This Is Sadie - Hardcover

Sara O'Leary is a writer of fiction for both adults and children. She is the author of the award-winning series of Henry books: When You Were Small, Where You Came From and When I Was Small all illustrated by Julie Morstad. A graduate of the UBC Creative Writing Program, she has taught screenwriting and writing for children at Concordia University in Montreal. Sara was named for a grandmother who was called Sadie all her life. She is happy to have a child to name after her.

Julie Morstad is an author, illustrator and artist living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her most recent book for children, How To, marks her authorial debut, and has received starred reviews in Kirkus, School Library Journal and Quill & Quire, as well as a Governor General's award nomination. Books she has illustrated for children include When You Were Small, recipient of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award; When I Was Small, winner of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize; and Singing Away the Dark, which was shortlisted for a number of children's literature prizes.

One of Book Riot's 38 Children’s Book Gift Ideas for Clueless Grown-Ups, 2018
One of Buzzfeed's 25 Absurdly Delightful Books to Read With Kids, 2015
One of Today’s Parent's Best Books for Toddlers

PRAISE FOR This is Sadie:

"As in previous collaborations like When You Were Small and Where You Came From, O’Leary and Morstad put forth a playful, imagination-first portrait of childhood, introducing a girl named Sadie who is equally at home in the expanses of her mind as she is in the outside world." --Publishers Weekly

"This award-winning duo beautifully convey the magic that is to be found in reading or listening to a story. The appealing text is accompanied by lush drawings rendered in gouache, ink, and Photoshop that lend it a fanciful feel in the best way possible. With its leisurely pace and verdant illustrations, this book is a delight for bedtime as well as an excellent storytime choice paired with Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon and Peter Bently’s King Jack and the Dragon ...." --Starred Review, School Library Journal

"Morstad's soft-palette illustrations engage perfectly with O'leary's text creating a whimsical kid-centred picture book that will be enjoyed by both children and adults. With something new to discover upon each encounter, This is Sadie is sure to become a favourite bedtime read." --Starred Review, Quill & Quire

"In Morstad’s quietly delightful gouache and watercolor illustrations, black-haired Sadie looks both delicate and strong, pretty and at times androgynous. She’s a mermaid and “a boy raised by wolves,” howling at the moon; she carefully chooses dresses and artfully hammers nails into wood. It’s an appealingly rounded glimpse of girlhood that’s somehow both timeless and modern." --New York Times

“[A] ... tender and playful ode to make believe.... Sadie is never the same person for more than two pages, preferring instead to inhabit different characters, often inspired by the books she reads. Every moment of the day is a new opportunity to slip into a new role. Sadie isn’t going through an identity crisis; she just wants to explore every possibility of being.” --National Post