Philippa Dowding's Blog, page 5

OCULUM at OLASC 2019!

Hey Librarian, Teacher and Author friends! I'll be signing OCULUM, my new middle-grade dystopia from DCB (formerly Dancing Cat Books), at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference this month.

When: Thursday, January 31/2019
Time: 2:40 pm
Where: OLASC, OBP Pavilion

Hope to see you there. Here's the full author signing list and more: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2019/0...

8 FREE Teacher's Guides for You!

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: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/1... )

My new middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM, has a brand new FREE Teacher's Guide, courtesy of my awesome publisher, DCB. That's a question from the guide, above.

Thanks guys!


There are also Free Teacher's Guides for 7 more of my books, including books from the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, The Lost Gargoyle Books and more.

Check out the full list of all 8 FREE Teacher's Guides Here: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2019/0...

OCULUM is a Best Book for Kids and Teens, Fall 2018!

Every year at this time, Canadian kid lit authors wait for the Best Books for Kids and Teens 2018 (fall edition) catalogue from the Canadian Children's Book Centre ...

... and I'm so happy to say that my middle grade dystopia, OCULUM, made the list! There are some great titles in the catalogue, I'm in super company, and very honoured to be there.

Thanks Canadian Children's Book Centre!

Here's a longer blog post, and a link to the catalogue online: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/11...

It's a Weird Stories Gone Wrong OMNIBUS!

It's an OMNIBUS of all 5 books in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series! AN OMNIBUS, guys!

They've been called "Goosebumps from north of the border." (Thanks Kirkus Reviews!) They're for kids 8-12, and if you've got anyone who loves a good spooky story (scary but not TOO scary), check them out:

1. Jake and the Giant Hand, 2014
2. Myles and the Monster Outside, 2015 (Winner, OLA Silver Birch Express Honour Book 2017)
3. Carter and the Curious Maze, 2016
4. Alex and The Other, 2018
5. Blackwells and the Briny Deep, 2018

For more on the series, where to find free teacher's guides for the first four books, book trailers and more, check out my other blog: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/search/...

Two New WEIRD STORIES for Halloween 2018!

Love WEIRD STORIES? There are 2 NEW Weird Stories Gone Wrong out just in time for Halloween!

Here's Alex and The Other, about a lonely boy who is suddenly stalked by an evil twin. And Blackwells and the Briny Deep about three siblings who find themselves shipwrecked on a cursed island...

Spooooky enough for you? The award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series is now 5 books strong just in time to get your middle-grade horror-lovers reading for Halloween!



Here's a longer blog post about the two new books, enjoy: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/1...

5 reasons to set your middle grade horror story at sea ...

Welcome Blackwells and the Briny Deep, book 5 in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, coming out this month!

There is nothing scarier in my mind than a horror story set at sea. That might be because I've been sailing all my life (and been caught in plenty of storms, run aground, been lost in fog, even rescued crew members washed overboard) ...

... but there are plenty more good reasons.

Like novelty (we loved Arthur Ransome, but who sets a story at sea anymore?), self-esteem and responsibility (lots of rules, technology and skills to remember to sail safely), vocabulary (when was the last time you used the word scuppers in casual conversation, for instance) and more.

This week I have a blog post up on Dundurn Press and on my own site, about WHY I wrote a horror story for kids set at sea. There's also a rare picture of me at the tiller.

Enjoy (and watch out for phantom ships): http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/10...

BLACKWELLS AND THE BRINY DEEP Releases Oct 23!

Screaming mermaids, zombie pirates, and cursed figureheads! It's coming ... BOOK 5 in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series...

... WELCOME Blackwells and the Briny Deep! The book releases on October 23.

Here are the first reviews on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

The book has also been named A Most Anticipated Fall 2018 book by the 49th Shelf: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/08...

Here's more on the publisher's website: https://www.dundurn.com/books/Blackwe...

Welcome BLACKWELLS!

OCULUM at Word on the Street, TORONTO

"Rich world-building and determined characters give it an originality that sets it apart"
-- Quill and Quire, JUNE 2018

If you love robots, dystopia, middle-grade fiction, enjoy meeting authors ... AND if you are going to Word on the Street in Toronto on Sunday, Sept. 23 ... (that's a lot of 'ifs' I realize) ...

... then I hope you'll come and find me at the Cormorant/Dancing Cat Books booth, #236, at 3 p.m. I'll be signing my new middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM, which is all about robots and the future of humanity.

It also includes a fair bit about peaches!

Come say hi. More info on my other blog here: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/09...

Blackwells and the Briny Deep on the 49th Shelf FALL LIST

"The Blackwells face zombie pirates, terrifying mermaids, and a shipwrecked group of cursed ship’s figureheads in Philippa Dowding’s latest in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, Blackwells and the Briny Deep (September)." 49th Shelf Most Anticipated Fall List

So honoured that the 49th Shelf has chosen my fall release as one of their most anticipated middle grade books for Fall/2018, thanks guys!

Blackwells and the Briny Deep is book 5 in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, and is a good old sea yarn. The three Blackwell kids have to put their bickering aside to figure out how to survive the enchanted island they're shipwrecked upon, and eventually learn a thing or two about what really matters along the way.

I've sailed the Great Lakes (and a few times in salt water too) most of my life, and I've been dying to write this story for decades.

So happy it's COMING SOON!

For more on Blackwells and the Briny Deep and the full 49th Shelf List, read on: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/0...

Quill and Quire loves OCULUM!

"OCULUM'S tone has a folksy and whimsical quality ... rich world-building and determined characters give it an originality that sets it apart"-- Quill & Quire, June/2018

What a wonderful review for OCULUM, my new middle grade dystopia. Thank you Quill & Quire!

I particularly love that they enjoyed the fragments of reality left over from our current world, like computer keyboard parts and William Shakespeare. But then, some literary "monuments" will last forever, won't they.

For a longer excerpt and a link to the full review and more: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2018/0...