Above: Claudia Osmond, me, my sister Ruth.
Huge thanks to all who came out in the rain to help me celebrate the launch of I Want To Read ALL The Books, my new solo picture book with Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers at Type Junction in Toronto! Grateful to Siobhan Nadaf, Miranda, and Cayley at Simon & Schuster Canada for arranging the venue as well as helping with the event.
And special thanks to my husband Jeff, my sister Ruth, and friend Claudia Osmond; I was a wee bit stressed behind-the-scenes, mainly because I had no idea how many people would (or wouldn’t) show up. Jeff was very patient with me in the days leading up to the launch! 😁
I spent WAY too much time putting these gift bags together. Each contained a signed bookmark with a tassel that I added after manually punching a hole on the top, a color-scratch bookmark-making kit (I mistakenly thought I was going to be doing a workshop at Word On The Street this weekend so had a LOT of these 😁), book-themed stickers, and reading/book-themed charms.
(Above: With my sister Ruth and Type Junction bookseller Max.)
I ordered platters of mini-desserts and fruit from Dessert Lady (thank you, Simon & Schuster Canada!). The mini-dessert platter was WAY more popular than the fruit platter.
Speaking of S&S Canada, here’s a selfie I took with Siobhan, Miranda, and Cayley just before people started arriving:
And hurray, people DID arrive! Some bought books, and some just showed up to support me.
My critique partner Andrea Mack and her husband drove from Mississauga after work!
Seeing all those smiles (and especially the familiar faces) helped ground me, made me less nervous. I ended up having SO much fun! Ruth, Claudia, and the S&S Canada were brilliant.
We had a Kids’ Craft Station but (as I suspected) almost all the attendees were grown-ups, so I encouraged everyone to feel free to do crafts, colour, and draw during the event.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing a stack of books for the raffle giveaway. I provided a custom “I Want To Read ALL The Books” tote bag, plus gave away a bunch of original art as part of the raffle.
On the raffle giveaway forms, I asked people to recommend a Canadian book they’ve enjoyed reading, re-reading, or look forward to reading (other than mine, of course). It didn’t have to be kidlit. I know not all the books listed are Canadian, but am boosting ALL the books anyway.
Here are some of the books that people listed:
Amulet – by Kazu Kibuishi, listed by Kent (9 years old, the only young person attending my launch ❤️)
Who Is Tanksy? – by Bev Katz, listed by Caroline Fernandez.
Night Of The Living Zed – by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester, listed by Aino Anto.
Will Bear Share? – by Hilary Leung, listed by Ellie Arscott.
See It, Dream It, Do It – by Kathie MacIsaac and Colleen Nelson, listed by Wendy Burch Jones.
The Invitation – by Stacey May Fowles and Marie Lafrance, listed by Thereza Dos Santos.
Barnaby Unboxed – by Terry Fan, Eric Fan, & Devin Fan, listed by Kevin Sylvester.
Witchlanders – by Lena Coakley, listed by Ishta Mercurio.
Is There A Boy Like Me? – by Kern Carter, listed by Nadia H.
Moon Of The Crusted Snow – by Waubgeshig Rice, listed by Kristen Chew.
The Opportunist – by Elyse Friedman, listed by Bev Katz Rosenbaum.
Good To A Fault – by Marina Endicott, listed by Helena Aalto.
Head Full Of Clouds – by Joanne Schwartz and Afsaneh Sanei, listed by Hilary Leung.
Wheeling Through Toronto – by Albert Koehl, listed by Gord Mack.
Anne of Green Gables – by L.M. Montgomery, listed by Mili Fay.
Lady X – by Molly Fader (not yet released), listed by Maureen McGowan. Coming out from Ballantine, Doubleday Canada.
Tig – by Heather Smith, listed by Mireille Messier.
The Grey Wolf – by Louise Penny, listed by Catherine Henderson.
Louise Penny series – listed by Laurie Cheung.
Loop de Loop: Circular Solutions For A Waste-Free World – by Andrea Curtis and Rooseboos, listed by Susan.
A Recipe For Rhyme and Rescue – by Wanda Taylor, listed by Nadia H.
Santa’s First Christmas – written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Sydney Smith, listed by Brenda Halliday.
The Fabulous Zed Watson – by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester, listed by Laura.
The Rebel Angels – by Robertson Davies, listed by Patricia Storms.
Mexican Gothic – by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, listed by Kari Maaren.
History Of Canada In Ten Maps – by ??, listed by Guy.
“Any Heather O’Neill novel” – listed by Michelle.
“Debbie’s others books” – listed by Les Cheung. 😂
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who came to my launch in person or in spirit, who pre-ordered my book or purchased it more recently, and/or who has helped support me and my work online.
Now I’m prepping for my book tour in early October. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children’s and indie bookstores Book Stall (Chicago, IL), Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee, WI), Copper Dog Books (Beverly, MA), and Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA) for helping making this book tour possible! Can’t wait to talk to schools in these areas. You can find out more about my upcoming launch and book tour events here.
