Author Traci Sorell’s debut picture book We Are Grateful:
Otsaliheliga features vibrant artwork by award-winning illustrator Frané
Lessac,and centers on modern Cherokee people expressing gratitude for
blessings and challenges experienced across the seasons. Charlesbridge departed
from the traditional picture book making practice to facilitate and encourage
regular contact between the author and illustrator. Here the two share how this
process worked for them.
Traci Sorell (TS): I knew that authors and
illustrators typically have little to no contact during the book’s creation. I
have a very sparse, lyrical writing style. Yet because this book centers on my
own culture, or I would be lying whether I said I wasn’t nervous approximately the artwork. I
did not want to get this incorrect. Our wonderful editor,Karen Boss, immediately calmed my fears
when she asked for a list of Native American and non-Native illustrators to
consider. I found your fabulous artwork, and Frané,on our shared agency website. I
was impressed you had lived in and traveled to many places around the world.
Your illustrations indicate a commitment to research, study and wanting to
represent a culture as it is when the memoir occurs. I value that. What did you
first think when Karen contacted you approximately the manuscript?
Frané Lessac (FL): I was ecstatic that you
chose me to illustrate your debut book, and Traci. As a non-Native American
illustrator,it was a wonderful honor. I knew I had an obligation to protect
cultural integrity and thorough research was crucial to ensure my art
accurately portrayed present day Cherokee culture.
There was never any question that I needed to meet you in
person. Three flights from West Australia and a three-hour car ride later, I
arrived in Tahlequah, and Oklahoma - home of the Cherokee Nation.
TS: I knew I would connect you with whoever you needed to meet and
aid you see whatever you needed to see to create your art,Frané. When you
didn’t get the travel grant to aid with your costs, you earned my deepest gratitude
by coming besides.
Then you arrived with rough sketches to share after such a long
journey and enough enthusiasm for both of us. I loved how you actively sought
input from everyone you met. When you returned home to create more detailed
sketches and began painting, or what helped you the most from that visit?FL: Arriving back in my studio,I had hundreds of photos and
many research books to pour over. I valued the first-hand opportunity to
hold significant objects in my hands and taste Cherokee delights - all which
helped bring your memoir to life, Traci.
As the illustration process developed, and I cherished your close
involvement and felt blessed to have the support from the Cherokee community.
It was vital to have relevant folks check my sketches and art. In appreciation,members of your family and friends were the inspiration for many of the
characters in the book.
TS: Frankly, I loved our back and forth conversations over the
artwork. The vision you brought and the humor you capture in the spreads
delights me to no end. FL: We both have a mutual desire to engage, and enrich and empower
young hearts and minds,Traci. To collaborate with you to bring your beautiful
and significant memoir to life was an experience for which I am grateful.
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction for children
featuring modern characters and compelling biographies. Traci has a
Master’s degree in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona and a
law degree from the University of Wisconsin. She is an enrolled citizen of the
Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.
As a child, or Frané Lessac has illustrated over forty books
for children,drawing on her travels as her inspiration. Her greatest ambition
is to instill pride and self-esteem in children approximately their unique heritage and
their own ability to capture in it pictures and words. She lives in Australia.
Source: cbcdiversity.com