Poem by Charles Mathes
Illustrations by Arlene Graston
It was about 1990, about two years before my first mystery would be published (and about three years after I finished it and started sending it around). My wife, Arlene Graston, was between projects and asked me to write her a simple poem that she could illustrate for a children's book. She wanted something as open as possible, something that wouldn't tie her to a linear story, but something that she could soar with.
I wasn't having much luck with mysteries, but I knew the kind of images that Arlene did best. It took probably less than half an hour for me to come up with what I felt was the perfect poem for her. It took her nearly two years to illustrate it (so when we call this an equal partnership it is obvious in whose direction that equality is weighted).
Though numerous publishers saw the project -- on the basis of its illustrations Doubleday contracted Arlene to illustrated Eric Haugaard's translation of Hans Christian Anderson's Thumbelina -- nobody wanted to take it on. In fact several suggested that Arlene junk my little poem and write a story for it, which says something about the imagination of publishers I think.
Arlene of course had created a story for it already, a story beyond words that takes place in the illustrations, a story far deeper and more magical than anything that could be written.
What she created is a book not just for children but for wise adults, a book for dreaming. Happily a clever publishing house on the West Coast, Illumination Arts, saw it and seemed to understand that it didn't need any further help, so it is finally appearing now, more than a decade after it was finished. Arlene created a new cover for the project and Illumination Arts let her design the book. The result is something that we are both very proud of, and I am happy to have been her inspiration, as you can perhaps see in the illustration at right, my favorite from the book.
IN EVERY MOON THERE IS A FACE was recently awarded the Gold Medal for Best Children's Picture Book of the Year by Foreword Magazine, and was a finalist for both the IPPY and the COVR awards.
Click ARLENE to see Arlene's website and a better explanation of all of this.
Click JANE KAHAN FOLIO to buy prints of Arlene's work
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