I am pleased to share "This Is Silly!", my first children's book, published by Scholastic Press.

The book encourages silliness in children and parents alike. As I said at the launch: "I wrote the book to give kids a license to be silly, because not enough parents and teachers embrace that kind of creative expression. My parents encouraged and laughed at my silliness -- ultimately that was the key to my success."

Every illustration was created using silk-screen printing -- some pages required up to 17 colours and 11 screens to achieve the rich, textured look. The book features characters like Silly Willy, Silly Sol, Billy Rabbit, and Manic Monkey living in "Sill-eeville", with a warning on the inside front cover that readers will giggle uncontrollably.

The book launch was hosted by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) on September 22, 2010 -- all 300 books sold out in a couple of hours. The AGO also featured the original artworks from the book in a special exhibition.

Following the book's success, I partnered with Indigo Books & Music to release a line of six handcrafted retro wooden toys -- the first time Indigo had partnered with an artist to create exclusive toys. As Trevor Dayton, VP of Indigo Kids, said: "I'm thrilled to partner with an artist as singular and talented as Gary. The toys he created for us are spectacular!"

Toy names: Chalk Draw, Flip Floppy, Ladder Fun, Trapeze Toy, Whirly, and Peck Peck -- all available in designer boxes with hand-signed certificates.

"This Is Silly!" is available at shop.garytaxali.com. Wooden toys also available in the toys section.