'Morning Puppa' by P. Anastasia

 In the Summer of 2021, I received an e-mail enquiry from an author named Philomena Anastasia. It was one of the many e-mail enquires I was dealing with daily at that time. The world was still somewhat in the midst of the Covid pandemic, and we were all stuck at home, missing our friends and family. And, I think, due to having more time on their hands, many people began to focus on creative projects. As a result of this, I was dealing with quite an upturn in enquiries, many of them not completely serious (or perhaps many were just quite unaware of the time and cost involved in illustrating a picture book). However, this particular enquiry made me feel that familiar little sparkle inside...  This was not only a serious enquiry, but also, I had a feeling it was going to be a project I would really enjoy. 

Philomena is an experienced author, mainly known for her young adult books and fantasy novels, but this time, she was enquiring about illustration work for a children's picture book she'd written, called 'Morning Puppa'; a story about a puppy who really loves a cup of tea. 

Of course, dogs and tea being two of my very favourite things, I was immediately intrigued, and couldn't wait to read the manuscript. 

(Spoiler Alert!) 'Morning Puppa' is a sweet story told in rhyme, about a puppy who wakes up to discover that his favourite teacup, all of his tea, and his breakfast time treats... are gone! Not to mention he can't find his friends anywhere. 

He searches around for them all over, only to discover that his lovely friends have prepared a wonderful tea party for him, with a table full of delicious tea and treats! How adorable! The cute twist (Again - Spoiler alert!) is the final spread, where we can see that all of Puppa's friends are toys in real life. 

And, it gets even better. This puppy character in the story was based on Philomena's own dog, Benjamin, who is an Australian Shepard. And his friends in the story are based on Benjamin's soft toys. How cute! 

The project took almost three months in total to finish. Philomena is a delight to work with. She is friendly and kind, and, not only an experienced author, but also has extensive graphic design knowledge too. This meant that between us, we were both able to envisage and plan the book perfectly, and it felt like a real collaboration. The time it took to illustrate the story seemed to go very quickly. Although, there was bit of a worrying period in the middle of the project, where Philomena, who lives in Kentucky, had to endure terrible snow storms and power outages. I know she must have been terribly tired and cold, but - ever the professional - it did not affect our deadline. In the end, the story turned out beautifully, right down to the pretty tea party patterned end pages (I'm very proud of these!). 

Quite often, after a project is finished and the book is finally published, an author may send me a copy as a gift (which I always love), but Philomena went the extra mile! With, not only a copy of the book (with a sweet, paw-stamp autograph inside) but also a handwritten card, wrapping paper made from the end paper design, flyers, and stickers too! 

'Morning Puppa' is a perfect, light-hearted read for children, and is available as a paperback, hardback, and ebook, via Amazon and other good book stores. 

Click here to purchase 'Morning Puppa'

Click here to view P. Anastasia's other books