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 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!
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!
