January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Book launch
New book’s all about YOUR child
Now, thanks to Kimiko and Cleon Scotland, they can in the new book, Bermuda Is Me!. The Scotlands, proud parents of toddlers Marcus and Kacey, created the storybook in which photos of children's faces can be pasted onto each picture.
The colourful illustrations, done by local artist Laura Bell, feature a child in each of the following scenes: kite-flying on Good Friday, Gombey dancing, as a police officer in the birdcage on Front Street, as a runner during the 24th of May road running race, as a cricketer during Cup Match and building a sandcastle at the beach.
The colours are bright and bold in each illustration, and each picture is accompanied by a short poem, written by Mr. Scotland. The Scotlands noticed, while reading to their children, that there weren't many Bermudian books for toddlers and babies. After a perusal of local bookstores and shops, the Scotlands decided to write their own.
Mrs. Scotland said, “Our children were our inspiration [to write this book] as reading to them is a part of our daily routine. We have purchased and received so many children's books and it was last Christmas when I first thought about the possibility of us doing a Bermudian book. We decided to pursue the idea in earnest after our daughter was born in June.
Bermudian product
“It was very important to us that it was a Bermudian product from start to finish and we decided to have it printed on the island.”
This is the first book that that the Scotlands have written and Mrs. Scotland adds, “My husband and I both agreed that we would be very proud for our children in years to come to see what we had accomplished.”
She also said that even if you have seven children, each child could put their face on one page and that, with the popularity and ease of digital pictures, different facial expressions of the same child can be used to reflect each page's scene. “The cutting and pasting of the picture with your child can also be a part of the experience,” she added.
“I hope that the book will help to promote pride in our culture from an early age. As Bermudians we have a lot to be thankful for… I would really like to thank the stores that have decided to sell Bermuda Is Me! Everyone has been so positive and we have been thrilled with the response.”
Laura Bell, who is good friends with the Scotlands, said: “The idea was to make the book as relatable to young children as possible, therefore I designed the images with Caran d'Ache pencil crayons to look more like loose drawings than detailed fine art. I wanted them to be vibrant and full of energy to capture the attention of young eyes. In all it took about three weeks to design, off and on.”
She added: “We all wanted to create a truly Bermudian book with scenes that captured the essence of the island — from gombeys dancing down Front Street to cricketers at Cup Match. I simply designed each page to go along with the beautiful words that Cleon and Kimiko wrote.”
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