By Mud Puddles
'There's Mud Puddles Everywhere' is my first self-published picture book. By funding you will be contributing to the expenses of getting a 36 page, hand illustrated book printed for children ages 4-8. The story is about a little boy, Simon who loves splashing in mud puddles. But when his house sinks into a giant mud puddle, what follows next is an adventure that will excite children, parents, and pigs alike.
My name is Olly Blake and I am an illustrator and storyteller. I live in Dublin working in the field of animation, doing storyboarding for children’s animation studios. My main passion is storytelling through drawing. A lot of what I do is digital and I’ve always wanted to create a product that won’t just exist somewhere on a computer.
Just €15 will get you a copy of the book. If I reach my funding goal I will have the book printed in April, ready for the Easter holidays and will have a launch in Dublin at a disclosed location. I will send out invitations to funders when I know the venue's location. I will spend the money on the following:
Painted with watercolours and illustrated with dip pen and ink. This is an original Irish story that has companionship as part of it’s core themes. The story will have many twists and turns, mud monsters and pirate pigs who need help along the way. I wrote this story for parents to read to their children. I was sitting on the idea of the book for quite a while, doing draft after draft. When I attended a workshop for children's storybook making in county Donegal, that gave me the motivation to continue the book to completion.
Challenges
Self publishing a children’s book is no mean feat, it requires a lot of determination. It can be difficult for most people to stay motivated and see a concept until its full completion. Thankfully, I have been encouraged by people closest to me, like my peers, family and friends.
Audience
This is a story that I hope kids and adults will read together and have a shared experience. I am inspired by the books that I grew up with, such as Sven Nordqvist, ‘the great hat hunt’ and Roald Dahl’s ‘James and the giant peach’ and many other children’s books. This is my idea of how a children’s story should be, full of fun, mud, mess and of course pirate pigs!
Thank you so much for your consideration for being a part of this project and helping me with launching my first children's picture book. I am looking forward to having my book published in April and I hope to see you at the book launch.
From Olly Blake
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