On June 10, Pownal Street Press author Elizabeth Retter will publish her third book in The Adventures of Easton the Rescue Pet series, Puppy School Pandemonium. Elizabeth is a pro at author events and engaging her audiences in Easton’s adventures. To celebrate the upcoming release, we thought it would be fun to ask Elizabeth some questions about her work and experiences.
What first inspired you to write stories for children?
As a former elementary teacher for twenty-five years, I have always enjoyed teaching children how to read and write from the very beginning stages. One activity that I always found to inspire my students to improve their reading skills was having them do a reader’s theatre. This is a theatrical performance where the students read the book aloud using vocal expressions & characterizations. My students loved this activity as it was a fun way to practice reading aloud and it gave them the confidence to continue to do so. It also inspired me to want to create my own interactive, read aloud series. At this point, we had our silly, larger than life rescue dog named Easton who was up to many escapades so he became my muse for The Adventures of Easton the Rescue Pet children’s book series. I also thought that the fact that Easton is a rescue dog would be an important message to teach this next generation of emerging readers.
What is the main message you would like your readers to come away with?
I have two main messages that I hope young readers take away with them after reading Easton’s books. First, I would love students to be aware of the option of rescuing animals and the importance of giving them a second chance. I believe it is important to teach students compassion for both people and animals from an early age as well as to give back to their community.
I also hope that these fun-loving books encourage children to develop a love of reading. In this day of technology, I feel it is so important for children to be exposed to as many books as possible in order to feed their imaginations.
What’s been the most rewarding part of sharing Easton’s adventures with the world?
Before I was a teacher, I was studying theatre and music my whole life. It seems to me that by creating The Adventures of Easton the Rescue Pet book series, I have put all of the things that I love such as teaching children, theatrical performance, and my love for animals all into one new and rewarding experience. My father-in-law says that I have been training my whole life for this! I would say that the most rewarding part of this new journey are the smiles and sheer joy that I see on the kid’s faces as I am reading Easton’s stories. I love interacting with them when we’re singing the “Easton Song” or having them perform some of the character’s lines in the story. I treat every presentation as a performance and I am loving every minute of it!
How do readers usually react when they find out Easton is a real dog?
It is the best reaction when children meet Easton in person at schools, libraries and bookstores. They can’t believe he is a real life character and Easton is just as happy to meet them! In fact, Easton is becoming a mini celebrity in our neighbourhood. One day, my daughter Keira was walking him when a minivan pulled over and a mom asked if that was Easton. Keira replied, “yes” and the mom ended up rolling down all the windows and shouting, “Look, kids. It’s Easton!” Then the kids all chimed in, “Hi Easton!” Keira couldn’t believe it!
You’re a wonderful book promoter, what tips do you have for children’s authors after their book is released?
Thank you for that compliment. Social media has helped me in promoting my books and getting the kids to know Easton. I would suggest that authors shouldn’t be afraid to toot their own horn when it comes to promoting their books. Be proud of the work you have accomplished and use platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok to let the world know your books are out there. You can also engage your audience by periodically posting updates as to book launches, presentations and signings that are coming up in the future.
You also do a lot of school events. What’s one piece of advice for authors who want to do or are doing school events?
Being a newly retired teacher has helped me book a lot of school events. A piece of advice that I would give is to not just read your story to the students but to include them and engage with them while you are presenting your story. Ask them questions as you’re reading in order to keep their attention, such as, “What do you think the character is going to do next?” “How do you think the character feels at this moment?” You never know what it is that they will respond with, which makes it quite entertaining.
Can you give us a sneak peek—what’s next for Easton after this adventure?
I am so excited about Easton’s next adventure which is called Christmas Capers and is coming out this November 2025! When I think of Christmas, I think of all the amazing smells such as candy cane, hot chocolate, evergreen tree and hot apple cider to name just a few. As a child of the 80’s, I loved scratch & sniff stickers which is why I came up with the idea to make Christmas Capers a scratch & sniff book! Pownal Street Press, my illustrator Izzy Bean and I are thrilled that this is our first time creating a book like this. I think the young readers are going to love this aspect of the book, as well as the holiday hijinks that Easton gets into!
Liz, it’s wonderful having you part of our Pownal Street Press list, and we appreciate you sharing your tips and insights.
Photos by Champagne Photography.
Thank you for reading and following the Pownal Street Press blog, show your support of Canadian independent publishing by pre-ordering Puppy Pandemonium today!
Puppy School Pandemonium
ISBN: 9781998129287
$21.95 CAD | Hardback
8″x 8″
32 pages
Pownal Street Press is PEI’s newest publishing house. Women-owned and women-led, friendly, warm and professional: We exist to give rise to brave stories, and to be a light for community and connection. With distribution through Raincoast Books and Orca Books, Pownal Street Press’ titles have national reach but local heart. For more information about the Press and its books, please visit: www.pownalstreetpress.com.