Writers retreat with Tata, Squack and a red squirrel

A few months ago a dear family member gave me the opportunity to write in his garden studio. It is a small house and a great writers retreat. To write and translate a children’s book is a challenge which needs concentration. Like the first book, the new Tata&Squack will be published in three languages. The silence of the garden with a red squirrel as only distraction saved me from getting lost in translation. In  one language a sentence can sound great, whilst in another it can be  absolutely “ugly”. Together with Tanja I worked on the text and the illustrations. The storyline, the words, the color, the texture, the subjects and the objects, the reflections in text and illustrations. Everything was    carefully chosen with lots of discussions, emotions and hours of work,  believe me. The squirrel researches and collects for the future. We researched the largest mammal walking the surface of the earth and hope to collect children’s interests in a future with wild elephants. Tata&Squack – Mission Elephant, will go into print next week and will be published in March.