The adventure continues and is nearing it's end.
It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on Eensy, Teensy Teddy Bear's Adventure. I had a busy start to the year, which is good, and I have exciting news that I now have an agent to represent me as an author and illustrator. Yay! Plus, the world, as you know, has turned upside down and inside out. I’m starting to get my feet back underneath me.
Here’s an update on the book, almost every spread is complete or at least the initial color splash stage. With the Initial color stage I go wild with splattering paint to get in initial colors, block in shapes, be loose, and have fun. I decided to add a sepia textured paper to create an old-fashioned storytelling feel to go along with the opening line: Once upon a time a long time ago. I think I like it.
I’m revising and polishing the text (I hope you don’t mind, Mom) to help the story come through in the best possible way.
I have spent a lot of time working on and reworking the opening spreads of this book where the other teddy bears in the village pick on wee Willie. This is a hard series of illustrations to pull together, knowing how badly their actions make him feel.
I hope our story will be able to help children be brave and stand up for themselves against bullying. Often others bully those different from themselves. Why? Fear mostly. And sometimes children don’t realize how much harm they are causing by their actions. Sometimes people hurt others to fit in with the crowd, pushing others to do possibly dangerous things in order to prove themselves.
Our world is full of too many bullies. Some people hate and fear those who are different from them. They allow fear to take over and make them lash out, belittle, deride and push others down instead of lifting themselves above the pettiness, opening their hearts and minds and listening.
We need more kindness in this world, but more than that, we need more listening, more understanding, and empathy. We need to think about our actions, our thoughts, our understanding of others. Walk in someone’s shoes for a mile before judging them, as my mom and Dad always taught us. Everything is relative and until you have tried to look at things from another’s perspective, from the lens formed from their particular life experiences, you cannot truly understand what someone else is going through, why they act as they do, and think the thoughts they do.
Willie is different from the other teddy bears and therefore be gets picked on. The other teddy bears think they are all just playing and having fun, not realizing how much they are hurting Willie until he runs away, then they are forced to think about their behavior. And, Willie, in his attempt to make the others see that he is a worthwhile although very small teddy bear, goes on a dangerous quest.
Will he succeed? Will the teddy bear’s in the village realize what they have done and change their ways? Stay tuned to find out.
My goal is to have the book launched into the world for my mom’s birthday in September. With that said, I best get back to work. I need to finish off a few more spreads and hand it over to Kurt for final design and prep of print files.
Stay tuned for more updates as we march toward the launch this fall!
Thank you for following my journey and Willie’s adventure.
