Children and isolation—those are two words that don’t belong together in a sentence, let alone in real life. But these are strange times and, for the time being, parents everywhere are having to convince their restless children that the greater good trumps their own need for social interaction.
Just like adults, kids need to find creative ways to fill those hours. One of those ways may include an investment in some new books that explore a variety of issues kids can relate to. Here, we’ll take a look at two children’s book authors and one children’s book illustrator, all of whom call the rural southeast home.
Lucy Sloan
In 2019, the proprietor of the Lil’ Steps Wellness Farm, Lucy Sloan, decided to create the first in a series of children’s books. She called it Cindy and Cristabelle’s Big Scare.
As a registered professional counsellor, Sloan provides animal-assisted therapy for children and youth on her hobby farm near St. Malo.
The characters in her book actually live on the farm and, while they may not know it, they provide an outlet for children to open up and explore their feelings. Animals, Sloan says, are non-judgmental, accepting, and easy for children to connect with.
“They… do a wonderful job,” says Sloan. “Cindy and Cristabelle are miniature fainting goats that help children identify what anxiety feels like in the body. Cindy tends to [flee] when she feels anxious while Cristabelle freezes when she feels scared. Wilbert… is the happy and content pig on the farm that spends a lot of time just being in the moment, eating and playing in the mud. He is the friend to the goats that, in the book, helps them along and teaches them how to enjoy life.”
The book’s focus is to teach children, in whimsical ways, that anxiety is not only normal but it’s okay. When kids learn to recognize and verbalize these feelings, it’s easier for them to be addressed and managed.
“A real key in addressing the issue of anxiety is understanding it first,” says Sloan. “Anxiety is one of the most treatable mental health difficulties. Providing education and understanding of symptoms, what happens in the body and brain when experiencing anxiety, and how to manage worry and fear is so important. I hear a lot of parents telling me that they wish they had this book when they were children.”
Nicole Kirouac
Former St. Adolphe resident Nicole Kirouac has also chosen to use her gift of storytelling for her first book, titled I Am Unique. The book follows Layce the caterpillar, who faces constant teasing by friends for being different. Layce eventually crosses paths with a wise ladybug who teaches Layce that uniqueness is something to be celebrated.
The lesson gives Layce the courage and self-esteem to face those friends and, with time, they are able to teach others the valuable lesson about uniqueness too.
As a pediatric nurse, Kirouac says the book was inspired by her patients and encouraged by her grown kids.
“I’ve worked with children who had a variety of medical conditions causing differences in their height and appearances, as well as gender creative or transgender youth,” Kirouac says. “My stepson is a young man now who has global developmental delay, a brain tumour, a seizure disorder, and autism. I was motivated by the ongoing need in the world for all people to celebrate themselves as the unique beings that they are. I found a lack of children’s books for young kids on self-acceptance and bullying, so I thought it best to just write this book.”
Not only did Kirouac write the book, she also illustrated every page with help from her sisters and daughter Desiree.
“I hope that parents and older siblings will read this book with young children and open up conversations about the unique differences between many of us,” Kirouac says. “[It helps us to] gain an understanding of how to cope with the teasing and bullying that, as we all know, will one day come their way.”
Cyndi Wiebe
Children’s books are unique in that the words only tell half the story. It’s the illustrations that draw the young reader in and really drive the message home.
Cyndi Wiebe of Niverville is an artist and children’s book illustrator. She was hand-picked by Winnipeg author Adrian Hawaleshka in 2017 to produce the visual art for his second children’s book, A Cloud Named Joleen.
“A friend who illustrated one of Adrian’s previous books recommended me,” Wiebe says. “He asked for a trial submission and he picked me out of the illustration proposals he received. Joleen was really fun because… it was the biggest project I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of. My kids thought I was a pretty big deal after the book was released.”
The book’s main character, Joleen, is a well-travelled but sad little cloud who longs for friendship with the children who she sees playing on the earth beneath her. But whenever she finds kids at play, they shoo her away since she blocks out the sun.
Heavyhearted, she looks to her parents for comfort. They remind her that she has a special purpose in the bigger scheme of things and help to restore her sense of pride in who she is. In the end, Joleen comes to realize that just being true to who you are makes you the best “you” you can be.
“It’s a beautiful and inspiring book,” Wiebe says. “I got goosebumps the first time I read the draft that Adrian sent to me.”
According to Wiebe, there’s a pretty intensive process involved with getting the illustrations to match the discriminating eye of the author. Initially, it meant submitting a number of versions of the characters along with ideas for colour and overall style.
From there, in-person meetups gave her the direction for what Hawaleshka was looking for.
“I did a rough draft of pencil sketches and he responded with things he liked and [indicated] if there were things he wanted more focus on, or details added,” Wiebe says. “I did a second draft of full-size illustrations to see if any revisions were required. Then, once approved, we advanced to full-colour finished illustrations which I scanned in, adjusted digitally, and submitted to the printers. It was a really great collaborative process which I really enjoyed.”
As well as book illustration, Wiebe has also created digital and print illustrations for Errol Lee, a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter, dancer, children’s author, and advocate for youth.
Wiebe describes herself as a lifelong artist, designer, and illustrator, trained in graphic design at Red River College. For years, she’s also shared her gift through children’s art classes.
“I love teaching art,” Wiebe says. “It’s been hard with classes cancelled currently, to not have that creative outlet with kids. I’m mostly doing design work at the moment with a couple consignment art pieces in the mix.”
