Retired Senior’s Home Manager Finds Joy in Writing & Illustrating Children’s Books

On December 1, we had the great pleasure of releasing Halifax-based author/Illustrator E.M. Gales' first children's book, Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade.

After spending twenty years working with seniors, creating programs and day-to-day activities that utilized art, music, and dance, Gales decided to retire early to work on projects that have been on the back burner. A recent move from British Columbia to Nova Scotia was a way to re-invent herself and become the children's author she'd always dreamed of being.

"Writing and art have always been my joy, but like for many people, life takes us in many directions and work we love often gets sidelined," said Gales. "When I retired, I wanted to live the work I have always loved - poetry, writing, and illustrating. The Orange Kitty series is but the beginning."

E.M. Gales

Gales' first book in the planned series, is a playful, colourful, vibrantly illustrated, counting and rhyming picture book about a sleepy cat that snoozes through a lively parade with fifty-five marching, cheering, trumpeting, baton-twirling mice. Each dramatic page brings increasing numbers of little furry performers, from ONE marching maestro, through to the final FIFTY-FIVE mice, spilling onto the page in a joyful splash of fun and frolics.

"Full of cheeky mice and rhyming verse, it's a fun introduction to numbers," said author, Nicola Davison. "Kids will want to count every mouse in the vivid, intricate illustrations. Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade is sure to become a bedtime favourite."

Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade is available from most online retailers and locally (in Halifax, NS) at Woozles Books and Chapters. Learn more about the author and her books at www.elizabethmgales.com/

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