Ashley Spires in Ontario

If you need any practice honing your presentation skills, then the Canadian Children’s Book Week tour is the place for you! Looking back on a week of planes, trains and automobiles, it’s hard to believe that I managed all that in just a week. Though intimidating to leave the comfortable insular life of an author/illustrator, going to meet your audience one-on-one, or more accurately, one-on-200, was an absolute treat.

It was easy to wonder if you had reached the crowds of kids when they raised their hands to tell you that they got a shot recently, or that they thought you would be a blonde, but all it took was one or two insightful remarks to let you know that your presentation was hitting home. In my presentation, I like to emphasize the amount of work that is required to make a book look good and to do that I show the many drawings, revisions and re-draws that go into finishing just one page. After seeing all the tweaking and labour that went into my illustrations, one child asked me with an utterly exasperated expression, “How do you cope?” I took the opportunity to assure him that when someone loves what they do, making it as good as you can is part of the fun. That and the paycheck helps immensely.

What was truly amazing was the insight the kids had on work that we, as creators, have stared at forever. I was amazed when one child noticed that the stories I wrote featured animals in the starring role, whereas the tales I had illustrated for others featured human protagonists. His observation fascinated me and gave me a whole new perspective on my work.