Author Archives: Deborah Hodge

Nature ABC for Toddlers

Bears amble, cougars prowl and eagles nest in this beautiful nature alphabet book celebrating the Pacific west coast!

It’s been such fun to create a board book for the youngest readers! Here is the first page from West Coast Wild ABC.

Babies and toddlers can delight in the gorgeous watercolour illustrations and learn about the fascinating creatures that inhabit this region. As they turn the pages, they will see an ancient rainforest, a rugged beach and the majestic Pacific Ocean. In addition, the large upper and lowercase letters accompanying the art may be used to encourage alphabet recognition.

This little book will be available on May 1, or it can be pre-ordered at your local bookstore or online now!

West Coast Wild at Low Tide

Illustrated by Karen Reczuch; published by Groundwood Books

Imagine what you might see on a beach walk at low tide…

At the edge of the Pacific Ocean, where land and sea meet, lies a narrow strip of beach called the intertidal zone. Endless tides move back and forth across the zone twice a day. Here a remarkable community of hardy shoreline creatures flourishes in an environment of ever-changing conditions.

In the third book in the West Coast Wild series, young readers will discover brightly colored sea stars, a giant Pacific octopus, busy hermit crabs, delicate sand dollars, fish that camouflage and other intriguing marine animals. Enjoy learning fascinating facts about each creature as Karen Reczuch’s vibrant watercolor illustrations bring the magnificent shoreline and its unique inhabitants to life.

“A great way to prepare youngsters for their first adventure at the seashore when the tide is out, giving them the tools to identify the accessible creatures they’ll see and making the experience all the more meaningful. Highly Recommended.” Canadian Review of Materials

“Anyone visiting the intertidal zone will be armed with a superb resource for finding and identifying the life forms at the low tide. But one doesn’t need to be planning a trip to enjoy and learn from this delightful picture book.” Shelf Awareness, Starred Review.

Read about the fun collaboration between author and illustrator on 49th Shelf. And see the Teacher’s Guide for classroom activities.

 

West Coast Wild ABC

Illustrated by Karen Reczuch; published by Groundwood Books

Explore the wild and wonderful Pacific west coast from A to Z in our new board book!

Bears amble, cougars prowl and eagles nest in a richly illustrated nature alphabet book celebrating the Pacific west coast. This beautiful board book was created especially for a very young audience.

Babies and toddlers will delight in the gorgeous watercolour illustrations and fascinating creatures that inhabit the ancient rainforest, rugged beach and majestic Pacific Ocean.

The large upper and lowercase alphabet letters on each page encourage letter recognition, while the short simple text provides young children with an opportunity to learn the names of wild creatures local to the area.

A delightful introduction to the beauty and splendour of the Pacific west coast!

“Definitely a board book to be added to home collections as well those institutions serving the very young. Highly Recommended.” Canadian Review of Materials

West Coast Wild ABC

West Coast Wild ABC

A West Coast Wild book for babies and toddlers! I’m very happy to announce that I’ve written my first board book – and what fun it was! So few words! It will be released in the spring alongside West Coast Wild at Low Tide (see previous post).

I’m thrilled to add to the series about the wild and wonderful Pacific west coast. I hope you enjoy the books!

Coming Soon

Over the long pandemic days, I plucked away at a new manuscript and I am happy to say that in just a few months, the book – with Karen Reczuch’s beautiful illustrations! –  will be released.

Yesterday, I received the art for the new cover and it is gorgeous! (As you can see here.) This book will join the earlier two I wrote about the magnificent Pacific west coast and its unique and wonderful creatures.

More to come on this soon. For now, please join me in enjoying this striking new cover!

Reading Through the Pandemic

It has been a long, difficult, isolating pandemic and we have all felt its far-reaching and troubling effects. Some of us have suffered big losses and the deaths of people close to us.

As light begins to shine on the horizon (thank you science, vaccines and the goodness of people who followed the daunting restrictions), we can look to a brighter future and a resumption of many parts of our pre-pandemic life.

Will any of us be the same? I doubt it. But I hope we can forge ahead on a renewed and more optimistic path.

What saved me during the pandemic? Books! Many, many books. I have read more over the past year and a half than ever before in my life (and I have always been a voracious reader). So this note is a deep thank you to all the dedicated authors who, in good times and bad, work so diligently at creating works that inspire, educate, entertain and open us up to new worlds and experiences.

I have kept a reading log of the best books, annotated, so that I can always look back and remember what got me through the pandemic. And one of these days, I will share that list here. For now, I will recommend the wonderful middle grade novel for kids Everything Sad is Untrue: (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri. It was heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal measures. “A journey as intimate as it is epic. A remarkable work that raises the literary bar in children’s lit.” says BOOKLIST (starred review).

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

It is a day to celebrate nature, the earth and all its creatures. Take a walk in the spring sunshine, listen to the birds and revel in the beauty around you.

I miss being with kids in school on days like today — they are so full of enthusiasm for the natural world and the plants and animals that share our earthly home. But I will mark the day with the kids in spirit and go for a long walk under the big, beautiful trees in my neighbourhood.

This lovely illustration is from West Coast Wild Babies and is painted by my talented collaborative partner, Karen Reczuch. We both love the giant west coast trees!

A Year Later

It’s now been a year since the pandemic became our reality and what a challenging year it has been. For all of us, I know.

In publishing news: I had a new book released just as the world came to a halt. I feared the worst for its success in reaching readers, as speaking engagements, launches and school visits were cancelled. It seemed that all the time spent prior to the book’s release — perfecting the language, reviewing the gorgeous art, adjusting text to illustrations, writing promotional pieces and everything else that is involved with producing a new work — now seemed an exercise in futility.

So when my royalty statement turned up a few weeks ago, I was reassured to see that all had not been lost. The book had, in spite of my many misgivings, sold some copies and was in a number of bookstores I surveyed.

I checked in with the VP of our publishing house and asked how the year had been for books overall. I was happy to hear that it had not been as dire as everyone had predicted early on in the pandemic. It turns out that a lot of people have spent the past year reading, and especially reading with children. What good news!

And so, I continue to forge on with writing and feel a hint of optimism for us and our world. Take care of yourselves and keep reading!

Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

Mark your calendars! Tuesday, March 23 is the annual panel of authors and illustrators of children’s books giving you an inside look at how to get your work published. This year, of course, the presentation is virtual — but, as always, it will be full of interesting information

If you’ve always wanted to create a book for children or teens, tune in for some great advice. You can follow this link to register or simply go to the Vancouver Public Library events page and check out the sessions for March 23.

Have fun! Get inspired! Get published!