My First Book
I have written, Illustrated and published my first children's book "My Popsi Who Lives in the Rainbows" along with a colouring story book version.
01
Where you can find it...
My book can be found on Amazon. Click here to find the storybook.
02
The Story behind the Story...
This book started by my daughters' teacher telling me that in school she was talking about my dad, saying that her Christmas wish is to get a magical phone so that her and I could speak to her Popsi (that's what she calls my dad) that lives in the rainbows.
She never got to meet my dad, as he passed before her birth, but she knows a lot about him through pictures, videos and discussions about him. So she learnt about death early. In September of 2022 she saw a rainbow for the first time and decided in her own 2 year old imagination that that is where Popsi lives and it is where people go when they die.
These two stories intertwined is where the book started.
03
In the memory of...
My dad was the whole reason I got into art. He was very talented with a paint brush himself and from a very young age I'd spend hours asking him to draw me different things and I would watch in awe as he would create such beautiful imagines from his own imagination. My favourite thing to watch him draw was trees, he loved the outdoors and loved to tell me facts about different trees, but watching him draw each detailed twisty branch was just mesmerising. He taught me to draw and for years was a passion we shared together. When creating this book I found it very hard to publish as it was a story so personal to me and my family, however having something that I created, forever be in print to commemorate the memory of my dad is something truly magical.
04
More about the book...
When creating this book I never intended to publish it. It was a piece of artwork I was creating for my child and any children my siblings may have, as a way of explaining the death of someone so prominent in our lives, in a positive child friendly way, to children who will never meet him. once I got started, I was pushed to publish it, I decided to not attempt to go through a publisher and I went through the self publishing route. I did this as It is a story so close to me, I didn't want any one else to have a say. It was something I was extremely anxious about showing for a long time, so the idea of taking it to a publisher and having people critique it caused me nightmares.
The book begins very monochrome, the only colour showing is yellow light (or rainbow when the character 'Popsi' is around. This is to show the confusion of missing someone you missed out on even knowing. As the story continues Bursts of colour comes through as the 'mum' character is explaining how even though you can't see this person, it doesn't mean he isn't here and doesn't know you, he is always watching over us keeping us safe.
