Have you ever checked on your sleeping child and wondered what on earth they could be doing to kick their blankets off every night? Cyndi Wiebe of Niverville has thought about that a lot. So much, in fact, that she wrote a book about it.
Wiebe’s book is called Molly & Space for Adventure. The story is an adventure featuring Molly and her best friend, Mr. Cow. Mr. Cow and Molly feel bored by the routine of their mundane lives so they decide to embark on an adventure which takes them from the safety of their beds all the way to outer space.
“The idea for Molly & Space for Adventure was planted by the question, ‘What on earth does my daughter do at night, that she can’t keep her covers on!?’” Wiebe says. “Space adventure was the obvious conclusion, and so a story was born.”
Not only did Wiebe write this story, she illustrated it as well. She says that her drawings are based on having watched her children grow and play.
“In the drawings, [my] characters are captured mid-movement, mid-air, mid-statement; toes curl, hair flies, arms are thrown out, and the hands express. They are a way to freeze and celebrate these moments from my children’s younger years.”
Wiebe grew up in rural Manitoba and has always felt inspired by her surroundings.
“As a lifelong prairie girl, the wide-open horizon, sprouting crops, waving wheat fields, and the endless dance of changing clouds against colour-shifting skies have always captivated me,” she says. “I work out of my home studio as an artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and art teacher.”
Four years ago, Wiebe and her family settled into a home between Niverville and Île-des-Chênes.
“I think at this time, more than any other we’ve known, we need to be encouraged to find adventure and joy within,” Wiebe adds. “Through the book, I hope readers will be encouraged to see that adventures are waiting right at the periphery of our vision—if we allow ourselves to seek it.”
Molly & Space for Adventure will be available in September 2021. Wiebe is now in the process of seeking local vendors to carry it and will post links for where it can be purchased on her website, www.smallcreekstudio.com.
