When I needed an illustrator for my books about Beatrix Weathersby I didn’t know where to start. As I was writing, I would go on different writing sites for children’s books. As I looked I realized something, I had taken multiple screenshots of images by the illustrator Greta Hummingbird! Clearly I liked what she did.
I reached out to Greta and she responded quickly. She lives in Ireland but was happy to look and my books and give me some concept art of the title character, Beatrix Weathersby (Bea).
Greta sent back three of the cutest pictures for Bea I could have imagined. Greta took the details I had written about Bea from the book and added to them. It was like she could read my mind. It was not only what I had imagined but even better.
The next part was hard, I had to take what I liked best about the images and choose. I chose my favorite hair, freckles, clothing choices, and Bea’s signature headband.
Next we came to the cover for Bea Yourself. It needed to have the essence of the book but not give too much away. Greta created the cutest beehive I could have imagined, as well as an adorable bee image
Seeing my name on a professional cover was very exciting! Greta’s amazing talent adds so much to my books. Greta captured the essence of my characters better than I ever imagined someone would. Each chapter also has an image to give early readers ideas of what the chapter is about and shows some of the other characters from the book.
Thanks to Greta, the end result is amazing.