Friday, October 26, 2007

Crooked House


I was interviewed by the wonderful Stephany Aulenback at Crooked House.
She writes:
The other day when I was posting about books featuring little people I forgot all about Sara O'Leary's When You Were Small, a spare, beautifully designed picture book that usually occupies a place of honour on my mantelpiece. When I found it in Munro's Books in Victoria, it made me feel simultaneously delighted and envious. Delighted, because this is the perfect idea for a picture book, perfectly executed. And envious, of course, because, well, why didn't I think of it first?

A boy called Henry asks his father to tell him about when he was small. His father proceeds to narrate a series of tall (small?) tales about the things that happened to Henry back then. Stuff like: "When you were small your mother once lost you in the bottom of her purse. When she found you again, you were clinging to an earring she'd lost three years before." And: "When you were small we used you as a chess piece, because our chess board was missing one of the knights and you were the perfect size."

This sweet, hilarious text is accompanied by pen-and-ink illustrations by Julie Morstad, whose work manages to be charming, surreal, and retro all at once. This book is a work of art, one that deserves to become a bedtime classic.

The very gracious Sara O'Leary has agreed to do an interview about this book and the next one, which is called Where You Came From. Sara says "it is also full of lies."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

When You Were Small named winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK CENTRE AWARDS

Sarah Ellis, Jan Thornhill, Eva Wiseman, and author-illustrator team 
Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad receive top honours.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Toronto (October 16, 2007) ― The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is thrilled to announce the winners of the four major children’s book awards it administers. The winners were announced last night at a gala event at the Design Exchange in Toronto.

MARILYN BAILLIE PICTURE BOOK AWARD ($10,000)
Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie
When You Were Small 

Written by Sara O'Leary of Hampstead, QC

Illustrated by Julie Morstad of Vancouver, BC

Simply Read Books

“Beautifully illustrated and timeless… O’Leary takes the reader on a whimsical tour of the imagination and captures the essence of what it is like to be a child... Simply amazing!”

JURY MEMBERS: Jeffrey Canton, Faculty of Arts, York University and children’s book reviewer; Myra Junyk, literacy advocate and author; and Janis Nostbakken, writer, producer, broadcaster and founding editor of ChickaDEE magazine.