What a great surprise to come home from work and find a big cardboard box waiting for me!
I attempted to make a very awkward unboxing video, but do a better job expressing myself in writing, so here are a few things I would like to say about All the Faces of Me.
Jennifer Stokes, Editorial Director at Owlkids Books, connected with this story when she first heard it in its raw form and detected something worthwhile in it. I’m grateful for her encouragement and patience as we worked to find the right story within all the extraneous stuff I had in there!
Ella Russell took up the editorial torch with genuine enthusiasm and keen insight. I am thankful to Ella for making the story stronger and clearer and for understanding what I was trying to say.
Salini Perera brought new dimensions to my text with her illustrations, and told the story of a diverse family I had not even realized was there. She also included (without my prior knowledge) covers of some of my favourite childhood LPs.
Thanks to Rachel Bisset for inspiring me with her painted dolls, and to Emily for sharing the photo.
And to the whole team at Owlkids, thank you! The book looks wonderful (and whoever is responsible for the different front and back endpapers, that is genius!).
The design of the book contains a few clever little surprises, one of which was this tiny doll holding a pencil. In order to understand the meaning, you need to read the book (hint, hint), but when I saw this I broke into the biggest smile because I think I know who this is and what she will become.
You can preorder All the Faces of Me here or from your favourite independent bookstore, like Ella Minnow Books!
Laura Alary 