Have you ever wondered what kind of vehicle a triceratops might drive?
Even if you’re an adult who hasn’t thought about that in awhile, Burlington author Lynn Leitch’s new picture book offers the opportunity to find out. Dinos Driving, illustrated by Vancouver-based artist Scot Ritchie and published by Pajama Press, offers 24 pages of dinos and things that go.
Aimed at the 2- to 5-year-old set, this whimsical book has a hidden educational slant, carefully written and illustrated to get kids thinking about why each dinosaur chose that particular vehicle. And it is available now, just in time for International Dinosaur Month (October), to celebrate all things dinosaur, learn more about these fascinating creatures, and embrace our inner paleontologists.
Leitch says that she fell in love with children’s books when her own kids were small (they are now 15 and 17 years old). She became a freelance writer when her kids were young to be at home with them and continue working — part-time, remote work was an odd request back then — and has mostly written business and personal finance web content and articles. For the past seven years or so, Leitch has been working on stories for kids, mostly for the middle-grade ages, but more recently started working on picture books.
The published result is Dinos Driving, which Leitch says is “a love letter to her son,” who wore the cover of his Dinopedia by the time he was 3 or 4 years old. Her now-teenager has been supportive, producing a Dinos Driving-themed colouring page for his mom to hand out when promoting her book.
Leitch notes that writing picture books as compared to books for older kids is a brief but intense investment in time and effort — then if the book is not picked up by a publisher, you move on to the next story. Perseverance, she says, is key in finding a publisher, though luck is also important. In the course of the writing process, Leitch has found fantastic support from other writers in Burlington. The writers meet online, share their work, and offer feedback and support to each other. Even just listening to critiques of others’ work has led to lessons learned for Leitch.
In between writing, spending time with her family and pets, Leitch likes to run and is a new hockey player, and has just agreed to take up curling as well.
Leitch, who is from Vancouver originally, particularly loves to go to the Paletta Mansion’s waterfront, to be reminded of how close we are to the lake. She says that it is a “beautiful place to go, take a breath, be reminded how big the world is.”
You can find Dinos Driving at A Different Drummer Books, online and in Chapters Indigo stores, and online at Amazon. There will be a book launch on December 4 at 11 a.m., also featuring two other local children’s book authors, Lana Button and Jennifer Maruno, at A Different Drummer Books. Stay tuned to local-news.ca for further details on the book launch.
