Orrena's Arctic Adventure

 Orrena's Arctic Adventure is a heart warming children's story that started off as a bedtime story to my daughter. Since we had exhausted all the regular story books, on this one special night my daughter asked for me to tell her something different that she hadn't heard before. Over the next several nights she kept asking for me to tell her more and more about this little girl in Alaska. I quickly realized how much I looked forward to her asking for more, that I began searching through encyclopedias discovering the culture, animals, and events that are unique to the Arctic region.

   One evening after story time, because of my wife's encouragement, I began to write everything down. A few years later my son had taken my typed out manuscript to his elementary teacher. She really enjoyed the story and asked if I would like to read it to her class. This was such a positive experience, that the teacher called me a couple days later asking if I would come and read to the entire school, Mixter Elementary, Lincoln Park. On this day the magic truly began. I shared my bedtime story to 350 students plus faculty. There was such an enthusiastic response, and I instantly realized there was something special with my story.

     A couple years later, with growing anticipation, I pursued one of the most artistic graphic designers, Rebecca Lowe, to bring my story to life. I was in disbelief after seeing her first illustration after she read my manuscript. Again, truly magical, Rebecca had visually drawn what I had mentally envisioned for years. The story was visually coming to life.