There is a book calling your name
I did not use to believe it but I do now. I felt this book was calling me. I fell in love with the manuscript the minute I read it. Growing up, being raised by my Grandmother I saw her struggles to keep food on the table yet the universe seemed to be looking out for us. This is a story that really touched me. Even though it’s a sensitive topic, one needs to be addressed. I am looking forward for this book to get out into the world and for kiddos not feel ashamed that “everyone needs a little help sometimes”
Saturday at the Food Pantry
From the publisher:
“Molly and her mom don’t always have enough food, so one Saturday they visit their local food pantry. Molly’s happy to get food to eat until she sees her classmate Caitlin, who’s embarrassed to be at the food pantry. Can Molly help Caitlin realize that everyone needs help sometimes?
This sensitive story about food insecurity invites conversations with readers about food pantries, promotes a positive message of everyone needing help sometimes and how it’s okay to ask and receive assistance, and destigmatizes this necessary resource. An important topic, as of 2018 per the USDA, size million children lived in food-insecure households, and the pandemic has greatly affected food security for many as well.”
Beautifully written by Diane O’ Neill and published by @albertwhitman
This is my debut picture book. I feel I learned so much in the process. The best part was to see the story visually unfold before my eyes as I drew out the storyboard and saw the characters come alive.
I wanted to share a little of what I have learned so far.
I am sharing some of my research, aesthetic inspiration, character development and some of the finished art sneak peak.
RESEARCH
This is one of my favorite parts. I usually create a pinterest board of subject matter and visual aesthetic. Visit my local library and look through books and textures I have at home.
For this book I looked at a lot of food pantries, they are usually a little different than grocery stores. They use metal shelves and are much smaller. I really wanted to use a bright fresh color palette that brought a lot of light and hope to this book.
For Aesthetic I love anything mid-century modern and was thinking to have some of the dishes in their home be inspired by Cathrineholm Norwegian enamelware. For artists I looked at a lot of my heroes from that era as well, such as; Olle Eksel, Ben Shan, M. Sakek among others.
Character Development
The fine folks at Albert Whitman already had mentioned to me that I would bring a lot of diverse voices to the book so every kid could relate.
The main character Molly was to be of mixed race. My original sketches shown here I had her sporting this awesome afro but the client was concerned about stereotypes. We ended up going with her hair a more caramel color. I thought it would be great to have mom and daughter not match racially. One of my best friends has Caucasian blond hair and her son is African American-looking. They were my original inspiration for the earlier version of Molly and Mom. I also saw Molly as being a strong little girl and loved the idea of her dressing herself. In the end, we went with a different wardrobe for her, but you can see that here in some of the initial development.
Here are the final versions for mom and Molly. I wanted mom to have style even though they fell on hard times they could still get creative with their clothes.
I used to shop a ton at thrift stores for all my clothes and growing up in Portugal we only had a few pieces of clothes that were high quality and my grandmother made sure that we looked nice and sharp at all times. Here is one of the few photos I have of us as a family.
Character Development for Grandmother and Caitlin (friend of Molly)
Caitlin we made her into a redhaired girl, my favorite hair color. I was delighted when the client made this request. I worked on this book last fall. I think they unconsciously set the mood for the cozy outfits the characters wear in the book. We wanted Gran to be older but not too old as she would still maybe be working some to help raise Caitlin.
I am humbled I was able to illustrate the story of these four strong ladies in this book. I hope we can all realize and be brave enough to realize “We all need a little help sometimes”
To wrap up here are some of the finished spreads which is a mix of paper textures that I scan in and procreate.
Final Cover and some of the initial ideas:
Come join me at Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop in Niwot September 25th at 11am for the book launch party of Saturday at the Food Pantry we will have a food drive to a Food Pantry in Longmont. Support Indie Bookstores and your local food bank.
Register here:
Preorder from Wandering JellyFish Bookshop;
For more of my work:
https://www.instagram.com/sweetbeyond/
The Cuddlefish Gang: Together We Can Do AnyFIN! 
Love your color palette and the mid-Century modern feel.
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