FREE Teacher's Guide for OCULUM, online resources for parents and kids, and more

Silver Birch 2020 nominee;
SYRCA Diamond Willow 2020 nominee 

Hi all, since school is starting again for most Canadian kids this week, I've re-posted this for everyone keeping kids engaged and inspired at home during this global crisis. 

EXTENDED FOR 2021! Free Licensing Agreement for Read-Aloud Canadian Books Program with Access Copyright. 

Teachers, librarians, parents: you may now post video readings of many books through a temporary license agreement with publishers and Access Copyright until June December 31, 2021. Simply goodwill required. You'll find OCULUM on the list, under my publisher, Cormorant. (All of my books are now available to read aloud, check also Dundurn Press.)

READ VIDEO LICENSE AGREEMENT HERE

ALSO, below are free Teacher's Guides from my publisher, with critical thinking, discussion and more activities parents and teachers can use to inspire kids. These focus on my books, but most authors and publishers provide free resources for readers and teachers, just check their websites.

Here are links to the Ontario Library Association and the Canadian Children's Book Centre, with more links to Canadian author pages, resources for at-home learning, games, puzzles, and much more. 

AND here is a link to the Peel Virtual Forest of Reading celebration in June 2020, where I answer 25 questions about OCULUM from kids, in a live 30-minute Q & A. You will also hear from excellent authors Helaine Becker and Zetta Elliot. I begin @43 minutes.

These are free curriculum resources for you created by publishers, authors and educators. I hope this information helps you in the months ahead.

FREE TEACHER'S GUIDES for my books:

OCULUM Teacher's Guide, DCB Young Readers
A middle-grade dystopia, ages 10-13 (grades 5-8)

Sample question:

Q6. Grannie can remember Cambridge and the boys’ choir there. How old does that make Grannie? How far in the future must we be? (38) (See author's answer HERE)

FIREFLY Teacher's Guide, DCB Young Readers

A young girl escapes a difficult life with her mother, to live with her aunt in a downtown Toronto costume shop.

Sample question:

"Of all the costumes that Firefly wears, which is your favourite? Why?"

For all other Teacher's Guides, please VISIT 49th SHELF for free downloads of the following:

Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, Teacher's Guides

Alex and The Other, Teacher's Guide (doppelganger, evil twins)
Carter and the Curious Maze, Teacher's Guide (time travel)
Myles and the Monster Outside, Teacher's Guide (anxiety, road trip)
Jake and the Giant Hand, Teacher's Guide (urban legend)

An award-winning series of horror stories for middle-grade readers.
Great for reluctant readers, or hi/low readers. Ages 8-12.

The Night Flyer's Handbook Series
Family, flight and magic realism, a young girl realizes that her family history as a Night Flyer can bring clarity and a new community to her life. Ages 10-13. Nominated for the OLA Red Maple Award.

The Lost Gargoyle Series (2009-2012)
A young girl befriends a gargoyle lost in downtown Toronto. Series garnered 8 international awards, and has been optioned for television and film. Ages 8-12.


MORE EXCELLENT FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU:

FOREST OF READING: 

Register for the Forest of Reading, a children's reading program from the Ontario Library Association, which is now free for everyone as a response to COVID-19. They provide LOTS of great resources to keep kid's reading, author talks (including mine) and much more.

For my Forest Friday 1-hour talk about OCULUM, click here: FOREST FRIDAY WITH PHILIPPA DOWDING (you will need to download AdobeConnect at the prompt). There are so many Canadian authors here talking about their award-winning novels, please check it out.

THE CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTRE: A growing list of free resources from Canadian authors and publishers, check the new READ CANADIAN AT HOME resource guide from Canadian Children's Book Centre. They have links for many author's websites, book talks, and more added every day.

YOUTUBE: Here is my YouTube video channel, with book trailers for some of my books, and a few videos of me talking about writing and more. Ask your child to make their own book trailer for a favourite book, it's fun! Also, most authors have book trailers, youtube channels or livestream readings going on, visit their websites to check.

MUSIC: Also, visit my Bandcamp account for free book music (downloadable) and book readings by me. I'll be adding more readings and music in the weeks ahead.

WEBSITE: Also, visit my website for more free information and ideas. I'll be updating and putting more information on this blog and on my website regularly.

MY PANDEMIC MOTTO: 

We can't hold each other right now, but until we can, it might help to hold a book.

PD

5 Take Aways from Writing a Middle Grade series ...

The Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, 2014-2019

YES, it's almost Halloween, so here is my re-post about Weird Stories Gone Wrong, and how to write a spooky series for kids:

"4. My advice for anyone writing a  children's middle-grade series?

Write it your way from the start, however weird, different or strange it may seem at first (hey, I wrote the first book about a giant’s hand buried in a farmer’s field, if that isn’t weird, what is?). Your series template is your personal calling card, your style, your vision. Make it memorable and unforgettably yours from the first word to the last."

The above is an excerpt from my post about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on the Dundurn Blog, October 31, 2019. Quinn is the sixth and final book in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series.

What's my favourite memory from this 5-year journey? What's my favourite book? How do you end a series? Did I know I was going to write 6 books when I started out? (No, on that one!)

Full blog post here: Philippa Dowding on the Dundurn Blog

It's true, the sixth and final book in my award-winning, middle-grade horror series has just been published. It's Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, an environmental dystopia which will introduce kids to the idea of resistance, imbalance of power, and self-determination. I'm pleased with this book, something I've wanted to write for a long time.

It's hard to say goodbye to a series, but it's been an incredible joy and pleasure to create the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series over the past 5 years. The books have been called "Goosebumps from north of the Border" by Kirkus Reviews, and they've garnered three national nominations, and won honour book at the 2017 Forest of Reading celebrations in Ontario. I couldn't be more proud of all the books, or more surprised at how fast the time has flown by while creating them!

I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

Here's my favourite illustration from Quinn:

Clem looks into the Quiet, Quiet, Illustration by Shawna Daigle

I had a wonderful publisher, thank you Dundurn Press. And a terrific illustrator, many thanks to Shawna Daigle, we've had such fun together and have vowed to find something to work on again.

More to come on Quinn, but for now: 

CM Magazine Recommends Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet
All posts about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on this blog
Book Trailer

CM Reviews RECOMMENDS Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet

"Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet is a timely tale about what can happen when we destroy the only home we have ever known. Sadly, most children are aware of the issues surrounding our very own planet, and so they will see many similarities between our home and that of Quinn and his friends. 

Writing in clear and concise language, Philippa Dowding has done a great job at taking a very serious topic and making it age-appropriate. Overall, a very enjoyable read. RECOMMENDED." 
-- CM Reviews, May 8, 2020

Thank you to CM Reviews for this good review of my latest book, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, the 6th and final book in my award-winning, middle-grade horror series, Weird Stories Gone Wrong.

Read the full review: CM Review, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet

BOOK TRAILER, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet

Read more reviews of Quinn on Goodreads

More about QUINN on this blog

Purchase a copy of Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet AMAZON INDIGO

A final thank you to Shawna Daigle, the amazing series illustrator for all 6 books in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series. By my count, that's 51 illustrations in total, including covers. And thank you to my long-time editor, Allister Thompson. Between us, we have edited 12 books together!

And of course, thank you to publisher Dundurn Press for allowing me to write this weird series, and to all the many friends, family and fellow authors who read the books, gave me feedback, and showed up for events and signings! Also, if you've read and enjoyed any of these books, many thanks to you, too.

Top 5 Memories from Forest of Reading 2017

Here's a post from a few years ago, to celebrate the Forest of Reading week May 12-14, 2020, which is postponed this year. My book OCULUM was a Silver Birch nominee. I hope this post reminds us all of better days ahead.

Original Post, May 24, 2017:

Well, the OLA Forest of Reading adventure is over for another year. My 6th book, Myles and the Monster Outside, was nominated for the Silver Birch Express award, and WON HONOUR BOOK!

A thousand, thousand thanks to the OLA for  running such a spectacular reading program for tens of thousands of young Ontario readers. Thanks also to the super-hero librarians, teachers and educators who bring Canadian books into Canadian schools and libraries, and to publisher Dundurn Press for letting me tell such a weird little story. SUPER thanks to Shawna Daigle, the wonderful series illustrator.

Thank you to the school who posted this!

Finally, thanks to Ontario school kids, who read so many books, and picked the story of anxious Myles and his monster, as one of their winners!

The Forest of Reading is always a major event in the life of any writer, and here are my top 5 memories from this year:

1. FOREST FRIDAYS. This year, the OLA ran a pilot project, called Forest Fridays, which was entirely online. Each week, one nominated author presented in the Friday lunch time slot, using Adobe Connect, talking to kids across the province, and across the country, in lunchrooms, gyms, libraries and classrooms, for 45 minutes. My Forest Friday was March 24: here's the link to find out more.  We had @ 100 schools and close to 1000 kids listen in.

Best FOREST FRIDAY Question: What would you say to an aspiring writer?
A: Keep writing, write what you're passionate about because your readers will feel that passion and enjoy your story, don't let anyone tell you you can't be a writer.
2020 update, Watch a free Forest Friday (OCULUM) with Philippa Dowding

Myles WINS the London Regional Award!

2. LONDON FESTIVAL OF TREES: Driving to London for the first of the 3 major festivals in early May, I got a ride with the Executive Director of the Forest of Reading and author, Richard Scrimger (Lucky Jonah). We laughed all the way (Richard will do that to you!). That night I had dinner with authors Teresa Toten (Shattered Glass), Helaine Becker (Worms for Breakfast), Kira Vermond (Half-Truths and Brazen Lies), Niki Tate (Deep Roots), Richard Scrimger, Karen Bass (The Hill), and we talked late. The Festival the next day was fantastic, with 1700 kids, and Myles WON the Silver Birch Express London Regional award! Thanks to all for a great day!


Best London Festival of Trees Moment: a young boy came up to me after my presentation, to tell me that Myles and the Monster Outside, "blew him away." When I asked why, he considered very carefully, then said, "It's the care you put into it." Awww. Thanks young man, that's a keeper.

Rock Star Moment on stage with Shawna (L) in Toronto
Photo courtesy Riley Murray

3. TORONTO FESTIVAL OF TREES: If you've ever wanted to feel like a rock-star ... the Festival of Trees in Toronto is just the ticket! This year, I got to share the experience with my awesome illustrator, Shawna Daigle, who rocked the stage wherever we went. We did a signing, a presentation, and the award ceremony together. It was Shawna's first Festival, and it was so fun to share it with her.

Best Toronto Festival of Trees Moment: Standing on stage with Shawna at Harbourfront, and holding up our favourite books: Charlotte's Web and Animalia. I said, "Books unite us, inspire us, and stay with us, our whole lives." Thanks Toronto!!

Second Best Moment: telling Kevin Sands (The Blackthorne Key) about my Star Trek: TNG script from 1987, and apologizing for it being so weird. His response? "We're writers, nothing is weird."

Thanks Maggie Ewert for the pic; Chi-Cheemaun, Toronto

4. SAULT STE. MARIE Festival of Trees:
Part of the excitement of being a nominee for the Forest of Reading, is travelling and talking to kids and librarians in other cities  you've never been to before. This year, I joined the Festival in Sault Ste. Marie. Yep, I'd never visited. It was so fun to fly in over the lake, to talk to the hosts, other authors, and the local librarians at a party the night before.

Me with my sign holder and presenter, in Sault Ste. Marie!

 It was fun to be part of the literary and school community in a fairly remote part of my home province.
And ... Myles won the Algoma Regional Silver Birch Express Award, THANK YOU!

Best Sault Ste. Marie Festival Moment: talking to my sign holder, Matteo, who was SO EXCITED about talking to me, because he loved my book. It's just so inspiring to meet a young reader like him.

At left: What authors do after the Festival of Trees!
L to R: Vikki VanSickle (If I had a Gryphon), Joel Sutherland (Haunted Canada 6), Me, Helaine Becker rocking her pink bag, (Worms for Breakfast), Rob Laidlaw (Elephant Journey), Shane Peacock (The Artist and me)

5. Winning Silver Birch Express Honour Book.
Yes, I can honestly say, that winning Silver Birch Express Honour Book 2017, was one of the thrills of the year. Congrats to all the nominees this year, and to Jess Keating for her Honour book win (Pink is for Blobfish) and to Andree Poulin who won the Silver Birch Express top spot for The Biggest Poutine in the World. We chatted afterward, I congratulated her, and she said (because she is totally cool) ... but we all win right?

View from the stage, Toronto Festival of Trees Ceremony

And that's pretty much the whole idea.

We do all win, the nominees, the libraries, the schools, the publishers and mostly, the kids. Thanks to all for another fantastic Forest of Reading year! Keep reading, everyone.





Forest of Reading Posts from Previous Years:
Red Maple, 2015: The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden
Silver Birch Express, 2014: The Gargoyle at the Gates
Silver Birch Express, 2012: The Gargoyle Overhead
All Forest of Reading Posts

It's DIORAMA DAY for Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet!

The Snow Creatures! They are PERFECT, blue, yeti-like,
creatures of the mountain who just want the terrible
Blue BrickTM company to stop mining their home.

Today a wonderful teacher from the Near North school system (Ontario), sent me these TERRIFIC diorama's from her students (grades 4 and 5). 

THANK YOU! I could not love these more. (See kid's questions about the book, Part 2 here)

The students have been reading Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, book 6 in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, which are dark, scary (but not too scary) stories for kids ages 8-12.

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet is an environmental resistance dystopia. These kids GET IT! 

Clem in the cave: the fire, the blue soup, gorgeous stars and snowflakes

Cavers in the mine ...

Clem in Snowlight's cave, dreaming (look at the amazing detail in the soup, the fire, the food) ...

Clem's dream ... her feet are being mined by the Cavers!

More hard-working Citizen Child cavers in the Blue BrickTM mine...
look at that terrific pick axe!

A beautiful blue ball of light, the NewBlues join with Quinn to help them find the Quiet, Quiet.
This story is an environmental, resistance dystopia, the kids, the environment, the Snow Creatures, all stand up to the greedy corporation, the horrible Blue BrickTM company. This diorama captures the essence of resistance: the blue ball of kids floating beneath the company slogan: "Citizen Child Blue Brick TM is Best"

The final act of resistance: a renegade Officer and his robot, Dix,
help with an act of sabotage from inside the Blue BrickTM company!

Thank you to the fabulous students for their wonderful dioramas, and to their teachers for reading Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet with them, and for sharing their inspiring work. 
I'm really honoured.

STAY TUNED: Next week, I will answer some of the student's questions about the book!

FOR MORE on Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on this BLOG, Read HERE

Here is the Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet BOOK TRAILER
with illustrations by the amazing series illustrator,
Shawna Daigle!

Introducing the Weird Stories Gone Wrong 6 Book Bundle and my fave illustrations from each book.

Here it is, the Weird Stories Gone Wrong Bundle! Or is that an Omnibus...

Whatever you choose to call it, it does mean that for the first time ever, all six books in the series are now available in one place as of today! Thank you to publisher Dundurn Press for pulling this 5-year project together.

You can download the e-pub or pdf format now: 
Weird Stories Omnibus

It's been an amazing experience writing this series. It took five years to write and publish all six books, a significant output of words, effort and skill from everyone involved, including my amazing series illustrator, Shawna Daigle, who added just the right touch of weird to everything.

Here's a recent blog post with more top memories: 5 top take-aways writing a series

Since book six, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet (Sept. '19) is the final book in the series, I thought I'd take this space to post my favourite illustration from each book, and tell you why:

Dix and the Smallish Officer
Copyright Shawna Daigle, 2019

Book 6

Book 6. My favourite illustration from book 6 is definitely Dix the robot and the smallish Officer, because I love the character Dix, and Shawna captured him so completely (a little clueless, a little sweet, and very brave).


Book 5. My favourite illustration from book 5 is William and the Mermaid Queen, because she's so terrifying! But also because I decided to write this book, Blackwells and the Briny Deep, because Shawna asked if we could do a book with mermaids, one of her favourite things to draw.

William and the Mermaid Queen, copyright Shawna Daigle
From Blackwells and the Briny Deep (2018)

From Alex and The Other
c Shawna Daigle, 2018

Book 4. My favourite illustration from book 4, Alex and The Other, HAS to be the transformed pig aliens trapping poor Alex in their green gazer beam eyes. He-he!

When I was writing this scene, I could see it SO perfectly, but I really wasn't sure how to explain it to Shawna, or if she (or anyone else for that matter) would get it.

She did get it. Perfectly.

Cover art, Carter and the Curious Maze
Copyright Shawna Daigle, 2016

Book 3. I wrote Carter and the Curious Maze (2016) as a love letter to Toronto. It is a time-travel story set on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition, not far from my house. My favourite illustration is definitely the cover (although all the inside illustrations are amazing too.) I love this cover the best of all six in the series, which is a tough call because they are all beautiful works of art. But this one took my breath away when I first saw it, and it still does.

Book 2. Myles and the Monster Outside (2015) is still my favourite book of the series, mostly because it came from a real-life spooky night I spent on the highway after a 4-day drive. It was such a relief to write that scene out of my head and onto paper!

From Myles and the Monster Outside
Copyright Shawna Daigle, 2015

Also, this book had 3 national award nominations, and won the OLA Silver Birch Express Honour Book award in 2017.

My favourite illustration from the book, and my favourite in the entire series, is the triptych of Myles, Courage the dog, and Myles's monster.

And finally, Book 1. When I started this journey with Jake and the Giant Hand in 2014, I had never worked with Shawna, and had never had an illustrator draw my weird scenes. It was a revelation. I gasped when I saw her first drafts for the book cover, and then the inside drawings. It is the very LUCKIEST thing that can happen to a writer: to see their ideas, drawn from the deep, dark, lonely well of their writing, become an image that exactly matches what they were thinking.

I cannot thank Shawna enough for capturing everything, every single cover and image (46 images in the series in total), so perfectly.

So, here is the final book cover and one final favourite image, which is one that we never used: the campfire story of The Giant Hand being told by Christopher in the cabin in the woods. I love this, because when I saw this cover concept, even though we went with Shawna's amazing giant fly in the end, I knew that the series was in excellent hands, and we were going to work together really well! THANK YOU SHAWNA, and everyone involved with the series, it's been a dream.

Alternate Cover, Jake and the Giant Hand
Copyright Shawna Daigle, 2014

For more about the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series on THIS BLOG
For all 6 book trailers, here is my YOUTUBE CHANNEL

5 questions about writing Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet ...

Here it is, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, the 6th and final book in my award-winning, middle-grade horror series, Weird Stories Gone Wrong (now available)!

Usually when I publish a new book, I write a "5 things people are probably going to ask me" blog post about it, so here they are:

1. What is this book about?

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet is an environmental resistance dystopia, where children resist a greedy corporation, the Citizen Child Blue BrickTM company, which is destroying the local mountain.

2. How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Blue Brick TM
Illustration by Shawna Daigle

Each book in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series is a different kind of horror story: Jake and the Giant Hand (2014) is an urban legend come to life, Myles and the Monster Outside (2015) is a psychological road trip thriller about anxiety. Carter and the Curious Maze (2016) is a time-travel story set at the Canadian National Exhibition, Alex and The Other (2018) is an evil twin story, while Blackwells and the Briny Deep (2018) is a spooky siblings-lost-at-sea story.

I knew that book 6 was going to be a resistance dystopia, and I wanted to set it on a glacier and icefield (see #3 below). I also wanted to talk about different kinds of resistance: how do we resist, can we change anything by resisting? In this story, children resist. They run away, snap blue sparks for courage, dream of a better world, commit acts of sabotage, or simply endure. But by enduring, they undergo an unexpected change, since enduring is a kind of resistance too.

A writer starts a book years in advance of publication. I started gathering notes and writing ideas for this book in 2016, three years ago, but my initial idea of writing a story on a glacier is actually decades older than that....

3. Why is Quinn's story set on an icy planet, on a glacier and icefield?

In 1982, I worked for the summer at the Athabasca Glacier in Banff (Alberta), which was an incredible experience: I hiked the glaciers, I camped on the icefield, I went deep into the back country and climbed the highest peaks. An icefield like the Columbia Icefields is astonishing, beautiful, and an amazing birthright: it stores a seemingly limitless supply of fresh water for the planet.

Author, Athabasca Glacier, 1982

In 2010 I went back to the glacier and the icefields, and I couldn't believe how much the glacier had shrunk, how green the mountains were in mid-summer instead of snow-capped. Some of the glaciers, like the Bow and Angel glaciers, were completely gone. I stood and cried at a few places along the highway on that trip in 2010.

Where was the ice? The streams? The snow? It had only been 28 years since I was last there, and those seemingly permanent glaciers were shrinking ... or gone. Today in 2019, nine years after my last visit, the glaciers are shrinking faster than they were in 2010.

Anyone paying attention over the past 30 years knows that the environment is changing, that climate crisis is real. And of course, recent events with amazing young climate activists and worldwide climate strikes are finally grabbing our attention.

The ideas and the research for this book began a long time ago, but I started writing this book 3 years ago (the final version of the edited manuscript was at the publisher almost 1 year before publication). It seemed time to draw attention to the environment, to shrinking glaciers, greedy corporations, rampant consumerism, resistance and how young people can change the world. Writers are nothing if not futurists...

Snowlight, Clem and the Commander
Illlustration by Shawna Daigle

4. What is Snowlight the Snow Creature?

Snowlight is the furry, blue Snow Creature that Clem Usher finds as she runs away from the Work Centre.

The Snow Creatures are creatures of the blue rock and ice; they are nearly extinct and cannot get the attention of the miners at the greedy corporation, because they cannot speak. They need someone to speak for them ... but they are far from helpless.

When the time comes, they have a power all their own.

Snowlight can be a stand-in for the environment, if you like, a symbol of power and vision far beyond that of a mere corporation like the Citizen Child Blue BrickTM factory.

5. Finally, what is the Quiet, Quiet?

We can all dream of a better world, a quiet, safe, beautiful place. In this story, the Quiet, Quiet is just that: a better world, according to our wishes and dreams.

I hope you enjoy this story! If you have more questions for me about it, drop me a comment below and I'll answer asap.

MORE: Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet BOOK TRAILER
More about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on THIS BLOG

Happy Book Birthday to Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet!

Happy Book Birthday to Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, book six in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong Series, which publishes today, Sept. 21/2019!

This environmental resistance dystopia really hit the mark: kids stand up to a greedy corporation to save the local environment.

Order your copy of Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet now!

Yesterday was Climate Strike day all across the world, with millions of kids taking part across the planet. I couldn't be prouder of them, and my newest book reinforces their message: we have to act NOW to save the planet, and kids are going to lead the way.

A timely message (writers are nothing if not futurists), and with seven gorgeous illustrations by series illustrator Shawna Daigle, we're really pleased with this final book in the series.

If you'd like a review or media copy, please contact the publisher: DUNDURN PRESS.

Review copies are going out with an author's letter, which I've posted below.

"Dear Reader,

It's a real pleasure to introduce Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, my 6th and final book in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with Dundurn Press, who have allowed me free reign with these six creepy, weird, fun stories. I’ve also had a fantastic illustrator for the series, Shawna Daigle, whose weirdness pretty much exactly matches my own! Thank you to them.

Each story has allowed me to scratch a creative itch it would have been tough to reach in any other written form. I wrote about a giant’s hand buried in a farmer’s field (Jake and the Giant Hand, 2014), and about a monster following the family car on a long drive (Myles and the Monster Outside, 2015). I wrote a love letter to the fall fair in Carter and the Curious Maze (2016), a time-travel story set on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. I scratched a 20-year itch when I wrote Alex and The Other (2018), a doppelgänger story I first wrote as a script idea in the ‘90s. I’ve sailed all my life, so it was a delight to finally share my love of a good, spooky sea story in Blackwells and the Briny Deep (2018).

With Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet (2019), I’ve wrapped up the series with a story that couldn’t be more timely. Quinn’s story is an environmental resistance dystopia; the children in this story learn to resist, and must stand up to a greedy corporation determined to ruin the environment. There are many ways to resist, many outcomes of resistance, and in Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet I’ve tried to touch on some, like running away, secret signals, naming ourselves, sabotage, civil disobedience, dreaming of a better world, or simply enduring.

This book is dedicated to “The keepers of the blue spark,” the next generation of readers who look to us to inspire, entertain, and to hold up a lantern in the darkness. It’s been a privilege (and a lot of fun) to strive to do that with this series, and my enduring thanks to my publishing partners, readers, supporters and friends for helping me hold the lantern high.

Philippa Dowding, September 2019"

Thank you all, it's been incredible fun writing this series, and sharing it with everyone. Watch out for weirdness lurking below the surface of everything!

More posts about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on this blog
All posts about the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series on this blog

Join me for the launch of Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet...

Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, 2014-2019

It's HERE! The sixth and FINAL BOOK in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series.

Please join me for the launch of Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet!

When: Saturday, Sept. 14/2019
Time: 1-4 pm
Where: Indigo Yonge & Eglinton, Yonge Eglinton Centre
(Toronto) Children's Department

Shawna and Philippa at Festival of Trees, 2017

I'll be accompanied by the wonderful series illustrator, Shawna Daigle. We'll sign your book, chat, laugh, reminisce. 

We've worked for 5 years together on this amazing series, and we've loved every book like the children they are. 

Please drop by and say hi if you can, we'd love to see you.

More about the book, a middle-grade, environmental resistance dystopia: Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet

Event listing on Dundurn Press site: Philippa Dowding launches Quinn & the Quiet, Quiet

Our first book, our first launch, 2014

And please enjoy a few pictures of Shawna and I on this fun, five-year journey together, including a picture of our launch of book 1, Jake and the Giant Hand, back in 2014. 

Illustrator and author on stage at Harbourfront, 2017.
What were our favourite books as kids?
Thanks to Riley Murray for the glam shot!

Thanks all, it's been grand, hope to see you on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019! 

All posts about Weird Stories Gone Wrong 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!

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet BOOK TRAILER

My next book, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, comes out in September 2019! It's the sixth and final book in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series.

It's an environmental resistance dystopia for younger readers (grade 3-6), and it's got a great new BOOK TRAILER, with illustrations from the amazing Shawna Daigle, the series illustrator. Enjoy!

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet will be ready in book form for early readers in September/2019. But if you'd like to preview a pdf copy, please contact me (leave a message in the comments below) or Dundurn Press (you can also ask to receive a print copy as soon as they are available).

What could be more important and timely than a book about children standing up to a greedy corporation in an act of environmental resistance? Plus it has robots! 

The book has already been named a 49th Shelf Editor's Pick of the Week for Aug. 4 and a Dewey Diva and the Dudes pick for Fall 2019. It's also on the CanLit for Little Canadians fall list with other fantastic Canadian writers, compiled by Helen Kubiw. 

Stay tuned for more on Quinn!

You'll find all 6 book trailers here: Weird Stories Gone Wrong BOOK TRAILERS

More about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on this blog
All posts about Weird Stories Gone Wrong on this blog