Philippa Dowding

Readings

How do you get rid of a gargoyle? Katherine, the twelve-year-old character in my books, has to face a real problem in her backyard: a naughty 400-year-old gargoyle. He’s rude, he gets her into trouble, and he’s not going away anytime soon.

Children get a chance to tell me how THEY would get rid of a gargoyle in their backyard. The answers are very interesting, and open the floor to discussion about difference, urban living, compassion and inclusion. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

Book Sales:

Philippa can bring copies of her books to the readings for students to purchase and have autographed.

Biography

One winter night Philippa Dowding was telling her children a bedtime story, inspired by some very lifelike gargoyles they had seen in an antique store in Toronto that day. The story about a sad, lost little gargoyle went on for several nights, until finally Philippa’s daughter told her to write the story down.

Which she did! That bedtime story became the basis for The Lost Gargoyle Books, an award-nominated series which includes The Gargoyle in My Yard (2009), a Diamond Willow 2011 nominated book and a Canadian Children’s Book Centre BEST BOOK selection for 2010, The Gargoyle Overhead (2010), a Silver Birch Express 2012 nominee, and The Gargoyle at the Gates (coming in 2013).

Philippa has made her living working with words. She studied English Language & Literature at The University of Toronto, and read all the books she could ever want. She earned a Master of Arts degree and worked in the publishing industry as a magazine copywriter, a job she still enjoys today. She learned how to research and write copy on any topic from fashion, to pets, to parenting and she has won several awards for different magazines including Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Today’s Parent and Canada’s History. Philippa is also a published poet. Her work has appeared in The Adirondack Review, The Literary Review of Canada and many other journals.

Philippa lives in Toronto with her family. Her website is www.pdowding.com