Local resident Cindy Palin solved a communication problem with her granddaughter by writing a children's book.
She held a reading of that book, entitled To Willow's House For Tea, May 6 at Pandora's Boox & Tea. It's aimed at children from preschool age to Grade 3.
This is Palin's first children's book. Her first book, which came out a couple of years ago, is "somewhat of an autobiography," she told the Albertan.
To Willow's House For Tea originated from a phone call.
"My granddaughter phoned me on Facetime with the help of her mom, and invited me for tea.
"Of course I couldn't go, because they live (far away) and it was very difficult to explain to her because of her young age, why grandma couldn't just pop over for tea," Palin said during an interview.
Her granddaughter is five years old now but was three at the time.
"That day, when I hung up, I thought, 'oh my goodness, was that ever hard, because we're so far apart and how could I explain it to her better?' And that was how the book was born," Palin said.
"As it turns out, Grandma gets to Willow's house for tea by a yellow balloon. She finds an old balloon on the sidewalk in the January wind and it fills up with air and she hangs on tight and it flies her over to Gibsons, British Columbia," Palin said.
Palin wrote the book in a couple of days, but the illustrations took longer.
She approached her niece to do the illustrations. She not only is an artist, but also has a bachelor of arts in creative writing and comparative literature.
"I think it was about a two-year project, just kind of talking about what kind of images I wanted," Palin said.
