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Leanne Shirtliffe

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The Importance of Names (and Book Cover Reveal)

Not long ago, when I visited my my parents in Manitoba, my mom pulled out a license plate that had adorned my childhood bike for years.

AB Leanne Plate 2.jpg

This was a big deal: in the 1970s, you never found the name “Leanne” on any paraphernalia. What was even more curious was that this was an Alberta license plate, the province that would become my home nearly thirty years after that yellow-and-black rectangle hung behind my banana seat.

I am drawn to names and to name stories.

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you may know that I have a picture book coming out May 2014.

What very few people know, however, is how talented the illustrator, Tina Kugler, is. I am thrilled to present the cover of The Change Your Name Store (minus the title which will be on the sky as well as our names which will be on the delivery truck):

Change Your Name Store cover

The full cover (front and back) is below:

Change Your Name Store front and back cover

Tina has filled these pages with hidden humour. (Spot the empty bird cage…and the missing parrots…)

I can’t wait to show you more.

***

On the subject of names…
 I’d love to hear if you ever had any paraphernalia that had your name on it. 

Filed Under: Un-Ironic Moments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. claywatkins says

    August 26, 2013 at 6:12 am

    Back to school yet? My name was equally difficult to find – Clay or Clayton – adorned nothing, even today it is pretty scarce. In 15 years of teaching I’ve only had one Clayton in my class

    Reply
  2. Mom says

    August 26, 2013 at 6:16 am

    I can hardly wait to see that book, Leanne…looks great!
    Way to go!

    Reply
  3. Michelle says

    August 26, 2013 at 6:36 am

    Yay for the new book! I do like that cover. Michelle is pretty easy to find, and when I was a kid I had several different key rings with my name on them. Of course, I was too young to drive, so I had no keys. But that’s what the names were always on in the souvenir shops on vacation.

    Reply
  4. Karyn Pickles says

    August 26, 2013 at 6:37 am

    Beautiful cover! I’m excited for the book. Sadly, with the name “Karyn” I have yet to find a pre-made item with my name on it (thanks a lot, dad). And there was NO WAY I was accepting the consolation prize of “Karen.” By about the age of 6 I had taken to spelling my name for people before I said it just to make sure they wrote it down right: “What’s your name, dear?” “It’s k-a-r-Y-n Karyn.” The things we do to our kids!

    Reply
  5. JM Randolph says

    August 26, 2013 at 7:07 am

    Beautiful cover! This is so exciting! My favorite name paraphernalia story is when #5 went on a camping trip recently to a place with a gift store. He wanted a pocket knife with his name on it, but they didn’t have any with “Alex”. So he came back with one that says, “Alejandro”. (all those years of Go, Diego, Go paid off).

    Reply
  6. susielindau says

    August 26, 2013 at 7:37 am

    Congrats! As an illustrator, I love her work.
    I don’t remember my mom ever buying anything with Susie on it. I may have to make up for this slight….Its not too late. Right?

    Reply
  7. Meg C. DeBoe says

    August 26, 2013 at 8:26 am

    I thought you might get a chuckle out of my recent post on how I learned my real name when I was 9 years old: http://dearcrazykids.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/dear-kids-how-i-found-out-my-real-name-when-i-was-nine/

    Reply
  8. Jan Moyer says

    August 26, 2013 at 8:36 am

    Love the cover – can’t wait to see the book!
    Janice was surprisingly tricky to find in the 80s. Lots of Janis and Janet. I had a mug and a custom-made t-shirt with my name screened on. It was very ahead of its time in 1981.

    Reply
  9. Wendy Lawrence says

    August 26, 2013 at 10:39 am

    I absolutely love that. Beautiful!

    Reply
  10. Janet (ocdtalk) says

    August 26, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    Beautiful illustrations… Really. Can’t wait to see more!

    Reply
  11. maybesomeday9771 says

    August 26, 2013 at 2:42 pm

    I can never find my name on anything, I mean how could I expect to… My name is Kiersten, uniquely named and spelled. Fun fun.

    Reply
  12. Trish Loye Elliott says

    August 26, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Love the cover! Can’t wait to see the whole thing!

    Reply
  13. Matthew Wright says

    August 26, 2013 at 6:00 pm

    Congrats on the new book – that’s a really cool cover! My name is kind of common – er – popular. (There were THREE Matthews in my class at one point). There were lots of things with “Matthew” on them, all in the proud possession of other Matthews. Possibly a good thing as if I’d had one, I might have been mistaken for somebody else with the same name…

    Reply
  14. smcwrites says

    August 26, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    Going by either Stacey or Stacy (I am pretty ambivalent towards that “e” but don’t you dare put an “i” in it, hehe!) I have never had much trouble finding personalized items. My parents on the other hand, who don’t go by their first given names, would have a hard time but since my mom goes by her middle name of Anne and my dad goes by the nick name Bud, they have a pretty easy time too 😉 (But I do swear if I find any Baptiste name plates I am buying him one!)

    Reply
  15. Trashy Blog says

    August 26, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    Very cute cover!! How exciting!

    Reply
  16. quirkywritingcorner says

    August 26, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    My book has a terrific cover that everyone raves about; then you open it and see the print size–9 font. Magnifier anyone? While the cover is important, having it printed correctly is probably more important.
    You said you were interested in knowing what we had with our names on it. I may not have a license plate (I’m considering one after seeing yours), but I do have a half dozen name plates for desks and doors; plus a dozen different name tags from all my varied jobs as a nurse. Now that I’m retired, I have no idea what to do with them. Maybe I’ll have them stuffed into my casket.
    My 2 favorites–the door tag with one magnetic end that you slapped onto the door frame when you were in a patient’s room. Of course, it was a 10″x2″ rigid plastic board that you had to carry around in your pocket; but I liked the hard slap it made when it connected. Easy way to relieve some stress. My favorite name tag was the small gold one I bought for myself when I finally got my board results and could put RN after my name.

    Reply
  17. Tamara Woods says

    August 27, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    Love the book cover!

    I was always surprised when I found something that had my name on it. The best was a perfume. Plus is smelled good. The worse was a bad horror flick titled Tamara. blech.

    Reply
  18. Lisha @ The Lucky Mom says

    August 28, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    I was a school-age child in the 1970s, when personalized paraphernalia was all the rage. However it was not to be for a girl with a unique name. My bicycle license plate said “SMILE.”

    Reply
  19. mistyslaws says

    August 28, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    Are you kidding? My real legal name is Misty. I have never found anything with my name on it ever! Then again, maybe I should have gone over to the stripper district. Betcha they have lots of stuff with that on it.

    Reply
  20. Kitt Crescendo says

    August 28, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    I have never been lucky enough to find any paraphanelia with my full legal name on it, much less my nicknames (and I have several). Of course then I went out and got dogs…who are also not that common. I got so excited when I found a magnetic guard dog sign with their breed and picture on it a little over a week ago! It’s always the little things, right?

    By the way, cover is adorable!

    Reply
  21. kim says

    August 29, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    LOVE the cover, cant wait to read the book!

    Reply
  22. writingpaddad says

    August 31, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    I didn’t know book 2 was a picture book! That is awesome! The cover looks great. Can’t wait to read it!

    Reply
  23. MayB says

    September 3, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    My real name is Bronwyn. There was never ANYTHING with my name on it. One time, my aunt had a key chain specially made for me. I thought it was amazing. Despite my bizarre name (and the horrifying meaning) I love names and think they have a lot to do with who we are.

    I love the book cover!!

    Reply
  24. Aimee says

    September 5, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Even in Quebec (where we regularly visited family when I was growing up) I was unable to find ANYTHING with “Aimee” on it. Despite this, my mom went through a heavy phase of collecting various tchotchkes with names on them. She was able to find my sister’s & brother’s names (also ethnically French) but not mine. For 15 years there was a sad, sad, totally-unused mug hanging in the kitchen, with a highly unapologetic “Amy” on it, next to my siblings’ properly spelled mugs.

    Reply
  25. adventurat says

    September 6, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    In the 1960’s and 70’s, there was never any difficulty finding “Wendy” on the personalized stuff. I had a similar (but BC) license plate on my bike. So did my brother Murray – just try to find that out there these days! I really liked being able to find my name on those racks of keyrings, pencils, pens, etc. I still do, though it’s rarer to find Wendy these days than, for example, Vivian. 🙂

    Reply
  26. The Hook says

    September 8, 2013 at 11:04 am

    Stupendous book cover, Leanne!
    The world is truly yours these days!

    Reply

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