Aileen Crossley | Ireland
"Where the Tree Dogs Fly" is my illustration Masters project, and a response to my research into picturebooks as a resource to practice mindfulness with children.
This picturebook is a love letter from mother nature to a troubled child. In the story, mother nature/a foxglove fairy finds Molly sad in her room (on her phone) and takes Molly and her dog Murphy back to her happy places, where animals are reimagined according to their fun/magical Irish language descriptions to add extra visual wonder to the story. A foxglove becomes a fairy (mother nature), squirrels become tree dogs, and dolphins become sea pigs.
Molly learns how to self sooth along the way by practising gratitude, being in the moment and finding wonder in tiny places. At the end of the story, when Molly is back to her happy self again, the fairy turns back into a foxglove. And in the last spread we see Molly and Murphy running back out to nature to play, just as she asked.
My intention with the language twist is to create a 'wonder' gap for children to enter and play, which opens up a safe space for them to explore their own feelings too. The animal character play is subtle enough for the story to be enjoyed in its own right without knowing about the Irish language context. (co-editions!) The children also intuitively followed Murphy the dog's counterpoint narrative. He gets caught up in his own wee dramas, to add some extra fun.
Feedback from 7-8 year olds was that they loved the story, and the dog and the wierd animals, and that it calmed them down. (see video link).
The picturebook is handmade using the fine art printmaking practice of photo plate lithography. The illustrations are 5 colour lithographs.
Education:
Falmouth University (MA), Glasgow School of Art/RISD (BA Hons)
MA Illustration - Falmouth UK (2023). BA Hons Illustration at Glasgow School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design (2011)
Graduation: 2023
Published titles: 1