Over the years as an illustrator I’ve learned to draw all sorts of things I’d never imagined (and required an extensive Google Image search) from tree kangaroos to tractors. A moose however, was one animal not yet on my resume. Until this past month.
In late February I was hired by BiblioKid Publishing to illustrate Pony, The Moose (by Emily Mitchell), a rhyming romp around a farm where Tabitha Ruth wishes for a pony, but instead gets a… you guessed it, moose!
After cleaning the old barn top to bottom she is pleasantly surprised the next morning to find a moose has taken up residence (and eaten all the apples and hay!). Not only is it a cute story and the perfect read-aloud, but it’s a good reminder that we don’t always get what we wish for.
As a habitual planner, I’m far past counting on my fingers (and toes, for that matter!) how many times I have been disappointed or thrown off course when something didn’t go as I’d expected. This book was not only the long-term project I’d been craving, but the message I need to take to heart.
Just like Tabitha, as a little girl, I too had a passion for ponies. Lucky for me though, that desire was met with an annual trip as a toddler to my Uncle Cliff’s ranch in Colorado, home to a whole menagerie of critters. Not only Sasha, the one-eyed pony, but horses, a pack of Dalmatians, an African Gray Parrot, and a big fish my sister and I fed frozen peas.
Even at that young age, I loved books, especially those with detailed illustrations. And I spent hours crafting my own hand-drawn picture books, sometimes sequels to favorite’s like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, other times, creations all my own. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, but I could not possibly know, let alone plan for, all the steps (and sometimes missteps) that came in between.
The older I get, the more I try to lean into the unknown. To let my plans remain flexible, to be more spontaneous, to continue to dream and works towards what I want… be it a pony, or my next book deal… and find unexpected pleasure, even gratitude when things don’t go my way. Just like Tabitha, I’m still learning that perhaps a Moose isn’t second best. Maybe, unexpectedly, it’s actually the best thing of all.
