6/24/2023 0 Comments Julian is a mermaid jessica loveTheir gowns flow like tails, their hair moving like it’s caught the ocean currents, and everything about them is simply wonderful. Even when it’s a reality that some people refuse to see.Ĭoming home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián’s subway car is suddenly boarded by three beautiful mermaids. I’m there because Jessica Love has been granted a very remarkable gift. I can smell the apartment that Julián shares with his abuela. A book like Julián Is a Mermaid comes along and there. And then one day, my waiting is rewarded. You cannot require an illustrator to be able to capture the intangible in their art. Imbuing a book with that kind of realism is beyond difficult, though. When I enter a character’s house I want to almost be able to smell the shampoo in the carpet or the faint aroma of dinner from the night before. It is this experience of walking into a house and being overwhelmed by the sense of the place that I hope for in my picture books. I love it when a friend moves house because when I walk into their new home it smells just like their previous place of occupancy, with just a twinge of difference. Homes absorb the lives of their occupants, and the end result is as much an olfactory experience as a visual one. When you walk into another person’s home, there’s always a distinct smell to the place.
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