MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Adrianna Donat was afraid of beards when she was a child. Her own children, on the other hand, were mesmerized by them.
“They were fascinated with facial hair,” the Maplewood resident said in a Nov. 15 phone interview with the News-Record of her sons, who are now 14 and 18. “And I thought it was fascinating that they were so interested.”
Years after her kids stopped caring about men with facial hair, Donat has published a 30-page picture book called “The Mustache Fairy,” a tale of a young boy who meets a Mustache Fairy and wishes for different types of facial hair. The book was illustrated by Columbia High School graduate William Roth, a friend of Donat’s older son; Roth is now a freshman at the Rhode Island School of Design.
“It looked a little scary to me,” Donat said of her own father’s beard. “It was a sensory experience that I didn’t like. But my sons didn’t have that. So I thought with this story, it might give kids, if they are afraid of beards, an understanding or the opportunity to learn that they might have one someday.”
Donat wrote the book four years ago, and in trying to figure out the best way to publish it, decided it needed illustrations. She went to Roth, whose work she had seen.
“William would show up to every birthday party with hand-drawn cards and they were just stunning for an 11- or 12-year-old to have done,” she said. “My son was looking for a job in the community a few years ago and it occurred to me that William was probably looking too. I thought this way, he could have a job and I could get this book illustrated.”
“The Mustache Fairy” isn’t Roth first illustration job. As age 12, he drew the pictures for “How to Ruin a Business Without Really Trying,” by M.J. Gottlieb. He had his first solo art show at the same age and, upon graduation from CHS in June, won the RISD prize from the CHS Art Department for being a senior with exceptional artistic merit. Roth’s own beard also qualified him to work on the project with Donat.
“I thought it was a wonderful concept that would make for a great children’s book,” Roth said in an email to the News-Record on Nov. 17. “I immediately had an idea of how the Mustache Fairy would look from how he was described in the text.”
Roth said his style is influenced by anime and manga, which is evident in the book’s illustrations. He had the basic idea for what he wanted to do set from the first page, and then adjusted it as he went on.
“Adrianna liked the idea of using lines as a main feature, so I reeled the painterly style in a little bit with most of the illustrations, though I did bring it back in the last three pages of the book,” Roth said. “The style of the characters is how I typically draw: I’m very influenced by manga and anime, though I did give the drawings a bit of an American stylization, I think. I wanted the character designs to be easily read and enjoyed by kids, so I hope that works.”
Donat gave Roth her own ideas for how she wanted the illustrations to look, but for the most part let him come up with the designs himself.
“I think it’s best when you give a foundation and let them go,” she said. “I’m glad I did that, because I think otherwise it would have held him back.”
The illustrations were done by hand on a tablet into a digital program.
“I drew everything digitally; while the process was expedited by the tools the digital program offers, it’s still all done by hand,” Roth said. “I used a drawing tablet, and while the processes for traditional and digital drawing are quite different, both offer their own respective challenges and perks in regards to the end look you’re trying to achieve.”
“The Mustache Fairy” is self-published, so the process has been under Donat’s control from concept to finished project. The freelance writer chose her own illustrator and what the book would look like, and has spread the word about the book on her own. She has read it to groups of younger children, receiving varying reactions.
“By the end, the boys are on board. The girls are horrified. I can’t tell you the level of horror the girls have,” Donat joked.
Kids are what inspired the book in the first place, and Donat is now working on a book for young readers about medicine.
“In terms of creative experiences, there’s nothing like hanging out with kids,” she said. “Things get boiled down to simpler terms and there’s always something to make sense of.”
She hopes to work with Roth again, and he’s all for it, as well. He’s currently going through what he called “art boot camp” at RISD, taking take different types of art classes that are decided for him. As a sophomore he’ll get to choose his classes.
“It is close to the kind of art I normally do. Visual narrative is something I have always loved, and I plan on studying illustration at RISD,” Roth said. “Working with Adrianna was a total pleasure, and if I can get another author to work with like her, then I’m all for it. Illustrating a fantasy was also right up my alley.”
“The Mustache Fairy” can be purchased on Amazon, at Maplewood’s Words Bookstore and South Orange’s Sparkhouse Toys. A percentage of sales will be donated to the Movember Foundation, an organization that supports men’s health and promotes its cause by encouraging men to grow facial hair throughout November.
“Any boy who’s interested in facial hair should read it,” Donat said. “Or girls who are afraid of it, it works for them, too.”
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