Mama Diaries

Monday, February 3, 2020

IWSG Post


It's time for the IWSG post of the month. This month's question is, "Has a work of art ever inspired you to write a book?"

As a matter of fact, yes. A long time ago, my daughter had received a birthday invitation. On the card, the parent who invited her had drawn pictures of silly little birds. They were adorable. At the time, I had been contemplating writing a picture book to teach counting and classifying. But I hadn't figured out exactly how I'd do that. When I saw the birds, the idea popped into my head to have the characters be ten zany birds. Some with spots. Some with stripes. And one with polka dots. They'd be having a party. One by one, they'd get distracted and leave.

Originally, I'd asked the mom who drew the pictures if she'd like to be the illustrator for the book. She'd said yes, but unfortunately, it never worked out. Then I met Charu Jain from India. She loves painting watercolor birds.  I thought she'd be a perfect illustrator for the story. She was. Here's the cover:



And here are some of the illustrations:




If you'd like to learn more about the book, you can go here.


And for those wondering about the culprit who has been eating my bananas – I believe it is the mouse. I heard something shuffling around in the wall by my laundry closet. I've set out the peanut butter in the mouse-catcher contraption (I'm trying to catch it alive and release it because I'm such a humane individual.) So far, no luck catching it. And I don't hear it anymore. Perhaps it has invaded another apartment. I'll keep you updated.

42 comments:

  1. Glad you found a talented artist for your book. And hope you catch the mouse. Nice of you to try to get it alive.

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  2. Hopefully the mouse can be caught, they are buggers.

    Sure found a great artist and goes to show anything can spur an idea.

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    1. I may have to bring Bootsy over. He'll take care of the mouse.

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  3. I suppose that mom just didn't have the time. Glad you found your illustrator.

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    1. I"m sure the mom didn't have time. It takes a lot of planning to illustrate a book.

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  4. Thank you for sharing the backstory behind your book. I love "Ten Zany Birds"! Charu did an amazing job too. :-)
    If you smell something funky, perhaps the mouse is behind the walls. LOL

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    1. I've heard the mouse in the wall. But I think it's not staying there because it was quiet for two weeks.

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  5. Nice job on the book and the illustration.

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  6. And the rest is zany bird history!

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  7. Love how Ten Zany Birds came to be with such lovely illustrations. Here's hoping your mouse goes visiting elsewhere.

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  8. Awesome that a birthday invitation inspired your story. Love the illustrations. And glad you figured out it was a mouse.

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    1. I'm not entirely sure it's a mouse. It might be a rat. :(

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  9. Adorable! Now i want to see that card that was the original inspiration....

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    1. I don't think I still have it. I wish I would've thought to have kept it.

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  10. The things that can provide inspiration are amazing. Who'd have thought some simple doodles could lead to such great things!

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    1. I know. I wonder how many people have been inspired by pieces of art.

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  11. I always love hearing the "behind the scenes" stories. They make the book that much more interesting.

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  12. I love the story behind your picture book. :)

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    1. It's always fun to learn about what inspired a book.

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  13. I like how an invitation turned into inspiration. I've considered trying to do a comic for my kids, but I can never draw the same image the same way, and that doesn't bode well if I'm trying to have the same character in multiple scenes. :)

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    1. It takes special talent to illustrate a picture book where the characters have to look the same on each page.

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  14. Dang that's so cool! At least it served to inspire you:)

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  15. My daughter loves drawing and painting birds! I think she'd like to be an illustrator someday:) Lovely book!

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    1. I hope she does have the opportunity to illustrate. Charu really enjoyed the experience. It was her first book.

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  16. Thanks a wonderful inspiration story. The illustrations are amazing.
    And mice like bananas? Wow. I didn't know.

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    1. I didn't know about mice liking bananas either. But maybe it's not a mouse.

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  17. The birds are gorgeous! I love the colors and uniqueness of each one. I've never managed to catch a mouse in a contraption to catch them alive. They're too smart!

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  18. I like the illustrations. They look so pretty.

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  19. Ten Zany Birds has such an eye-catching cover. Really pretty!

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