Longmeadow woman publishes new holiday children’s book

Nov. 21, 2017 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

Longmeadow author Collette Ryan recently published her book, “Zach’s Journey from Selfish to Elfish” which features a boy, Zach, who is so focused on getting new toys that he’s lost sight of what’s truly important. An elf in the form of a reindeer comes to Zach and teaches him what it means to turn from selfish to elfish.
Reminder Publications submitted photo.

LONGMEADOW – Town resident and mother Collette Ryan recently added author and illustrator to her resume, as she’s published her first holiday-themed children’s book, “Zach’s Journey From Selfish to Elfish.”  

The book focuses in on its main character, Zach, and his obsession with receiving gifts and toys.  His desire for presents runs so deep that he is neglecting the people around him, until one day, an elf in the form of a reindeer comes to him and teaches him how to alter his behavior from selfish to elfish.

“One of my favorite books growing up was ‘Peter Rabbit,’ and it’s a story about what happens when you do the wrong thing.  There’s a bunch of books out there about consequences, so I wanted to write something that was a little bit less about consequence and a little more about how being a certain way makes you feel and about all of the positive aspects of doing the right thing,” Ryan explained.

Ryan’s book highlights to children the importance of becoming a selfless individual, and how making others feel good can in turn positively affect the selfless person.  She highlights in the book that though it may be tempting to do the wrong thing, thinking of and caring for others is necessary.  

A line in the book reads, “Everyone has days when they’re happy or sad and days when it’s hard to choose between good and bad.”

When the Elf comes to Zach to teach him how to become a selfless individual, he teaches Zach exactly what it means to be “elfish” through an acronym.  The “E” in elfish, stands for eager to help out, won’t lie around and pout. “L” stands for loving, true and able to see things through.  “F” stands for fiercely loyal friend, always with an ear to lend.  “I” is for inspiring and strong, you know right from wrong. “S” stands for sincere and sweet to everyone you meet.  Finally, “H” is for happy to share and always fair.

“It’s with these rules in mind that Zach finds true happiness as he learns to be elfish,” Ryan said.

Though the book was loosely inspired by her eleven-year-old son, Ryan decided to write her book for a younger audience.  “Zach’s Journey From Selfish to Elfish’ is geared toward three to eight year olds, as they’re just learning what it means to be “elfish.”

“I just think in general people are happier when they’re thinking of other people, but with kids it’s hard, because they don’t always know what makes them happy until someone points them in that direction,” Ryan said.

Though she doesn’t consider herself an artist, Ryan took on the challenge of illustrating her book, with great results.  She’s been a designer for 25 years, so she’s had some experience, but she used trial and error to her advantage when creating her characters.

“I love a simple, soft character that shows everything through facial expressions, so when I’m developing a character, I can almost hear their voice in my head, and then the writing and the character sort of develop simultaneously,” Ryan expounded.  “As I get to know the character I can kind of visualize how they should look.  For this story, I drew a lot of inspiration from my son and our dog and cat who are also featured in the book.”

The idea for “Zach’s Journey From Selfish to Elfish” came to Ryan in February of this year, and she had the book quickly published on Sept. 30.  As soon as she realized she wanted to write a children’s book based on this premise, she said the ideas flowed quickly.

“I really wanted it to be told from a child’s voice, because I know that as a child I liked that.  I wanted it to rhyme, and I didn’t necessarily think of that in the beginning.  That’s something, again, that I loved as a child,” Ryan said.

With her first book under her belt, Ryan says she would love to keep writing books.  In fact, she has plans to build a series of books based on the Zach character.

“Right now, I have ten working titles and I’m just in the midst of getting one of those going as I’m doing this [promoting her current book], but this is such a big push right now because I’m trying to get this out for the holidays so I’m hyper-focused on that.  It really is so much fun to do, again, I just love it,” Ryan explained.

It’s no secret that Western Massachusetts is filled with talented authors and illustrators, both past and present, Emily Dickinson, Dr. Seuss, Anita Shreve, and Suzanne Strempek Shea, to name a few.  In an area with great talents, Ryan is enjoying learning from the writers surrounding her, and hopes to one day be just like them, imparting wisdom on someone taking a crack at writing their own first book.

“It’s so exciting to join these little writers groups and hear what everyone’s doing.  In this area, there are just tons of writers, so it’s nice because you can learn from other people who have been through things, and everyone’s been so welcoming and forthcoming with their advice,” Ryan said.  “It’s definitely a process but it’s a great little journey to be on.”

Ryan said the advice from writers she has met as well as the support from her family and friends has brought her to this point.  Though she wasn’t confident in the premise of her book at first, after talking with various friends who are either publishers or teachers themselves, she received plenty of encouragement.

“There’s a million people trying to do this, so it’s just hard to think of yourself as that different, but I felt pretty confident after getting some positive feedback and a lot of advice.  I was really lucky that people I rely on could give me their honest opinion,” she said.

On Dec. 7 from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Basketball Hall of Fame during the 9th Annual Shopping Event, Ryan will be offering a preview of “Zach’s Journey from Selfish to Elfish.”  There will be signed editions available.  Additionally, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Storrs Library in Longmeadow, Ryan will be signing her book during the Holiday Cookie Event.  The community is welcome to decorate cookies, meet Ryan and purchase a signed copy of the book.

Aside from the upcoming events, Ryan’s book can be purchased on Amazon.com ­ – just search “Zach’s Journey from Selfish to Elfish.”  A plush reindeer stuffed animal wearing an elf hat, modeled after the reindeer in the book, can be purchased on Amazon as well.

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