'Things happen in a funny way': Island artist chosen for national book tour

When she was a kid, Lori Joy Smith spent Saturdays with her dad, thumbing through every book the library had to offer.

Those little moments rummaging through the stacksand taking books home, she said,was the highlightof her week.

I thought it would be a really fun thing to do.- Lori Joy Smith

As she looks back at her childhood, her passion for readingand her now 17-year career as anillustrator, she says "I guess the love never went away."

Smith's work, along with the work of 29 other Canadians, is being celebrated as part of TD Canadian Children's Book Week an annual week-longevent in Maywhere authors read their work in communities across Canada.

"It's huge, it's such an honour, being recognized as a professional illustrator what I've always dreamed of," she said.

"Being able to go out there and connect with kids is the best thing for me, to get out into the classrooms and see the reactions to my books and spread the love of reading and the love of books is a huge honour."

'Somehow they all find out'

Despite years of writing and illustrating for other mediums, Smith, a mother of two who lives in Charlottetown,is fairly new to writing and illustrating children's books.

She's spentmost of her career creating greeting cards and doing illustrations in magazines until she was approached byaneditor from Kids Can Press, a Canadian-owned publisher, whospotted some of her work in a children's magazine.

"Things happen in a funny way," Smith said.

She illustrated her first book,Noisy Poems for a Busy Day, which came out in 2015 and since then has kept up the momentum, writing andillustratingbooks ever since.

"Once you get one book, somehow they all find out and you get other offers," Smith said, laughing.

'If it's not this year, I don't know when'

2017 was a big year for her, Smith said, with five books released so far.

Since the book week organizers choose applicants based on their publishing track record, she thoughtit was worth a shot to apply this year.

"I thought if it's not this year, I don't know when I'll have the chance," she said.

"I just decided to apply because I did a lot of school visits in May with P.E.I. reading week," Smith added. "I enjoyed it so much going to schools and having that connection with kids I thought it would be a really fun thing to do."

Fun road trip for her family

Smith said she'll be required to do roughly four or five readings a day and was given the option to choose which provinces she wantedtotour.

"I don't know where I'm going yet, I'm going to find out in the next couple weeks what province I'll be touring," Smith said.

She's asked the organizersif she can tour close to home, and is hopeful she'll be allowed totourAtlantic Canada with her family in May.

"I thought it would be fun to do a road trip," she said.

"I homeschool my kids so I thought it would be a really fun thing to do together."

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