Image of the Week: Baseball & Spaghetti
© D. Yael Bernhard
Love is forgiving your brother's mistakes. Those are the words that accompany this illustration from my picture book, Love Is – my first and only self-published book. This unique little "crossover" book crosses age categories, as it's intended for all ages – as well as product categories, as it's both a paperback book and a greeting card. At just 7"x5", the book fits in a standard greeting card envelope, and may be mailed in the U.S. with just two first-class postage stamps.
The text takes the form of a rhyming poem, all about love in its most familiar forms – focusing mostly on acts of caring. Each picture tells a story. Illustrators are often compelled to create images that tell stories, or parts of stories, visually. The picture does the talking by showing the setting and demonstrating the action. The reader's imagination fleshes the story out.
Love Is began with the idea that in English, the word "love" is the same as both noun and verb. I found that intriguing. In other languages this is not the case – for example "love" as a noun in French is amour, while "to love" is aimer. Thus my poem begins: Love is a verb, love is a noun / Love is a word that spreads it around. Whether a feeling, an action, or a concept, love comes in many flavors.
My agent was unable to get a contract for this book because no publisher will touch a crossover book. The American publishing industry is obsessed with age categories; everything must be rigidly defined. Equally important are product categories, upon which marketing strategies depend. My proposal was doomed.
So I decided to publish the book myself. At the time I was working for Jewish Currents magazine, and they agreed to put their name on my book in order to help sell it on their website. But the magazine sold to a new editorial team soon thereafter, and this affiliation no longer exists except in the small print at the back of the book.
I created the book to satisfy my own desire to create and publish a book on my own terms. I often give it away as a gift. The world needs all the love it can get! Though I didn't get paid for my illustrations and have yet to break even on printing costs, I have no regrets. This was truly – pun intended – a labor of love.
Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and Love Is makes a perfect gift. You can order a signed copy here. The book also has a page for you to sign it over to a recipient – with love. It comes with a greeting card envelope so you can mail it to someone else – or, if you want the book signed and shipped directly to a recipient, there's a place to fill in their name when you order online. Please email me if you want me to hold the order back until the week before Valentine's Day.
I had so much fun with this project! It's the closest I've come to working in the style of a graphic novel. And it was a satisfying challenge to think of the many forms love takes, and to find ways to show them. Here's to all the kind-hearted parents and grandparents, siblings and children, friends and neighbors, teachers and mentors, rescuers and healers and animal lovers of this world. Love is your legacy.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard
http://dyaelbernhard.com
children's books • fine art • illustration
posters • cards • calendars