Cosette in the County

New children’s book to benefit County Kids Read

A charming new children’s book by first-time author Caitlin Evans tells the story of a city-bred French bulldog named Cosette as she makes her first visit to the County. From a life of spas and dining and shopping and gallery hopping she is thrown into a world of wide open spaces and barnyards and beaches—and dining and shopping and gallery hopping. Caitlin started reading books with her grandfather when she was about three years old, and her love of reading has remained strong ever since. She studied English literature at Guelph University, but decided after a year and a half that she would rather be travelling, although she did return over the years for more study there. “I found really great writing mentors there. It expanded my mind with what we were reading and introduced me to some of my now-favourite writers. My education has really been reading for myself, all genres, including children’s books,” she says, adding that although she has no children of her own she has a very extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books. She ended up writing stories for children that simply popped into her head, and they didn’t see the light of day until she read one out loud to a group of children. “It just felt right. A kids’ book is something that blends my love of poetry, my love of theatre and being able to read out loud,” she says.

With a pile of children’s stories sitting on her computer, her brotherin- law suggested she publish a newsletter through Substack, and so she started B-Side Stories. “A year ago in November I started B-Side Stories. The idea was that all my “B-sides” get put onto this newsletter, and it’s free. It comes out at the first of every month and it’s a way for parents to be reminded of that bedtime reading with their kids,” she said.

She was then inspired by her sister’s dog, Cosette, to write and publish a story about the first time that Cosette visited the County. She did not want to go through the traditional route of finding a publisher, so she decided to self-publish the book using Kickstarter to generate funds. “Traditional publishing takes years, and I thought that seems silly for something that is ready to go.

But you need money to publish, and Kickstarter became a way to take pre-orders. I got almost 200 copies sold and I also offered it to retailers to buy in bulk, and I matched all the money on Kickstarter with my own business loan to produce enough books to try and sell in one year, and see if I can do it on my own without any third parties, just me and the help of independent bookstores and the help of local people,” she says.

She had a first printing of 1,500 books that she received on November 1, and has already sold 500. She believes that starting children on the path to literacy from an early age is very important, and so a portion of sales will be donated to County Kids Read. “I think my love of travel, my courage to live a counter-culture life, and a lot of my sense of connection has come out of the pages of books, and that’s been since I was a kid,” she says. “Literacy is the great equalizer. It’s the one thing we can free ourselves with. For a child to have access to reading, that is granting them access to the big universal truths that are found in the pages of books.” Caitlin’s new book, Cosette Goes to the County, is available at Books & Company, or by contacting her at caitlinnicoleevans@gmail.com