Brenda Redman of Esterhazy was motivated to write a children’s story titled How’s Peanut? which is inspired by her personal family experience.
The fifty-five year-old grandmother of one, mother of two, released her self-published book on April 25th on Facebook and Instagram.
Redman described the essence of the story by explaining, “The grandmother is over the moon excited when her daughter calls her up and tells her she is having a baby! The mom nicknames the baby right away ‘Peanut’ and from there on there are phone calls every month to see how Peanut is doing.”
The author created an educational masterpiece that compares the growing size of the baby to visual images young children can see. Initially, the baby is shown to be the size of a peanut. After each phone call from grandmother to mother, the growth and development of the child increases and at the end is shown as the size of a watermelon.
Talking about her love of literature, Brenda said, “I have a strong love for children’s books! When my children were small and we would go to the city, there was always a stop at the bookstore. More for me than them! I couldn’t wait to get home and read it to them. I always dreamed that maybe one day I would write my own. When my granddaughter was born, I laid awake many nights with ideas about writing a book for Amelia. After one very restless night, I got up one morning and wrote How’s Peanut? in around 1 hour (I think all those nights laying awake writing a story in my head, just all poured out with a pen in my hand). It also came so easy because this book is personal; it is a life experience that I shared with my daughter Courtney and my family.”
Although the ideas came over time and poured out furiously, there were still logistics Redman had to overcome to publish the book. She wondered about illustrations, publication rights and who could print the accomplishment.
Initially she asked her son Brenden and his partner Nathan to make the book for Amelia into a scrapbook and to draw them. She shared the project with her daughter Courtney and her son-in law Chris as well.
Brenda stated, “They all encouraged me to do something with it and send it to a publisher. I decided to share it with two of my good friends that just happen to both be teachers! Leanne Fraser and Laurel Kentel, who I worked with for 10 years at the Churchbridge Public School. They both liked it and encouraged me to send it to a publisher. I knew they would be honest with me and tell me if it needed work. Then, I shared it with my aunt and uncle from Regina who are both retired teachers and they also liked it; they encouraged me to see the writer in residence at the Regina Public Library. I made an appointment to meet with David Gane who is a writer of murder and mystery for young adults and he loved the flow of my book. He recommended that I get a hold of Heather Nickle from YNWP in Regina. It took me about 2 weeks to get brave enough to send Heather an email along with my book and within 2 weeks I heard back from her. She wanted to meet me and go through how to get my book published.”
Next, the Redman met with the Nickle who showed her work of illustrators that she has used. She explained how publishing works and that it was up to Brenda as to how she wanted to get the book published.
“In the end I chose to self-publish my book using Heather at YNWP and I chose Wendi Nordell from Alberta to illustrate my book. Self-publishing means you pay for the services of the illustrator and publisher and the making of the books. You get final say on everything. I wanted the final say on everything. My book was so personal. I couldn’t let someone else have the final say in things. There was a strong connection between myself, Heather and Wendi and everything just clicked from there. I felt I could trust both of them with my work!”
Brenda Redman wrote the book September 2019 and sent it to Heather in December. She signed a contract with YNWP in February 2020 with a debut date of Mother’s Day 2021. She started working with Wendi Nordell beginning of September 2020 with the illustrations.
She said working with Wendi was, “so much fun. Wendi and I would call each other and talk about each page of the book and what I envisioned the pictures to be like. They had to be fun! The conversation between mom and daughter always had to be on our phones and doing something we both liked to do. The mom is a little more crazier than the daughter! [In the book] you will find us walking our dogs, shopping, in a bathtub full of bubbles, exercising, at the lake, around a campfire, etc. Now, the challenge was the unborn babies. How do you make them fun? We decided to make them educational! The unborn babies are the actual size of what an unborn baby would be during certain stages of pregnancy. The baby starts as a size of a peanut and progresses to a plum, avocado, banana, ear of corn, egg plant, pineapple, cabbage… and at the end the baby is the size of a watermelon; it takes up 2 pages! All the ideas for the pictures had to be colorful and came from me. Wendi was busy for two months drawing and painting the pictures. Their artwork is amazing! It makes the book come alive and I’m so grateful for this lady and her talents.”
At the end of November, Wendi sent all the illustrations to Heather from YNWP in Regina. From there Heather worked her magic and put everything together including the colors, the printing and the illustrations.
Speaking about the first time she saw the completed project, she said, “I told my husband when I saw it… Honey it’s a real book…. It looks like a real book! He said WHAT did you think it was going to be! You really don’t know until you have it from the printers. Friesens from Altona, Manitoba printed all the books and I had it in my hands on April 17, 2021. It’s a dream come true! It’s been a family affair as all illustrations and proofs were also approved by my children.”
The book is ready to be sold. It can be purchased from larger stores such as Indigo, Chapters and Amazon, along with YNWP in Regina. Redman has many copies available to sell locally. In Esterhazy, the book will be sold at VIBE Interior Decorating & Floral Boutique, Sapara’s Drug Mart and Family Foods. The book will also be sold in Churchbridge at Tanglz with Lisa and in Langenburg at Cre.ate.
Redman stated, “My daughter Courtney and I will be debuting How’s Peanut? on the internet on April 25 and I’m willing to do book signing and readings anywhere when COVID quiet downs.”
In addition to the children’s book, Brenda plans to release a clothing line that reflects the completed project. She said, “I approached 3 Creek Designs with Sophie Rausch to see if she would be interested in coming on board for a little clothing line to go with my book. Sophie was so excited to be a part of this and she designed a little peanut to be put on onesies and t-shirts. Sophie and I both agreed that the material had to be soft and cozy and wash like a dream. The onesies come in white and black, short sleeve and long sleeve, newborn to 18 months. The t-shirts can be in white or black also and start at size 2. They are so cute and it’s that little extra you can add on with the book for a present or for your little one!”
Congratulations to Brenda Redman on her accomplishment as a self-published local author. If requested, she mentioned she would also be willing to work with schools to share her story through a virtual read-along.