Recently shared the exciting project I have been working on for the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Since people have seen the book a few have asked me, “how did you make the book?” So I thought it would be fun to write a little blog about the project and some of my behind the scenes stuff about the making of the book. For those who read the book I will be mentioning my own “Fun Facts” along the way in this blog. I hope you enjoy! :)

Back in June of 2022 there was a call for artists and writers for our city's library, the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. I was happy to hear about the contest and thought I’d give it a shot. Shortly afterwards the committee reached out to inform me that my submission was selected for the Illustrator. After reading the story I swear the ideas and concepts for the book just started pouring into my imagination. Admittedly I felt some hesitancy to step out of my comfort zone for such a big project. Having done my personal little yearly children's books challenges for the girls but thought maybe I’m feeling a little too confident. As a creative person I never had that much confidence or was very good at self promoting but I do admire those traits in other artists.

After learning the idea for the book started from the committee members Kerry Miscavage and Amber Riedinger, chatting over coffee about how they wanted to inspire kids to read. A real grass-root approach of influencing kids to be proud of their home and making it fun to learn history along the way. It established the foundation for the committee, Maddison Black the author, and myself to be committed to achieve not only a wonderful book but most importantly a product that would help profit this local historical Library. Which in return would help the youth in this area and community. Tony Brook’s, the city's preservation society director, is on the committee and immensely helpful throughout the process. I was so proud of the opportunity to learn so many fascinating things about Luzerne County and Wilkes-Barre. His dedication and pride for the city is something to really note and I admire his devotion. The same is to be said for the other committee members and their dedication to the community. I can’t express enough how Maddison Black is so talented, her storytelling ability and the way her words painted a beautiful journey through the town made the book come to life.

We had many brainstorming meetings to narrow down the style and feel for the book. Collecting existing picture books I have read with my daughters and also other books related to the theme. Elaine Rash from the Osterhout Children's Library brought many options to reference but two books really set the whole book in motion.

First was a book illustrated by a local artist and writer titled, The Flood That Came to Grandma’s House, written by Linda Stallone (Author), Joan Schooley (Illustrator) which was actually about the catastrophic flood that happened here in our valley in 1972. Fun Fact: As a little nod of to them you can spot their book on the page Tony and Debi are at the library. (Continue reading to see a sneak peek.)

The second book was called A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino (Author, Illustrator). Rubbino’s style fascinates me so I was very intrigued to study his work.

Personally I feel children’s books but really any illustrative artwork holds so much power. Illustrations convey unspoken words to those who may not necessarily be able to read them. Illustrations break language barriers. They create core memories. Just studying illustrations visibly can carry so many emotions.  I have realized illustrations are not just drawings, they tell a story.

I hope someone cherishes this book like I’ve cherished Bubble Bubble and hopefully inspires them with the illustrations.

As the project progressed we started inching towards illustrating the book, which I started to do my own art studies. Reflecting on many artists and illustrators I have admired while making my own books, I wanted to mention a few people who came to my mind.

Jessica Hische, I first heard about her book called Brave from an old colleague. Jessica’s work actually influenced me to start illustrating my own books. Fun fact: I learned that Jessica Hische is from NEPA and raised in Hazleton, Pennsylvania which is a neighboring town to Wilkes-Barre.

Joy Hwang Ruiz is a powerhouse currently in children’s book illustration and it has been so neat watching her career bloom the past few years.

Recently discovered Dana Sosa, Ruby Wright, their books Animal Crackers and Friends are seriously the cutest books ever!

Of course as always the classics I love Eric Carle and Shel Silverstein.

Really wanting to capture that Rubbino vibe similar to New York City picture books but in my own way. So I started there but I didn’t know the scope of a project like this so I needed to establish the process first. Starting with the map of Wilkes-Barre there I developed my style. Tom Froese is an amazingly talented artist and illustrator as well as a teacher. I have taken many of his courses over the past two years and have learned so much. Developing the map inspired by his map making courses on Skillshare.

After the map was established I moved onto the character development, a fun repeat pattern of the cityscape which is the inside cover and after that it all just started to fall into place like puzzle pieces. Inking the whole book element by element. Fun Fact, proudly I used two 50 page mix media tablets and a whole bottle and some Higgins Black India Ink to illustrate the book.

My favorite part is to make a character come to life and give them a personality visually. The evolution of the character from where they started to the final version of the characters is so fascinating to me. Just little things like the way Debi transformed from page to page to be less nervous, more confident and excited. Also the character that was picked for little Tony was really the perfect fit to depict the local kid who really just loves his town. It is so visible throughout every expression in the book.

I first sketched the spreads, inked then scanned each page onto my computer. Using Adobe Photoshop to utilize channels to apply all the colors and different elements to each scene. I’m so glad I did not do the whole book digitally and revisited the traditional medium of inking by hand. Working only to finalize the book digitally for production and press. Felt like I was in college again every moment working on this project. It was a challenge but I learned so much!

‘Get Set, Get Ready: A Tour of Wilkes-Barre with Tony and Debi’

After rounds of proofing and making sure all the typesetting and body-copy was correct. The next step was locating and placing the photographic historic elements and all fun factual information that can be found throughout the book. We also added many fun “Easter Eggs” like I mentioned. To make the book have that nostalgic sense for all the big kids at heart who we’re hopefully going to enjoy the book as well. Fun Fact and “easter egg” to make the book more authentic to the city we asked committee members to provide portraits and I illustrated each of them into different scenes. Samantha from Coal Creative has her two puppies and the one puppy's name is Kirby so we added them to the park scene of Kirby Park. One of the last steps in the development stage was to narrow down the title from a list of choices, but “Get Set, Get Ready for a Tour of Wilkes-Barre with Tony and Debi” was perfect! I personally really adore the title of the book.

Once it went to production the printers used for the book were local to Wilkes-Barre. Corcoran Printing really went above and beyond what I imagined. Having learned so much as I was also the graphic designer who set up the digital files to send the book for press. It was really neat to see the book from my sketches to print. Being able to flip through it and really understand the process. Wealth of knowledge so thank you Bill Corcoran.

Also designed little novelty stickers to promote the book with the message “Bee Kind” to reflect the city of Wilkes-Barre’s well known symbol of a bee hive crest and trademark. We had them printed locally also by Wet Paint Printing & Design. Super nice quality stickers and was so excited to put one on my water bottle!  

Can’t express enough how fun it was working on this project and to also be at the festival with Maddison reading it to the community. To fully experience all the work and process that took place to make the book is priceless. It really was a wonderful and a fun challenge to embark on as a designer. For someone who has been working in design I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the years anymore. So this project for me was really a cool achievement personally from what I normally work on. I’m thankful to have been chosen and also to have had the opportunity to meet so many amazing local people who are doing good things for our community!

Mentioning feeling not as confident at the beginning of this project I can say honestly I feel very confident and proud of my work. It really was so much fun and I hope I get to do it again someday!

Always,

Melinda

Disclaim: My apologies if there are any spelling, grammar mistakes or confusion with my blog, I have dyslexia. Please understand I do my best to reduce these errors. Yet I am happy to explain further in the comments below if there are questions or confusion. My best method of communication is talking but I enjoy writing for expression even if it is imperfect.