The newest in the I’M series of picture books by Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi (me!) launches from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers Feb. 24th!
In I’M BUSY, Flamingo and Potato help a very busy girl slow down and find a healthier life balance.
How do YOU discover books? Have your reading habits changed over the past year? Please help book creators by taking a few minutes to answer my informal, anonymous, multiple-choice survey – thank you!
Excited to announce that I’ll be illustrating two more Judy Blume titles being reissued by Atheneum / Simon & Schuster Children’s!
More details and some reminiscing in today’s blog post.
Shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, I WANT TO READ *ALL* THE BOOKS is my love letter to books and reading, with visual nods to the Toronto Public Library (including TPL’s Palmerston branch, where I worked) and Toronto indie bookstores like Mabel’s Fables.
Interior illustrations include my parents, who used to take me and my siblings to the library every week.
Read more here about my book, as well as how the book was made.
I’ve decided to make it a goal to visit all 100 branches of the Toronto Public Library, and will be posting about my quest on social media via the hashtag #100Branches.
Thank you for dropping by! Feel free to browse my books, current projects and art, my blog, resources for educators and creators, and answers to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
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In this fifth book in the series from New York Times bestselling author Michael Ian Black and celebrated illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi, a flamingo, a girl, and a potato tackle what it’s like to feel super-busy-all-the-time. Launches from Simon & Schuster on Feb. 24, 2026! So much to do and so little . . .
To help celebrate next week’s Feb. 24th launch of I’M BUSY, I’ve create these free, print-ready templates. Feel free to download and customize! Educators, feel free to use this as a classroom activity with our book with your young readers! If you do, I will send your students a short . . .
Thanks to my friends Karen Krossing, Helen Kubiw, Caroline Fernandez, Adrienne Kress, and Kevin Sylvester for these fun “I’m Busy” photos! I’ll be adding them to my “Reading the I’M… picture books in the wild” Reader Gallery on Pinterest, and would love to add yours, too. For guidelines and to . . .
Shortlink to this post: debbieohi.com/reading2026 If you have a few minutes to spare, I would appreciate you taking my (very) informal survey on book reading and book discovery. The survey is anonymous and multiple choice, plus a free-form comment box for anything else you’d like to tell me: 2026 Book . . .