Welcome to my new blog, which now includes content from many of the blogs I’ve created over the years. You can now also access content via category from this one page instead of having to search for my individual blogs, which were scattered over various platforms and websites.
Children’s books by author Darcy Pattison have received starred PW, Kirkus, and BCCB reviews. Awards include an Irma Black Honor, five NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books, two Eureka! Nonfiction Honors, two Junior Library Guild selections, two NCTE Notable Children’s Book in Language Arts, and a Notable Social Studies Trade Book. . . .
Welcome to my Picture Books 101 post series, in which I talk about the basics of writing and illustrating picture books for young readers. I began this series over on Substack, but have decided to post updated versions here on my own website. Please note that my experience is entirely . . .
Pre-order: Indiebound – Bookshop.org – Barnes & Noble – Indigo.ca – Amazon.ca – Amazon.com Please consider pre-ordering? Pre-ordering helps the author and illustrator in many ways. Pre-orders help let our publisher know there’s interest in the book, and might adjust print runs or marketing plans as a result. Pre-orders contribute . . .
Rob Sayegh Jr. is the author-illustrator and illustrator of numerous books for children, including the New York Times best-selling picture books I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared! by Seth Meyers and Cupig by Claire Tattersfield. Rob Sayegh Jr. creates playful illustrations, silly stories, and heartwarming characters to make people of all . . .
Happy launch day to my friend Heidi Stemple, whose debut middle grade novel launches from Wordsong today! The Poetry Of Car Mechanics is a novel-in-verse about 15-year-old Dylan, who seeks solace through birdwatching and poetry in the woods behind his grandfather’s auto shop. When he rescues an injured hawk, he . . .
I was honoured to be an Author Host at Toronto Library Foundation’s Biblio Bash at the Toronto Reference Library last week. This year’s annual black-tie event raised $1,070,1000 in support of the Toronto Public Library! Donations from Biblio Bash will be directed to youth programs and partnerships that support the social . . .
Earlier this year, I asked freelance illustrators about their paid work and how they found it. Please note that this was an informal survey conducted across my social platforms, and not meant to represent all illustrators. Thanks to all those who participated! 209 illustrators participated. I created this polls mainly . . .
Kaz Windness is the Geisel award-winning, genre-crossing illustrator and author of funny and heart-warming books for young readers. Proudly neurodivergent (ASD/ADHD), Kaz specializes in character-driven books celebrating inclusivity, grit, and kindness. Her many books include Swim, Jim!, Worm and Caterpillar are Friends, When You Love a Book, and Bitsy Bat, . . .
(Last updated February 28, 2025) Shortlink to this post: https://debbieohi.link/kidlitlaunches It’s a challenging time to be launching children’s books, not only because of what’s going on in the world but also because the kidlit community is scattered across so many different platforms. I’m mainly on Bluesky these days (see my . . .
Thanks to Tim Budgen for responding to my most recent #KidLitLaunches thread in Bluesky with news that BOUNCING BUNNIES! launches from Simon & Schuster Children’s UK on Feb. 13th, 2025! BOUNCING BUNNIES! is written by Fiz Osborne and illustrated by Tim. Synopsis from the publisher’s page: “Jump, wiggle, sniff and . . .