Melissa, when and why did you first write this story?

This book was inspired by the birth of my nephew on my husband's side of the family. It was actually his first birthday gift. I had always wanted to write a children's book. I had just purchased locally made wooden toys and they were my inspiration for the characters. I used photos of the characters laid on top of actual photos  of local ocean scenes from Stonington. Then I printed a few copies and bound it together at the local UPS store..

What prompted you to come to Penobscot Books so many years later?

It made sense to involve our local press. It's all about community! And in the recent negative attacks on our lobster industry, it definitely seemed like the perfect timing to get our sweet story put together and shared.

What is the message of this book?

The message is about fishermen doing the right thing. Our lobstermen and women are the best stewards of our oceans. There is a lot of care, respect and guidelines followed to ensure the longevity of our industry and the ocean in which we harvest. The crews are always looking out for anything needing attention out there—sometimes it’s a tired bird being allowed to rest on a captain’s shoulder, for example. This happens often actually. And helping one another out from boat to boat…

It's important to show the real caring side of our industry...because it's real. There will be more kind acts to come in the next books. We are extremely proud of our heritage here and wanted to shed that light.

Describe the process by which you, Gavin and Rosalie determined the illustrations.

The process of the illustrations was so fun! We would sit at the dining room table and read sections of the book out loud, then together decide where we would like illustrations to be matched with the story. Once we had that figured out, we would all sketch our idea for each page, and together vote on which design we liked best to represent. 

We wanted the book to have an “old days of the industry” feel, right down to the main room in the house with the cracked plaster wall and mouse hole. My dad's metal lunchbox on the floor that he used to take lobstering and I eventually took on the boat, too. My mom's stool—cracked, of course—represents years of her picking crabmeat at our home in Stonington in my early years.

These touches taken on by Rosalie and Gavin’s artistic abilities really made them special and come to life again. 

Rosalie and Gavin collaborated on each drawing. Who did what to produce such beautiful artwork?

Gavin was given the task of sketching each chosen scene for the book. He was allowed to go with whatever he felt would represent joy, hard work and resilience in his creative process. When we decided to add a substory of the mouse, he really created something special. The mouse does things Gavin would do—if he were a mouse! 

Rosie then took each piece to her bright, happy painting table and put her vividly emotional colors and techniques into the strong sturdy lines from her brother’s  work. 

The end result is a beautiful collaboration of strength and emotion through storm clouds and waves. As their mother, I'm just so proud of them. 

Do the three of you have plans for other books?

We definitely plan on writing more books! We are just starting the mental creative process for book 2. We will be adding the famous Stonington town Mayor, aka Dundee, the beloved and much respected town cat. There will be a really fun weaving of the crew and townspeople, too. We're crazy excited! Books can bring so much joy!