit...

Thank you to The Sound magazine, for picking OCULUM as one of it's Best Reads of 2019 titles (one of only three, I'm in amazing company with Terry Fallis and Tanya Boteju). 

Here's what they had to say:

"Similar to The Giver in quality, content, appeal, and originality, Oculum really is children’s literature. It’s written beautifully, simply, and thoughtfully, and covers subject matter that is not common enough in Middle Grade. Every scene can be pictured in vivid detail, and readers of any age will be desperate to learn more about this strange world." Wow, THANK YOU!

Read the rest of the article here: The Sound Best of 2019

Also, I got the sweetest card from a class visit today! 
It's a peach, a symbol of fragility of the planet in OCULUM, with a special door in it! Part of the story involves a hidden door ...

The letter inside reads:

"Dear Philippa,

Thank you so much for visiting us. We love your book OCULUM and hope it wins Silver Birch. [edit: THANK YOU!] We will be cheering for you, when you're on stage at the Forest of Trees. [edit again: AWWW!] 

We connect so much with Miranda & Mannfred. We hope you write another book just like it. You created OCULUM for everyone and just like the seeds[,] everyone loves it."

Thank you so much, to the 5 & 6 class I visited last week. Honestly, when they read this 
note to me after my presentation, it was hard to hold it together. Connecting with kids is one of the very best parts of being an Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading nominee, I absolutely love talking to children about my books and hearing and answering their always unique and interesting questions.

KEEP READING EVERYONE! 

For more on OCULUM on this blog, click here.