Sara O'Leary's Blog, page 7

Small News

Kerry Clare's "With My Children, Learning to Love the Little Things" in the new issue of The Walrus features one of my very favourite illos from my first book together with Julie Morstad. 

                                                  from When You Were Small ~ Julie Morstad (Simply Read Books)(Actually--like my children--they are all my favourites!)

Looking at this picture makes me so happy for so many reasons, but right at the front of the queue is the joy of working with Julie Morstad.

When You Were Small has been in print for a decade now...it has gone through a number of editions, including a special project with the Mexican Ministry of Education that saw sixty thousand copies given away to primary students.

The book is going to be published in French for the first time this year (by Éditions de L'Étagère du bas) and is being republished by Simply Read Books in a special paperback edition  which is pleasing because is makes it more accessible to more children.

Oh, and all three of The Henry Books are being published in Simplified Chinese by Tiandai of Beijing!

It's so nice seeing our book finding its place in the world and also so lovely to look at this picture and remember when it was new.

The issue of The Walrus with the article is on stands now. It also references my beautiful

The Boy and The Blue Moon

It looks like our beautiful cover for The Boy and The Blue Moon has just gone live. Thanks so much to the wonderful Mr. Schu for sharing!



The book pubs early next spring and I can't wait to share it. The art is simply out of this world!
Will post more about illustrator Ashley Crowley and what a joy it was working with editor-extraordinaire Laura Godwin soon.

For now I'm just happy to share this beaut of a cover.

Big thanks go out to my brilliant agent (Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative) and to Ash's wonder-agent (Kirsten Hall of Catbird) for putting this fantastic deal together and allowing us to make this dream of a book.

Books for Babies

Named one of @carnegielibrary's #bestbooksforbabies!A post shared by Sara O'Leary (@123olearyo) on May 9, 2017 at 12:33pm PDT

Fabulous honour for the first of my three books with the talented Karen Klassen: You Are One has been named a Carnegie Library choice for Best Books for Babies 2017.

Also, a nice mention for You Are Two and You Are Three here.

How I Became a Children's Writer

While I was in Vancouver it was very nice to visit the CBC studio and chat with Sheryl MacKay, host of North by Northwest about A Family Is a Family Is a Family and the long and winding road that took me to picture books.


You can stream the show here and while the whole show is wonderful, you can jump ahead to 53:00 to catch my ten minutes. Big thanks to Sheryl and to Groundwood Books.

How I Became a Children's Writer*

While I was in Vancouver it was very nice to visit the CBC studio and chat with Sheryl MacKay, host of North by Northwest about A Family Is a Family Is a Family and the long and winding road that took me to picture books.


You can stream the show here and while the whole show is wonderful, you can jump ahead to 53:00 to catch my ten minutes. Big thanks to Sheryl and toe Groundwood Books.

*Spoiler: by accident

Schwartz Children’s Book Awards

A Family Is a Family Is a Family is shortlisted for The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Book Award in the picture book category.

Here's the list of nominees for Children’s Picture Book:

The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield; the Fan Brothers, ill. (Tundra Books)A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O’Leary; Qin Leng, ill. (Groundwood Books)Harry and Walter by Kathy Stinson; Qin Leng, ill. (Annick Press)If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle; Cale Atkinson, ill. (Tundra Books)The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Such a nice list (and man, don't those Fan Brothers make beautiful books!) and I was especially pleased to see that my lovely friend Qin Leng is on this list twice.  Here's a little self-portrait of hers...hard at work as always!
And here's a link to a profile of Qin from last year.

The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards were established in 1976 by Sylvia Schwartz in memory of her sister, Ruth Schwartz, a respected Toronto bookseller. In 2004, the family renamed the awards to honour both sisters. The Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) administers the awards with the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), which manages the nomination and jury process.

Blue Metropolis

Happy to be participating in the TD-Blue Met Children's Festival this year.

Westmount Library
April 25 10 am
Saul Bellow Library
April 28 10 am

Reviews for new book

A star for You Are Three. Thank you, Kirkus Reviews.

Throughout, children’s growing independence is honored rather than mourned, and the direct address of the second-person text displays an abundance of respect and joy in their growing autonomy: “You are still our baby but you are also your own person. We love to hold you close and we love to watch you run.”

This is the final instalment in my collaboration with Karen Klassen for Owlkids Books and I couldn't be happier with how the books turned out. Big thanks to publisher Karen Boersma for bringing me on board.

Thanks too to Kerry Clare for the lovely write-up on You Are Three over at her blog.

 I was surprised to be moved by You Are Three, the final book in Sara O’Leary and Karen Klaassen’s trilogy celebrating the milestones of toddlerhood. Flipping through the pages the other night, I felt a bit emotional. Because three is a cusp, about to unfurl. Three is a person’s threshold to the world, and while I’m ready to usher my little person through the door, it’s easy to forget the moment we’re in

And Here Wee Read writes:

Throughout the book you see children doing a variety of things three year olds are typically capable of doing: saying their ABC’s, building a tower with blocks, having conversations, and riding on a scooter.  I love the vintage/contemporary and whimsical feel to all of the illustrations.  I also like the warm and inviting choice of color palette the illustrator used.  There is also a diverse cast of toddlers which depicts that the same developmental changes are evident in different races and cultures around the world.

Una familgilia...

The Italian edition of our Family book looks very promising:  UNA FAMIGLIA E' UNA FAMIGLIA...SEMPRE! 

And you can peek inside here.                                                                                                                                             Art by: Qin Leg

UNA FAMIGLIA E' UNA FAMIGLIA..SEMPRE!

Autore: O'LEARY SARA
EAN: 9788865321959
Editore: MARGHERITA EDIZIONI
Collana: LIBRI ILLUSTRATI
Pagine: 36

Oggi, a scuola, abbiamo parlato di famiglie. La maestra ci ha chiesto cosa rende speciale, secondo noi, la nostra famiglia. Io non sapevo proprio cosa rispondere. La mia famiglia è diversa dalle altre... Un dolcissimo libro che mostra quanto le famiglie siano tanto diverse ma tutte... BELLISSIME!

Family Visit!

Very pleased to be visiting Collage Collage in Vancouver next month to celebrate the family book in what looks to be the perfect place!
Big thanks to Erin Boniferro and to Kellie Diguangco for setting this up and to Cindy Ma at Groundwood Books for making it all happen.



   
Saturday, March     11th

12 pm - 2 pm 

FREE  


Collage Collage 

Meet Sara O’Leary  

Sara is the author of the beloved book series co-created with Julie Morstad, the Henry series: When You Were Small, Where You Came From, and When I Was Small as well as their recent collaboration: This is Sadie.  

Sara will be reading and signing for her new book from Groundwood Books, A Family Is A Family Is A Family.  

A beautiful celebration of the diverse types of families we are a part of today. Join in our craft by making and celebrating your family.