First Word

  Illustrator Interview Michelle Gamble   Q. What drew you to illustrate Ant Trails and Butterfly Dreams – A Story About Happiness ?   A. The author Selwa Berbawy Hamati had published three other books with my company, 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com). I painted on the side, and I rarely shared about my paintings. We were talking one day, and she mentioned her desire to write this children’s book based on her new book Real Resilience – Once Upon a Pandemic . I showed her some paintings, but cautioned I don’t like to paint cartoons. She loved my work and soon hired me to illustrate her children’s book. I was happy that she liked fine art and wouldn’t push to create cartoon-like characters, but more fun and beautiful paintings. In fact, she loved the cover so much she bought the original. Q. How did you decide on the style of the paintings? A. I wanted the illustrations to create a fun, bright, happy world to convey the theme of the book,...

  COVID-19 has disrupted our daily lives and coined a new mental-health term “Covid Anxiety,” which has impacted old and young alike. For children this time in history has been especially disruptive to their normal school routines and social lives. Selwa Barbawy Hamati wrote her new children’s book Ant Trails and Butterfly Dreams – A Story About Happiness to deliver her message that no matter what is going on around young children, they can “decide” to be happy throughout it.   In the book’s introduction, Barbawy Hamati expresses the reason she wrote this important piece of children’s literature. “ I was often sad as a little girl. I remember how other people’s moods and opinions deeply affected me. I was happy when they were happy and when they were nice to me; as soon as that changed, my whole mood changed. I didn’t know how to be happy inside no matter what was happening around me. I had no idea that happiness was a choice and that even when things around me seem...