An emotional rollercoaster, sweet student letters for Mr. Byrd!

 

One of the sweetest moments for any writer is when we receive letters from a classroom of students who have just read our book! I'm always reminded that children love stories as much as writers love to write them. What a lucky match-up! Thank you to these very sweet, thoughtful children from a grade 4 class in Ontario, their letters inspire me and remind me why I write. 

I wrote back to them via their teacher, here's an excerpt from my recent letter to the class:

"Hello everyone!

I received your letters about THE LOVE SONG OF MR. BYRD today, and I was so delighted, I almost burst into song! Thank you so much for your wonderful thoughts and questions about the book. Your letters have made my day, and also reminded me that the next generation of young readers are very insightful and kind.

Many of you mentioned that the book helps you understand that our similarities are what matters, not our differences. That is definitely one of the main themes of the story of Bat and Mr. Byrd: it's our similarities that draw us together and help us the most.

A few of you noted that your class was the first to read it, and that's true! The world premier was right in your classroom! I'm SO GLAD you liked it. As a first audience, you were spectacular, thank you.

A few of you also asked why I chose to make a bat and a bird into friends? It's a good question. The answer is that a bat and a bird flew over my head one night when I was walking down the street, and I thought how unusual that was, then how special. I wrote the story by hand right away, and soon realized I was writing about two creatures who seem different at first but whose similarities make them friends.

...

A few of you also asked if I'm working on another book, and the answer is YES! It's very different from Mr. Byrd's story, since it's about an experience my father had as a boy in World War II. It will come out next fall, September 2026, and it's for middle-grade readers. Stay tuned.

Thank you for all your great ideas for another book, too! You are wonderful writers, readers, and listeners, and I am quite convinced you also know how to be good friends to the people around you. Keep reading and writing, everyone. 

Philippa Dowding"

Happy and Safe Holiday Wishes to all, and keep reading everyone!

Purchase The Love Song of Mr. Byrd from a local bookstore

If you loved a book (or even liked it), consider leaving a review somewhere or telling friends. Reviews & testimonials have never been more important for writers & publishers. See you in 2026!

When authors and editors write music together

http://thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com/album/fifth-season

Reposted from 2015: listen to SPRING 

My wonderful editor, Allister Thompson, and I have made an album, Fifth Season. You'll find seven mellow, warm, inviting instrumental pieces, good listening for a cold winter night.

Allister did all the work, including the suggestion of putting this album together.  I provided the composition and acoustic guitar (okay, I did some of the work), and he added his signature vocals, gorgeous electric guitar and keyboards to create this beautiful collaboration which makes me incredibly joyful. I've been so lucky in my friendship with Allister, a brilliant editor and a wonderful musician (and all-round nice guy).

Please give a listen, download (free or pay what you wish), and enjoy: Fifth Season, by Philippa Dowding and Allister Thompson.

OCT/2017 update: Album Number two released! Please enjoy Birches with our gratitude.

Philippa Dowding, poetry online

Philippa Dowding is an award-winning children's author, a poet, marketing copywriter, and musician. Find a sestina, and links to further online poetry below.

Sestina: Restore

Let us shine in the tide and ramble,
on the current, side by side, we begin.
Hold each fragment of us and restore
our shingled voices on the beach.
We murmur in susurration,
embrace our tides of imperfection.

Such a constant shore of imperfection,
each shard brimming in the ramble.
Us, the water murmurs, us, susurration,

fed by stars, auroras falling, we begin
in the roll of currents, cove and beach,
in riptides that rove for swimmers to restore.

Waves break, moon-teased, then restore
the staggered, twinned imperfection
of wandering footsteps on the beach.
Concatenation, a whispered story, a ramble,
we mark the highwater, float and begin.
The water murmurs us, us, su-sur-ration.

Murmuration of birds. Or susurration,
of conch, green glass, potsherds, restore
the splintered, cracked and jagged to begin
their pearled and shining imperfection,
the infinite precision of each roll and ramble,
together, the walkers on the beach.

What but design brings me to this beach?
To the tide that murmurs us, us, susurration?
Am I witch’s broth or flower as we ramble,
punctual as ever, sea under love? Restore
me with cupped hands, my imperfection,
as restless children leap in the sand and begin.

Here’s the truth: it took me decades to begin
this walk with you upon the beach.
I am only a singer of imperfection,
a listener to the murmur of susurration.
I alone do not restore,
I can only ramble.

Unless with imperfection,
we can begin.

With a peach we’ll ramble,
singers upon the beach.

Untethered, adored of susurration,
love-shored fragments, we restore.

Below are further links to Philippa's poetry online:

The Literary Review of Canada, Ripple

The Adirondack Review, Then that summer, Daniel

Blue Skies Poetry, Soft Canvas

Best Poem, After

Poems on Philippa's Blog

Grey is Gentle: a poem for poetry month

Grey is gentle

Grey is gentle, in between,

neither one, nor the other.

Not young, not old,

not frightened, nor bold.

This greying I welcome,

my edges will unform,

boundaries soften, too.

Like the wall I kept for you,

leaned against in sun,

in springtime, chasing the wind,

restless over its rocky width,

sheltered in the divide.

Time wears that wall thin,

a few rocks tumble low,

to these I stoop and slow.

Pilgrim! Clamber and breach,

in ash, rags or foolish skin,

worn silver and gentle, it’s true,

still drawn, sage and delighted, by you. 

PD 
For my friends, all greying gracefully

Philippa Dowding, Copywriter

Philippa Dowding is an award-winning children's author and copywriter. She has twenty-five+ years of web and print marketing experience in corporate, agency and freelance settings, and has won numerous industry awards for her clients, including Maclean's, Chatelaine, Today's Parent, Canada's History, and Zoomer magazines.

Her client list includes publishers, NGOs, fundraisers, business-to-business and corporate clients, movie producers, agencies, pharmaceutical clients and more. 

Recent Clients Include:

Magazine clients: Canada's History, Canadian Art, Briarpatch, Inuit Art Quarterly, SKYNEWS, Quill and Quire, Kayak: Canada’s History Magazine for Kids, EcoParent, ​and more.

Magazines Canada Interview  with Inuit Art Quarterly about Creative Success with Philippa Dowding 

More recent clients: 

Experiences Canada, 2022
(Federal Student Exchange Program,
​Corporate Giving Brochure)
 
Canadian Tree Tours, 2018
(Self-guided tree tours) 

WORK HISTORY:

2000 – Present, Freelance Marketing Copywriter
Work with various publishing, business-to-business, educational and fundraising clients, to provide web and print consultation/copy for acquisition and retention campaigns, renewals, bills, brochures, newsletters, 3rd-party cross-promotion, inserts, radio, telemarketing & television scripts, press releases, one-sheets, and more.

1990 - 2000, Creative Manager, Rogers Publishing
Managed in-house circulation creative team for Canadian magazines, including Maclean's, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, Profit, MoneySense, Today's Parent, LouLou, Flare, Marketing, HELLO!, and many more.

Industry Awards: Copywriting

ACE (Award for Circulation Excellence) 2013
Zoomer Magazine, new "cold file gift campaign" - #10 package drove gift subscriptions from current subscribers

ACE 2012
Zoomer Magazine, 3rd party upsell series with H&R Block


ACE 2008
Canada's History Magazine, new 3-part Christmas gift renewal series

ACE 2002
Chatelaine in-book “Treat Yourself” ad. Beat response to previous in-book ad by 2 to 1.

ACE 2001
Maclean’s shorter renewal series to loyal subscribers; reduced number of renewals sent, increased retention.

ACE 2000 & RSVP Certificate of Merit 2000
Maclean’s “professional package”, larger order form and push on three year term. Tripled cash with order, lengthened average term.

ACE 1997
Maclean’s “magalog” Free Standing Newspaper Insert (FSI), 12-
page full colour magazine format. Creative Platform: “Canadians are nice, quiet, rather dull people. (Yeah, right).” Control FSI for 3 years.

RSVP, Certificate of Merit, 1995
Today’s Parent control acquisition package, with “It’s 3 a.m. Your child has a fever of 102.1...” Was the grand control package for 12 years.

RSVP, Silver, 1993
Maclean’s Christmas “reindeer” ad series

A few days in Parry Sound

 

Author, Philippa Dowding 2022

  Oh it's been a long, cold spring. We really need
  some sun! But I did enjoy a few days with family     up in Parry Sound (Ontario) this week, here are a  few memories...

   1. The author's son makes her laugh.

   2. A Pink Lady Slipper, a variety of wild orchid. (I've       read about them, never seen one before.)

   3. Three on a bench.

   4. BIG Buoy! (Medium man, Little dog)

   5. LOVELY view with feet and hummingbirds buzzing      above my head.

FIREFLY is a MYRCA Northern Lights 2023 nominee

I could not be more honoured to say that FIREFLY has been nominated for the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Awards (MYRCA) in the Northern Lights category (grades 6-8).

Thank you to them, this is the first time one of my books has been nominated for this wonderful reader's choice award. The winner will be chosen by the student reader's of Manitoba, some time next spring 2023. Get reading, everyone!

FIREFLY is listed with some fantastic Canadian authors and books for young readers, congrats to all nominees and publishers. A special thanks, as always, to my publishing family at DCB Young Readers.

Here is the complete list: MYRCA Northern Lights 2023

FIREFLY has had an amazing year, believe me a book like this only comes along once in a while in any author's career. While I don't think any author sits down to write a book to win awards (at least I don't), it's always an incredible honour to receive recognition from your peers, from the literary community and especially from readers. Thank you, all.

Author (2nd from left) and her
fab publishing family at DCB Young Readers

Writing is a long, lonely endeavour; FIREFLY took a lifetime to write in a way, since the story is set in a costume shop inspired by a real costume shop run by my extended family here in Toronto. 

There isn't always a lot of money in writing (truth), although you can have a good year or even several good years, the fact is that most writers in Canada have a second job. I'm also a copywriter, some people write scripts, work as journalists, librarians or teachers and so on.

I'm always inspired by meeting kids, and talking to them about books and answering their questions about my stories. That feels like a sacred trust, frankly, and I love doing it. 

BUT ... awards and nominations inspire, too. They are never expected, but delightful when they come. And to be purely businesslike about it, awards and nominations help my small, independent, Canadian publisher sell books, which then allows me to write more books. Publishing is craft, art, and business, and nominations and awards also bring sales.

All to say that this author is incredibly grateful, inspired and deeply humbled by the success, thank you to everyone who has mentored, inspired and given me a chance over the years. Thanks also to my readers, who seem to keep getting what it is I'm trying to say!

More about FIREFLY on this blog

A complete list of this author's awards

The author dressed as her character, FIREFLY

FIREFLY is Recommended by the Canadian Children's Book Centre!

 "In Firefly, Philippa Dowding presents serious topics such as homelessness and mental health in a way that fosters the readers' compassion for the dramatis personae, thus allowing them to develop sympathy for characters that are often vilified. 

The novel would be useful as a natural segue to the mental health literacy component of the curriculum for senior elementary students."

--Canadian Children BookNews, Summer 2021

Thank you for the lovely review of Firefly, Canadian Children's Book Centre!

Keep reading everyone, summer is here. My motto these days: we can't hold each other right now, but until we can, it may help to hold a book.

All posts on this blog, about FIREFLY

Songs from Birch Island is streaming on Spotify!

 

It's a first for me, but I'm really pleased to say that all of my instrumental guitar music from the past 7 years is now streaming on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Apple Music and probably wherever you listen to music.

Here's the Spotify link: Songs from Birch Island

Songs from Birch Island is a compilation of all three of my guitar albums, a total of 26 short, jubilant pieces, in collaboration with Allister Thompson, who is also the editor of my books. 

Or find  Songs from Birch Island on YouTube.

My favourite tune from Songs from Birch Island is probably All the Stars (at least today). But that could change! I hope you'll listen and choose your own favourite. The songs are inspired by a wide variety of guitarists from John Fahey to Bruce Cockburn, from Django Reinhardt to Adrianne Lenker. The beautiful compilation cover art is Birches in Autumn, paper collage by Baye Hunter. Check out more of her lovely art at bayehunter.com.

And someone has asked me if there is a particular Birch Island? There is (mine is in Algonquin Park), but I think most Canadians have a favourite lake with a Birch Island on it, so this music tries to capture that Canadian ubiquity: hearing music through the birch trees wherever you may be.

I'm delighted to bring you this compilation, especially right now during the pandemic. Creating is a great release, artists have it luckiest at this time, I think. I hope you'll listen to Songs from Birch Island, and gain a little calm in the storm.

Update! You can also listen to Songs from Birch Island on CD!  If you'd like a CD, contact me via email (contact info in the sidebar at right). 

More about my music on this blog.

Songs from Birch Island is a compilation of
the following albums and one single:

The Crow's Nest, April/2021
10 songs, click link to listen on Bandcamp

Cover art by Shawna Daigle

Birches, October, 2017
8 songs, including me singing on Moonlight
Click to listen on Bandcamp

Cover art, Birches in Summer, by Baye Hunter

Fifth Season, October 2015
7 songs on Bandcamp

Cover art, Lake Nipissing, photo by Allister Thompson

The Gargoyle Shuffle, April, 2019
Single on Bandcamp

Cover art by Emma Dolan

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.

How to write Spooky Stories, writing prompts and more on the CABIN TALES podcast...

Do you have a budding young writer at home? With COVID upon us again this fall, parents, teachers, and children may be looking for engaging, quality online listening. This week I'm honoured to be a guest author on the CABIN TALES podcast, a smart podcast for writerly children, produced by author Catherine Austen. 

Episode 3 is "Spooky Stories Are All Around Us," and offers writing prompts, ideas, writing tips and a spooky story for young authors. You'll find writing truths from fellow authors Amelinda Berube, Kari-Lynn Winters and me, too.

Here's a clip of me talking about using a phobia (long car trips) to fuel a story, in this case Myles and the Monster Outside: Philippa Dowding Clip

And how some of my ideas come from dreams, particularly OCULUM and The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden: Cabin Tales clip 2

Here's the link to the full episode, beware the terrifying chipmunk: SPOOKY STORIES

Here's a later post in which I talk more about writing: Cabin Tales on Tormenting  Your Characters in Children's Books

Happy U.S. Book Birthday to OCULUM, love, death and peaches

Oculum, cover by Emma Dolan

"May the sun shine, may the sweet rain fall and the fruit trees blossom once again." Then she mumbles under her breath, "What I wouldn't give for a peach."
--Oculum, Dancing Cat Books, Sept/2018

Those words are spoken by Grannie, the older woman who manages to keep all the boys in her village fed and clothed after the fall of civilization, in my new middle grade dystopia, Oculum.

Peaches, along with all the other fruit bearing trees, are long gone due to an environmental disaster 70 years (or so) earlier. Of course, there ARE peaches in the story, but they are just for the lucky few living in the domed world of Oculum.

The cover of the book shows Mother of Miranda1, a robot mother, holding out a peach.

It's peach season in Ontario right now. My daughter and her boyfriend brought me a carton of fresh Niagara peaches for my birthday dinner this week. We devoured them, they're delicious, sweet and perfect. And they're also a perfect symbol of what we stand to lose in this world if we completely tank the planet.

As I ate a peach this morning, I tried to imagine a world without them. Then realized I didn't want to.

There are other things missing in Oculum. Inside the dome, there is no talk of love and no one has ever died or grieved for a loved one, because all the children are under the age of 13, and their "adults" are all robots. But the children grow up ... and love blooms anyway.

Just like peaches.

And death is unavoidable, inside the domed world and out.

Does Grannie get her peach? Give Oculum a read, and find out!

Happy U.S. book birthday to Oculum, which is available in the U.S. tomorrow, September 1/2018. Buy a copy now: OCULUM

Quill & Quire loved it, here is their review: OCULUM

Also Highly Recommended by CM Magazine, Oculum Review

Goodreads Reviews

More about OCULUM on THIS BLOG

OCULUM at the Chiaroscuro Reading Series, June 20th

It's Official! I'm reading from my new middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM, for the first time at the Chiaroscuro Reading Series in June.

Where: The Round Venue, 152a Augusta Ave, Kensington Market (Toronto)

When: Wednesday, June 20, 8:00-11:59

Website & More Info: Chiaroscuro Reading Series

I'll be joining fellow dystopian authors Kate Blair and Adrienne Kress that night, so please join us for a wonderful evening of reading and contemplating the future of humanity. Hope to see you there!

Bakka/Phoenix Booksellers will sell books during the event.

Read the first reviews of OCULUM:
CM Magazine, Highly Recommended
Goodreads

For the children of OCULUM, a poem ...

We have left you,
The thousand chosen,
Kept you all safe here, at the fall.

There is a door,
And you must find it,
There is a door, within the wall.

Be the brave ones,
Then pass beyond it,
The Mothers shall rise, at the call.

*This poem is the opening page to my new middle grade dystopia, OCULUM (Dancing Cat Books, 2018). It is the first poem I've ever used as part of a plot, and in the case of this story it is both an invocation and a warning. I didn't read all those dwarf and elf poems and songs in The Hobbit over and over again as an 11-year-old for nothing (although unlike Tolkien, I stopped at 3 stanzas)!

OCULUM (Dancing Cat Books)
Cover by Emma Dolan

Read more about OCULUM on the publisher's website now.

Order OCULUM online.

Read about OCULUM on THIS BLOG.

Mother of Miranda1 holding a peach for Mother's Day...

Mother of Miranda1 holding a peach ...
Cover Illustration by Emma Dolan

My new middle grade dystopia, OCULUM, has been arriving in bookstores and libraries all month! 

Since it IS Mother's Day weekend and the book tells the story of two sets of children and their Mothers (one set of Mothers are robots) both inside and outside the perfect, domed world of OCULUM, here are a few pertinent words from the Acknowledgements Page:

"This book began as a weird, vivid dream, in which mechanical arms tucked a human child into bed. I’m not sure whose arms they were (or whose child), but I did take inspiration for the Mothers in this story from parenting my own children, Sarah and Ben. Thank you to them for our bedtime ritual which always ended with a little extra tucking before the lights went out.

I’d like to acknowledge that the character of Grannie in this story is inspired by the heroic feats of grandmothers the world over, raising the next generation of children orphaned by AIDS, war, addiction or in the case of this book, the end of the world. I’ve also taken much inspiration from my lifelong friend Sarah, to whom this book is dedicated, who has fostered, adopted and supported many, many children over the years, all who needed loving arms."

Mothers come in many forms, I think, even robot form. In the case of this story, one of the main characters outside the dome of OCULUM is a 12-year-old boy named Mann, who happily carries the family's baby on their journey through their ruined world (and doesn't mind changing a diaper here and there, either). 

We all need loving arms from time to time, be they human or robot. Hug back and Happy Mother's Day 2018!

Oculum is available everywhere
Put your copy on hold at Toronto Public Library
Visit the Publisher's Website for Media Copies and more
More about Oculum on THIS BLOG

Florida star trails, Cornwall coastline, New England spring, Wales time lapse ...

Fifth Season, guitar music by P. Dowding/A. Thompson

A few months ago, my musical collaborator, Allister Thompson (who also happens to be my editor), and I posted our new guitar abum, Fifth Season, on the Free Music Archive. Listen here.

Since then, five people from across the U.S. and Europe, have used our music to create cool artistic videos. One of them, the Florida Star Trails video, won a photography award!
Take a look at this YouTube link to see Artistic Videos, where all five are listed.

Or here they are individually:

1. Florida Star Trails
2. New England Spring
3. Wales coast Time Lapse 4. Cornwall flowers
5. Banished, Gamer Video

This makes me pretty happy. Sharing these musical worlds is always fun!

American Library Association loves Myles and the Monster Outside

"Strange events transpire that will keep the reader turning pages with bated breath. Mixing colorful, descriptive imagery with plentiful dialogue, Dowding creates an excitingly spooky tale. Add Daigle's ghostly drawings, and readers will be enthralled with this second novel in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong Series."
--American Library Association Booklist Review, Dec. 3, 2015

Wow! What a great review for Myles and the Monster Outside, from the ALA Booklist folks, thank you! They've never reviewed my work before, so I am doubly thankful. What a nice way to start out with them. If you have an ALA Booklist subscription, you can read the rest of the review here.

Here's a link to more great reviews: Goodreads
Also, Kirkus Reviews compared the book to Goosebumps!

Puck's Dream and Murray Dowding

Puck's Dream, Murray Dowding, @1910

My grandfather, Murray Dowding, was quite a talented photographer and from @ 1895-1935 took thousands of photographs around Yate, centred mostly in Chipping Sodbury, Iron Acton and other fascinating English towns.

Judging by Puck's Dream, I'd say my grandfather would love my Weird Stories Gone Wrong series of horror stories for kids!

The photo of his little terrier dog, Puck, was taken in his studio apparently while Puck was having a rather bad dream (after swallowing spirits?). My dad always told me that although very well trained and particularly attached to Murray, the little dog was "irascible." On the right is Murray as a young man (@1910?). I've grown up listening to stories about Murray and his photography, since as a boy Dad helped drag his father's heavy camera equipment and glass plates all over the countryside.




This week, google showed me this: Murray Dowding Calendar

The Chipping Sodbury historical society and a local photographer, Rich McDonough, have collaborated to create a then-and-now 2016 calendar featuring my grandfather's work coupled with modern day photos of the same spot. They've very generously sent me a few copies, thank you! A very special thanks to Jim Elsworth from the Chipping Sodbury historical society for sending me fascinating jpg images of my grandfather's work, and also many thanks to Alexandra Womack from the Gloucester Gazette, for getting me in touch with everyone. More to come in the weeks ahead when the calendars arrive, but for now, please enjoy some of Murray's online images.

The Long and the short of it, 1916

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.

Myles and the Monster Outside Gets Bundled!

Forthcoming October 2015

"A carefully written Goosebumps ... a gentle but still shivery spook tale. Readers who have made a big move will identify with Myles and his fears made manifest."
--Kirkus Reviews

What's better than one Weird Story Gone Wrong?
Two Weird Stories Gone Wrong! Now you can pre-order both Jake and the Giant Hand  and book 2 in the series, Myles and the Monster Outside, bundled together as ebooks (it's a pretty good deal too).

Early reviews for Myles and the Monster Outside, are really good so far. Here's what one NetGalley reader wrote on Goodreads:

" ... it's the perfect type of ghost story. It's weird, filled with foreboding and laced with the uncertainty of being seen through the eyes of extremely tired travelers in the middle of the night. This is a fun read for middle grade readers at any time, but it's an especially good choice for those eagerly anticipating Halloween!"

Tumble chicken, by Shawna Daigle

Thanks!

There are 6 fabulous illustrations by Shawna Daigle, too.
Just starting to think about spooky Halloween launch parties... stay tuned!

For an advance media copy, please contact Dundurn Press.
Myles and the Monster Outside BOOK TRAILER