• Age: 0 to 3
• Grade: p

Zingy is a baby hummingbird who wants to find a sweet flower. Will Zingy be able to find the right flower out of all the colorful flowers in the garden?

Bold and bright, the Simply Small books are perfect for little ones with growing minds. Meet all these cute baby animals that find clever ways to solve their not-so-small problems.

I am a Dutch-Canadian artist, author, and designer. I love creating stories that encourage inner resourcefulness, compassion, and self-empowerment. I have been a professional graphic designer for over 15 years, working on a wide range of projects from corporate marketing to themed attractions. I also illustrate and paint in a number of styles. My first book deal (for "One Little Bug") resulted from an art show at which some of my illustrations were noticed by the publisher Simply Read Books. Under the pen name Paola Opal, I illustrate and write the Simply Small series, published by Simply Read Books. Bold and bright, these board books feature baby animals that find clever ways to solve their not-so-small problems. The series has over 50, 000 books in print and two of the titles have been produced as apps.

Paola Opal's profile page

p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Saffy chosen as the Canadian Toy Testing Council Top 10 Great Books for Children 2010. p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Perry chosen as the Canadian Toy Testing Council Top 10 Great Books for Children 2011. p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal""> p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Praise for Saffy, first book in the Simply Small series: p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Chosen as a top pick by Canadian Children's Centre, Best Books for Kids and Teens, 2009 p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Chosen as the Resource Links - Year's Best 2008 p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">"An ambitious giraffe wants to do everything grownups do, but she's too small to reach a leaf on even the lowest branch, and too stubborn to let her mom do it for her." - Canadian Family, Review of Saffy p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal""> p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Praise for Perry: p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">"Perry the baby polar bear swims his first stroke towards independence, and finds his way back to mommy again. The satisfying story manages to have a beginning, middle and end with just five or fewer words per page." - Canadian Family p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Family Tested: “We love the drawings and it was nice that there was a point to the story. Lola repeats the words to herself. I’ll buy the rest of the series.� – Allison Whately-Doucet, Mom of Lola, 2, Moncton, N.B., from Canadian Family p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal""> p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Praise for Totty: p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- Best books for Kids & Teens 2010 Chosen Title, CCBC p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "A newly hatched sea turtle, a baby giraffe anxious for independence and a little elephant who wants more than anything to help his mother ... These are the endearing characters in Simply Read Books' board book series, Simply Small, by Paola Opal." Review, Canadian Children's Book News, 2010 p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "The simple illustrations in this sweet book will charm little ones and keep them returning to its pages again and again. - Children's Book Corner p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "Opal uses repetitive language as well as familiar, expected patterns that help young children feel comfortable with the content and excited about the unfamiliar and unexpected." - Resource Links p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "A charming tale that's just perfect for the youngest readers" - ABC Best Books for Children p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal""> p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">Praise for Saffy Looks for Rain: p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "During the typical Book Baby day, a few of the babies will look at the book, some will look all over the place and others will be wandering around the room while mom's try to gather them up. Not this day!! Saffy was a hit. Every baby in the room was transfixed by the story - possible attracted by the bold lines and solid colors. It was a great day and I plan to try others by Paola Opal in the near future!!" - Litlebook's Spot p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal""> p style=""margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"" class=""MsoNormal"">- "Bare beauty is what you find in the Simply Small Series book, Saffy Looks for Rain by Paola Opal. The story is sweet and almost haiku-like." - Word of Mouse Book Reviews