Mike McCardell is an institution in BC television with his anti-news stories of oddball inspiration that close the News Hour on Global BC. Lately he has become a publishing institution as well with his series of heartwarming books full of stories about the ways in which ordinary people cope with extraordinary challenges. Fresh
from 2009’s bestselling The Expanded Reilly Method, he is back with another winner in Everything Works.

In his new book, McCardell reveals how to rekindle the thrill and pride we once felt as children when carrying, under one arm, that small treasure of good books from the library. Everything Works finds the storybook tales of real life–the simple adventures that bring happiness to those who discover them. For McCardell, it’s looking for that something good; that something you can talk
about, share, or even remember and tell someone a week later. A good story does not grow old.

From the moment he rediscovered the magic of picture books,
television changed for McCardell. He began looking for a pink alligator or someone planting daffodils in February. His rules for television became applicable to his daily life: 1) Everything works. 2) Continuity (very big in television) is for wimps. 3) Any kid who stands in front of the camera gets on television.
4) Good people make good stories. 5) And the most important rule: Repeat number one.

Everything Works seeks out the pink alligators and winter daffodils of our everyday lives. It searches for the grimy, mean-looking kid who holds the door open for a man with a walker, or the little girl who puts mittens on the stick arms of a snowman. Everything Works encourages readers to find one good, oddball, sweet, funny, neat, friendly, positive, pretty or mind-blowing thing each day, and
to share that story with someone else. What a storybook world we could create!