As you know, we're having a baby this fall. But it also feels a little bit like we're having another baby this summer, because something that The Artist has had up his sleeve for some time now is finally coming to fruition…
I'm very excited that I can now share what we have spent over three years vaguely referring to as “the project:” a marvelous children's book that I think will constitute a classic for all ages: Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals!
Auntie Leila will review it anon and offer a giveaway here (woot!) and you've heard about it here on the blog once before. But let me tell you a bit about it now, from behind the scenes.
This book is the quintessential labor of love. It is a collection of poetry written by The Artist's dear friend and former colleague, Mr. (Dr.) Matthew Mehan. Matthew is one of those naturally artistic souls who is always bursting with ideas both great and small. He is a man who is steeped in the great works of Western civilization, passionate about history, literature, philosophy… and loves a good joke.
He also, as it happens, has quite the knack for writing poems.
He has written one poem for each letter of the alphabet; each letter represented by a “mythical” mammal, ranging from the cute to the sad to the hilarious and the beautiful (and one spooky). Each creature has something to share about the human condition. Young and older children will enjoy just listening to the language and rhythm and latching on to the stunning visuals (more on that below). Young adults and full-grown adults will enjoy puzzling over the layers (visual and literary) behind each Mammal. All parties will have to keep coming back to the book to absorb more details and subtle references each time (they'll be aided by an extensive and amusing glossary at the back).
It's the type of book that you will want on your bookshelf because it will never get old; there will always be more to glean. Readers can memorize the poems for recitation. Families can learn the Lullaby of the Vaquita (for the letter ‘V,' the Vaquita is the one exception, the one non-mythical Mammal in the book: an adorable, endangered dolphin about whom Matthew wrote a lovely song).
Just one of those family treasure-type works!
Matthew has been working on these poems for over a decade. Like I said, it's been a labor of love for him.
So it was no light decision for him to bring my husband on board as the illustrator responsible for bringing all of these mammals to life on canvas! John's loving labor took a modest start in the summer of 2014 and then went into full force for the entire summer of 2015 and well into the fall, over the holidays, and into the beginning of 2016. Any time that he wasn't engaged in his formal studies or tending to his family, he was working on “the project.”
{Some of my girlfriends were probably questioning our judgment, wondering why my husband was spending so much time painting images of animals that weren't even real.}
John and Matthew were in constant communication. In the morning, Matthew would flood John with information about one of the mythical mammals, John would send back a sketch in astonishing time, they'd hash it out, emailing and calling back and forth… John would head into the studio and bust out a full oil painting in a day and send Matthew a photo of the painting by nightfall. Then they'd spend the evening hashing it out again and refining details, and while that one dried, John would start the next.
Twenty-six letters in the alphabet. Twenty-six oil paintings by the end of the summer. So much generated entirely from the imagination. Honestly, I have never witnessed creative energy at such a high pitch. The two of them were on fire. A poet and an artist and a project with so much promise!
And then, when he thought his work was done, there were the illuminated letter blocks to begin… My poor Artist did a draft of the first couple letters, thinking that these would take considerable less time, and was told by his loving wife that they weren't good enough and he'd have to apply a more intensive technique. So he scrapped his first plan and dug into another series of twenty-six images, each requiring over a day of (rapid, rigorous) work.
The whole time this process was going on, we were occasionally revisiting the poetry, thinking about all the characters, and falling in love with these silly mammals. Matthew and John, although working together from a distance, grew to be quite the creative duo and their friendship increased with their shared work.
I originally started this blog post two years ago, back before there was any publishing plan and the hunt was on to find someone to believe in this book, some book-printing type to fall in love with these Mammals the way that we had done. But for some time, the project remained dormant — to the point that it didn't even seem apt for me to share about it here. Matthew steadily hunted for a lead (while juggling his various responsibilities and, of course, taking care of his growing family) and we had to focus on other things (things that would pay bills in the meantime. And getting John's Fine Art career off the ground.).
Since Matthew brought John on board, I have laughed over Mammals, I have cried over Mammals. I have talked it up to so many people and I've wished that I myself had never heard of it. I have wondered why we were doing this and then gone back and seen the pictures and re-read the poems and been totally smitten all over again. It's been so much effort for the Artist. I can only imagine how much Matthew and his wife have poured into it. It has been quite the haul!
Eventually, Matthew and his wife did some intensive research into the idea of self-publishing. The Artist and I talked it over. For a moment there, it was seeming like the best way to go…
But finally, at long last, a publisher came on to the scene. After a final burst of activity (revisiting everything and getting that final polish on, adding in various new ink illustrations to complement the originals, Matthew's heroic effort in finishing the delightful appendices), the book is complete and — it's hard to believe this day has come — actually about to be in our hands in hard copy form! About – I hope – to be in your hands in hard copy form!
In fact, publicly released this very August 15, 2018!
{Now I'm kind of wishing I had gotten around to sharing about it a few years ago, as originally planned… just so you could share in how momentous this feels for us! Just look: my firstborn was still in diapers when these paintings were being done:}
Since Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals (you can call it ‘M5' for short) is coming from ‘in house,' as it were, we will of course be offering 3 giveaway copies here on the blog in a matter of weeks. So stay tuned! In the meantime, you can pre-order the book. When you do get the chance to read it, we sincerely hope that you'll hop on to Amazon and share a (hopefully raving) review; that will help the book reach more readers!
I can't wait to share Mammals with you. I'm so proud. I'm sure that the creativity, learning, whimsy, intelligence, and passion that went into producing it will be clear for you to see!
But mostly – and I hope you won't be offended – I just can't wait to share it with my kids!
‘Like' Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals on Facebook to stay up to date on the author's press tour — Mr. Mehan himself may be coming to a town near you very soon! (He'll be in St. Louis tomorrow!)
Regina says
I have a copy preordered! It sounds amazing! I graduated UD with Matt’s older sister so I can only imagine how delightful a book it is if these two men collaborated.
Deirdre says
Thanks, Regina!
Adele says
Congratulations.
Emily says
Oh, I LOVE it! This looks so wonderful!
Deirdre says
Thanks, Emily! I hope you’ll love reading it!
Sarah Abreu says
I just pre-ordered and can’t wait for this to arrive and to have it for the beginning of our homeschooling year!
Betsy says
Congratulations!! Pre-ordered it. Can’t wait to show it to the kids
Deirdre says
Thanks, Betsy! I hope you’ll love it!
Melissa D says
Preordering!!
Terri says
I cannot wait to see the finished product. It looks and sounds amazing. Several years ago there was a post here with a delightful list of children’s books. I picked about 8 or 10 of those books to give as my standard baby shower/new baby gift. I suspect I will be adding Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals to that set.
Deirdre says
Thanks, Terri! I definitely hope you’ll find it to be just that!