In early 2020, Newmarket’s Luisa Lloyd and her family were looking for a rescue dog and were lucky enough to adopt a pup named Chase from Pets Alive Niagara.
Then when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the lifestyle adjustments were having a major impact on Lloyd’s mental health and she began looking for an outlet that could bring her more joy.
That’s when Lloyd, a teacher, decided to combine her love of classroom storytelling and writing to create a children’s picture book.
“It’s a nervous excitement never having done this before,” said Lloyd.
The book, Part of Your Pack: A Rescue Tale, was inspired by Chase and tells the story of a stray dog who has never had a loving family to call his own. That is until he goes on a journey in search of belonging that leads to him meeting others and finding his forever home.
But as any great picture book author knows, Lloyd said the illustrations would be as important as the words within her book. That set her on the path to find an illustrator and led her to Aurora’s Jan Dolby.
The two of them had never crossed paths before until Lloyd reached out to Dolby, who has been illustrating for more than a decade. She has internationally published, and has 35 books under her belt.
Dolby said that she turns down books when the manuscript isn’t good because she always wants to find a good fit with the author and when Lloyd reached out, she knew right away it would work.
“The manuscript was really good,” said Dolby. “I felt it was a great match.”
The other advantage Dolby said was that Lloyd lived nearby, which gave them the ability to sit down face-to-face and work together and build their relationship.
Lloyd said that because they clicked so well, the process of developing the book was seamless.
With both Lloyd and Dolby being from York Region, Lloyd wanted to lean into the hype locality of it and, as it moved to the final stages, she teamed up with North Print in Markham to have the books printed.
Once the books arrived at her doorstep, Lloyd said it made her giddy to actually see the idea become a reality.
“It’s something I’ll always remember,” she said.
Now with the book available, Lloyd is organically marketing it through word of mouth and has had a few local businesses sell the book. The book has also made its way to both coasts of Canada and even Ireland and India.
This past Christmas, someone even made a big order to give the book to children in need via the York Regional Police’s Holiday Heroes Toy Drive, said Lloyd. It’s also in a few local classrooms.
“It’s very touching to know our work is in the hands of littles in the community,” said Lloyd.
On the website for the book, multiple teachers have provided reviews about how much the children in their classrooms loved the story.
That’s been a surreal feeling for both Lloyd and Dolby, who love to know its having an impact on young students.
“It’s great when kids can make connections to elements of the book,” said Lloyd. “That’s when we know we’ve done a great thing, when children enjoy reading.”
The book is available online through the website here.
