Giselle’s Ballet Wish- The Story Behind the Story
A few months ago, I began writing a manuscript that I hope one day will become the first story in a series of books on Maeve’s incredible life :) As someone who likes to prepare for things, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the publishing world before launching such a precious thing like a story about my daughter. It wasn’t long after my mind was made up that I suddenly remembered that I already had a children’s book written and even illustrated! Maybe I could publish it as a pilot project!
When I was 12, I wrote Giselle’s Ballet Wish for a school project. Somehow, this hand-made, Laurentian Pencil Crayon relic survived 25 years of bookshelves and bedtimes for all four Field kids. And so, putting my perfectionist tendencies aside, I figured publishing Giselle would be a great way to learn about the process. Little did I know Giselle would teach me even more about myself.
The artwork in the book is filled with intention and Easter Eggs (peep the mom’s sweatshirt on page 3). As I mentioned, the OG Giselle was illustrated in full by Yours Truly way back in 1997. Though charming and beautiful in its' own way, there was no question in my mind about finding the right artist to capture a refreshed aesthetic and bring Giselle and her mom into 2022. I had an exceptionally magical experience with the book’s illustrator, Lara Grobler, whom I luckily found on Fiverr, a freelancing website. We had such fun developing the characters’ look and style. She took inspiration from my 12 year old illustrations and it was so special to see Giselle’s childhood bedroom as Kid Glo had imagined it to be. Lara added such endearing details that make the story come to life (Mr. and Mrs. Bramble for one). It felt like Christmas morning when a new “Your Order Has Been Delivered” email would drop in my inbox because it meant a new batch of artwork to take in. Lara’s beautiful interpretation of my story was more wonderful than I could have asked for and I am DELIGHTED to report that we will soon begin early work on bringing Mighty Maeve’s Adventures to life.
When it comes to Giselle, I truly hope that the grown ups who read it smile softly as they flip through the cheerful artwork and see their own little selves reflected back in Giselle. That they remember a time when they held a dream so close to their heart and never once imagined that it would not become true. Because you are still that same little you and those dreams can still come true. XO Glo
