Are the Kids Alright ... 10 books for I Read Canadian Day on 49th Shelf!

This is I Read Canadian week. Read a Canadian author to support the Canadian publishing world. Read a book, tell a friend, write a review, give a gift book. Anything and everything to celebrate Canadian authors, books, and publishing.

Here's my curated list from 2021, on the 49thShelf: Kids Coping With Crisis

These are 10 fantastic books by Canadian authors, which explore adult and parental mental health, homelessness, poverty and addiction through a kid's eyes. I was asked to curate and annotate this list by 49thShelf, as a celebration of my newest book, FIREFLY. Thank you to them!

The books are by Eric Walters, Rebecca Upjohn, Monica Kulling, Christina Kilbourne, Holly Dobbie, Natalie Hyde, Eden Robinson, Christopher Paul Curtis, E.L. Chen. All great authors you should get to know! Books links, annotations and more at the link: Philippa Dowding on the 49thShelf.

Happy I Read Canadian Day!

All posts about FIREFLY on this Blog

What's it like to win the Governor General's literary award?

 

Reposting from November 2021, because in a few months I will go to Ottawa to receive my GG award, after a 4-year hiatus. I'll be talking about this experience in upcoming posts:

"A: On October 3rd this year, a woman in Golden, BC, woke up to a meteorite crashing through her roof and landing in bed beside her. I think that’s a perfect metaphor for winning the Governor General’s Literary Award: it’s somewhat miraculous, unforeseeable, and frankly leaves you a little shaken up.

I couldn’t be more honoured by this win for Firefly, a book very close to my heart..." 

--PD on the 49th Shelf, Dec/2021

A meteorite is right! In the interview I also talk about inspiration for FIREFLY, challenges creating the character, my litmus test for a great children's story, and what I'm reading right now.

Read the entire interview: 49th Shelf Q&A Interview with Philippa Dowding

I'm still getting used to the idea that FIREFLY won the GG award for Young People's Literature (text) this year. In the photo above, I'm pretty dazed at the news, celebrating at my publisher's office that morning, so much champagne!

But it's slowly sinking in and thank you (again) to the Canada Council. Part of the job of receiving this massive honour, I'm realizing, is to be gracious and inclusive, and to thank everyone who reaches out with congratulations, and to say yes to every invitation, but also eventually to just sit with it, to try to be worthy of it. It's so unexpected, this meteorite, that it will take time to get used to having it in the bed with me.

In the Globe and Mail, Nov/2021

There's also a terrific review on Storytime with Stephanie, thank you!

Here's the opening paragraph: "At the beginning of October, the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Forest of Reading Award nominees were announced in the same week. When a book appears on both of those lists, it’s certainly one to consider reading. Firefly by Philippa Dowding certainly lived up to its nominated status!"

It's really all about the story though, Firefly's story, not about me (thank goodness), and I couldn't be more pleased that because of the Governor General win, more kids will be reading about PTSD, homelessness, addiction and mental health. I hope that none of them live a life like Firefly's (please no!), but if they do or know someone who does, they'll also know they're not alone.

Shine bright, Firefly!

All posts on this blog about Firefly.

FIREFLY is an Amazing New Middle Grade Read for Spring on the 49th Shelf!

 

FIREFLY is one of 10 books named an "Amazing new middle grade read" for spring, 2021 by the 49th Shelf! Thank you!

Here's the 49th Shelf Post 

I'm in great company with authors Mahtab Narsimhan, Kathy Kacer, Michelle Kadarusman, Marthe Jocelyn, Roy McGregor, Leslie Gentile and more. Congrats all! 

Also congratulations to my amazing publisher, DCB Young Readers, who has TWO titles on this prestigious list. Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer, by Leslie Gentile, is also published by them.

AND, thank you to the Canadian Children's Book Centre and Bibliovideo, who have featured my three-minute reading from FIREFLY HERE. Go see what my messy office looks like! 😊

The good news for Firefly just keeps coming, and I'm really honoured. Keep reading everyone!
All posts about FIREFLY on this blog.

Pick of the week, tech storytelling, a librarian's letter, free teacher's guides and more

Coming September 2019, Dundurn Press

It's been a busy week, lots to cover! 

FIRST, I want to say thank you to the 49th Shelf editors for choosing Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet as one of their 5 top middle-grade books this week. 

Here's the list: 49th Shelf Editor's Picks for July 29-Aug 4
Always exciting to see my book with other fine Canadian authors (and NYT Bestsellers) like Kelley Armstrong! August Update, Quinn is also on the 49th Shelf Most Anticipated Fall Books for kids list.

Quinn is the sixth and final book in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series. It comes out in September, so this is a nice early boost for the book. It was also named a Dewey Divas and the Dudes FALL PICK a few weeks ago, which is amazing.

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet pre-orders are ON!
(and pre-orders = love, folks!)

Request a copy for review now from the publisher, Dundurn Press.

SECOND: Alex and The Other, book four in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong Series, is used as an example of great horror stories to inspire kids to tell their own ghost stories using tech, on the 49th Shelf Teacher's blog.

For 8 great ideas and tech solutions to help kids tell their own stories using video creation, stop motion animation, podcasts etc: Books to Inspire Storytelling (with tech to capture the tales) 

THIRD: I received a really lovely librarian's letter this week, talking about Carter and the Curious Maze and Myles and the Monster Outside (books 3 and 4 in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series)!

Here's an excerpt: 
"We have never seen our class so excited about our read aloud. They never wanted me to stop. My teacher would always use that time to prep stuff but when I started reading these books, she would just stop and listen.
...The last week of school we had an Indoor camping day and we all sat in the dark under a tarp and read the last of Myles and the Monster Outside by flashlight. One of the cards I got at the end of the year said that they thought I was such a good reader and that Carter was their new favourite story of all time."

Wow, honestly letters like this help to keep a writer going. Writing is such a lonely job most of the time, it's always such a shot in the arm to hear from actual people that actual children love your books! If you ever want to reach out to an author, do it. They will always be appreciative!

FOURTH: And here's some news I'm happy to finally share! There are three terrific new FREE Teacher's Guides on the Dundurn site, go see:

The Gargoyle in My Yard, Teacher's Guide
The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, Teacher's Guide
Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, Teacher's Guide

Keep reading everyone! I'm going on a wee break, so see you all in August!

The Gargoyle in My Yard, Ballerinas and Daisies

Gargoth of Tallus illustration by Emma Dolan
www.emmadarkandweird.com

Imagine this gargoyle in a tutu, doing a pirouette. Kathryn has to imagine it, since she finds him one inexplicable night, doing ballet moves in her backyard!

My first book, The Gargoyle in My Yard is
10 years old in April 2019, and the 10th Anniversary Gargoyle celebrations continue!

This week, I read Chapter 5 from the book:
Ballerinas and Daisies

Here's Chapter four from last week:
Moonlight Dance 

Also, enjoy The Gargoyle Shuffle, a piece of gargoyle-y music, recorded with the book's editor, Allister Thompson.

Finally, on April 8th, the 49th Shelf chose The Gargoyle in My Yard, as the Canadian Kid Lit Book of the Day, thank you! Here's the link AND below the book, you'll find a free teacher's guide: FREE TEACHER'S GUIDE

Next week, the last week of April, I'll be posting a blog on the publisher's website, about "10 Writing tips from 10 years as a writer", with a link mention here in this space. Stay tuned!

The Gargoyle in My Yard was published in April, 2009 by Napoleon Publishing. It is still in print (now with Dundurn Press), and the series of books based on the character Gargoth of Tallus, The Lost Gargoyle Books, have been optioned for a children's television series. Many thanks to publisher Sylvia McConnell for starting this party ten years ago!

The Gargoyle in My Yard was an SYRCA Diamond Willow nominee, 2012.

For more about the books on this blog: The Lost Gargoyle Series

Creepy and well crafted art for Myles and the Monster Outside

Spooooky. Gorgeous.
And just a little weird!

I love the illustrations for my forthcoming book, Myles and the Monster Outside, book 2 in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series. They're by Shawna Daigle, who also did the amazing covers for the series.

Here's a look at one of the inside illustrations. Myles looks out the car window, and sees an apparition looming above an abandoned farmhouse.

Ooooohhhh. I'm very lucky to have such a talented illustrator bring my words to life.

Also, thank you to 49th Shelf for including the book in their list of Most Anticipated YA Books 2015 this week.

For reviews and more:

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "A carefully written Goosebumps"

GOODREADS: "The perfect kind of ghost story."

BOOK TRAILER for Myles and the Monster Outside

Myles and the Monster Outside is forthcoming from Dundurn Press, September 2015. Please contact them for media copies, queries and further information.

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden is Best of the Month pick!

OLA Red Maple 2015 nominee

"This book is about more than the magic of flying, it is also about the power of friendship, family and most importantly - belief in yourself."--Rayanne, Children's Service, Aurora Public Library

Here's a nice surprise: The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden has been named the Best of the Month book for July in Young Adult reading, at the Aurora Public Library. Thank you so much! Here's the link to the full review: Best of the Month Reading Corner


And another nice surprise: 49th Shelf and Suzanne Sutherland compared Gwendolyn Golden to Judy Blume's classic, "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret," in its Judy Blume/Canlit Read-alikes article last week. Wow. As a 12 year old, I read Judy Blume's book until it fell apart in my hands. I'm really honoured to pull that comparison.

In other good news, my new middle-grade horror title, Myles and the Monster Outside, is getting some very nice reviews on Goodreads. Kirkus Reviews also had some nice things to say about it, particularly that it is "a well written Goosebumps... a gentle but still shivery spook tale." First a comparison to Judy Blume, now Goosebumps?! Quite a week!

There are lots of great books coming out this fall, take a look at this great New young Canlit releases for Fall 2015, compiled by Helen Kubiw at Canlit for Little Canadians (Myles and the Monster Outside is one of them!)

Deep into summer, are we ... many, many books to read ... 

5-Star fan letters for Jake and the Giant Hand

"I really like the book you wrote, because it is my kind of book. It's one of those books when you read the last chapter, you want to read the second one. 5 STARS" 11-year-old fan #1

"I really enjoyed your book. It really was my taste. It was mysterious, adventurous, and creepy. I loved the giant flies. Sometimes I just sit on a hot summer day on my porch and let the flies land on me." 11-year-old fan #2

It's been a busy week, so this is a quick catch-up post. First of all, many thanks to a wonderful librarian who hand-delivered these two fan letters for Jake and the Giant Hand last night at the TD Children's Literature awards. It was a great surprise to have her find me in the (quite enormous) crowd, then give me these two really sweet letters. That's a first! I'm always so thankful when a librarian introduces my work to young readers, of course, but it's really, really amazing when they reach out to me with feedback. It's one of the best parts of being a children's author. Thank you to both young readers, too. Really sweet.

Also, here is a really good interview about Jake and the Giant Hand, on my publisher's website. If  you want to know how I came up with the idea, you'll find the answers in this interview!

Finally, reviews are coming in and people are loving the book. Find some great reviews here on Goodreads.

Also the awesome 49th Shelf folks listed Jake and the Giant Hand as a top Halloween book for kids last week, See the complete list here. 

The next book in the series, Myles and the Monster Outside, is now in the production and editorial process, and it's promising to be just as creepy and weird. Stay tuned!

49th Shelf picks The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden!

"Books with buzz!" "Books we think look intriguing!" "Great new books!"

Wow, so honoured that the 49th Shelf, Canada's website devoted entirely to books, has chosen my new middle-grade novel for their monthly "On Our Radar" feature for "books with buzz worth sharing."

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden is listed with 4 other really great books across different genres (curated by Kerry Clare, I believe). Here's the link for the full list: On Our Radar
And a short excerpt from Danielle Webster's lovely review:

"With one of the best opening scenes I’ve read in a long time, Gwendolyn Golden is an absolutely charming read from page one. I was instantly curious about this girl who wakes up on her bedroom ceiling, and I am not ashamed to admit that it had me giggling on more than one occasion."

Thanks 49th Shelf, and Danielle, I'm really honoured!

"Lively, fast-paced novel", starred review for Gwendolyn Golden

Book Launch: February 1, 2:00 p.m. Indigo Yorkdale

Creeping ever closer to the launch date for my new middle-grade novel on February 1! The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden is about a young teen who, for no particular reason, wakes up floating around her room one morning like one of her little brother's Batman balloons.

This week, Emily Donaldson, a reviewer for Quill and Quire magazine, posted a really lovely starred review of the book in the magazine, and on her website. Thank you Emily, and Q&Q. Here's a link to Emily's entire review. And an excerpt:

Dowding knits a variety of elements together—puberty, hidden talents, independence, reconciling with loss—with a satisfying balance between humour and seriousness; this is an accessible story that readily lends itself to both metaphorical and literal interpretations. 

To see what other people are saying, you'll find some reviews on my website and on Goodreads. 49th Shelf has named it one of the Most Anticipated Kids Books of 2014.

The book has also been listed as a "Cool Book for Cool kids" in the January/February 2014 issue of Middle Shelf Magazine, a new US publication and great for anyone interested in middle grade books (a subscription is free). Read the excerpt here on page 23.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and support! I hope you enjoy the flight.

And finally, here is the beautiful book trailer (that's me playing guitar, a piece I wrote for the trailer). Special thanks to my talented friend, George Panayotou, for the video expertise.