Summer 2012 During the hot summer of 2012, while my two daughters ran an art camp on the veranda for a dozen kids a week, I sat at the dining room table and worked on illustrating a children’s book. It killed quite a few birds with one stone: I could keep an eye on the antics outside and be available if a near-fatal accident demanded driving to the Emergency Room with an ailing child; the noise of the kids didn’t bother me as I was lost in the world of drawing; I got a chance to revisit the world of my childhood, which was full of beautifully illustrated children’s books (Dr Seuss an all-time favorite); and I got a chance join forces with a survivor of World War 2 in a creative endeavor. Maurice was sent out of London, as so many children were, during the Blitz of 1940. He was only nine at the time, and before the war was over both his parents had been killed when his neighbourhood and everyone in it was destroyed by German bombers. He somehow became a quantity surveyor and came to Jamaica as a young man to work on a project, but he never left, marrying and settling down and becoming a part of the Jamaican community. I met him as he’s a family member of a close friend of mine, and in a veranda conversation he told me about a book he had written for children, one that had come about when his kids were little. He would tell them stories at bedtime, using their names, and they involved a talking mouse who had many adventures…. One thing led to another, and the one drawing he asked me to do became a fully illustrated book. It has received some positive interest, but the economy in Jamaica is very slow and the population very small. We think that it would be a big hit with the Jamaican diaspora. Now to find a publisher. Any ideas?
Flying High on Drawing…
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