I finished my first children’s book today

I finished my first children’s book today. I put on a face mask and plastic gloves, placed my paintings neatly wrapped in a big sanitized box with plenty of cushioning, taped and sealed the box and addressed it to Page Street Kids’ book designer at her home. There was a final sprint from the car to the door of the Fedex shipping center in the lashing rain, a socially distanced hand off to the mailer, and a fair question: What amount would you like to insure this shipment for?

Let’s see. The contents of this shipment represent two months of non-stop 10+ hour days of creating final art, but really it’s more like 15 months of creating time if you factor in the whole book journey. My first children’s book was born out of ecstatic good fortune at an NESCBWI workshop in November 2018, where I shared a very rough draft of a story about a misunderstood wolf with Kristen Nobles, the founding publisher of Page Street Kids.

Kristen offered me my first children’s book contract, and soon I was embarking on my first book journey as an author/illustrator. It was a wild ride, plenty of twists and turns and embracing the unexpected. What was sold as What Big Beautiful Ears You Have became Imagine a Wolf, which broke my heart a tiny bit (I loved the original title). At the same time, what began as a roughly sketched somewhat cheeky tale about preconceived notions became a much better story about resilience and self expression thanks to the tireless editing, feedback and encouragement of the Page Street team.

What amount would I like to insure this shipment for? What amount for my firstborn, the picture book I learned on the job, the journey I wouldn’t trade for anything? What amount for my dear Wolf and their creative and generous spirit?

I think I’ll just pray it all gets there safely.

(It did!)