Liz Ledden is a Sydney-based kids’ book author of quirky, fun and warm-hearted stories. Liz’s published picture books are Everyone Wants an Octopus Book!, Walking Your Human and Tulip and Brutus.
A bit of bookish highlight reel incoming … Everyone Wants an Octopus Book! was reviewed in Publishers Weekly! If not familiar, it’s the main US publication for all things book industry. In the US it’s a print mag and also a website, but be warned, without a subscription you can only a view a max of three articles a month (and of course I’m maxed out within minutes). So the other exciting news, and why it was reviewed in PW, is that Everyone Wants an Octopus Book! is going to be for sale in the US and Canada from 5 November 2024! Pre-orders are open via Barnes and Noble, Powell’s Books and more.
Super excited to share the cover of my upcoming picture book, EVERYONE WANTS AN OCTOPUS BOOK!, illustrated by Makoto Koji and published by Hardie Grant/Bright Light Publishing!
So, what’s it about? Besides octopuses, of course!
Everyone Wants an Octopus Book! is a thought-provoking picture book about about how everyone deserves to see themselves in books.
Inky the octopus wants to read a book with a character that looks like them. With their best friend, Quack the duck, they scour every shelf, but all they seem to find are more books about ducks! Why aren’t there any stories with octopuses? They decide maybe it’s time for one.
It’s due out in early-March 2024 and pre-orders are open here. Can’t wait to share more as time gets closer!
A big bookish highlight – my picture book Walking Your Human (illustrated by Gabriella Petruso, published by Larrikin House) has been translated into Korean, which means it’s now available in Korea!!
It’s been so exciting to hold a real life copy and pour over all the little details, discovering small differences from the original (language aside!). Things like spot gloss on the leashes on the cover, and the barcode on the back now being bone-shaped. Seriously cute! I hope lots of dog owners and lovers in Korea cross paths with this book, it’s been a fun ride seeing where it travels and lands!
A few exciting Walking Your Human bits and pieces of late:
Book subscription business Bubs and Books included Walking Your Human in their recent dog-themed book box! This is a monthly book box curated by a qualified Teacher Librarian (excellent for gifts) – you can check them out here.
Bibliotherapist and kids’ book author Dr Zewlan Moor of Byron Bibliotherapy compiled a 2021 Standout Picture Book list, with the help of a bunch of authorly friends (pictured above). I contributed an absolute favourite of mine – quirky friendship tale A Pair of Pears and an Orange by Anna McGregor (published by Scribble), and was then honoured to see Walking Your Human there too, nominated by author Carla Fitzgerald. Check out the list here for some excellent reads from the past year!
CBCA’s Reading Time newsletter also included Walking Your Human in a round-up of 2021’s best reads, as picked by their team of reviewers. On WYH: ‘full of humour, engagement and diversity in both people and dogs and there are many discussion points for younger readers’. Yay!
A Korean translation of WYH is on its way – stay tuned for news, and I cannot wait to hold a Korean version in my hands (and take it out for celebratory Korean fried chicken or bibimbap!).
Did you know WYH is available in paperback? It’s only $13.95 via Booktopia at the moment!
Auction alert! Amazing author Zanni Louise’s huge auction to support the town of Lismore, NSW in its recovery from the devastating floods has so much to offer. I have a 3-book Tulip and Brutus book pack (with some merch and bug fun included), as well as three spots on One More Page podcast for kids’ book promo. Check out the huge array of items on offer here!
This zany little picture book has been out in the world for two months already! Time sure does fly when you’re talking walking. Own podcast aside (where I interviewed publishers Larrikin House and held a book giveaway) I’ve popped up on a few other fab podcasts, too!
For bookish backstory, picture book chat and all things dogs, take a listen to the following podcast episodes …
Words and Nerds with Dani Vee:
Reading with a Chance of Tacos with Ken Williams:
Jack Russell Parents Podcast (US) with Becca and Gabe:
Own pod with Kate Simpson and Nat Amoore, One More Page:
And one more podcasterly pop up – the amazing Dani Vee talks Walking Your Human in an episode of The Weekend Booktopian podcast (around the 25 min mark):
Happy listening! I don’t know about you, but my podcast feed is ever-growing and it’s honestly hard to keep up! Not a bad problem to have though. I always look forward to the next ep of my favourites, the ones that feel like a friend in your ear. People say this to us about One More Page (which is ridiculously flattering, right?!) but I totally know the feeling!
My latest picture book Walking Your Human is finally here, and it’s so exciting to see the real-life book and hold it in my hands. Yay! It’s full of all-knowing advice from a cast of sassy dogs on the best things to do on a walk. Super happy with the fun illustrations by Gabriella Petruso, and it’s been great working with team Larrikin House, the book’s publisher!
To celebrate, there’s a virtual book launch happening soon on Twitter (Tuesday 9 Feb, 8.30pm Sydney time). Here are all the details:
I’m so excited for Archie the StoryHound to help host the launch, along with fabulous picture book author Debra Tidball(THE SCARED BOOK, WHEN I SEE GRANDMA). If you’ve ever joined in a Twitter chat, it will essentially run the same way, where you join the chat/answer qs, and follow and use a hashtag – this time, #walkingyourhuman – with each tweet.
Here are a couple of things you can pre-prepare, should you be so nerdily inclined (hehe – this is so what I do for bookish Twitter chats!):
Share your favourite dog gif! We all know gifs make the Twittersphere go round, and we want to see your cutest/weirdest/funniest dog gifs to share the puppy love.
Show us your favourite furry friend! We’d love to see pics of your own reading or writing mascot, canine or otherwise. Sure, it might actually be a cat, a ferret or even a stuffed toy. Or it might just be you in a onesie!
Let’s talk walks. What’s the strangest or most hilarious thing your dog (or your human) does on a walk?
And if you were being walked by a dog, where’s the *ultimate* place they could take you?
Also, you might want to BYO snacks. Soz, but as this is virtual there’ll be no book themey cupcakes this time! Show us what you’re snacking on, or share what you WISH was on offer!
Bring your burning qs! We’ll have an ‘ask the author’ segment where you can ask anything you like about the making of Walking Your Human, writing, picture books – anything! You may even have a q for Archie the StoryHound!
There’ll also be a giveaway, where a chat participant will win a hardcover copy of Walking Your Human, plus a bit of puppy merch.
Finally, don’t forget to use #walkingyourhuman in each tweet, so anyone following the chat will see it. Hope to see you there!
P.S. Here’s the WALKING YOUR HUMAN book trailer, to put you in the mood!
Our podcast One More Page features in the latest issue of Newswrite magazine, the member mag for Writing NSW. Hooray! It was exciting to be approached by the centre for this, especially since it’s our podcast HQ, plus we’re often there for writing critique groups in non-Corona times. I definitely have a soft spot for this place (the late night haunted feeling just adds to the charm). Here’s the piece:
Also on the podcast front, we’ve pulled together the last few episodes of One More Page via recording everything online (as is the way right now). Actually missing that kooky little Harry Potter room under the stairs at Writing NSW! I interviewed author Mick Elliot for our ‘Gross is Good’ episode, and we’ve also had agent Danielle Binks, Real Pigeons author Andrew McDonald and Laura Harris from Penguin Random House on the show (plus Adrian Beck in Ep 48’s Kids Capers, despite him being completely unaware – cue lawsuit). You can check them out here:
And another super exciting happening of late – the launch of my podcast co-host Nat’s latest middle grade book, The Power of Positive Pranking, complete with socially-distanced book launch at Berkelouw Leichhardt. Nat also celebrated the launch online via an *epic* reading of the first couple of chapters of the book by an array of kidlit creators, from Matt Cosgrove to Sally Rippin. Superstar UK author Katherine Rundell is even there! I was so thrilled to be included – see my little cameo between Zanni Louise and James Foley:
And here’s team OMP on launch day – excitement! Rachel at Berkelouw (who also hosted my picture book launch!) did an amazing job at setting up the store, from a prank hunt for the kids to installing Nat in the window, sneeze guard and all. Brilliant!
Coming up, I’ve just interviewed author Julianne Negri. It was so amazing hearing more about her debut middle grade novel, The Secret Library of Hummingbird House. Definite perks of the podcast – not only getting access to exciting new books before they hit the shelves, but delving deeper into the inspirations behind the stories. Looking forward to sharing this one, the book is simply magical. It features family problems as protagonist Hattie Maxwell deals with her parents divorce, melded with a timeslip adventure in an old house with a hidden library, a tree that grows lollies and so much more. It’s the kind of book I would’ve absolutely devoured and loved as a late-primary school aged reader.
In the time of Corona it’s allll about the simple things in life. Enter puzzles. And books. And books as puzzles. I discovered this awesome book puzzle site via Tania McCartney’s highly devourable blog. And hey presto, here’s the cover of Tulip and Brutus in puzzle form.
See if you can beat my completion time. It took me 9 minutes and 42 seconds (which in hindsight sounds kind of long!).
Did I mention T&B has endpapers? It has endpapers!
In this cooped up time of Corona, there’s a bigger need than ever for ways to keep kids entertained, educated, or ideally a sneaky combo of both. Enter – bookish activity sheets!
I’ve put together some downloadable activities for kids themed around my bug and friendship picture book, Tulip and Brutus. They’re suitable for preschoolers through to primary schoolers, though the younger kids might need a bit of help! I’ve also included a doc containing a list of bug-related activities to try, for when there’s no printer handy.
The activity sheets can be downloaded from the Tulip and Brutus page under Books, OR here:
