SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Though a global pandemic and a six-hour time difference kept them apart, a mother and daughter have used their mutual love of the arts to bring them together.
For the last two and a half years, Vivian Aho and her daughter, Megan, have been collaborating on a children’s book, The Flyaway Kite.
Megan, who lives on Oahu in Hawaii, wrote. Vivian, in Summerside, drew.
“Ever since I became a mom, all these ideas for children’s books are always popping into my head,” said Megan. “This is just the first one that I’ve been able to follow through with.”
It’s been nine years since Megan’s son was born, With help from her mother, she’s finally started to get the stories out of her head and onto the paper.
The idea to write a book was conceived in 2014 when Megan and Vivian met up in Hawaii for a two-person show. Megan casually mentioned to Vivian that they could write a book together, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that she sent Vivian some of her ideas.
In 2018, Vivian decided to send Megan drawings in response.
The art cemented the idea in Megan’s mind that completing the book with her mother was possible – and so The Flyaway Kite was born.
“I realized … I don’t have to try to do this all on my own,” said Megan.
Megan told her mother she liked the art and to send her some more potential illustrations. From there, Vivian said, “We just kind of steamrolled.”
The book, as described by Vivian, is about “creativity and friendship.” She wanted to keep the book close to home, even naming the main character after her son, Ben.
“It doesn’t specifically say Prince Edward Island,” said Vivian, “but anyone who sees it and knows us will recognize the red house. It is the house my son grew up in.”
Culture Summerside congratulates Summerside visual artist, Vivian Aho, on the release of her book, The Flyaway Kite....
Posted by Culture Summerside on Thursday, 28 January 2021
Despite the distance, neither Megan nor Vivian found the project challenging. Vivian illustrated on her iPad and emailed the art to Megan, who would add the text.
It helped that living in different countries, since Megan moved to Hawaii in 2002, made the two already comfortable communicating long-distance.
Rather, it was everything about the process of crafting a book that both of them had to learn.
Megan has never written a book before. She has a fine arts degree from Mount Allison University, but focused on photography. For the last few years, her artistic work was largely music; children’s music, specifically, with her Molly Whuppie project.
Likewise, Vivian is a formally trained visual artist who took up art full time since retiring nine years ago. The Flyaway Kite was her first crack at illustrating a book.
Set on the collaboration, neither of them were going to let the new territory deter them from finishing their project cover to cover.
The technical side was the biggest hurdle – fiddling with easy-to-read fonts and ensuring high-quality images. Vivian said that Megan’s previous experience with photoshop helped overcome those obstacles.
“I really do give my daughter Megan credit for being the one to figure out how to do all of this stuff,” said Vivian.
After opting to self publish, Megan and Vivian also had to learn that side of the business. They two formed Island Crow Publishing, which they’ll be using for their future endeavours.
Years of hard work and learning curves finally paid off when The Flyaway Kite went up for sale on Amazon on Feb. 1, in both Canada and the United States.
The Flyaway Kite
- The main character of The Flyaway Kite, Ben, doesn’t have a lot of friends, so he builds a kite to create his own fun. On a windy day, the kite gets away from him. Another boy finds it and returns it to Ben, and the two become friends.
With The Flyaway Kite behind them, Megan and Vivian are looking toward their next projects. There are about seven ideas currently floating around their heads.
Vivian has one book illustrated already. Now it’s Megan’s turn to step in and craft the tale.
Although Vivian was half of the collaboration, she insists Megan carried the heaviest load throughout the process.
“I give her main credit for completing this book,” said Vivian. “She did all the hard work, as far as I’m concerned.”
Despite the challenges of not just a new project, but a long-distance one, both mother and daughter enjoyed the whole process.
“It was a labour of love,” said Megan. “She and I work really well together.”