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Half a million reasons to smile Book by Ladner author Ashley Spires to be distributed to 550,000 Grade 1 students across the country DAVE WILLIS
d w i l l i s @ d e l t a - o p t i m i s t .c o m
Over half a million copies of a book by Ladner author and illustrator Ashley Spires will be distributed to Canadian students. Spires said it was exciting to find out her children’s picture book Small Saul had been selected for the TD Grade One Book Giveaway for the 2016– 2017 school year. “It was kind of always one of my favourites,” she said, noting the book is a few years old now. “I always really loved him. I’m so excited that he’s getting extra attention now.” Small Saul is a story about an unconventional little pirate. Spires said the character was inspired by a student she went to school with in Grade 3 who was bullied. “It means that much more that a story that was inspired by a student I knew is going to be in the hands of so many students and possibly other kids who are going through what that little boy went through,” she said. The book giveaway, a program of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and sponsored by TD Bank Group, provides a book to every Grade 1 student in Canada, a press release notes, adding that 550,000 books are
distributed each year. As part of the program, Spires will go on a tour in October and November to visit Grade 1 audiences across the country. She said she doesn’t know yet if there will be any Delta dates. Spires has a new graphic novel, Fluffy Strikes Back, set to come out this week. She has a local launch planned for Saturday, April 9, from 1 to 3 p.m., at Black Bond Books in Ladner. Spires, who grew up in Tsawwassen, has won numerous awards for her work, which includes the Binky the Space Cat series of graphic novels. She was also shortlisted for a 2015 B.C. Book Prize for The Most Magnificent Thing. “Ashley Spires is truly deserving of this honour,” said Kids Can Press president Lisa Lyons Johnston. “Her bestselling books have earned her international acclaim and award recognition. Thanks to the CCBC’s mission to bring great Canadian books to Canadian children and through the generosity of TD Bank Group, young readers across the country will be inspired by the unforgettable character of Small Saul — a little pirate who dared to be different.” Since 2000, over eight million books have been given to Grade 1 students nationwide.
PHOTO BY GORD GOBLE
Ashley Spires’ book about an unconventional little pirate will be in the hands of every Grade 1 student in Canada this fall thanks to the TD Grade One Book Giveaway.
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